Tag: harmony

The Hara Centre

Posted on Last updated on by joeharman8 | 8 min read | 67 views

The Hara Centre, located just below the naval and between the hips, is a region responsible for enormous power generation. In fact, it isn’t a disconnected area but runs through the solar plexus and to the head. This is why, for optimal functioning, you will want to align the entire body correctly, for example when sitting and doing breathing exercises. In this way you will prevent any ” Chi Blockages”, which simply means trapped or dissipated energy which runs along this alignment connection. Steve Morris has often said that the hip and head, which act through “the spinal engine” should be worked on and aligned when delivering powerful hits.

The Hara Centre represents the bowls of the earth, symbolically speaking, from which energy can be drawn to send heavenward (To the head). This region can be dangerous for disciples who have not studied “The way”, that is the virtues, but once you have strengthened your character, you can plumb the depths. Feel free to ignore this advice but I think it’s prudent.

The Hara centre can be considered the true mind or body of knowledge, because when it has been fully developed and organised through breathing, mindfulness, and meditation practices, it becomes the authority which controls even the brain. Yes, because, really, the brain is a receiver which can form images and interprets sensations based on archetypal ideas which are then elaborated by experience. This is why artistic expression and creativity is so important. But it must follow certain rules. Anyway, at this point of unified understanding, the disciple can focus on any area he likes, for example the head or solar plexus, or even the arms and legs, because everything represents an interconnected whole. In other words they represent the same core, and spring from the same centre.

At the moment we tend to operate with an undeveloped Apparatus, with the head, solar plexus, and Hara Centre not doing their job properly as a unified triforce. In this state, nothing works as it should. Modern man is overburdened by cognitive activity and is constantly overanalysing, in everything from how to perform various actions, to how he looks on social media. And when he goes to the gym he is often just going though the motions paying no attention at all to how anything feels. However, when you align all these centres I’m talking about you will feel better able to breath properly and nourish better thoughts. It will then not matter what is going on externally. In this way the Brain can be used for its proper job: to intuitively sense what it has to do when, say, you are training Martial arts. You will have a superabundance of energy as the burden of work is shifted to a bigger generator.

Sun Tzu says “If a general who is strange to the troops punishes them, they cease to obey him”. This means, symbolically speaking that the fighter who does not attach himself to his troops loses their confidence. In other words, if your general (The Hara Centre) does not work properly with the troops (the body and brain), then they “cannot be usefully employed”. This is why there must be harmony in the relations between each of the centres and the body. It then becomes clear what you have to do, even if you don’t technically know all the details.

Disciples often wait for the coming of the Messiah, and if you wait and patiently make yourself receptive to the subtle energies of the Hara centre, you will get a visit sooner or later. But there is no point in waiting if you have not done the work or are looking in all the wrong places. That is why, from now on I recommend you work with the Hara Centre and its related lines of energy not only during training but in all activity. All the technical knowledge takes second, or even third, fourth or fifth place to this.

Whether it experiencing an intensive Harmony of Spirited action, a Controlled Gesture, or a contemplative meditation, it’s all the same. The important thing to remember is that there must be unity in thought, desire, action, and feeling. When you feel this centre is activated in your practice, allow if to take possession of you. When you do this often, it will begin to accompany you in everything you do throughout the day, and therefore it is easy to draw upon this force at will. In other words, you will begin to relate to it as the centre of being. For those that are ready, there is a whole way of practice to totally immerse themselves in, which is more certain than any form of objectively measurable progress. The more you are able to observe this state and conform to it, the more you will understand abstract ideas and forms alter and arrive at truth.

So Instead of acquiring new moves or increasing your fitness, think instead more about changing your perceptions and interactions between the parts and the whole. In other words cultivate the faculty of mindfully going about the most mundane activities. In this condition you will be able to spend decades drawing inspiration from and practicing even the most basic and form or move without ever losing interest or motivation.

The Brain is not designed to stand up to fretting and worrying, and due to this overloading and burdening exhausts itself in anxiety. This is why it is important to regain control over our Hara Centre, so that the burden of activity, and even the problems of existence itself can be overcome. If the Masters of the past we able to become tireless and almost all powerful, it was not because of brain power, calculations or huge muscles. No, instead it was because they were able to concentrate, develop and strengthen the life centre, the centre of gravity, the roots of the earth. The hara Centre represents these roots.

The Bulgarian spiritual Master Omraam Mikael Aivanov says that the secrets of the Hara Centre were well know to all ancient religions and and Sages of the past. Jesus says “From out of the believers belly shall flow the rivers of the living Water”. The Shaolin Drunken boxers even become intoxicated on this water, where they experience an unorthadox balance of grace and explosive power. The Hindu Sages tell us that Shiva, who represents the brain, was the “Destroyer of reality”. The Chinese system of Tai Chi says that their is an energy channel, known as a “Chi pathway” which travels from the Hara centre and out of the crown of the head. As such, when this pathway is fully operational and aligned, the Disciple is “Held by a fine golden thread” from the crown. This thread represents a spiritual thread, a link to heaven, through which almost supernatural powers are granted to the disciple in the form of increased Vitality, power, and Health.

As I have just said, the brain is very much dependant on the signals it receives from the Hara Centre. This is why by focusing and concentrating on the Hara Centre, through meditation and breathing exercises for example, the Brain is able to function more smoothly and harmoniously without nervous agitation and fatigue. This is why it is so important to make sure that the centres of the head, solar plexus, and Hara are able to work as a unified whole. It is then possible to say, concentrate on breathing, or head positioning for optimal posture, from a position of an active Hara Centre. For example, it can be helpful to concentrate on the diaphragm to feel the sensations of breathing, or the chakra in the back of the head which produces an intense surge of energy. Moderation in the latter is advised therefore.

Even if you think this is all spiritual nonsense, if you decide to cultivate this area of practice, you may begin to see that this is the only kind of practice there is. Because we can only maintain an attitude of optimism and progress if we are on the right path. And this path follows many routes, and has many different manifestations, but all lead to the same inner unity.

What I am saying is that the proper measure of whether your meditations, breathing exercises, or martial arts techniques are correct is not whether you can pulverize somebody or look superficially correct. Instead, each of these exercises should awaken and develop this triforce of nature, the head2, the solar plexus, and the Hara Centre. This is not so much something that you achieve with a rigid posture of technique, but is a “felt sense”, as Eugene Gendlin puts it. Yes, because through the intermediary of feeling we can begin to understand.

The deeper mysteries of reality are not seen with our eyes, but are instead felt. In Hindu Philosophy the eyes are said to reveal a false reality of our physical surroundings, or “Maya”1. The full reality is brought to bear when the Hara Centre is developed. Only then can we begin to accurately mentally construct reality (the brain) with our creative imagination and full array of faculties. Otherwise we are held captive by an ugly imposter which sits at the throne. This is the true enemy3.

References

1Signs and Symbols in Martial arts Part 2 https://harmanater.com/2020/06/06/signs-and-symbols-part-2-pedagogy-and-the-art-of-war/

2 Alignment and tension exercises https://harmanater.com/2020/03/22/alignment-and-tension-exercises/ . Here I have mainly used examples from Steve Morris.

3 The True Meaning of Martial Arts https://harmanater.com/2020/05/18/the-true-meaning-of-martial-arts/

The Economics of Martial Arts Part 1

Posted on Last updated on by joeharman8 | 13 min read | 49 views

Economics involves the distribution and use of scarce resources. Now, using up scarce resources so that they don’t materialise into anything more is a waste. We see this all the time, even amongst professional athletes. This concept of using up resources is clear from the simple fact that if we do not use up oxygen effectively we die. Similarly, in Martial Arts Training, if we do not allocate our energies effectively the outcomes will be less than impressive, even if we are trying hard and engaging in intensive work.

It is often thought that to get anywhere in professional Martial arts that you have to cheat and ingratiate yourself with key figures within the industry in order to gain privileges. From there, you are obliged to use up all your energies and resources for short term capital returns, in the form, say a title belt or money. Along the way you get a certain amount of physical abilities, tools of the trade. However, what is the point of all this if you are left impoverished, that is, injured and worm out, by the end of a short career?

In a sense, the organisation you are working for as a professional is like a shop. You are encouraged to spend, waste even, all your resources in the superstore. You are then rewarded with all sorts of membership deals, services, and reward schemes. In another sense, you become an advertising board, or a franchise shop. In yet another sense, you are given the opportunity to surpass yourself as something bigger and better. Depending on how you look at it, all of this is true. The important thing to remember, is that you will naturally want a return on your investment, that is, something better than you started out with rather than being conned into something with hidden long term liabilities. You might say “Well, in this fast paced world we have to just grab any opportunity we can”. Maybe, but it can at least be helpful to have your eyes open.

The thing to do is to use your energies and forces in such a way that you capitalise on the returns. For example, if you work hard what you get back should be more valuable than the time and effort you gave up. Training in such a technical manner as many people now do, you give up all your time and energy and the result is purely technical knowledge. The consequence of such superficial knowledge is often increased laziness and decreased personal initiative, which is a cost. In other words, you may gain some technical knowledge but you undermine the source of your own wealth – initiative, inquisitiveness, discovery, etc.

There is an eternal battle raging between the rich and the poor. The rich are said to keep the poor down, and the poor are envious of the rich. However, the rich don’t always stay rich for long if they hoard up all their resources. This is why you must keep giving away your skills, so that each time your practice is as if for the first time. That is, you must rid yourself of old habits and evolve ceaselessly. In this way, think of yourself as an entrepreneur who is ceaselessly investing his capital into new enterprises which, although you might not know what future developments may bring, end up surpassing the previous ones, even if you lose a couple of investments here and there. It is the daring effort to do this and never give up that is the true wealth.

If for example, you eat too much food and don’t use the resources it gives you, you will grow fat and lazy. Similarly, if you don’t develop your skills but instead live off the existing capital, without expanding your enterprise, you may well end up losing what you have worked for. In the same way, the rich who do not provide much need goods services to the relatively poor will find themselves in trouble. In this way, you should seek to give to the poor, or if you like those in need of your expertise, all that you have acquired. The poor then benefit from the rich and eventually become the rich who help the poor, instead of the rich simply exploiting the poor and the poor remaining helpless as is often the case. Then each individual will be like a nation passing through the industrial period into the new horizons of the future. In other words, weak people may suffer for a time but end up better off if they unite under the right conditions.

People get rich, generally speaking, by working hard and finding a service to provide in the market. Yes people get lucky, inherit money, etc., but generally speaking this is how it works. The mistake they often make is to lose motivation in this as they get more comfortable and lose their edge. The result is that they become lazy, flabby, and unenthusiastic, lose their zest for life, their impetus, and then can no longer enjoy the process of becoming enriched. This benefits no one. All they can then do is sit on their material wealth and squander it on amusements rather than developments, even though that does not bring them the happiness they had as captains of industry, or a leader. In other words, they rested on their laurels and became inwardly poor as a consequence of hoarding wealth. as you can see what happens on the large scale is true for the individual, both on the physical and mental level.

On the other hand, Many people who have never had to work hard or use their initiative to surpass themselves have remained poor and idle all their lives. They were too comfortable, preferring instead to remain idle, self satisfied and comfortable. This is what most people want, time to amuse themselves with pleasures a material gain. The problem is that this way of life kills their spirit and enthusiasm and they settle for mediocrity. And it has such a grip on people that it drives out all memory of anything more inspiring and noble.

What I am proposing is that you use all the motivation and determination to enrich yourself to reach a high ideal. You use all the means available to the capitalist to enrich yourself inwardly according to a glorious ideal, rather than just money a title, or comfortable arrangements. In this way you make the method of the capitalist the goal of your behaviour to reach the ideal of the communist. Symbolically speaking, you become the serpent eating its own tail, by uniting two polar opposites2. The two philosophies are not mutually exclusive according to this perspective.

Instead of the goal being some title and then stagnating after you’ve got it, aim for the stars and beyond using the means of determination, perseverance, and willpower3. These know no limits so there is no need to be ‘realistic’, so long as you are inspired and enlivened constantly. In this way it doesn’t matter if the ideal is unrealistic because the consequence it has on the human psyche has the effect of bringing about greater harmony than simply going with what’s immediately viable. In this way you make your training and development the priority and place the ‘goods and services’ you produce, such as skills and abilities, at the service of this inexhaustible ideal. Unless the ideal is beyond reach it will be realised and progress will stop. And to be inspiring enough humans, I would argue, need a goal which allows them to transcend themselves.

Once you have adopted this attitude, you are then free to become a communist in the true sense of looking out for others, providing for them, and treating everyone as part of a brotherhood. Even those who get in your way force you to develop and evolve, opening your eyes to new challenges4. Your enemies are often your true friends. The capitalist within you gets richer, and you pass on your abilities and skills to others, via the goods and service you continually turn over. Because old ideas are thrown on the scrapheap and you are obliged to evolve with the times, and you are continually required to work and surpass yourself, using your old products as fertiliser and manure for your new fields of production3. So you even also become an environmentalist in your mental life.

As you can see, for me at least, their is no irreconcilable differences between capitalism and communism. They are simple a duality within a unified whole, two polar opposites working for the same cause5, and the more you develop one aspect the more corresponding demand this places on the opposite aspect. It all depends on the perspective you view the whole from.

If you are concerned only with one thing, say, capitalism, then you will probably not look any higher to see how, further up the hierarchy, it springs from the same source as communism. To me this is obvious but it seems most people would rather be at each others throats. Just seeing how upset everyone gets about it says it all. Consider that the more skills and abilities you develop within your capitalist enterprise, the greater the demand there is for a corresponding spirit of communism to share your ideas. Otherwise you’ll just hoard the goods and never get them onto the market and contribute to evolution. And the greater the supply of your work in spirit of community, the greater will be the demand for your products, because others will be enriched, if only by your attitude.

And so, when you are a true capitalist, you are at the same time required to become a communist. If you have a great abundance of wealth and never share it, you just end up despised by others. It is only natural, because you will inspire envy and act as a model of selfishness. You then have to watch your back constantly, because of this. This becomes quite draining and saps you of enthusiasm and will power over time, in other words the source of your wealth. This is why so many fighters lose their edge, because they get so puffed up and look to dominate others, that they lose all perspective. Their own arrogance turns them as weak and vulnerable as someone who has never trained a day in their life. When people accumulate too much, they are often as unhappy as the ones who possess nothing. And if no one likes you or wants anything to do with you, you are obliged to hide away as a recluse because their is no demand for you. Therefore the capitalist mentality by itself is often very counterproductive, even if it appears to be the way to go for a short time.

Or, you might just become so bored and disgusted with yourself, because trampling all over others to get to the top of the pile tends to have a corrosive effect on character and self worth. So it is then that you are required to become a communist, in mentality, by offering a service to others of some kind, if only to selfishly save your own skin. Then you are not depriving anyone of anything, you simply convert the resources at your disposal to the service of others. It then doesn’t matter what people think of you, so long as you stay true to this cause and continue in your work, you are saved and invigorated daily. Why not extend this attitude across your whole life? Leave the others to their whining and boasting.

The best way is the middle ground, where you develop both your capitalistic tendencies and your communist side equally. Inside us there is an inner capitalist who creates wealth, symbolically speaking. This is achieved by working on your skills and abilities, often single mindedly without the community having much of a say. You have then satisfied your selfish tendencies rather than supressing them. The inner communist then distributes these goods to the community. They are often transmitted indirectly, through your motivated attitude and enthusiasm that you bring to the table in the occupation of your choosing, which may otherwise be dull and uninspiring. In this way you will be enriching your own otherwise mediocre day to day life even if nobody is receptive to you “goods” or products.

The capitalist within will want to hoard everything for itself, but don’t listen, the communist side should be in charge of distribution. On the other hand, the communist side will want to distribute before the goods have been made competitive. In other words, the inner communist will be so eager to share that it will want goods on the market which don’t benefit anyone and therefore don’t make anyone’s lives any better. So the inner capitalist must not listen to the inner communist as far as innovation and drive are concerned. In other words our drives and ambitions serve the communist ideal so that they are not purely selfish, but should never be killed off. The communist side leads the capitalist side and directs it. It is like a person riding a horse, they should never be led by the horse but must dominate and handle it, so that they can travel great distances.

On the smaller scale using in the example of martial arts practice, it is not the move that is important but the energy transmitted through it. In other words, if the drive and ambition to produce a powerful attack are there, and the senses supporting this are educated by hard work and knowledge, then the outcome will be a vigorous and lively technique. This is why I don’t personally care about form or technique, a person could never have practiced any form or martial arts and still have adopted the right attitude and I would congratulate them as a true fighter. If an inventor wants to bring an innovative product to the market, he needs inspiration and learning, drive and educated work, to bring it to fruition. The very next day he needs to do the same if he wants to continue evolving, otherwise his wealth, that is his inspiration and drive will dry up, even if yesterday he changed the world. We mustn’t be stifled by the past, but instead should make sure out present conditions are conducive to the future progress we want.

It is absolutely normal to want to posses power, knowledge, wealth, and all the rest of it, it is just the primitive instinctive side that often needs educating to better serve the wider sphere of life. In the true sense, we shouldn’t think of communism and capitalism as two opposing notions. For me this is absolutely clear. For example, I spend half the day working and serving others, and then the other half I spend developing myself and my capabilities so that I can continue to help and apply myself to the benefit of others. I don’t really concern myself with my own little ideas about what I would rather do, this is just the best way to demand the most from my efforts whilst supplying the best of myself, as far as I’m concerned. If I wanted to give without possessing anything then that would be of no use to anyone.

References

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

2 Signs and Symbols in Martial arts part 2 https://harmanater.com/2020/06/06/signs-and-symbols-part-2-pedagogy-and-the-art-of-war/

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

4 Self defence without Violence https://harmanater.com/2020/06/14/self-defence-without-violence/

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

Fight Chaos, live in Harmony.

Posted on by joeharman8 | 12 min read | 47 views

Those who attempt to delve into the chaos of violence without having developed a defence against it, run the risk of being totally overwhelmed. If you identify with the aggressor, or the hostility of others, then it may be more than one can bear. This point is rarely talked about, but nothing is more important. Identify with a great goal instead of conditioning yourself to disorder and chaos. If you do this, you need not talk about your accomplishments. Even if you are a champion of this or that, there is always the danger that others will be drawn to you simply to take your scalp, symbolically speaking. Either that or they will think you an arrogant egomaniac.

Another reason for not displaying your achievements for all and sundry is that people will simply expect you to solve all their problems, and teach them to become strong. whilst an instructor is necessary, what will become of you in the midst of such dependency? You will feel less and less inspired. “That’s life” they say. Unfortunately, far too many champions end up losing all their time and energy to those around them who sap them of their inspiration and energy for all sorts of mundane reasons. Better to tread the path of silence so that your progress remains better protected. Contrary to what people think, it doesn’t always take a great and powerful individual to bring down a giant. This is a form of self defence, and who’s to say it’s any less demanding then the usual kind.

A lot of champions, supposing they can take on the world, reckon themselves able to take on anything life throws at them as they crush those in their path. They begin to identify with chaos and disorder. And when they fall, they suppose it was down to bad luck. No, it was often because they had absorbed themselves in endless outer struggles without developing the polar opposite: Harmony and balance within. Because the greater your achievements within the chaotic arena of competition, the greater the demand for harmony.

I have personally known some champions who, however great they were, only remained this way for a time, eventually succumbing to disillusionment and burnout. After that it was as if they never amounted to anything beyond ordinary achievement. They reign for a certain time, and then pass on the mantle of their legacy to someone else, a prodigy. Either that or someone bigger, younger and stronger simply usurps them having waited in the wings. You must take great care to not let this happen to you, and if it does to remedy the situation. But that’s just how it is in relentless competition with others, unless of course you move beyond the pathological idea of dominating others and seek instead to master yourself. This is the true goal of martial arts. Instead over the years, too many fighters let their instinctive urges grow out of all proportion which later becomes self destructive.

The man in the street does not understand why so many champions come to a bad end. They suppose that a champion is immortal an immune to the turbulence of everyday life. Equally, they assume that the martial arts master who spends his days dreaming in the mountains is delusional. Whilst many teachers may simply hide from reality, afraid to relate to ordinary people, some of them are very much grounded and wise. But a true master does not hide from those around him, who may even be antagonistic towards him. What is the point in developing certain needed talents if nobody is around to be inspired by them? Whilst others may not be receptive to their teachings, Masters are able to walk among even criminals and depraved men. Because he sees them as an example of why he is needed1.

Many champions hope to simply last long enough to live a lazy life of luxury. This is normal, but far from inspiring. Rather than crushing opposition and escaping to a mansion with all the riches he has acquired, a true champion or master can live amongst all kinds of people without disturbing his inner balance. He is thereby capable of giving good advice and transforming those in need, particularly if he becomes an instructor, rather than being afraid of being soiled by their influence. Hiding away from the public is no different from a hermit like existence. Instead he should come out and face the world with his radiant presence, and then retreat to solitude to recharge his batteries.

If you want to face the violence of others without being absorbed into their chaos, then I strongly suggest cultivating harmonious imagery in your mind. This acts as a counterweight to the polar opposite which is chaos. Not aimless dreaming about winning some match, or having an easy slovenly life, but imagery and sensations inspired by a high ideal, such as perfection. For example, you can imagine yourself climbing to a mountain summit, and bathing in a lake with the sun reflecting off the calm waters.

But developing harmonious imagery is just the first step. Once you have arrived at a state of inner peace, you are free to simply feel the sensations of peace and tranquillity wash over your being, in a way the minds eye is not capable of doing. If you lose this sensation simply start by contemplating a lovely tranquil scene again. Whilst you can do this for at least a few minutes during the day when stressed, why not extended this exercise to hours if you can? Thoughts that are meaningless and do not inspire positive sensations will either not make much of an impression or simply increase anxiety. Think only the most inspiring thoughts of harmony.

So I do not recommend thinking of all the plotting and scheming of those potential rivals around you, and all the betrayal that might lie ahead. In as much as this is likely to happen if you achieve something important, it is through meditating on positive inspiring things that the energy to face problems is generated and renewed. Once you have perceived these ideas as symbols in the mind, you can move on to simply feeling these things. Or if you like seeing them in the spiritual sense, feeling the presence of something beautiful and harmonious. This is a form of meditating on a high ideal with which you can unite yourself. This is the higher self at work, and from there you can take the perspective of an observer and identify with this nature which is above and beyond physical form.

Many people scoff at the idea of contemplating harmony, claiming that it’s for weaklings who can’t face reality. When actually, it is based on a a cause and effect understanding of how to maximise energy to take on demanding work. In other words, if we perceive inspiring thoughts that are physical eyes don’t have access to we imprint the harmonious effects onto our organism. This is so that it is more receptive to energy development and therefore work, rather than being bogged down by mundane concerns. This of course requires will power, a tireless perseverance, which although consciousness is energy demanding, it increases our capacity for energy generation2. And in any case the thought of powerlessness and dependence on material circumstances is far more draining, believe me! It is this process that will empower us to face problems.

I repeat, to maximise your potential it is important to think of harmonious conceptions, and sensations. In this way you turn your relaxation time into work. Many people fail to relax properly because, having so much to do, they are always on the go. Whereas if you can work towards your ideal even whilst relaxing and regenerating you will not feel like you are falling back each time you recuperate and rest3.

Humans have a need to outdo themselves and continue their development ceaselessly. It is not this idea that should be changed but the way we go about it. I advise trying to become aware of your everyday behaviours and how they enhance or deplete your reserves. Living an honest, upright, and noble life will make you more open to positive thinking and inspiring thoughts. In order to protect your development work hard and commit to whatever enhances your progress. I have nothing against people winning belts, certificates, or whatever else, but my goal, my ideal if you like, is to instruct others to see success in the highest sense of the word.

Just as it is possible to be badly effected by say, a bad nights sleep and the dreams you might have had, it is also possible to effect yourself by means of your waking thoughts. This is what I advise doing: making your waking dreams a lived reality. Think of yourself as a person in the future who has already moved beyond the problem in hand. As this is a necessary precondition of making a problem a thing the past. So don’t go round fighting the outward appearance of some evil by supposing that is your only option. This is a sure way of becoming entrenched in a problem and enslaving yourself to outward appearance. Instead relate yourself to a future successful being, and feel what it feels. In this way you make the present the future.

When something bad happens, ask yourself “am I going to let this moment define me, or should I identify with the person of the future, or a symbol of that?” Then tell yourself “The person of the future has grown and developed from trials and tribulations, and by imagining myself as that person today I have contributed to my development in the future”. Because the present moment is an inseparable aspect of the future, starting now. Equally, by extending present misfortunes into the future, you create that future misery. That is the point of detachment, not to ignore what’s going on but to view it from the perspective of someone who has already overcome the present, transcended it even. It is detachment only from the physical present constraints, not a void of all being. This is why the Hindu Spiritualists refer to the present reality as an illusion, or Mayer.

Reality is not really an illusion, but what appears before our eyes often is. Don’t think, feel” as Bruce Lee once said. After all, the real reality is what we feel. Just try telling a genuine master that he’s already surpassed everyone else and there is no more work to do. In fact, many champions do just this and lose all drive to develop themselves. By resting on their laurels and taking external conditions as reality, they fell for an illusion. Whereas, with a genuine Master his convictions to ceaselessly enhance his capabilities are not an illusion, even if right now he has not realised this goal, materially speaking. Yes, the goal for improvement should be so lofty that it can’t ever be reached, because this is what drives the man. You kill the drive and what he lives and stands for and you kill the man. How can you convince someone who experiences the strong conviction to master himself that this is an illusion? His present conditions might be terrible, but he can never doubt his convictions, for he lives them.

Instead, so many people chose to see something and feel nothing. Let us take a straightforward example. Many martial artists look at themselves training and read instructions about how to punch properly. But what is the point in all that if you don’t get a body ‘feel’ of what you’re doing? Instead they feel all sorts of rage and over excitement and hope that the technique will be powered by this.

Whilst this cocktail of emotions will supercharge an attack, I don’t advise training like this for long. First of all it will disrupt your mental balance, and secondly the instinct to destroy whats in front of you is highly primitive and can only be cultivated at the expense of being dragged down. Whilst you may destroy the opponet, you will likely sap yourself rather than nourish your energy.

Instead instincts such as aggression should be put to work to fuel high intensity work. This high intensity work should be aimed at perfecting yourself and your craft, so that you become a symbol of perfection, rather than becoming a killing machine. This is to ensure that you keep your inspiration and give meaning to your life. Also, instead of looking at the superficial aspects of a technique, get a sense of what it feels like to perform the work and relate to that feeling rather than the form. By getting an inner feel for a move at high intensity, this will make a greater impression than routine exercises devoid of low intensity. Intensity is key, if even for a moment4. Quality over quantity.

It is time people understood what the point of martial arts is. Far too many think that it is a school for developing physical strength, perfect form, and to satisfy their instinct to dominate others. But as far as I’m concerned, this isn’t what it’s about at all. Yes we have to overcome obstacles, and even fight for our existence. You need not have any special powers, certificates, or title belts to commit yourself to this work. All you need is the conviction to strive to improve yourself, no matter the material results. This is the path to greater self mastery.

References

1 Self defence without Violence https://harmanater.com/2020/06/14/self-defence-without-violence/

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

3 Active Relaxation https://harmanater.com/2020/04/27/active-relaxation/

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

High Intensity Work and Balance

Posted on by joeharman8 | 9 min read | 24 views

One of the reasons for training is to develop strength and power through high intensity work. However it is often the case that those engaged in high intensity work completely over do it. High intensity work, by which I mean 100% effort, is actually a kind of stress on the body. But it does you good if it is performed in short bursts over a small time period. For example, a one hundred metre sprint takes an athlete just over, say ten seconds. However they would not do this over and over again or for much longer than ten seconds. And for good reason – it is hugely taxing on the body.

Now the most important aspect of fitness is health, or harmony within the body. In other words your strength, endurance, energy levels, and all other aspects of health should all be in accord. This is all achieved by living sensibly and actively. High intensity work improves your capacity to do this. Unfortunately, many people are completely out of tune with health, and have instead bolstered some aspects of fitness at the expense of overall health. This lack of balance eventually leads to wear and tear and a decline in capabilities. And therefore health. It is therefore wise to take care of all this before injury occurs and health declines.

What I do is, whenever I train I try to reach my highest intensity of work by doing no more than a few minutes on the heavy bag. I go for intensity over duration, and in short bursts. For example, I might do a minute or so and then rest, and then go for it again. Of course I warm up a bit and practice a few concepts and skills before getting to work. I then do all sorts of things like walking, everyday activities like gardening, and breathing exercises, sport, etc., to fill the day. Once again, high intensity work, or a short duration, improves my capacity to do everything else. You might say “Only a minute? That’s nothing, professionals do twelve 3 minute rounds!”.

Yes, I admit I’m nowhere near the fitness levels of some athletes, and I tell myself the same thing daily, as I am just as concerned as anyone of still not attaining my goals This forces me to work twice, or three times as hard within a small time frame, because I have other things to do. To do huge quantities of low level work is easy, to condense this down is another matter. All those people who want to be champions of this or that are obliged to push themselves towards performing huge amounts of intense work that can’t be maintained. They may get away with it for a while, but not for long. Of course they limit themselves and stagnate eventually, by getting worn out. And yet these are the people who everyone looks to for advice!

Many people talk of having survived life threatening situations, but I wonder how many of them have any idea of how to train for the urgency required. Having been in these situations myself, I can tell you that the experience is so intense and only lasts a few seconds before things get life threatening and you are killed. So I train to condense everything down to this time frame. Yes, you must condense it all down to a smaller time frame to increase the demand for quick decisive action. However nobody does this, or thinks its beneficial. Instead they go about doing whatever every other Tom, Dick, or Harry are doing.

It is situations of extreme urgency which give you the intense desire to change and improve the mundane training practices adopted by the many. Perhaps quite a few experience this, perhaps without analysing it much, but they often abandon their new found motivation after a day or two.

If you cannot devote as much time to training as a professional athlete, or you think you’re not any good, you must try to achieve the same intensity of work. And then you will be able to achieve the same output as someone else who has more time to devote to one thing at the expense of everything else. Yes, you might not have the same capacity for repetitive work in one narrow discipline, but you will be able to work at the same intensity. Intensity is what counts. This is important because you will gain the same benefits of strength, and power.

The health benefits that come from high intensity work are numerous. Increased defence against disease, more vitality, higher energy levels, etc., but don’t over do it, because it will wear you down. It’s not enough to “leave it all in the gym” and then flop in front of the sofa. No, that just means you have stripped yourself of energy and probably lowered your immune systems defences. Instead go for quality over quantity. That way the high intensity work will increase the body’s demand for energy, which sets the ground for increased health. There will therefore be an increased supply of beneficial forces acting on the body’s capabilities, preparing it for greater work. It’s an inescapable cause and effect process.

As soon as you go beyond your limits in an attempt to go do what you’re not capable of doing, things fall apart. You pay the price, in injury or burnout. What else can be expected? Many people try to “push through” when they “hit a wall”, and at this point they’re not even interested really. Sapped of energy they lose motivation, which carries on to the next session, and the one after that. They then come to associate hard work with depletion of reserves and boredom. In that case walk away and come back to it another time revitalised. The only reason Martial arts becomes boring is because people lose motivation in this way. They practice for hours on end when they should have looked after their health and developed themselves before even attempting high intensity work. Instead they jump straight in!

And things often go from bad to worse. Training is increasingly moving away from a more balanced approach, and people are become more driven to overdo everything, whilst achieving nothing. Wherever you look people are mimicking some guru who insists they go beyond their limits. What usually happens of course is that people work at a very low intensity, because they have run out of energy. And then no amount of work can replace the energy which is not given time to replenish. They are forced to work at a slovenly pace because they haven’t put in the real work of maintaining health and balance. They are then congratulated for at least giving it a good go.

Don’t bother focusing on some magic exercise programme to do the work for you. There is no secret technique or wise sage to do this work for you. Focus on intensity, and then in one stroke you will have achieved health benefits as well as power and fitness. Sure you won’t be as big as some people in the gym, who, in any case are usually fatter than they are muscular, but you will be on the right track. And don’t bother learning loads of combinations in the hope that you can then perform them quickly with no effort. It can’t be done, and takes much too long, a whole lifetime would not be enough time to learn everything bit bit bit. You would have to pick one discipline, learn all the moves, and the other indispensable techniques would be neglected.

This is what I do: I don’t bother increasing my fitness by doing boxing combinations, and then Muay Thai drills, etc., it would be a waste of time. I’m interested only in intensity. I perform the basic skills, and sometimes I go over them more slowly and deliberately, but if my only goal is to work at one hundred percent effort, this forces me to put together any number of combinations within a very small time frame seamlessly. It happens naturally if the desire is there. This forces me to pick out the most important skills because every second counts. Just try being fast and powerful if you are exhausted and fatigued, you won’t succeed. And for no other reason than because you tried to push beyond your limits for too long.

I would leave all skills practice more or less alone. Don’t bother with the drills anymore, at least when doing high intensity work. “How can you give such bad advice”. Whilst no martial arts expert would advise this, I am a generalist, and therefore we aren’t singing from the same hymn sheet. Take a few moves here and there by all means, but son’t suppose you will perform them well without intent to work at one hundred percent effort. I cannot stress this enough, you must be intent on supply maximum effort. The technique will then take care of itself. Obviously there are people who don’t do this and still do well, but they could do better.

People often say to me “I used to do boxing”, or “I used to be good at such and such a martial art, but today I’m injured and don’t have the time”. The reason is that you devoted too much time to the wrong thing. I remember reading that Steve Morris, who is in a league of his own when it comes to martial arts, said that he thinks “intensity intensity intensity”. And that he trains for a few minutes at a time at maximum intensity. There you have it. Instead people get addicted to drudge work, which eventually erodes away their abilities, because it’s not intelligent work.

Instead you should accept that intensity boosts your bodies defences and increases its durability. This is self defence against the greater enemies of overwork, burnout and stagnation. So what I recommend is to do all the exercises you want but focus on intensity within a short time frame. High intensity effort and work is the force that will boost all your capabilities to do all the other exercises. It is as if your body collective system says “We need to up our game!”. And then the adaptation to greater challenge takes places as time goes on. That is provided it is given proper rest afterwards and isn’t pushed beyond its capabilities too far or for too long.

Self Defence without Violence

Posted on by joeharman8 | 9 min read | 29 views

“Disciples should not be preoccupied with their own faults or those of others. When they study someone, they should seek out the good within him. The good lies deep within, and must be found.”

Peter Deunov

How do you become strong, powerful, and dynamic without descending into chaos and violence? How do you live an intense life, without being destroyed or going too far as so many have? These are some of the most profound questions that Martial arts Masters and philosophers have grappled with for centuries. Some such Masters understood that by giving themselves over to violence and chaos, which may seem pleasurable, an individual eventually develops their worst tendencies within, and to top it all off: self deception to justify such behaviour.

Many fighters strut about with an arrogant attitude towards others, even when no one is being hostile to them. This belligenerant attitude is often developed as a protective shell. It is is aimed towards others, as a means of warding off opponents, but actually ends up developing the very antagonism in others that they work so hard to fight. It’s a case of the old general who always fighting the last war. In other words the aggression seen in others, directed towards us, is often a result of our behaviour, a reflection, rather than a separate constituent part of the process. Put differently, people are aggressive towards us because we are at the same time aggressive towards them. Aggressive behaviour, then, must be combated at the source: Ourselves.

Many instructors will tell a young student “You simply do such and such a move to overcome an attacker”. And that’s the end of it. However, many people want to learn to overcome their sense of inferiority, not simply react against an antagonist to feel tough. However, It is often this sense of inferiority that is displaced onto other individuals rather than dealt with properly. Soon the supercharged ego, fueled by winning at all costs, finds enemies everywhere. When one opponent disappears another quickly takes their place in the form of somebody looking at them the wrong way, or chatting up their girlfriend, or whatever. Then you will have a horrible inner monster to contend with. This is the real enemy, and the battle against this is the very definition of “inner martial arts”.

By feeding kill or be killed attitude many fighters end up becoming the very thing they despise, because there is a certain reciprocal relationship between the antagonist and the antagonised. They both relate to each other on the same level and need each other. This is why when a bully is stood up to, the one who was bullied by them often fills the vacuum created: By becoming the bully themselves and finding a victim. “Those that lie down with Dogs get fleas”. In other words, don’t descend to this level.

The thing the bully and the victim share in common is that they both define others and themselves as either winners or losers in some narrow sense of a particular outcome. In martial arts the aim is to turn a loser into a winner. But the one can’t exist without the other, and they often gain all their confidence from relegating others around them to a lower position. In doing so, they work at this lower level themselves and get stuck there. Sometimes I get the impression that this is their only goal. If they really are determined to see it that way, let them go ahead, but a true fighter does not fight the enemy on their home turf by sinking to their level. You might say “I was told never to back down, and to always make the first move”. Yes that’s true, but move to a higher level and from that vantage point do your worst.

Doing away with others never puts anything right, inward disorder and chaos still continue long after the opponent has been defeated. You are better off avoiding those determined to be physical aggressors as a means of developing positive forces and energy. That is why The famous swordsman Yagyu Munenori said “What is gained or lost by winning of losing is trifling…It is not to kill people, it is to kill evil”. Because by destroying others with violence you create evil, an inner chaos. However, by saving them, in other words diffusing the situation, you destroy evil. This is the higher goal of Martial arts, an ideal if you like, that you will never find lacks opportunity for its practice. In fact, this is the only real goal of martial arts so why consider all kinds of contradictory notions? I know there are some rare occasions where fighting can’t be avoided but I’m not interested in that because generally speaking it can be.

So what I am saying is you should transform your oppositions attitude towards you by your gestures, expressions, bearing, energy, and attitude. That is why so many Masters of Tai Chi in the old days spent all their time practicing harmonious movements. By using these potent weapons properly you will transform opponents, and you are perfectly within your rights to use them whenever you like. This is work worthy of the highest esteem. These are the weapons I recommend cultivating principally unless you want others to despise you. Yes, because it is in your power to influence the behaviour of others for better or worse.

The method of harmony, fighting without fighting, also works on your self against emotional strain and trauma, often brought about by endless petty struggles of the kind you’re better off without. Unfortunately, this idea lacks any kind of a tough guy imagery associated with “the fight game” and therefore people lose respect for you. Instead, in the market place, you’ve got to pull the wool over peoples eyes with emphasis on certain styles and slogans. Yes, then you are a force to be reckoned with, a somebody. A simple philosophy of sacrifice and hard work is too “simplistic”. However, sacrifice, that is gaining something greater than winning in the narrow sense, allows for peace of mind against all that life throws at you. But if you go around with this philosophy people take zero interest in what you have to say and look at you like you’re a man from Mars.

Personally, knowing I could do some serious damage with a punch, that’s enough for me, I choose not to do it. There is no need to have a death wish by becoming a martyr for some cause, a hero that is unbearable to others in the impression he gives off. That is often what the self destructive attitude is about: A secret wish for defeat, and end to the constant challenges life throws at us. Once you have gotten over this obstacle, which should overcome on the path to truth, why go over it again and again? Why not see the challenges within instead, they are far more high stakes and numerous.

Most fighters think they have to show the other guy who’s boss. To them, fighting means possibly getting maimed or crippled, or becoming mentally unwell, living this way even, and that’s just the way it is. Either that, or the other guy may suffer the same, it’s 50/50. Personally, I have no desire to be limited and victimised by this stupid attitude, I’d rather put an opponents aggression to sleep at a distance. That is the true meaning of “fighting without fighting” or the so called “esoteric energies” of the ancient spiritual arts. You must not think of their powers in the literal sense2. No, it is not a case of taking some potion made by a tribal leader, or receiving the blessing of some sage to gain supernatural powers. Nor is developing a tough “iron skin” a literal phenomenon. Has anyone ever explained this to you?

Of course nobody ever thinks that there might be some truth to these legends, symbolically speaking. You might say “That’s a load of rubbish, where are you getting this from?” On the contrary, enchanting someone under a spell or getting rid of them from a great distance of “10,000 leagues away” as detailed in the Art of War by Sun Tzu, simply means destroying their efforts before they are close enough to do harm. This is the the real art1.

You must simply ask yourself: What is the best way of ridding myself of antagonists so I can get on with the real work of living? It is that simple. You will then be able to synchronise your thoughts to all situations, because they require peaceful settlement. If a Country goes to war they cannot at the same time advance their civilization optimally. However, if they go about diplomatically defusing situations they can then get on with proper work. It is only when Countries become Barbaric that they thirst for war rather than advancement. So you have to convert the thirst for war against individuals into a thirst for war against evil. There is then coherence in everything you do, because you then have one goal, rather than dividing your forces towards war and then trying to build on top of the ashes.

Just look at how people are hypnotised or seduced into wasting their money on all sorts of rubbish, no one would have any trouble denying these modern day “dark arts”. In the same way they are goaded into battles they don’t want. This is the lower self talking, the instinctive and reactive vestige of the past2. At the moment many people are content to give into these tendencies without using will power3, as if it was the norm. Be under no illusion, if you don’t use will power to think well of others, yourself, and your own future progress, you will be as susceptible as anyone else to despair and chaos.

Everyone knows the benefits of positive thinking, so why not apply it to what most people consider negative things by seeing the best elements? The more you do this the more perceptible you will become in making something out of apparently nothing. You can’t count on your physical skills, or even on your mental toughness, because simply exchanging punches with some maniac is always a 50/50 game, as Steve Morris often points out.

References

1 See Signs and synbols in Martial Arts Part 2 https://harmanater.com/2020/06/06/signs-and-symbols-part-2-pedagogy-and-the-art-of-war/

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

Slow Harmonious exercise: 5 Minute Routine.

Posted on by joeharman8 | 2 min read | 17 views

This video is about slow and harmonious practice. During these exercises you should focus on matching your breathing to the pace of the movements. In other words, try to breathe in and out at the rate the move is performed, so that you draw breath in at the beginning and fully exhale by the end of each movement. Keep this rhythm and a steady pace. By the end you should feel your breathing and movements are synchronised.

You can follow along or do at your own pace. I recommend following along as I have modelled it in such a way that by focusing on me you should have a sense of serenity and calm wash over you. Just by observing I felt that way looking back on it! After going along with me, you can do it by yourself. Just gaze at the horizon and focus on your breathing once you have got the moves down. After a bit of practice they become automatic, and you’ll find they’re very intuitive. This is important, because if they’re complicated you’re always having to think about the details. Briefly, they are based on symbols and patterns of movement which have had intuitive meaning for thousands of years.

The first movement involves reaching up, around, and pushing out from the solar plexus, making a triangle shape with your hands.

The second exercise involves pushing out with the fingers extended. Alternating between hands.

The third movement involves pulling in and then also pushing out after that – to and from the solar plexus.

The last one involves stepping to the side as if to deflect an incoming punch.

The exercises are designed around actual movements fundamental to health, martial arts, breathing, and alignment. They also correspond to symbols our minds recognise as significant, for example the triangle and the circle. Although they can be performed at speed, as they have to apply to all settings, this is about practicing at a slow serene pace what underpins every day moves. Because you should keep in touch with those movements even under relaxation, as this keeps you in constant contact with authentic practice and reinforces what’s meaningful.

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