consciousness – Intuitive Martial Arts

Total Involvement in Self Defence

Posted on 2nd February 2025 Last updated on 2nd February 2025 by joeharman8 | 6 min read | 101 views

“it is possible for the brain to distort the situation when it becomes flooded and overthinks the situation. This should not happen where possible.“

The important thing is to remain in a state of total awareness. Keeping the hands up in a state of unawareness is just going through the motions. Even if you cover your face with your arms, peek through your guard with at least one eye. That way, you can see what’s coming next. If your guard obscures your vision completely, you don’t know who is around you, or what they are going to do next. It is for this reason the hands hands should be fluid and used in many different ways.

Putting the hands in the way of the opponents face or body runs interference on them. This creates a series of diversions. These can be fidgety movements with the hands and body, which divert the opponents attention away from you being attacked. Much of the activity involved in fighting has to do with distractions and misleading the opponent, rather than creating any kind of definitive outcome.

If you need to, you can simply stick your hand in their face. If you distract them with your hands by grabbing out at them or poking them in the eye, this buys you time to run off. This is a kind of strategy to find an opportunity to make your escape. It is not that you want to poke them in the eye just to cause harm or for any kind of outcome in particular.

The enraged opponent always attacks meaninglessly. Meaningless aggression is one of the most powerful ways to attack. The opponent is distracting you with meaningless yet dangerous attacks. This is the basis of their power. You do not need to try and understand this in any intellectual sense. If some wild animals are howling in the night, preventing you from sleeping, you do not need to decipher what they are saying or doing. You just keep out of their way and keep a barrier between yourself and them. We know that wild animals make noise.

Act to put a stop to the situation, or distance yourself from it, as and when required.

Just as a boxer sends out a series of feints to make the attacker back off or stop, the individual defending themselves does the same to buy themselves an opportunity to escape. A moment is all you really need. Wild attackers rarely know why they are doing what they are doing because they are acting largely unconsciously. This does not prevent them being effective. If you respond to the situation with total conscious awareness, rather than turning it into just a thought process, you are able to become more toally involved in the situation.

Nobody made the planets round. This is just the way nature made them. It didn’t require any kind of building process. In the same way, nature endowed us with the capacity to intuitively respond to urgent situations so long as we remain aware and pay full attention to the process consciously. Just as the planet is rounded by nature, we too become rounded and balanced by becoming totally involved. We can become aware of this or not. Like the planet itself, it is possible to be at it twenty four hours a day, by offering yourself to the process of ceaseless development and conscious awareness of this process.

Most fights happen because somebody who is acting out of a need to dominate others in some social situation goes up against another person who wants to deliver them justice. Who is wrong and who is right is just a matter of opinion. Two such individuals will naturally gravitate towards each other unless they are not in the same room. This is why it is always best to leave the situation if you can, even if you think you’re in the right. Never trust what you think about survival situations, just see them for what they are. You can only think logically by comparing yourself to another. Instead it is better to cut through this and act totally rather than as one side against another. That is the whole meaning of sacrifice, to commit to the wholesituation and act from there. It is only though bypassing limited thought processes and committing totally that something else more powerful happens. At the same time, such an act of total commitment creates the best possible conditions for the thought process to happen most clearly.

You need to focus when the danger becomes imminent, but also remain aware of the periphery. Where are the exit doors? Does the opponent have any friends waiting nearby to help them? When the opponent is very close, you become very heightened and reactive. Due to the intensity of the situation, blood rushes to the brain. This is usually accompanied by a fight or flight response.

If the brain gets flooded with hormones and blood, the body can become drained. If this happens for prolonged periods, then over time distortions happen within the system. In this way it is possible for the brain to distort the situation when it becomes flooded and overthinks the situation. This should not happen where possible. Maintain an awareness of your stance so that you do not lose all the energy from your body. Then it can communicate intelligently with the brain. This is one important reason why it is important to focus on the Hara Centre, the body’s centre of gravity,and maintain equilibrium. Maintain a certain pressure and energy there by locking into the centre.

It is often important to move off centre to avoid an attack, whilst at the same time re directing its energy. For instance, you can step outside by pivoting on the front leg as the rear leg steps around the back of yourself. This takes you out to the side. The front leg stays where it is as the rear leg steps outside of the opponents line of attack. You can either grab the opponents arm, or thrust it away with the palm. It is as if you are kneading dough. You do not slap the dough but you sink the palm hand into it, gripping it somewhat whilst at the same time applying a kind of pressing force down and away from you. This redirects the opponents force against their own equilibrium. The idea is not to dissipate this force but to make it oscillate back and forth from your own centre, linking you to to the target. This prevents you becoming too drained of energy, and allows you to use the opponents force against them.

Intuitive Sense

Posted on 13th August 2020 Last updated on 15th August 2020 by joeharman8 | 19 min read | 189 views

In my experience, by focusing on mechanical routines or forms too much, I find I often get more and more confused and further from the truth.”Don’t think, Feel” said Bruce Lee. Whilst there is rudimentary mechanical practice needed to intuitively feel something, I don’t recommend making mechanical forms the basis of practice. Why? Because you will likely lose touch with inspiration and dynamism, and by being technically correct you may well end up the loser in the long run. I’ll show you why.

Analysis tends to divide and separate, to specify rather than unify. Instead, the starting point is always the idea; the high ideal1, and the mind fuel is will power2. From this perspective, your practice can inspire you to shape and mould yourself as a living example of this art. This is a higher goal than just remaining ordinary inside and producing some outside forms. Technical specialists have never studied or accepted this idea, which is why you won’t obtain any methods from them. So, by all means, practice technically for a short while, but then return to this centre, this source. The image of say, a certain style in action, is merely the stepping stone to propel you into practice of this nature. The image, the form is a starting point of reference not the end point. It is simply a means of practicing intuitive action, not the goal.

Don’t bother with over thinking and analysis for the most important tasks. As I was saying, you can view the technical details for a moment, as a starting point. You then get back to concentrating on embodying the technique, that is to practice it more naturally and intutively3. This requires serious work and development. But eventually this inner process of intuitive practice then sculpts your and fashions the physical organism so that the body itself reflects a particular form. You will then no longer need evidence of what is effective and what isn’t because you will simply feel it within. It starts off a conscious effort, but with training a honed intuitive sense will enable your practice to become second nature.

It is worth noting that the end products of your intuitive practice only reflect the technical forms. You will not be an exact replica because your are creating. Unlike mindless imitation, your execution of such forms will be adaptable, flexible, and alive. Your embodied practice reflects a likeness, not exactitude, because no individual is the same exact expression of truth. With knowledge of this, you are free to improvise and act with finesse, instead of sticking to a predictable script. This makes your movements elusive and cunning.

Truth is without form, we clothe it in our expressions and give it forms. In other words it is we who give expression to truth, and it inspires us to do so. To look for truth within a form would be illogical, because truth is above the constrictions of form. It is better identified by a feeling, a kind of developed sense. Personally, I have no idea what truth is and I can only look for the signs. This kind of intuitive training approach may not be for everyone.

Repetitively performing in a robotic way fails to make an impression on the instinctive sub conscious level, and therefore no evolution takes place inside. It doesn’t become part of us, or even second nature. If we train this way too much, it is as if we are just putting on a costume and then going back to our normal behaviour. It is possible to then be left with nothing, even after years of formal training once the conditioning of such training stops.

Scientists are beginning to take serious notice of how our environment effects our organism. However, the true meaning of Martial arts is not to act in our outer environment, it is to shape and mould the inner environment of ourselves. This inner transformation then later effects the outer environment. In other words, we are not prepared to shape the outer environment sufficiently before doing some serious inner work. We use the art forms we cultivate to channel our energies and surpass ourselves with our creations. This is true art.

In my opinion we must work on our instincts to transform their expressions, working with our inner raw materials, not against them. Desire motivated by a high ideal fuels this process. The instincts are often deadened by robotic spiritless exercises, which is why so many promising athletes burn out over time and lose their edge. This is not surprising when we set our sights to low, simply to perform a move mindlessly. If there is no selection pressure (as biologists would call it) to evolve ourselves within, then their is no need to harness our inner resources to surpass ourselves. That is, there is no evolution without getting our house in order. How can we expect to control the outer elements if we haven’t prepared ourselves properly by doing the same work inside?

Whilst our instinctive responses are crude and unrefined they do not require drowning under a tide of regulated behaviour. Nor are they the finished products. This is what people don’t understand. They suppose that our instincts simply get in the way of technical progress and can’t be channelled. What I am saying is that we need to intelligently assign work to our instincts to keep them busy if we want to take things to the next level.

When you are focusing on looking perfect, good for the camera, to impress onlookers, to win points in a match, etc., you are investing in something which appears correct or certain, but is actually very uncertain. In other words, when our behaviour is not motivated to develop our natural intuitive expressions, by the time it reaches the physical form its potency is greatly reduced.

That’s why I say it all starts with motivation, the inner drive – the high ideal. This calibrates our intuitive thought to expectations beyond normal. This explains why people who contrive an artificial appearance of beauty, without feeling it, often end up uglier over time. There was no solid foundation upon which to base expression, and later other individuals surpass them who were apparently behind to begin with. So, start from humble beginnings with the goal of greatly surpassing the norm. To be sure, the intuitive sense is hardly developed at all when we begin to work on it. The other sense like sight seem more reliable. However the more you practice the more intelligent and expressive you will become.

In the long run, endless imitation often ends up being a servitude even if it apparently seems like a good idea to begin with. This is why appearances are deceiving. People often become fed up of behaving this way only later, when the costs are seen to outweigh the benefits. So don’t worry about others overtaking you, it isn’t at all important. This lesson is a hard one but necessary for our development.

How can technical certainty lead to confusion? When you prioritise with all these external things like looking perfect, there is an inner tension, which prevents intuition from taking the first place and ruling. It is inhibited rather than trained into a force of nature. Even experts experience this, although because they have trained for so long to overcome it, they have succeeded in negating a lot of the negative effects of all this. One of the ways they do this is to commit totally as technicians at the expense of everything else. Ordinary people with more conflicting demands would simply tire out quickly. However, when they retire such experts often retrogress, become flabby, unenthusiastic, and bored. All this because they have failed to embody their practice by taking a more balanced approach4. But this takes time, which is why people don’t bother with it, because you don’t get anywhere very quickly.

The inner approach is intrinsically more satisfying for those who commit to it seriously. Most people consider getting bored later in life perfectly normal, “that’s life” they say, “it happens to everyone”. “Do what you can whilst you’re young”. What ignorance. Thoughts, like actions require sorting and correcting, there are some bad which shouldn’t be indulged, and other good productive ones that should be developed. Some thoughts are bad initially but can be refined and worked on so that they more accurately represent truth. I won’t go into that now but it worth thinking about carefully.

What kind of philosophy determines that we have only a few adult years to develop our talents before we lose all drive and motivation? The truth is, we lose all drive and motivation because precisely because we believe this. We assume our development has stopped and we stop putting the work in. From the intutive point of view, which has not even fully evolved in adulthood, this is idiotic.

Those who engage in short termism often win a few matches, get a few certificates and martial arts belts, and then that’s it. You retire and reminisce over what you were, a professional champion. You are obliged to wear yourself out and become fed up with it all. You are then said to be a somebody. Instead of moving beyond this kind of practice, they are instead charged with instructing others in this method. But there is something they have not seen. This kind of practice is only the reality for those who have used their resources within a short time frame to ensure their future comfort and status. Others have a choice. It is understandable that people desire this, and as far as I’m concerned they are welcome to this way of life and I leave them to it, they find meaning in it. But it’s not for everyone.

The problem is that all the training recommendations out there abide by this mentality of short term returns, and prescribe accordingly. I have no idea why. It is like someone who made a million pounds during the first few years of his career, at the expense of everything, and then after going bankrupt, telling others how to do the same. But this is not my model. It has nothing to do with success as I see it – for me, success is more of a long range broader goal. Later years should be more and more fruitful, and they can be. There is no point in initial benefits with long term liabilities which prevent enjoyment later. You only need to look at how many previous world champions are now broken down by injury and embittered by it all. For them, it may have been worth it, I will leave you to decide, but at least be aware of the realities.

For me it is about pooling your resources across a wide range of investment and then gradually watching your investments grow, figuratively speaking. You then see whilst others have over spent and pay the costs later, that a more sustainable and sensible model might be preferable. Each of your investments grows and grows and are reinvested into other ventures and existing enterprises. None of them collapse because they are all related, mutually supporting one another. You will notice these law of economics, of benefits incurring costs, and long term growth, apply equally to all areas of life.

Work on the intuitive level is only capable of working through the intermediary of certain fundamental movements patterns and the wisdom of the body5. This is the level to work at (below conscious thought) because the cause of progress is not simply chasing the effects without first doing the inner work. These subconscious pathways can be brought to the level of consciousness with training. Make sure your investments are based on these golden geese, you’re evolution depends on it. Progress will be slow, but certain. You will understand more each day. It’s not much, but its something. Those who understand what I am saying will benefit greatly from this knowledge. You can concentrate only on technical correctness if you want, and see what the results are.

The work of any Master who has created a form is not finished even if he dies. Yes, he is dead physically, but in spirit he will live on in an idea which has permeated others. And whilst there are many Masters who were simply idolised for no good reason, I am not talking about them. Such gurus die – that is, the spirit of what they stood for died – the moment they took up the path of comfort, ease, and short term pay off. I don’t suggest taking them as models. Only model yourself after the most inspirational figures who aim relentlessly at perfection without selling out. It doesn’t matter what field they are in, or even if they are technically highly proficient. You are better off working alongside someone who inspires, even if he is ignorant of many things.

Whilst you can relate to great masters through their work, you must also try to relate to their mentality which brought to fruition their gifts. I try to do as they would do – continuously work with inspiration and enthusiasm6. To work from the form and then try to reach a state of high motivation and enthusiasm would likely end in disappointment. It would require nothing of my creative input or spark. There would be no demand and correspondingly supply would cease. Instead I try to take something from outside of myself, an energy conveyed by others who have the spark, ignite it within myself and get to work. I don’t pay much attention to the appearance.

Instead of over analysing all the time, and consciously controlling the body, view things from the perceptive of the intuitive senses. Once you have embodied certain techniques and skills, your intuitive sense will make sure that your actions and techniques flow in such a way that ensures coordination and power without even thinking about it. Yes, but only if you take the perspective of the intuition, rather than copying a set drill or routine mindlessly. Then, everything is done in a balanced and relatively harmonious way, and we succeed in our work. You will get better and better instead of worse. We then start to feel, understand and realise what to do, in all sorts of unpredictable rhythms, in spite of our limited technical understanding of facts and mechanical knowledge. Even the most ignorant person can become very effective when using this method. It’s incredible, you should try it.

If the brain itself is in charge, with its tendency to overthink and micromanage the body, everything becomes clumsy and awkward even in the most intellectually developed. Yes you start off with technical imitation, but you then move on. Just look at all the scientists out there who analyse and think they understand everything, but haven’t even bothered organised their inner machinery. This takes many years of practice, but your intuitive sense will then have the conditions to instantly succeed if you practice intelligently. I assure you it is worth the effort for those who want to work in this direction. In fact you will feel so enlivened by this method of practice that you simply won’t be able to keep it to yourself.

In my view the goal must be an unattainable perfection, because evolution is relentlessly advancing and our little minds cannot possibly foresee the conclusion of this journey. arrive there before you’re body and brain do. This high minded ideal will ensure we don’t stop short of perfection. Therefore practice must reflect this reality. Perfection is without form so don’t look for it in forms, feel it, out there in the future and surpass yourself.

Form is just a passive state, an empty shell. It is the end. You may have noticed earlier a contradiction, that I said form is the beginning. But there is no contradiction because it is the beginning in the sense that it starts us on our journey, but once we have arrived we cast it off. It’s a circular relationship. In this way, the physical “fruits” of your labour if you like, that is the forms you create, then lay the ground for subsequent generations of future forms. The seed is then planted once again, and the whole process continues once more. It is exactly like the flower whose seed is spread and then starts all over again after flowering. Using a similar analogy, the old form takes on the new use of manure for your field of progress. Yes manure, get rid of it but don’t waste its recyclable properties.

As you progress, it is better to combine existing forms, using them to create, and in this way you inspire motivation, enthusiasm, and true art. This is a form of reusing and recycling. You are then progressing. It is a long and arduous process, but you will understand it better every day the more you practice with it. It is not necessary for any authority to give you the stamp of approval before starting with this method. Begin at once.

In fact, you can work on your actions and behaviours which are seemingly unrelated to martial arts. Working mindfully on your everyday gestures has a tremendous effect. Picking up a cup suddenly becomes an exercise, where you handle it with care and grace with your articulations. Form a habit of relating a certain universal principles to your everyday activities. First of all you might refuse to think that a particular thing relates to seemingly separate things, but with perseverance and practice your intuition later insists than your reasoning is wrong. You succeed in spite of yourself. It just takes time and work7.

It is important to understand that there is no way of gauging the power of this process if we have never seen the effects of it in action. In other words, those who have never worked with this method are unlikely to be aware of its power. Nobody thinks about this. This is because for the most part Martial Arts practice traditionally consists of working with fixed forms. These fixed forms were intended for the masses. Here, there is then a visible, tangible objective reality to imitate. Intuitive sense is the other way round, this visibility emerges from a subtle intangible reality. This is the Spirit of Martial Arts taking the forefront.

For me, I’m not interested in noticing all that is wrong, how good or bad other people appear, whether they are more refined… Or at fault. I try to visualise nothing when I’m training. Once you reach an inner harmony and silence all the noise, this is the way to see most clearly and simply sense what needs to be done. This is the way to reach towards perfection, beyond form. You will then be able to act instinctively and below the level of conscious thought, because by silencing the inner noise you will notice the subtler realities. This cannot happen with background noise. There is a scientific method behind this approach8.

By observing and practicing only what is most inspiring, unpretentious, and what makes sense intuitively, this is the way to do meaningful work which leads to success. I leave the other approaches alone – What they emphasise is none of my business. Many styles of Martial Arts emphasise separation from intuitive movements. They retain the physical forms but become estranged from meaningful action and behaviour underpinning them, the human input. In this way they become the contorted demonic forms we observe in certain Asian Traditions depicting evil entities. These evils are merely symbolic of reality.

When people are technically minded, exact, and ordered on the outside this is how they measure everyone else. And those who feel intuitively how things work tend to view others according to the same criteria. In other words we measure and sense the value of others by our own criteria, how we see things. This is why I said earlier that unless intuitive practice is actually practiced, people will remain unaware of its benefits. Personally, if I see what others is doing is too pretentious or technical I don’t bother trying to extract anything from it, I just move on. I just get on with my own work, and anything that doesn’t correlate with that is of no interest to me. I would expect the same from those who view things from the other perspective.

If I’m coaching I don’t correct other people by insisting they do things the same as me. If they are doing something dangerous or they’ve misunderstood, then that’s different, but if people insist on interpreting things their way then I take them as they are. They can then progress at their own rate. More often than not, people want technical explanations, and we will just be talking at cross purposes, but I tell them anyway. And since there are others to give them technical prescriptions, I leave it to the others.

As for me I try to convey an impression and spark an interest so that others might want to work with enthusiasm and motivation. Not a superficial excitability, but an energy. Seeing that technical descriptions, formulas, and lifeless routines offer no results to me, I see others in the same way. In fact, far from learning superficially, I feel as though I am unearthing something deep inside me which I already know. Yes, I have a criteria that I apply to others, based on my own vision and experience. I try to convey the same inspiration which was passed on to me through others, which helps me continue to develop.

References

1 The High Ideal harmanater.com/2020/07/26/the-high-ideal/

2 Will Power harmanater.com/2020/07/26/the-high-ideal/

3 Martial arts and Health https://harmanater.com/2020/08/09/embodying-the-technique/

4 Embodying technique https://harmanater.com/2020/08/09/embodying-the-technique/

5 See Instincts, Behaviour and Archetypes. https://harmanater.com/2020/03/31/instincts-behaviour-and-archetypes/

6 The Skill is not separate from the work https://harmanater.com/2020/07/04/the-skill-is-not-separate-from-work-and-contemplation/

7 See The Stance https://harmanater.com/2020/08/05/the-stance/

8 Fight in Chaos live in Harmony https://harmanater.com/2020/07/12/fight-chaos-live-in-harmony/

Martial Arts and Health

Posted on 3rd August 2020 Last updated on 3rd August 2020 by joeharman8 | 11 min read | 92 views

We can think of health as energy available to us to live an intense meaningful life, free from disease and debilitation. It is this state that we should reach in order to train properly in Martial Arts. And so we must cultivate and live in this state as much as possible, so that we can put this energy into everything we do. That is, of course, if we want to devote ourselves to this path. We don’t need to go looking for this energy outside ourselves by learning all sorts of complicated moves, hoping this will give us power. No, instead we should move naturally in ways which correlate with the intuitive rhythms of nature.

Now that science has given us complicated explanations and exact methods of technical performance, we exploit the resources of the body in order perform these techniques. And yet, many people find themselves more unhealthy than ever and plagued with injuries, not to mention lacking in energy. This is because people think about performing certain moves, like a punch, rather than strengthening the body which animates them. They do all sorts of robotic moves unthinkingly, which just causes wear and tear as the years go on. In truth, much of scientific advancement has made us lazy and unwilling to do work.

Whilst skilled people don’t wear out overnight, the abilities they have developed, often during youth, don’t last forever, and before too long they end up stagnating or in a sorry state. Many people put all their energy into the move instead of cultivating health through exercise. What they are forgetting is that the move is just a means of expressing the goal of perfection. Instead they get it the wrong way round, thinking that the move itself is the goal, and perfection of this will lead to truth. They think “I’ll perfect this move and one day I’ll become perfect”. But really, People are deluding themselves if they think they will make long term progress in this way, because once they are worn out and no longer able to animate themselves with zest, they lose the impetus to grow and develop. The real goal is keeping this zest, as this is the means of evolution.

Yes lots of people get big muscles first, but even a giant brick wall will develop cracks and fall down if the foundations and alignment are incorrect. And it is the same situation for Martial artists. Say, for instance, you are driving a stake into the ground. If you take the mallet and hit the stake off centre, it might bend. If you hit it dead centre it will drive into the floor creating a stable root. In the same way, if you direct pressure through the ground using gravity, aligned from head to toe, you will be much more structurally sound and dynamically stable (Steve Morris, the authority on the subject talks about alignment and whole body tension extensively on his website). On the other hand, if you contorts the body in all sorts of unnatural ways, without the means of stability stability, it’s only a matter of time before you damage your structure2.

How do we learn these “Fundamental” means of action? There is an imprint of how to move, breathe, and learn correctly inscribed within us. If we follow these intuitive pathways we can, with work, learn anything relatively easily to our own specifications. Think of the body as your instrument, you might be inspired by other peoples music, but you yourself produce the harmonies which resonate with your requirements and tastes. You might copy someone else at first, to create a stereotypical impression, but this is not the end of it. You continually develop. This will ensure you never lose interest and keep on growing, which itself is the only real indicator of success. When you train intuitively, all the knowledge is already in your possession you just need the inspiration and living examples around you to bring it out.

So what about adding our own flavour? After we have a fundamental knowledge of how to train and work, we can then add certain embellishments on top of this these forms we create. What Most Martial Arts practice involves is putting on the embellishments first, rather than making sure the basics are in order. It takes many years to learn to walk, so how do you suppose you can embody more complicated actions quickly? This just shows how much work needs to be done, and if the great fighters have to do this, how much more so for the rest of us?

In other words, many people go for the martial arts form without working on their body’s structural capabilities. Many of them go on about persevering through difficulty, and being patient, but in reality they are often looking for the easiest way to learn as many moves as possible to earn a certificate or belt. When you see a fighter in action, ask yourself “Does this form or style embrace universal principles of development and practice?” And, “Can I embody this practice so that it relates to everything else I do?” If not then it does not represent the truth3. There is no point is beating others up around you whilst your practice becomes devoid of meaning.

A true Martial Arts Master takes no interest in mechanical dead forms. There is no point because they do not relate to everyday matters of health and life. In fact they often ruin health because moving so violently without art or grace wears out the joints and causes fatigue. The temptation to stop developing, through pride, dogs the heals of even the best Martial artists until the end.

Routinised, meaningless practice has a terrible effect on health and energy. And then what weapons will you have when you are older and worn out? What will happen when your inner weapons of energy and enthusiasm has gone? You will have nothing. But if you learn to increase your health, training intensely for only short durations4, you will be able to have a profound effect on your abilities whilst not squandering your reserves on mindless work. Yes it is possible, through intelligent work, to remain healthy and vigorous even into old age. This is how you know you are following true Martial arts practice, you will increase your abilities, happiness, and senses.

To the extent that a form of martial arts is useful, you should integrate this with your everyday behaviours and gestures which underpin movements in all domains. Obviously, this works by degrees. Then martial arts simply becomes another way of moving more generally. You simply take the forms in homeopathic doses, letting them colour your existing movement repertoire, and receive a new expression of the same intuitive movements you already posses. Yes, because we already have within us the means to learn, intuitive movement, enthusiasm, and intelligence, combine all three and you will learn anything naturally.

All movements share intuitive gestures and actions with which we should mindfully engage in order to connect the dots between seemingly different activities. In this way throwing a ball, swinging a bat, etc., is fundamentally the same as throwing a punch or kick. They are different expressions of the same truth. It is up to us to become aware of these connections. To divide is to destroy, what you must do is unify everything. You divide up simply to analyse, and then it becomes part of the whole again. Otherwise it becomes dead and disconnected. This is why once analysed, it must come back into our being adapted to the wisdom of the body. We want to work on this wisdom of the body, in other words, to embody knowledge, but what we often end up doing is practicing nonsense. The form is merely the model to aim towards within a discipline, but the greater form, the true form, encompasses everything.

We practice according to a perfect model, that is a representation of the higher self. This mental model, and physical representation, is always better than we ourselves are. It assimilates what is useful, in other words the essentials, and discards what isn’t. These are the fundamentals, and the intuitive movements we all posses like walking and grabbing are used as building blocks. I have no objection to practcing a specific style, they are good as far as the go, but the problem of inner evolution and and progress cannot be solved by an existing physical forms. But back to fundamental building blocks.

A baby can learn to crawl, and then walk, and then run.But adults often have difficult applying the concept to even more advanced movements as they grow in intelligence and power. Because they fail to capitalise ion this, they stagnate and go backwards. Martial arts is just an extension, and evolution, of these basic fundamental actions. Once they are tapped into, these basic movements stimulate and trigger the development of more advanced skills such as punches and kicks. They are not simply new movements disconnected from previous learning.

The flowers of one plant spreads and multiplies new plants which then blossom into new flowers. In the same way humans learn one skill and then cultivate it until it is ready to spread into new domains. The whole thing then goes on and on again, even into later eras after the death of the practitioner. These ideas are then passed onto someone else and then come back to where they began, inside the individual. That individual is then in possession of certain knowledge that he must then pour out onto others. If the flowers are uninspired, dull, and disfigured no one looks at them and it is as if they never existed.

By helping other develop, you will find solutions to your own questions due to this effort applied to the process of “blossoming”. Others around you will be attracted to your flowers as a bee is around nectar. Naturally, this is how ideas spread. In this way your own practice will develop, fuelling your optimism and abilities. There is no escaping this process. I know that this may seem naive and childish, and it may not be taken seriously, because as everybody knows that you need to flatter people and quote recognised authorities, otherwise you don’t get anywhere. This just proves that despite of the hostility and hazards around you, you must keep fighting, and it is these trials if you like which oblige you to develop will power and evolve. I will go further to say that this is a blessing in disguise.

People tend to be happy one minute, unmotivated the next, always changing theirs moods and ideas. The least little problem knocks them off balance. This is why we need a high ideal, or if you like a perfect model to orientate ourselves towards. Compared to this ideal we are weak and ignorant. We keep failing, making mistakes, making enemies… We then think this weakness represents truth, and we bring everything down to this level. And then progress stops because we have focused on our lower nature and its insecurities rather than treating the high self as a living being. So many people have received so called wisdom in this form, and became disillusioned by it. They think “That’s just the way it is, I’ve invested so much time is this big lie, and since my livelihood depends on it I’ll just be the one to lie to others as I have been lied to”.

But perfection does not have an enemy, nor does it make mistakes or errors. Perfection, of course will never be achieved, it just orientates us in the right direction. That is why it is without form, and greater than form.

Like the earth around the sun, we must become “Centred” around the high ideal5 which inspires us and keeps us in motion, keeps us revolving. All people posses this faculty, but they often spend their whole life not knowing how to use it. Some people think that they must resemble exactly the perfect form, other believe that having an ideal is a waste of time because it can never be attained. But really it is something for our will power to strive towards, representing essential truths symbolised by martial arts practice. All the forms are merely different representations of the same truth.

Our will power must desire perfection, because it has an infinite scope which can reach far beyond physical limitations. Only the best satisfies it and will empower you towards real success, and by success I mean reach your full potential6. It does not matter if you achieve the ideal, but the important thing is to keep trying.

1 Steve Morris http://morrisnoholdsbarred.com/

2 Alignment and Tension exercises https://harmanater.com/2020/03/22/alignment-and-tension-exercises/

3 Which Moves? https://harmanater.com/2020/04/30/which-moves/

4 High Intensity Work and Balance https://harmanater.com/2020/07/05/high-intensity-work-and-balance/

5 The High Ideal https://harmanater.com/2020/07/26/the-high-ideal/

6 Will power https://harmanater.com/2020/05/10/will-power/

The True Meaning of Martial Arts

Posted on 18th May 2020 by joeharman8 | 13 min read | 180 views

“Weapons are instruments of ill Omen, despised by the Way of Heaven”
“What is gained or lost by winning of losing is trifling”
“It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil”
Yagyu Munenori

Despite what many people think, the true meaning of martial arts is not to maim or destroy your opponent. Neither is it to dominate others and reign victorious over them. No, instead the only enemy to overcome is yourself. “What kind of philosophical rubbish is this” you might say. “I want to be able to intimidate and impress people!” Let me assure you I have gone over every argument you could think of already, and more. At first sight, the self dominance and inner enemies may seem like an evasion of fighting spirit, a passivity and inertia. But in fact, it is the highest form of activity and intense training.

Whilst people may have injured you, or slighted you in some way, it is you who chooses to see them as the enemy. By the time many people realise this choice, it is often at the eleventh hour and they may end up in a very sorry state, having wasted years on trifling matters, ignoring what’s good for them. No matter, because these trials and errors are the only way the vast majority will learn. This is why it doesn’t matter how many mistakes you make along the way, how many beatings you take, and what poor circumstances you might find yourself in. The important thing is that you learn.

This is the path of water. It twists and turns, flows this way and that, crashes against the rocks, and endures turbulences. In the words of Bruce Lee and others, “Be like water”. Most people assume that a martial artist should be hard and tough like solid rock. This is a mistake because as time goes on a rock is worn down and erodes. How true this is of individuals, and of course to some extent all of us.

Water gains momentum as it journeys, and is adaptable and receptive to its changing outer environment. But it retains its essence. In fact, we are more like liquid than solid substances, or should be. Even when we put food in our mouths, it takes liquid salva to break it down and taste it. Don’t be like a rock, developing cracks as you are weathered by circumstances and unable to act fluidly. Water on the other hand retains its qualities and moves forward. Yes, be like water instead, constantly in motion

Many martial artists out there, fancying themselves as tough guys, go around dominating others with their overbearing attitude. This is a huge error, because there will always be someone bigger and tougher out there ready to take your place when you’re worn out and disillusioned. Unable to come to terms with this you’ll end up exhausted and embroiled in a losing battle. Just think of Napoleon. The world is not lacking in such types. This is not the way to spread your influence far and wide. What’s required is a kind of humility, a submission to higher reasoning.

Instead of bullying others and dominating them, I suggest making friends of enemies and showing them positivity. They will be so in awe of your generosity when all they have shown is bitterness or hatred, they will end up showing deference to you. And whilst some battles can’t be avoided, you should do your utmost to avoid them. This approach may take a while, but it is the ultimate form of victory in which everybody gains. The goal is to “entrance” an enemy as the Swordsman, and Zen artist Miyamoto Musashi put it, so that “adversaries themselves are influenced by this mood, becoming less enthusiastic”.

Miyamoto Musashi said “think of your adversaries as your own soldiers”. You might say “What nonsense is this?” I’m motivated by hatred of the enemy, he’s after what’s mine!” But it is not nonsense, because every interaction with others and their hostilities can be seen as a war, a situation requiring diplomacy and command. It is a mistake to just think that one day you might have to throw someone to the ground and that all the training is about one event. This is why Yagyu Munenori Said to “observe the dynamic of situations even in a group as an art of war”.

In fact, by showing your best side, you bring it out in others. This is what Myomoto Musashi referred to as infection. You must not let others infect you with their negativity, you must dynamically engage in positivity so that you are full in the presence of others, and unable to be filled. You must not be passive to the chaos of others. This is the only way to battle negativity: By being ceaselessly engaged in higher thoughts of an inspiring nature. Everybody has ordinary thoughts and is open to whims of doubt and aggression towards others. There’s nothing great or inspiring about any of this, it’s the norm. This is why it’s important to love what you do. No one is saying love what is bad in people, what I’m talking about is an impersonal love of the best possible outcome with the goal of achieving this. In this case through martial arts.

Not only does your vision of the world and other infect your opponent, it principally infects you. So why waste time on infecting yourself with negativity, when there is nothing to be gained in the long run? This is a technique in and of itself. Forget about all the drilling, and which punch is the best. Insistence on merely physical pedantries is itself a form of negativity, because it obscures any thought or discussion about the truth: Which is that the devil is in the details.

You could even say that criticising others on the basis of their technical skills is often a form of self deception, a form of self congratulation that you look better. None of that matters very much and distracts true progress. Just think how much time is wasted doing this! What’s important is to focus on concentrating all your efforts towards overcoming weakness in even the most seemingly insignificant events. The outer transformation will then take care of itself, there is no magic formula or ultimate system. It just takes time, and I assure you that even though others go racing ahead exploiting people around them, the reality is that they fade from the scene and end up losing ground.

Sun Tzu said “incitement must be given to vanquish the enemy.” Yagyu Renya said “Greet your opponent”, and Gichin Funakoshi said there is “No first attack in Karate”. Kyuzo Mifune said the soft beats the hard. It all means the same thing, symbolically speaking. This is the meaning behind turn the other cheek: You don’t give in and let them abuse you. You show the opponent your better more evolved side and win thereby. Many of the greatest truths seems contradictory, overly simplistic, or unintuitive, so people ignore them. But the reason for their simplicity is that they are universal principles and could apply to anything. Analysing them to death often makes you feel less in touch with them, so they have to be lived.

No one wants to face off against someone who they instinctively feel is high in the pecking order. It is impossible not too look up to someone who is a living example of all that is good. This is why the great masters of the past talked of the “empty sword” technique”. For a technique is an inner strategy, not an outer attack. Just as a goal is a process, not an outcome. This is why Musashi also said “intending to deal a powerful blow with the sword, you will not be successful… and will wind up being manipulated by others” Of course this takes a lot of practice, and no one devotes their time to this anymore. No wonder people give up on martial arts or don’t dedicate themselves to it as they used to, they’ve lost track of this rich source of inexhaustible wisdom!

Yagyu Munenori said “Keep the mind attentive”. What he meant by this is to keep it occupied with positive and constructive thoughts. He said don’t let the mind wander off. This is why such emphasis is placed on breathing and concentration on it. It is a means ready to hand to practice concentration on something essential, rather than dwelling on non essentials. Breathing should be rhythmic and brought to the level of consciousness, so that this rhythm can infect your organism and its processes. Breathing is an inner example of the to and fro motion of not lingering in one place that we should aspire towards. Keep the mind attentive towards such harmonious examples. When we concentrate on the non essentials, peripheral matters, we lose balance and perspective.

When we think of punishing someone, or how they have insulted us, we disrupt our breathing so that it becomes rapid. This can cause disordered functioning such as heart rate increase, anxious thoughts, and then a focus on trivial matters. This is how focus on outside things has a knock on effect to disrupt our internal equilibrium. Before you know it you are wound up by the most trivial of matters. You might tell yourself, “Well, that’s life!” But it is a mistake to think that life is about constant disorder and chaos. Sure, life is difficult and requires constant vigilance, but this is simply a pre requisite, a motivating force, to reach great heights. It’s the other side of the coin of success. There can be no fire without heat1.

When we are preoccupied by pettiness, material status, popularity, etc., this is our lower unconscious self, the instinctive side, asserting its influence2. It will convince you of all doom and gloom. But don’t let it devour you, let it feed the fire of success. The higher self, the conscious self, should exert influence over the lower self with its higher reasoning. This is what Sun Tzu meant when he referred to how the General must lead the troops and not the other way round. Using the analogy of War, the Art of War is actually a practical handbook to help solve many of the problems of existence. There’s an individual equivalent to this representation. The general is the intelligence, the troops are the instincts. In fact, the two self’s work as one, but usually the instincts are given the leading role!

By identifying with higher reasoning, create a high ideal, and think of all the most positive and grand inspiring ideas in your mind. Imagine yourself thriving there, as a powerful and courageous being. This is Jung’s archetypal God image3. In other words, you create an inner environment with everything you need to cultivate the inner man. By focusing on the inner environment you can influence the outer environment. Athletes call this “Imagery” training. They will tell you the environment and the self in it are very real. But for now, back to breathing.

Now rapid breathing isn’t necessarily bad for short periods of time, such as when under genuine threat or for example when exercising. The point is however, that most people today rush about in this frenzied state all of the time. This is why the monks and Yogis have insisted on breathing for thousands of years as a basis for concentration and exercise. By focusing on breathing through will power, you bring it to the attention of consciousness, rather than bringing to your consciousness disorder and worry.

The “Hara centre” or the solar plexus, solar referring to the centre, should be the focus of concentration. And so that by working with it you can synchronise your consciousness with the harmonious rhythms of breathing. That is, the breathing sets up everything else. It is then much easier to tune in on a wavelength conducive to thinking positive ideas. But instead modern man has chosen to analyse and make the focus of his life the very disorders that have arisen from undue focus on problems and negativity. He is the architect of his own destruction. This is what Musashi rereferred to as a sickness. Man then needs all sorts of distractions and stimulants just to feel alive or motivated.

In the context of martial arts people focus on technique, winning and losing, or reputation, etc., as they think this will set everything in order. According to this reasoning success is obtained from the outside. As I have reasoned here, success takes place first inwardly. Inner work isn’t just something to do when you have a spare ten minutes as most people view it. In this way, every challenge, and pitfall, can be tackled inwardly by mentally channeling outer stresses into positive constructive thoughts. This is the real battleground. Success at this will affect your breathing and therefore health, releasing constraints in the muscles and diaphragm for example. This then affects everything else.

I don’t need to tell you that there is constant occasion to practice inner work. Which is why there is no point going out and looking for medals, people to dominate, pats on the back, etc., the inner work is a relentless battleground of glory. Most people hope to obtain all sorts of material things hoping that this will clam them down and settle them. More often than not, the reverse is true: People begin to think they should have no need for inner work, and then when they find themselves depressed and anxious they feel bad about it. Because after all what do they have to be depressed about? They have the job, the car, and everything else. But ignorance and suffering is the natural state of man, it is success and intelligence that needs explaining.

The true martial arts master aims to bring about success by working on their inner thoughts and organs, such as breathing work, so that this harmony is brought to the level of consciousness. This is done rather than thinking about personal gratification and indulgence in comfort. Because the rhythmic breathing communicates this to the rest of the body, this is where they start. The brain perceives this state and conducts it through the nervous system. Call this “The Way”, “Nirvana”, “Infinite Wisdom” or whatever you like, it just means you a free from ignorance and the limitations around you. Instead, most people look to stimulate their nervous system with outside interventions, eroding the very foundation of their health and happiness.

By focusing on peripheral matters, you stray from the centre, or in other words, by focusing on effects you lose track of causes. For sure, no amount of focus and attention to the wrong thing can turn it into a beneficial good. I know that modern conditions aren’t very conducive to inner reflection, or even slowing down, but try to think and act in accordance with these laws whenever you get the chance.

References

1See Strength of Weakness https://harmanater.com/2020/03/12/strength-of-weakness/

2 See The higher and lower self in martial arts https://harmanater.com/2020/05/04/the-higher-and-lower-self-in-martial-arts/

3 See The Shadow and the Archetypal Man https://harmanater.com/2020/03/28/the-shadow-and-the-archetypal-man/