philosophy – Page 2 – Intuitive Martial Arts

From Shock to Strategy: Harnessing Fight-or-Flight into Surged Clarity [Part 2]

Posted on 13th December 2025 Last updated on 7th December 2025 by joeharman8 | 7 min read | 164 views

The body does not distinguish between overload or inertia, the quickest way to boot up the system is through the survival circuits.

In the previous post, we already looked at how fight or flight is expressed differently for different people. In order to reclaim fight or flight so that it is a more focused power, one thing is to remain switched on, but not hyper vigilant. If you are switched off completely, there is no hope of doing much of anything meaningful. To compensate for this off state, the amygdala will be overloaded the moment an emergency situation presents itself to you. in fact, the emergency response can happen due to overactivity or under activity of one’s attention.

Let’s say you were zoning out and then suddenly a certain situation triggers your fight or flight response. You would go from zero to one hundred just like that. On the other hand, if you were hyper vigilant over something, anxious about it even, then fight or flight would happen out of that. So there can be an unwillingness to prepare properly, creating a deficit, or there can be a total lack of awareness. In either case the void of energy needed to mobilise for action will be filled by the survival circuits so that you become primed for action. This can be helped by harnessing other aspects of the system, such as awareness, so that fight or flight happens to that too, not just the survival circuits.

This has nothing to do with psychological misinterpretation of threat, the biological response to the void is very real. If you are under powered, fight or flight hypes you up. If you become one dimensionally aware of only your own immediate physiological needs, then this constriction of awareness creates an artificial sense of emergency. So the only way out is to remain aware of more than your immediate needs, the bigger picture, whilst remaining in a balanced state as much as possible.

With something as simple as catching a ball, you could jump out of your skin and fail to catch it if you were switched off or too tense. The body does not distinguish between overload or inertia, the quickest way to boot up the system is through the survival circuits. This explains why people who get struck by inertia end up in a similar state to burnt out people. If higher intelligence fails, which involves wider awareness and sense perception outside of immediate needs, survival takes over. If there is no survival instinct, fight or flight kicks in and fills the void also. This is simply the quickest and most efficient way for your system to get things going, which has worked throughout history.

Under powered or over powered, it just means lack of overall balance and nature takes over.

There needs to be a certain level of survival activity for there to even be a heightened intelligence, or a greater well being. This is important, because if you become either overpowered or too dim, the survival process initiates to prevent collapse or a vacuum being created. Under powered or over powered, it just means lack of overall balance and nature takes over.

It doesn’t matter whether it is the mind or emotions, if there is a deficit somewhere, the brain tries to keep up in the most efficient way, by reacting and powering the survival circuits to give you a boost. At the same time, this boost has its own consequences. Boredom turns into irritability, and emotional outburst often follow overindulgence. In other words, excess has its costs, and when something as costly as a survival reaction kicks in, there are usually deficits later on in terms of energy.

It is possible to make yourself in such a way that you supercharge aspects of yourself which generate the best returns. That way, you benefit from any kind of high energy state because you are ready for it.

Mental burnout leads to inactivity, in the same way as lack of purpose leads to restlessness. In other words, overactivity and under activity are two sides of the same coin. However, it is possible to make yourself in such a way that you supercharge aspects of yourself which generate the best returns. That way, you benefit from any kind of high energy state because you are ready for it. If you are adequately prepared, you are not caught out and surprised, you process everything clearly and act accordingly. This involves planning and preparation, and applies to sport as well as emergency situations. The idea is to think clearly, but not overthink, whilst acting as needed rather than underacting.

Gracefully catching a dangerous hammer being thrown at you uses the same internal wiring as flinching away from something desperately. The quality of expression is different in both cases, and they cannot happen ate the same time.

Rewriting the Reflex: Overlaying Mastery onto Instinct

If there were a hammer being thrown at you, you would be injured by the thrower if you were unprepared. Gracefully catching a dangerous hammer being thrown at you uses the same internal wiring as flinching away from it desperately. The quality of expression is different in both cases, and they cannot happen ate the same time. This is the reason for the beautiful forms which have arisen in martial arts. They wanted to capture this beauty in order to develop a different kind of energy within a survival situation. This enhanced energy could then be used just as potently as a desperate survival response within life threatening situations. This is why there was always an insistence on discipline and striving for more.

If the sprinter did not warm up, they would be able to produce the same power in a different way. None except the essential pathways for running quickly would be active. This would lead to diminished performance in the long term even if they got through a race or two without injury.

So there is no problem for someone who is ready to catch or even juggle a hammer. This is because they have prepared themselves, like a sprinter prepares themselves for a race by warming up the neurological pathways before hand. This turns a reflex action into an expression of self mastery. By warming up and getting ready beforehand, the sprinter is able to run gracefully as well as effectively, without overthinking or trying to warm up whilst running the race at the same time.

If the sprinter did not warm up, they would be able to produce the same power in a different way. They would be running in a desperate state, trying to warm up, prepare, and run the race all at the same time. This type of race can only be run in a state of reactivity, rather than complex and dynamic planning and execution. the survival response traditionally spreads resources thinly, so that nothing can be done optimally. None except the essential pathways for running quickly would be active in the purely reactive state, and these pathways would be doing the job chaotically and inefficiently. But they would get it done in a messy way. This would lead to diminished performance in the long term even if such a runner got through a race or two without injury.

Let’s say you become tired and irritable, and then someone annoys you in some way. All of a sudden you get flooded with adrenaline and kick off about nothing. If there is a steady supply of energy to those pathways which can become overreactive, such as the amygdala within the brain, then these sites do not race from zero to one hundred as soon as it kicks off. This involves activating others site’s, so that the adrenaline does not flood into one active place but across many pathways. For example, if there is activity of the prefrontal cortex, as well as other regions, then you end up in a more balanced and regulated overall state when survival kicks in. This leads to a more intelligent response, creating a greater sense of balance across several areas. Because of this greater intelligence, you are able to exert more and more control over your situation.

From Shock to Strategy: Harnessing Fight-or-Flight into Surged Clarity [Part 1]

Posted on 7th December 2025 Last updated on 7th December 2025 by joeharman8 | 6 min read | 84 views

It is said that the enemy can be held at bay and under control only by superior clarity, which becomes a skill and a form of strength. Then, even when the enemy is in front of you, their onslaught can be withstood.

You’ve probably heard people say in martial arts “Stay calm under pressure”. The moment you become reactive and powered by stress, you are liable to do something stupid. You also become very forceful immediately. However, when you decide on a clear intention, which you stick with unwaveringly, you organise the mind beforehand. with this clarity in mind, you are not trying to organise, fight off, and adapt all at the same time. The idea is to not be too reactive to the immediate presentation of things, or too under active, but to remain balanced.

You want the lights to be bright enough to see, but not so overstimulating that you forget to even breathe. This is what happens when the system fires up all of a sudden, certain faculties get diminished whereas others supercharge. It is said that the enemy can be held at bay and under control only by superior clarity, which becomes a skill and a form of strength. Then, even when the enemy is in front of you, their onslaught can be withstood. Reactivity to the situation brings one kind of strength. On the other hand, when you bring superior organisation and clarity of thought to the situation, this brings another kind of energy and strength entirely.

Stress triggers activity in the amygdala, the brains survival region. The survival circuits themselves are not designed for intelligent activity, but to initiate fight or flight. in terms of evolution, superior sense comes after survival has been ensured. When it comes to brain functioning, intelligent functioning can only be achieved if the survival circuits are kept within certain parameters. In other words, in an all or nothing survival response, it is beneficial to have some investment in intelligent action. Otherwise, you might over react for no reason other than because this is the only investment you have set in motion.

The work of the martial artists is to maintain their survival instincts within certain parameters, and constantly adjust and attune themselves to the situation as it unfolds in front of them. This means they do not get over reactive or under reactive. For example, when one succumbs to inertia, it is a good idea to do some training and activity. This need not be physical activity, it could simply be making more of an effort to remain attentive and switched on to the environment. Otherwise, without ramping up the system in some way so that it sits within certain parameters, you may be triggered into reactivity by outside events more than is necessary. On the other hand, when one becomes over stimulated, it is a good idea to sit and bring agitation levels down.

Fight or Flight as an Empowered State

The fight or flight response happens in everyone, but it is expressed differently depending on how you handle your own internal situation. If you keep yourself properly maintained, in a balanced and coherent way, then you are able to process everything clearly and take effective action. At the same time you get an injection of energy. Then, there is a good balance between attention and processing, which then gets powered up. You then know what’s going on properly, and you are in a better position to respond accordingly instead of simply reacting. When danger comes, you are then hit with less psychological shock because you see the whole picture clearly, and you are more stable. Let’s see how this works.

If you can grow and swell with the situation as it unfolds, expanding when needed without bursting your banks, you can learn to benefit from high pressure situations.

A person who relies on getting hyped up and stressed at the last minute, is fragile the moment things don’t go their way. Take the example of the boss who leaves everything to the eleventh hour and then bursts into a fit of activity. What should have been done over several hours is done all at once. This is because they have not prepared themselves optimally. On the other hand, if you can grow and swell with the situation as it unfolds, expanding when needed without bursting your banks, you can learn to benefit from high pressure situations. In many ways, this involves broadly assessing the situation without multi tasking and spreading yourself thin, as well as remaining aware but not hyper vigilant. You are then not trying to do everything at once, and do not become hijacked by the survival circuits of the brain. Instead, you remain dominant over the survival circuits, putting them in their rightful place, because other features of the system get powered up.

In terms of martial arts, if you remain balanced you are then much less likely to make poor judgements and make the situation worse. When you keep yourself balanced and regulated, the situation is in your hands, and you can use such situations as a tool for your own development, making better decisions. The additional adrenaline of fight or flight is then like a ball being thrown to you, which you absorb into your hands. Rather than the ball bouncing out of your hands before you absorb it, or fumbling about with it, you just take possession of it. Instead of being taken by surprise, there is a sense of anticipation. At the same time, too much calculation and overthinking actually causes people to miss the ball entirely.

The mind is able to declare that just about anything is a threat to survival, making you unnecessarily reactive to external situations. The survival response is not conditional upon their being an actual serious situation. This explains why people who overthink things, even small matters, can easily blow them out of proportion or miss something vital, even though they become very insistent or forceful. The vital thing they miss may be quite subtle but can make a big difference in the end. This is why it is important to remain attentive and aware of the situation as a whole. Then, you can see that which is not obvious, expanding your sense of the whole as well as the yet unknown. In this infinite game, you carry on noticing more and more in life that you previously didn’t get, broadening your consciousness.

Each Breath Stirs the Tides, and Each Heartbeat Shapes the Shores.

Posted on 5th October 2025 Last updated on 5th October 2025 by joeharman8 | 11 min read | 115 views

“In terms of martial arts, this ecological growth means internal renewal and overall health improvements over time. So there is an incubation period which fleshes your system out as the energy settles in. It is not just a case of flooding yourself with hormones so that you can dissipate them in some kind of activity.”

In martial arts, people want to practice in such a way that they become physically capable and healthy, as well as mentally balanced. However, in practice this often does not happen in any meaningful way. When you look around, most of the martial arts styles out there are teaching tricks to get you out of a sticky situation. Or, they are teaching you to take part in some kind of elite sport which has no meaning outside of competitive circles. Whilst it can be beneficial to practice these tricks of the trade some of the time, most of it can be learned fairly easily, even on the internet.

In terms of output and fitness, the activity levels have gone up, but the internal development has not”

A few years ago, learning something like karate or Taekwondo meant you had to go to a dojo. Even then, most people quit without learning much at all. Today because all of freely available technical information which is so easy to find, you see lots of people able to punch, kick, throw, and all sorts of other things. The information is much easier to obtain and people are able to do these things even if they have never been to a formal class. Going to the class should create a conducive atmosphere in which you learn to develop as a person. However, all we see nowadays are classes packed with people going through the motions or getting hyped up and excited into activity in some way. So it has taken on the character of a nightclub in many ways.

The idea behind martial arts is to empower the internal side of the human being, not just to cover their external requirements. This is not happening at the moment on any large scale, even if there are more frequent training opportunities. So in terms of output and fitness, the activity levels have gone up, but the internal development has not. Without upgrading the internal side, the external activity will not develop in a self sustaining way or become meaningful to the individual. As people go through the motions, the body will just accumulate injuries and other stresses which will wear it down over time. This is what happens when martial arts turns into a competitive sport or business enterprise in the market place.

Just as the minerals from the sea rise and spread across the land, bringing nourishment to support plant growth, the hormones produced from the gut and elsewhere are distributed across the body to facilitate growth and repair.”

When you perform powerful activity, such as in martial arts, it is important that the energy is delivered from core of your being, extending itself more widely from there. Every action you perform has an impact on your own internal health and well being. During strenuous martial arts activity, the bloodstream delivers hormones to the organs and tissues, just like a river delivers water to the land. This ensures growth and renewal as the process of self development unfolds. Just as the minerals from the sea rise and spread across the land, bringing nourishment to support plant growth, the hormones produced from the gut and elsewhere are distributed across the body to facilitate growth and repair.

The gut is like the deep ocean vents, the activity of it creates currents and forces which lead to environmental change. This environmental change leads to ecological growth. In terms of martial arts, this ecological growth means internal renewal and overall health improvements over time. So there is an incubation period which fleshes your system out as the energy settles in. It is not just a case of flooding yourself with hormones so that you can dissipate them in some kind of activity. Doing so just puts you back to square one. Each individual will act according to their needs and compulsions. This might mean that some energy is allocated to physical activity, whereas a certain amount is also allocated to spiritual growth. For some people, martial arts means just moving around and expending energy. To others, there is more of a transformational element to it which ends with internal development.

Today, lots of people talk about medical interventions to correct poor health without any idea about how to kick start the internal health process. In many cases, these interventions can also be used to support internal growth, rather than constantly relying on external supplements. Internal martial arts means you manage your state of health from within, with or without outside help. According to the internal martial arts perspective, external supplements or external activity is just a way to trigger or kickstart the system predominantly. You can then do anything in a positive state.

Once you reach a state of good health and well being, you know by inference how to manage this and what to do as time goes on. It is like when you get to the age of thirteen or so you automatically begin to understand why people generally get married and start a family. This does not need to be taught by strangers. At the same time, there is guidance needed. When you study life closely, rather than just what is written about it, you naturally become aware of how to manage things.

Exercise, digestion and stress, all trigger hormonal development. In order to prevent dissipation of this internal energy, you need to a get a wide spread happening.

Martial arts schools these days are managed in such a way that you train in the evening and then flop in front of the television by the time you get home. So there is often no momentum gained from spring boarding yourself into activity during the martial arts practice. Most of the time a martial arts school means a recreational activity, so it is not quite right to call it a school. In any case, the norms of society are the same, you work hard and then you relax by drinking alcohol or taking intoxicants to subdue the system again. Otherwise, without the necessary teaching, people tend not to be able to sustain higher levels of energy for long without burning out. When people try to manage high pressure and energy states for prolonged periods of time without the necessary personal development, it is only natural to get into emotional upheaval trying to manage their overall situation.

Exercise, digestion and stress, all trigger hormonal development. In order to prevent dissipation of this internal energy, you need to a get a wide spread happening. If you are just enjoying the effects of your hormonal system as it is, then you are not creating anything new out of it. For you to exploit it as it is, it needs to stay as it is. This is fine, but the human system is capable of immense possibilities when you link the different parts of the system together in dynamic ways rather than separating things out for limited functioning. For example, just as the rising seabed pulses waves across the shore, the bloodstream has far reaching potential which can nourish and regulate the body. In Chinese martial arts, the Qi energy is said to circulate vital energy through the meridians and across the body. In modern terms, the hormonal flow mirrors this subtle current.

In the Eastern martial arts system, the subterranean forces are said to emerge from the depths, bringing clarity, focus, and wisdom. What does this mean? It means you have within you a tremendous pool of talent.

So when you are training in martial arts, it is not about becoming a killing machine irresponsibly. What you do or do not do may make or break peoples lives, or even your own life. What can build a healthy body if neglected can deteriorate the body. If you exploit one aspect of the body at the expense of the whole, the result is that you become a minus in terms of functioning. When competence is developed, you have a responsibility for yourself and others. Then, you have to put in a lot of effort to remain disciplined and on the path. When I say on the path, I do not mean sticking to a regimented or commercial style of martial arts. These are on and off systems which do not offer anything in terms of and how to navigate life at all times or in terms of internal development.

In the Eastern martial arts system, the subterranean forces are said to emerge from the depths, bringing clarity, focus, and wisdom. What does this mean? It means you have within you a tremendous pool of talent. The only problem is, these days people lack the organisation and discipline to sustain their internal energies and bring them past a certain point. They are like broken down cars, they bang and crash but it amounts to very little movement and a lot of expenditure. This is not a sign of life, but a sign of death.

Hormonal activity, muscular activatation, and breath work, can all be used as a means to create new possibilities. In this way you become a creator of form by working with the existing form.

When we think of martial arts masters, we tend to think of people capable of dominating others and fighting in a championship. But a master does not need to be able to get to the top of a hierarchy, they must be able to operate across several layers, which is something that has been missing in my view.

When you move, you do not need to move according to your tectonic tendencies. In other words, you do not need to be guided by instinct and reactivity, even if this generates a potential. Hormonal activity, muscular activation, and breath work, can all be used as a means to create new possibilities. In this way you become a creator of form by working with the existing form. This is what is meant by self sustaining practice, you turn everything into an inside job. You are then able to work with the tectonic shifts and core activity in many ways, as the hormones and neurotransmitters from the core become rising minerals able to spread in a far reaching way. What this means is that each breath stirs the tides and each heartbeat shapes the shores. The seabed lifts and extends itself to feed the landmass.

So the aim of martial arts, particularly the internal side, is to create masters who are capable of working across any sphere or life. Whether you are an established leader, an entrepreneur, or an office worker, it is possible to empower yourself with wellbeing, inspiration and competence so that you are able to fit seamlessly into any organisational structure you find yourself in. Otherwise it traps you in its walls, like a ghost in a shell. You can say that these walls are imaginary, because it is within your power to break free. If there is no such striving, then you might just gear yourself up to put up with things as you see them.

The world you inhabit gives you the energy to contain the kind of power needed to burst out.

Whether it is a dojo or business suite, the idea is to self organise in such a way that you become more than a scattered set of aims and intentions. Then, rather than working you, the waves around you are shaped by your internal resolve to transform the situation around you by starting with the core of who you are. It is at this core, the seabed, that power is generated from the weight and pressure of the world above it. In other words, the world you inhabit gives you the energy to contain the kind of power needed to burst out.

Circulation of energy, and equalisation of pressure. Reaching the unlimited.

Posted on 18th May 2025 Last updated on 18th May 2025 by joeharman8 | 8 min read | 105 views

At the heart of martial arts philosophy lies the principle of becoming like a circle—a form in which pressure is equal at all sides, allowing energy to circulate freely and function to become unlimited. This symbolic and practical concept is rooted in how energy, structure, and pressure interact within the human body.

According to martial arts tradition, true upward movement and expansion only occur from a stable foundation—the Hara or lower abdomen. Like a bubble that starts as a flat surface and expands outward, the body must have a grounded base in order to build symmetrical energy. If the base is unstable, energy cannot rise or distribute evenly, leading to imbalance and dysfunction.

According to martial arts tradition, pressure only builds higher and develops evenly if it starts from a solid base. Otherwise the energy cannot mix with enough internal matter in order to have a stable enough foundation to properly build upward momentum. This mixing of energy and matter occurs in the Lower abdomen, or the Hara Centre. This is what it means to “Move from the centre”. It is like how if you build a house on a lopsided platform, structural weaknesses eventually happen because you cannot distribute the pressure well enough from a stable platform.

So the soap bubble starts by being compressed flat, a potentially energy, like a flattened diaphragm. Compression creates a potential energy of its own

As with a house, the base of the martial artists is minimal and flat. Curvature happens when the structure elongates. It is like how with a soap wand, the film is always flat until it is filled with air. Filling it with air increases its overall surface area. So the soap bubble starts by being compressed flat, a potentially energy, like a flattened diaphragm. Compression creates a potential energy of its own. And then it eventually spreads as it is filled with movement energy, which travels up. This is essentially what martial arts is all about. We will come back to the bubble analogy later.

Becoming rounded

The idea is to become like a circle, so that any pressure which happens externally is matched by the internal pressure and is equal at all sides.

As we looked at earlier, when the bubble expands its surface area goes from flat to three dimensional. As the bubble fills with air, this creates a curvature. This creates a spherical shape. Another way for this curvature to be initiated, or equalisation of force, is for it to happen externally. As pressure is added to certain points such as in the hands or elsewhere, or if the body is pushed and pull in many directions, this creates an increased surface pressure. The idea is to become like a circle, so that any pressure which happens externally is matched by the internal pressure and is equal at all sides.

When a small insect lands on a bubble, creating small curvatures on the surface, this increases the outside pressure. This increases internal pressure as well because the polar forces in the water content try to equal out this curvature made by the small insect. If the bubble were not round, then the pressure inside it would not be the same at every point of the surface. In terms of martial arts, it is possible to stimulate internal pressure by adding external pressure. When one becomes like a circle, they become balanced, and there internal pressure matches the outside. This idea is behind the theory of acupressure.

Expansion of the Bubble

When we breathe efficiently, increased tension and a pull in several directions creates an overall expansion. This expansion allows the structure to take in more content, such as air. For example, the diaphragm is domed shaped so that there is equal pressure across all sides. The base of the diaphragm is flat and wide, particularly when one inhales, and like any foundation it is compressed. This means it is able to create a potential energy of its own.

Whether pressure is stimulated internally or externally does not really matter. It is about linking external and internal activity, which act upon one another. It is pressure which holds the expansion of energy together. Otherwise there is just stretching and laxity. Energy expansion within this stretching moves us towards growth.

Water and Circulation of Energy

When we talk about hydration, it’s not just in terms of consuming water. We are also talking about circulation and distribution of water. If you breathe, you can breathe deeply by using the abdominal muscles and intercostals, or shallowly with just the upper lungs. In other words, you can breathe from a stable foundation or not. Breathing works to enhance circulation of blood and other forms of energy around the body. When you increase this flow, then there is a smooth functioning and even distribution of energy. However, functioning can become impaired for several reasons.

For example, the abuse of steroids can enlarge muscles by increasing the consumption of energy within certain neurochemical transmitters. This increases water retention there and the firing rate of the surrounding neuron’s, as well as the neuron’s size. This can lead to over stimulation and lack of circulation. This can cause a person to become excessively yang, or of a fiery temperament, because their energy proportions become out of balance.

With steroid abuse, people often experience low general well being with high emotional volatility. Water can be used to hydrate the joints as well as other areas of the brain and body. This requires circulation and balanced distribution of energy. This can be difficult to achieve if the neurotransmitters become over stimulated in certain local areas, such as around particular steroid hormone sites.

From limited functioning to the unlimited

In cases of limited by highly volatile local activity around such sites, the survival circuits of the brain tends to become a dominant factor in behaviour. This high pressure within limited pathways leads to heightened fight or flight response. This is because the brain naturally assumes that with limited functioning one’s survival is threatened. This is ok in an emergency, but an emergency is not supposed to keep you on high alert for longer than necessary. The way to bring this down at all other times is to become more flexible and fluid, as well as more rounded as a person. Rounded means equal distribution of pressure.

If energy is going only one way, rather than going back and forth, then it is only natural that one’s survival instincts will kick in.

When resources are scarce, a person will tend to become more survival orientated and become reactive. Another way of looking at this is that when someone’s survival pathways get chronically over stimulated or enlarged, they tend to view everything as a competition. This eventually leads to a loss of balance, and burn out. It also leads to feelings of insecurity, because energy becomes excessively outward bound rather than self sustaining. If energy is going only one way, rather than going back and forth, then it is only natural that one’s survival instincts will kick in. Being stuck in a survival mode prevents wider circulation of energy, and constrained energy leads to limited functioning. This creates friction. It takes a lot of energy, functioning in a limited way, to become survival orientated all the time. When one becomes like a circle, they move without friction, even over uneven terrain.

Wider circulation of energy is a way to preserve your health rather than just survive. Survival is important, but the eventual aim of martial arts is to increase energy circulation within the wider circuits of the brain and body which promote health, well being, and maintenance of energy. This requires work. Unfortunately, today many people do not engage in the level of work necessary to keep them healthy. They either under do it, or over do it. Just as when you overwork for too long, under work can lead to limited functioning and prolonged activation of the survival circuits. In both instances the survival circuits kick in because you are functioning in a limited way. This leads to reactivity rather than balanced response.

In such an emergency situation, if you are balanced, you are able to act in an unconstrained way, even if there options are limited.

In terms of martial arts, when you get the balance right between work and maintenance, you are then better able to choose when and how to act effectively in an emergency situation. In such an emergency situation, if you are balanced, you are able to act in an unconstrained way, even if there options are limited.

Sweating is a good way of cooling the system down. Athletes sweat more than the average person because they are efficient at cooling themselves down. If you retain heat and do not manage to cool yourself down, then this is another way the survival circuits are likely to get heightened. Ideally, if you sweat predominantly from the head, this is considered better than all over the body. This is because in terms of energy it is considered a good sign that the energy is traveling upwards and exiting at the top like a hot spring. It is usually a sign that there is enough upward transmission of energy.

To become like a circle is to embody balance, symmetry, and responsiveness. It is to distribute energy and pressure equally across the whole system, allowing for unlimited functioning in body, mind, and spirit. This is not just a physical shape but a living principle—a way of being resilient, fluid, and whole in the face of life’s pressures.

Unlock Peak Performance Through Focused Effort

Posted on 30th November 2024 by joeharman8 | 4 min read | 104 views

The Power of Full Engagement: Mastering Effort for Peak Performance

In a world filled with distractions, it’s easy for one’s mind to wander and focus to slip. One often finds themselves overthinking, second-guessing, or drifting from one task to the next without full commitment. But what if the key to unlocking peak performance lies not in multitasking or trying to balance everything, but in one simple principle: putting in maximum effort and engaging fully in what you’re doing?

The Power of Focused Effort

The first step to mastery is learning how to fully engage in the task at hand. When one consciously directs their focus and puts all their energy into one thing, they eliminate the mental noise that often slows them down. Whether working, training, or pursuing a personal goal, giving full attention allows one to tap into their potential and push beyond what they thought possible.

This focus creates a unique kind of rhythm: as the mind and body work in unison, both will naturally begin to tire. But this tiredness is not a negative—it’s a sign that effort is being exerted, that progress is being made, and that results are on the horizon.

Effort is the Key to Progress

True progress happens when one stops measuring effort by comfort or by how much they can avoid exertion. Growth happens when one pushes themselves to the point of fatigue, breaking through mental and physical barriers. The key is to make effort habitual, not something reserved for special occasions or challenges.

By committing fully to one’s work, hesitation and self-doubt are removed from the equation. Whether training alone, working on a project, or practicing a skill, one should act decisively and without second-guessing. Let the body tire, but keep the mind focused on the task. The mind will naturally tire and become still when the need to exert yourself is over. The goal is to make effort a constant pre occupation so that pushing oneself becomes second nature. This does not mean constant physical effort, but a conscious effort to become aware of this process.

Push Beyond Your Limits

The more one engages in focused effort, the more both body and mind will adapt. Over time, they will find that they no longer need to calculate the next move or deliberate over every action. This is why it is important to become more consciously aware of what you are doing, so that the mind and body follow suit. One then will act instinctively, responding to challenges without hesitation rather than reacting stupidly. This shift from automatic action to conscious effort is where real growth happens. Effort becomes part of who one is, and with that, the limits that once seemed rigid begin to fade away.

Effort Creates Results, Not Comfort

In the pursuit of mastery, there’s no room for complacency. One must continue to exert effort, even when tired or when things get tough. It’s not about avoiding discomfort—it’s about learning to work through it. When your back is against the wall, you act. When it is time to sleep you fully commit to that as a conscious action. Do as needed. Every time one pushes their limits, they increase their capacity for more. As the body tires, the resolve grows stronger. With every drop of effort, one moves closer to their desired results.

This approach requires discipline and consistency. It’s about showing up every day, putting in the work, and doing whatever it takes to push past obstacles. At the same time, if you are new to something this need not be a barrier. The satisfaction that comes from effort is secondary to the fulfillment of knowing progress is being made goal you are aiming to achieve. The effort is happening now, the goal is only an imagined goal, which may or may not even be sensible. With full awareness of this process and conscious effort, you eventually unfold you full potential.

Conclusion: The Relentless Pursuit of Effort

In any endeavor, the most powerful tool one has is effort. When one commits fully to their work and exerts every ounce of energy into what they do, they unlock their true potential. Through consistent, focused effort, one pushes themselves to new heights and continually grows. You will then see the importance of rest when it is necessary. Otherwise there is just a kind of malaise and boredom which puts you to sleep prematurely and restlessly.

So, stop waiting for the perfect moment or the ideal conditions. Engage fully in the task at hand, give your best effort, and make pushing yourself the cornerstone of growth. Over time, effort will become part of who one is, and the results will speak for themselves.

Creating harmony within: Avoiding discord between yourself and the outside

Posted on 2nd August 2024 by joeharman8 | 17 min read | 94 views

“Deal with your own situation and all its concerns, which at the same time encompasses anything from the outside which influences it”

Sometimes, when you enter a room there is a hostility in the air. For example, say you walk into a bar, you might get looked at funny. This might be because the person looking at you funny has become territorial and starts glaring at you. On the other hand, someone in a martial arts Dojo, which has within it a certain etiquette, might not even get noticed by anyone if they walk in there. So these two situations and the environments are highly charged. The atmosphere however, is completely different. The people in the martial arts Dojo will be too busy training and occupied with their own work to even notice. This is the sign of a proper martial arts centre. This tradition has today been lost in many cases.

In many martial arts centres, people might think it’s their duty to notice outsiders and make a certain impression on them. This is a marketing and promotional strategy. This can be good or bad. However, basically the way of dealing with problems is to become too busy with your own situation to deal with them. In this way, you deal with your own situation and all its concerns, which at the same time encompasses anything from the outside which influences it. In other words, the internal situation and all of the challenges eventually merge with the outside situation too. This is called creating harmony between Yin and Yang. This is one way.

Emotion or Intelligence?

“You first become emotionally attached to some form of practice, or view it intellectually. This is a way in, a starting point. Naturally, as you organise yourself around this goal, your internal structure also becomes more integrated and organised, so that the very need for rigid routines goes down.

The other way is to become so into the practice on an emotional or intellectual level, that you surpass the limitations of both of these dimensions of experience. So you first become emotionally attached to some form of practice, or view it intellectually. This is a way in, a starting point. Naturally, as you organise yourself around this goal, your internal structure also becomes more integrated and organised, so that the very need for rigid routines goes down. You are then able to stick with the practices, but if the life situation gets in the way, you remain flexible to that. This is the beginning of various ritualistic and sacred forms of practice. These then get handed down through generations of people, which have practiced and benefitted from them. They need not still practice these as individuals, they may have surpassed the need to do so. These forms of practice must be modified according to the times, but the principle form of energy orientation remains the same fundamentally.

So the external forms of practice aim to raise your energetic experience to a new level. This is the aim of the physical martial arts, such as competitive sparring and belt graded pressure tests. The idea is to overwhelm you to the point that you disintegrate. And yet, you are so much more. If you simply do the practices for social prestige, it’s not the same at all. When you do them to enhance your experience of who you are and what you are capable of, then your whole experience becomes broader and more powerful, whether you benefit materially or not.

This is how martial arts can be used as a way to overcome certain limitations. What you believed to be anxiety surrounding an event was your means of salvation and overcoming. It is like if you fall in love. Your whole sense of who you are drops away. And then, if it succeeds, your anxiety about impressing that individual or not living up to their expectations, fades into the background as you merge with them. In term of martial arts, this entails initially being involved with the external aspects of training, but then shifting to something more when the time comes.

The anxiety around training is natural at the beginning, but when you have raised the roof, this becomes a smaller aspect off the overall experience. It is a necessary part, but becomes less and less of an emphasis. At the same time, the sense of achievement, which was a small spec to begin with, becomes more and more. It is not that you chose this achievement to happen, any more than you chose to fall in love with somebody. But carefully the Master has put you on this track. Or maybe it within you all along. There is no way around it if this is handled correctly, because it lies at the heart of human experience. It is the law and the path is set.

Once you have raised the bar of your experience, naturally you are then left with only dedication and discipline to surpass yourself. The energy has been used up and a certain sense of clarity and orientation towards more remains. That is, once you have overcome whatever trial you have been faced with. In both instances, mediation or physical training, you eventually surpass yourself. It is just like how the mother surpasses who she was before she had children. In terms of martial arts, one way involves blasting off the breaks, and another way involves maintaining a steady speed to get there. Physical training often involves pushing oneself to the utmost. Mediation is a steadier ride. The key is to consciously deal with the pressures of each situation. Do not think that mediation is easy. There are unexpected twists and turns that you must consciously handle, just as against a physical competitor. Against an external situation, this may be physically more demanding, but both require full conscious commitment to transform the situation.

Become Air Bourne and Grounded

Whichever the path, the inner or outer, there is the same level of testosterone and other bio chemical processes happening, but these processes are happening in a completely different way. Let’s look at why this is. Do not think that a hulking athlete has more testosterone than the meditator. The expectant Mother has as much chemically going on within her as any other woman. In the same way, you could say that the mediator is developing a child within themselves by nourishing their energy body. Indeed there are many mediative practices which speak of these things. The energies are just being used in different ways. One person is sustaining the energy body, and one is sustaining or developing the emotions and physical functioning. So what the mediator is looking to shed, the physical athlete is looking to build.

When a mediator sits and observes himself with enough light on the matter, he eventually disintegrates the particles and energy forms which the physical martial artist is using to integrate within himself for physical strength. Just as the child within the womb uses up energy, so does the spiritual body. This is both life sustaining, in the sense that you identify with this role, or life taking, in the sense that you feel it is too demanding.

Studies have recently shown that light, or electromagnetism, can destroy carbon particles with sustained energy being focused on it. In the same way, when the human system is allowed to function at a sustained level of focus, the energy body, which is associated with the nervous system, can produce enough energy to burn away other hard to get rid of particles. This has been named the body of light in certain practices. The aim is to disintegrate hard to remove stains. These so called “forever particles” which are so called because they are tough to get rid of, include many forms of disease which we today consider irreversible. This is why certain internal practices of martial arts have been called forms of energy medicine, because they are a form of medicine which is non chemical and are often used as preventative measures.

So energy medicine is working at the level of the nervous system predominantly, where as the other is working at the level of the chemical processes. But the two are not mutually exclusive. Say you were to practice certain hard styles of martial arts. This would raise the energies of the body, which over time would cause of build up of waste product within the system. This waste product accumulates over time and leads to various injuries and disorders which tend to develop later in life with many athletes. This has happened to many athletes. So the same thing which once kept you functioning optimally has now become a hindrance without the right corrective practices. This is where mediative and internal martial arts practices come in.

It is like if a rocket takes off and discards its launcher. The launcher has been used up and sends off the rocket into space. The rocket is now out of sight and has discarded its shell. The shell was what got it where it needs to go, and was useful to this end. Now, the launcher appears to be going backwards, but really it still hurtling forwards. It will eventually catch up with the rocket if the rocket stops. It is just that the forward momentum of the rocket is so greater by comparison. This gives the illusion that it is the only one moving out of the two. No, both are moving as they need to. In the same way, when you mediate, it is possible to soar off somewhere away from you mind and emotions to a large extent. They are still there but you, the rocket, is not. This is how mediation creates a space, which can be enhanced, between you and you emotional and mental experience.

The emotions and mind are still there. They will catch up with you again, because they have not disappeared entirely. The rocket eventually reaches a point where is can go no further, and you come back down to Earth. So a certain amount of activity is needed to build the integrity of the system, so that it can sustain and power itself for greater possibilities. It is not a question of which is better, physical or spiritual practice? This is why I say the human system is like a multi stage rocket, which launches and breaks away from itself. This is why physical martial arts as well as the mediative side have always gone hand in hand. This is a journey which happens over and over within oneself. So this is why the martial artist must remain grounded as well as airborne.

The Art of Martial Art

“It is not a question of destroying your enemies, but of transforming yourself to make use of your enemies and therefore greater use of yourself.”

Martial Arts means war turned into an art. This does not mean some frivolous or egotistical art of self indulgence. The art of war means to turn the process of destruction and creative energy inwards rather than outwards. The best way you can do this is to transform an enemy into a friend. In doing so you transform yourself. As I was saying before, if someone “falls in love” with you, they are no longer there as an enemy as they have been transformed and so have you. This is a beautiful thing, it is only ugly when misconceived.

So energy itself is the same fundamentally, wether or not it is used to create or destroy. The question is, do you want to hunt an animal for days, or do you want to run after it with everything you’ve got in one sprint? Both work perfectly well. According to your own tendencies and development, this will alter the path you take. Either way can be used to unshackle yourself. The key is to hold the utmost respect for the process of your own development and unfoldment. It is not a question of destroying your enemies, but of transforming yourself to make use of your enemies and therefore greater use of yourself. There are 7 Billion candidates for this role!

“Martial Arts has traditionally opted for creating harmony within rather than discord amongst yourself and your enemies.”

Respect for this body of energy, yourself, and a competence to use it properly is the only important factor in martial arts. When you maximise this potential, you are on the path of authentic martial arts. You might go to a trainer in this system or that, but these are encyclopaedias of knowledge. This is very useful, because such people can point you in the right direction. However, the knowledge itself is out there for any one to see in modern day. What is missing is the discipline and self knowledge. The problem is that todays knowledge is presented in such a frivolous way online, that you are almost encouraged to access it so casually that no sense of discernment or commitment is required. What you need as well is self knowledge and discipline.

What is this self discipline and self knowledge? When you encounter an enemy, you can either externalise them or internalise them. Poorly internalising a problem leads to depression or anxiety in many ways. Excessive outer expression of energy can do the same thing, or creates other problems, such as compulsions towards someone or something for your gratification. As I said before, it is about transforming this need so that none of it remains. Simply moving from one stage to another is not enough. What was once a self defeating thought finds expression in some sort of repetitive activity which needs to be sustained for self validation. This is not the most intelligent way to handle the situation.

Competition or Cooperation?

The best way to handle the external situation is to respect foster a sense of dedication and responsibility. This makes you more fluid and flexible to changing demands, whilst fundamentally strong. This is so everyone can benefit and you are also included and fully involved. For this reason, any duels or contest between two people traditionally put respect for each other and dedication towards each other as training partners as the first priority. This means that whatever war is going on, no one exploits the rules or makes advantage of some loop hole which fundamentally undermines the process of self transcendence. If you are not working for harmony, then there is duality and discord.

It is like if you marry someone, you respect them and dedicate yourself, which leads to a happy marriage. Then, what’s the problem if you argue? Anything is a means for harmony if the principle binding you together is strong. The dedication is there that you won’t run off. If you just use that person as an object, and take them for granted, then resentment grows and you fail to see them for who they are except a superficial image or an expectation. This happens all the time mainly because you begin to see others in terms of what they can do for you.

So in many ways, fights break out due to a lack of respect towards the Opponent, or the environment. Say you walk into a seedy bar, with people in there who are acting purely unconsciously, intoxicated with alcohol or other substances. This is not an environment which fosters respect or trust between people necessarily. At the same time, the sense of “us against them” is high. So now you’ve walked in, you have a problem. If you walk in and understand this clearly, you can walk in and out by not creating much friction, or even leaving immediately without hesitation, as if passing through. Instead of thinking “I have the right to be here, what’s the problem?” You clearly see the situation for what it is. Most of the time, you can anticipate this sort of thing easily with the right clarity if you practice in daily life. If you have to act you have to act, that’s all.

Seeing the situation for what it is, rather than what you think it is, is important obviously. In most cases, people flock around overly stimulating places because they are bored and in search of excitement. Otherwise, there is no need. If they had occupied themselves before hand proactively, the attraction towards these situations goes down dramatically. This is true in many other instances. So whilst it is not possible to eliminate all dangers, it is possible to eliminate the need for seeking out such risky situations by handing your own situation properly and avoiding certain environments.

The enemy within

How often does it happen that we think an enemy has triggered a certain reaction in us, when actually this happens just as severely in the absence of that enemy? Of course the enemy may trigger something within us, but at the same time, this would happen anyway if we have not attuned ourselves and handled our life properly in a disciplined and effective way. Martial Arts has always said “The only enemy is within”. It is this enemy which we are trying to transform into a friend in terms of mediation. It is there before a particular person exists, because these pressures are inherent in existence before any particular form takes shape.

If you take an aggressive and hostile person and put them into an intensive activity where the process of work is more important than an outcome, this will transform that person. For instance, this happens in the army as well as in sports. So you have somebody who could be a big problem, becoming a big success. A change of circumstance has delivered them from there problems without fundamentally changing who they are. Any particular outcomes of this takes care of itself according to the dedication and focus on the task.

In todays world, many of the algorithms and ways of presenting oneself, particularly online, are geared towards attention grabbing. For instance, you might see a martial artists posting videos online. A lot of the time, there will be a focus on their muscles and body image. This is entirely different to viewing such a person under the pressures of working and seeing them respond to life’s struggles in a dignified way, for example, as you might see them in a martial arts contest or in the army doing drills. It’s not the the army or martial arts centre is better, it’s just that it can be a more productive way of managing ones time and energy. On the other hand, forms of practice which glorify certain egotistical personas, tend to distort ones energies over time even though it appears as though they are very successful and attractive.

Focus on the Work, Not the outcome

“Ones scope for development and self transformation occurs in direct proportion to the expansion they allow for it.”

So these were always the fundamental unbreakable laws of martial arts, to focus and strive for improvement. Whether or not martial arts worked in any practical sense was meaningless in this context, because not only does work and dedication cause results and progress, but assumptions tend to screw things up. For example, if you assume that you will be able to beat an opponent easily with a small amount of training, then this itself is an impediment to learning and progress. On the other hand, if you have clarity and strive towards whatever you know best, preconceptions come down drastically. You get to the point of attaining what you never thought possible, rather than what you thought about on day one. In other words, ones scope for development and self transformation occurs in direct proportion to the expansion they allow for it.

Of course, it is perfectly normal to go around making enemies of people. People do this all the time. But it is certainly not an optimal way to function in most situations today. There are more and more people populating the Earth, so a certain acceptance of this and methods of handling things more diplomatically are needed. This is why Martial Arts has traditionally opted for creating harmony within rather than discord amongst yourself and your enemies.

The Rise of Turbulence and Narcissism

Posted on 5th May 2024 Last updated on 5th May 2024 by joeharman8 | 16 min read | 118 views

“Let’s say you are in a boat that continuously changes direction. This leaves a trail of broken energy lines in its wake. If you sail another boat across this region, this is felt as turbulence. This is the way the human system works. Energy expression leaves a certain pattern in its wake. These patterns can be smooth and continuous, or broken and fractured, lacking coherent direction.”

Narcissistic attitudes towards winning have always predominated sport, and nowhere is this more true than in martial arts. Today, it is increasingly common for competitors talk about how if they lose a match, they sink into a depression. This is not a normal attitude, even if it is a prevalent one in certain circles. How did this come about?

In the past, there were more tournament formats, which you entered whether you were ranked or not. If you didn’t win you just turned up next time and tried again. Obviously there were also ranked tournaments, but I’m just reconstructing the thinking of the time. This was even so in Mixed martial arts around 25-30 years ago. During those times, you were obviously promoted if you won, but it was a long battle over time. This required continuous one pointed focus. At the same time you had to to get through a broad array of challenges. For instance, you prepared for multiple fights on the same night, not just one.

So in the past, you needed to be ready in general, not just specifically according to one particular type of opponent. This required a general flexibility, rather than almost weekly or monthly changes in fight preparation towards specific goals. This obviously extends outside of martial arts. For example, at work each office has a daily requirement and tasks to do. These change almost daily. In the past, the office demands was mostly unchanging. This meant that any personal shifts in mood or temperament were happening on a constant steady environment. This is no longer the case in many environments. So now, depending on the type of work you are in, you are likely to need a level of flexibility not seen in any other time in history.

Turbulence and Chaos as a Foundation

When you have to be well rounded, this makes it difficult to outwardly express energy in one direction. The need for well rounded lack of friction is needed today like never before. To be well rounded means you have a stable centre. When you move from this toward the edge, naturally you start to move away from the centre. This is one aspect. As a consequence of moving away from the centre and staying there, it is natural to develop a skewed personality which becomes increasingly empowered. It becomes increasingly difficult to navigate turbulent terrain if your inner compass is pointing the wrong way.

It is like if you sail a boat across the sea. This creates energy waves, or choppy waters. These are experienced by other boats long after your you have sailed by. Let’s say you are in a boat that continuously changes direction. This is the modern experience for not only athletes, but other people too today. This constant change of direction leaves a trail of broken energy lines in its wake. If you sail another boat across this region, this is felt as turbulence. This is the way the human system works. Each action within you creates a line or thread of energy. This weaves an internal garment. This can create turbulence within you if it becomes incongruent, as well as in your relationships with others.

Energy expression leaves a certain pattern in its wake. Let’s say you practice a punch. Various transmissions of neurological energy are imbedded. These become muscle memory. At first there is a jolt as the muscle fibres are stimulated. This helps with movement and energy. There is an initial explosiveness as the engine starts. These patterns can be smooth and continuous, or broken and fractured, lacking coherent direction. This is one simple example. So what you want is a coherent line of expressed energy so that the right kind of template for action is created for now and in the future. You then don’t happen in fits and starts but function optimally. This can happen in terms of activity of the mind, as well as the body.

On the other hand, energy expressed in different directions never gets a change to grow as a platform. It becomes a shifting landscape that changes before anything gets established on it. Energy just happens in fits a starts. This is useful for specific purposes, but in general you are teaching cells and your neurological system to function in a chaotic way if this becomes a habit. If the direction of energy is changing all of the time, it is difficult to establish a coherent pattern. So, the pattern that becomes established is chaotic due to severe fluctuations and turbulence that become normal in your experience.

Engineering the Power Generator

Today, many competitors get all out of sorts if they lose one match. Why does this happen? In one sense, they burn excessive energy on stressful and goal specific activity, rather than establishing inner balance. In another sense, the hyper developed ego has been deflated. Anything which you think about obsessively generally becomes an enslavement. This becomes an energy drain. Eventually after a few flashes of motivation, you are left empty. In other words, the light has gone out, and there’s no auxiliary, or power generator, to keep the power going. So this is why traditionally, the power generator was developed rather than the superficial light, so to speak.

As we have seen, for the modern athlete, superficial goals are considered the landscape. These goals change all the time. As we have seen, this was not so in the past, because there were more long term pursuits and less regular changes. Because of the shifting landscape and ceaseless changes, many people have made their own personality the rigid and unchanging element. In other words, their own personality has become institutionalised, rather than just the body. So many people develop rigid and tenacious personalities, rather than work ethics, to compensate for lack of balance in these shifting landscapes.

I do not mean to say that people are not hard working anymore. They are. It’s just that they work hard in an insistent and determined way that eventually erodes their energy system if they are not careful. But that is their choice. On the other hand, let’s say you just train all the time so that you are in a competitive condition, but not in any specialised sense. You develop a good generator but don’t waste it on emitting light all day long. You just use it when necessary, rather than all of the time. Lets look at what I mean by this in some more detail.

Goal Orientation Gone Wrong

Todays athletes are expected to change what they are doing all the time depending on who they are fighting. They have one very specific goal. This is sometimes done so that over a period of time this goal changes in different phases of the overall plan. However, the goal is predetermined so that the past is brought into the projected future. Anything which deviates is considered a distraction. This means that one minute you are building muscle, the next you are cutting weight, and then you do some specific exercises according to a periodic plan. This is different to in the past when people did everything at once but built up more slowly, a strategy which I think is more ordinary but better overall. But, this will of course vary according to individual needs.

So changing the direction of you energies all the time creates a certain turbulence in the system the more you do it. This is the up and down side to side nature of modern competitive sport. It all depends on someone else rather than your actual energetic and experiential needs in terms of action. This may be necessary sometimes but when it becomes a way of life this can be disastrous. One minute you are with the family, the next you are doing some media promotion. Each demand, training related or otherwise, is factored into a schedule of organisation. So the aim is to orientate oneself towards a goal, but the results are often the opposite to the intended outcome in the long term.

Because the energies are pulled in several directions, the only stable platform becomes the personality, which sits on top of a changing landscape. This becomes the investment, rather than the process of self transformation or development. In self development and transformation, nothing of the old remains in the end. You have moved beyond it. When you invest heavily in the personality in its current state, then this can become an enslaving process. This is because in order to evolve, you need a reason to move beyond limitations and obliterate them, rather than to empower them.

The Rise of Narcissism

So when this personality gets blown out of proportion and arrogant we call this narcissism. When you move beyond arrogance, this is called inclusion because something else a part of yourself. The problem is that when you fear the changes happening around you in modern living, you cling to what you do know, or create a rigid form. The larger than life superficial personality is the only constant thing, and you become a kind of parody of yourself. This is the other way round when you compare it to traditional martial arts, which sought to create a stable landscape and a flexible personality which was not hyper developed. This lead to more acceptance of others and a more flexible nature.

That is not to say narcissism is a trait associated with sport or martial arts, but it is reaching epidemic proportions within the industry. What do I mean by narcissism? I mean the kind of superficial arrogance which sometimes passes as confidence or self assurance. It is the loudest voice in the room, which represents the weakest person there. When one is in a constant state of stress, they become very loud. This is because when an organism is in decline, they generally become quite explosive as a survival mechanism. Rather than life becoming enhanced, this is understood in martial arts to mean life exiting the body in a dramatic way, often in instalments.

If you take a normal person, working on their trade and experiencing a generally happy life, there is a fairly steady cultivation of energy throughout the day. There is little in the way of excess or distraction (Yes, this is what I’m taking as a normal person). On the other hand, there is no real need to separate oneself from what they are doing in such a situation. This is because the day is steady and you go on autopilot. It is like if you fly a plane in the clear skies. You just guide it where it needs to go. In turbulent storms, you start to do backflips and god knows what else. You then think of yourself as special. When you identify as special, you naturally seek turbulence.

There is no need to dazzle an audience in order to gain attention for oneself. In martial arts this means there is little difference between what you are doing whether you win or lose, you just get on with it because it is a daily cycle of activity. Traditionally, it was about the battle. This was the daily cycle. It was not necessary to brag about how much you won, because the reality of training was a daily battle and this was accepted. Modern living has escaped this cycle, however this doesn’t mean there is no work to be done. In reality the work is only just beginning.

In the Shaolin Monasteries, it was common to undergo severe training which took everything out of you. This was not to train you for a one off fight, although the thought of doing so may have been used as a tool to focus the minds of disciples initially. So this level of back breaking work required that you didn’t look beyond what the task was in front of you. This was a way to focus the mind. This is a way of viewing martial arts as a means to an end, rather than some distant contest as a goal in itself. When you can focus on this task long enough, you eventually blend into it rather than stick out. You identify with the process rather than the goal.

Social Media

Today it is about social media exposure. These are the models which are being widely emulated, or we could say that these are the lights people see on the stage. However, in the past it was not about being lit up all the time. It was about cultivating and experiencing a certain level of vibrant energy to live a good life. So the energy level was higher, but the expression or emission of that energy was lower. Just think how much more work was able to be done by people in the past. Whereas today, the emission of energy is higher but the cultivation of anything is often lower.

Building the Energy Base

Let’s say you shine a light. Light is a projection of energy to illuminate the room. At the same time, certain other energy forms become less visible. Due to fixation on this artificial light, your surroundings, and the energy about them, becomes less obvious. In fact when people look at artificial light too much, for example LED light, this blocks out certain other frequencies of colour. This gives everything you subsequently look at a white or blow glow, which blocks out the horizon. In other words, you closer you look at the details, the more you can miss the big picture.

The nature of light is like that, on and off. Energy, on the other hand, is a platform to build on. So if you have a solid platform to build on, you don’t need to express the light so desperately. This is the whole problem today, people are too busy expending energy in the form of fancy light displays. On the other hand, when you have a strong energy base, the light will work anyway. You don’t need to directly work with the light up aspect. The sun works the same way. It is a big ball of energy, but when it’s cloudy, you can’t see the light. It doesn’t bother to shine any brighter, its just not as visible, but that’s fine. There is still warmth, and it is still there, but the light goes out in our visual perception. So appearances don’t really matter overall.

So the dazzling array of narcissistic personalities is like that. It blocks out everything else. This is so for the narcissist as well as the others they influence. This is precisely the danger with certain social media influencers. So we are incapable of seeing martial arts the way people traditionally did. Traditionally, martial arts was all about building energy. When the need to fight arose, the energy level was there so that it was possible when needed. But they didn’t go looking for it because there was no need.

Once you build up the energy bas and you want to turn on the lights, it’s not a problem for you. If you live off the energy consuming lights, then after some time the energy burns out. So they looked very ordinary, but building up a dazzling light display was not a concern for the martial artists of old. They just wanted the powerhouse to be built. There are many benefits to this, such as health, well being, and liberation. This inner powerhouse structure is known as the energy body1, or the aura in western spiritual tradition.

Let’s say the Earths Centre was to decrease in size. Then the gravity holding the elements in place would be reduced. In other words, the energy base would have decreased, and therefore the attractive force would diminish. This means that the subtler elements within the Earths atmosphere, the feminine dimension of energy2, would move away. In the human system, this means that if you don’t manage to maintain the centre within you3, then you end up burning out, or in a state of on and off. You are unable to extend yourself without being on and off. So to make the body more stable, this requires a certain amount of work. Anybody who lacks a substantial energy can generate a dazzling short lived light. However, with such a person, the moment the situation is over, they just go down again. This is the reason for so many short lived superstars today. So martial arts traditionally was about sustainability of that energy and making it more substantial and sustainable.

Martial arts and industry must be separated, because martial arts is not some commodity to appeal only to market winners. At the same time, there is no reason why you shouldn’t be able to market yourself just because you are not a big time industry winner. Marketability is about promotion, but in its extreme state it becomes about showing off. As I have tried to explain, this drive for self promotion causes a neglect of other factors, such as a stabilising influence. But this is only for certain narcissistic people who have to be competitive with everyone else superficially.

You can never build a solid foundation on the back of self promotion. So don’t bother trying to do that. It’s just a consequence of some activity. You are not working with the causes of success if you are focusing on just the outcome. When you work with the causes of success, it takes long but it last forever. When you work with the energy building up, it builds up in its own way, not according to what people want to see, or what you want to see. Every flower is different. If you try to manage how you look to others, then this shows nothing in terms of the expression of energy.

Energy expression is only an indicator of energy at some moment in time. If you are doing specific activities, then you might need to force the energies in some way. If you just manage your energies, or Prana, you can gain a certain security against natures dangers. One advantage is that you become insulated from such things due to the the protection your own internal energy offers. If you don’t have enough security against various dangers and worldly situations, then you will end up avoiding them due to a lack of energy for them. This is why you store it within yourself as a dynamic moving force. You are not really storing it, because so much energy is needed for just maintenance of the integrity of the energy base. So this insulation from the elements of the world and its dangers, is a security against such dangers which at the same time builds a strong base.

References

1 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2021/04/12/the-dual-nervous-system-and-the-chi-body/ The Dual Nervous System and the Chi Body

2 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2023/08/12/feminine-energy-and-intuition-part-2/ Feminine energy and intuition part 2

3 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2024/02/13/hara-centre-seat-of-creation/ Hara Centre Seat of Creation

Diversity and Sustainability in Martial Arts

Posted on 28th April 2024 by joeharman8 | 10 min read | 95 views

“The need for extreme states of adrenaline is just like the need for cocaine or other such substances. The need for silence or space is just like the need to be out in nature. Out in nature, there are vast periods of inactivity, but there is a certain intensity about it which can be used to energise the system.”

Efforts to increase the varieties of practical martial arts training have left them all with similar flaws. Because the modern commercial styles are so popular, the benefits outside of immediate practical application have been forgotten largely. Traditionally, martial arts meant a complete system of health and well being. Today, there are systems of self defence, and then there are separate well being exercises. So there is a separateness about it, rather than a unity of diverse aspects.

By focusing only on self defence, rather than health, this leads one open to other dangers, such as disease and other ailments. Disease is one of the biggest threats to humanity, much more prevalent than a mugging on the street. None the less, people opt for self defence over general robustness against disease. If there were infinite time to do both, this wouldn’t be an issue. In reality, there are severe constraints placed on us by our circumstances, as well as scarce time and resources. So it is important to prioritise.

Let’s say you exhaust yourself each day with physical exercises. You might end up with big muscles, but a run down immune system. So it is about getting the balance of exertion and restfulness. However, when you stress the body with over exercise, it is increasingly likely that you will end up mentally stressed too. Then you experience interrupted sleep and feelings of hyperactivity. This can lead to various patterns of addictive behaviours, because the body is out of balance. This takes years to come into effect, so people tend to think it happens out of nowhere. Then the panic can set in, and in such a state it makes sense to feed off of extreme states, rather than steady ones.

The system of practice itself will depend on what you consider the best way to fulflil a need. The need for extreme states of adrenaline is just like the need for cocaine or other such substances. The need for silence or space is just like the need to be out in nature. Out in nature, there are vast periods of inactivity, but there is a certain intensity about it which can be used to energise the system. You may have noticed that traditional system stress the importance of training outside and away from the masses. However, modern day training environments cater for other requirements. We have moved from nature to the laboratory of study. In the lab everything is seen in isolation.

So getting away from stressful environments can also be a means of combating stress. The body’s reward systems, such as endorphin release, can be triggered by being away from external reward triggers. How is this achieved? The subtle and less extreme states experience in more natural environments go through kind of cycle, where they start off small but with large effects. They take a while to kick in, they go through a longer cycle, but this is a more sustainable means of energy cultivation. This does not eliminate external need or dependance, but reduces it drastically.

Take the example of nutrition. You break down the food, digest it, and then it ends up assimilating into the body via the mind and gut connection. Along this cascade of events, various hormones are created and neurological signals are sent internally which promote a sustainable sense of health and well being. So you are creating and fulfilling the pathways for your growth naturally. The receptors which uptake this energy cultivation are directly targeted by various chemicals, which trigger such receptors into stimulation. Let’s say you take some steroids. You will probably get more muscular. At the same time, the hormones won’t pass through your entire organ system. this is why many people who abuse steroids suffer organ related ailments. You then end up being weaker overall, even if you have a strong muscle.

The mistake everyone makes is in thinking that it is the chemicals themselves which cause health and growth. However, many scientific studies are now showing that these receptors, which are target by drugs, can naturally be activated by internally produced substances common to all people. This is why meal times have been considered an important, and often sacred, aspect of the day in many traditions. Because nutrition is a means of growth, and the more this becomes a mediative process, the less reliant on external supplements you become. You will even need less food to fuel you because it is being used more efficiently with less waste.

Martial Arts has been admired for its exotic appeal for centuries. However, the mysticism surrounding it has given way to clinical applications. For example, it makes no sense at all to take part in the mediative practices if all you are looking for is to knock out another person with a punch. So because people fail to see the value of meditative practices, they get increasingly ignored.

Despite the large number of martial arts styles that are popular, they all seem to share a common mentality. This mentality is limited to only a few generations of thinking. For example, Taekwondo, a Korean Martial Art, is known only for its commercially viable appeal. Most people assume it is all about flashy kicks and athletic performance. However, even just under twenty years ago, when I started training, there were many popular practices which are no longer widely taught. For example, one needed to sharply exhale and make a “Kiap” shout when kicking or punching as part of the practice. This was based on ancient knowledge that the sounds you make with the breath has a deep impact on power expression1.

“If you have a fast car, you don’t need to run at full speed all the time. Just having a high performance car allows you to drive slowly but with optimal efficiency, this is a blessing in itself, to be able to enjoy the ride. Driving slowly does not indicate incompetence.”

It is generally considered that the western inspired martial arts styles are superior to the Eastern ones. But the Eastern ones are not for wimps, as is often thought. There are various movements which involve stick fighting, animal forms, and energy cultivation in the Eastern styles. These have a practical value in themselves. For instance, because the eastern styles are based on ancient agriculture, rather than hunting, it makes sense that they have developed from a different platform to the West. In agriculture there are seasons. In western thought it is summer all the time. In the Chinese systems, the practices you engage with will often depend on the season largely. This is just one aspect.

Day to day life in the Eastern cultures, has largely centred around defending oneself from animal attacks, and worshipping the Earth. Obviously, this is not always so much the case now, but traditionally this is so. So how you defend yourself against a snake or a wild animal, will look different to how you defend yourself against a person. More than that, how you defend yourself against a force of invaders will look different to how you fight in the ring. An invasion can happen anywhere and at any time, not just when you are fresh and prepared for the date of the fight. So the need for general health, rather than specific conditioning was valued.

Western heritage is largely thought of in terms of conquest2. In fact, Western culture is also deeply steeped in agricultural heritage, but more recently there has been an aggressive culture of conquest and expansion. Violence is very much apart of day to day experience, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Whereas in the East, it is common to never even witness a crime, much less an assault. Obviously, every culture has its problems, but largely it was traditionally accepted that you stick with your clan in Eastern cultures, rather than look to take over your neighbour. It wasn’t considered a good idea to destroy an opponent in order to achieve liberation. The basis of creating good karma for yourself is that if you mind your own business, then you don’t quire baggage or excess that you don’t need.

So this loss of diversity in martial arts, in favour of conquest and strength, could leave us open to disease and disaster. For example, many of the practices in Yoga, as well as Tai Chi and other styles, are beneficial in disease prevention as well as relieving stress. In modern times, we have shielded ourselves from dangers to a large degree, such as petty crime, and violent killings. Obviously the dangers are there, but in general our safety has never been so secure. But at the same time we have opened ourselves up to other dangers. These include pandemics of mental and physical health issues. These dangers were always known in the Eastern tradition, which has already been through material affluence many centuries ago and so knows what happens when you are not careful what you wish for.

With the modern hybrid styles of martial arts, only a small amount of the diversity of practices is held onto. We have already looked at what some of these involve. It is important to hold onto ancient practices, because they contain a certain wisdom within them. It is not that they need to be practiced all the time, but they should be held onto. Nor is it that everything is about self defence and preservation of the species. It is like if you have a raincoat, you don’t need to wear it all the time, but you hold onto it none the less. Most of the time it may be so sunny you don’t need it. But that doesn’t stop you wearing it when necessary.

If you have a fast car, you don’t need to run at full speed all the time. Just having a high performance car allows you to drive slowly but with optimal efficiency, this is a blessing in itself, to be able to enjoy the ride. Driving slowly does not indicate incompetence. At the same time, if you run at full speed, you must be aware of the dangers and become increasingly switched on and intensively engaged when necessary. You need to be aware of every inch of the car, and how the weight is distributed. You need to feel it. This is why the traditional systems spent so much time tuning up and engineering the body’s performance in martial arts. They spend a lot of time in the garage engineering so that peak performance was possible without becoming run down and exhausted.

The reason these more traditional practices are not held onto is that due to passing fads, changes in industry standards, etc., force certain popular trends. However, there are individuals and organisations which always preserve the purity of systems of practice. Another reason is that due to the vast quantities of energy consumed in fitness practices, these require bio chemical enhancement or supplements to train in such methods. We have looked at this already. So at the same time as increased output, and decreased down time, we see an increase in the use of performance enhancing drugs in sport. Looking after and enhancing your health, rather than just aspects of physical fitness, can reduce the number of chemical supplements that are needed by the modern athlete.

References

1 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2023/12/20/sound-and-form-part-1/ Sound and Form [Part 1 of 3]

2 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2023/04/24/conquest-at-all-costs-drugs-and-the-evolution-of-martial-arts-part-1/ Conquest at all costs: Drugs and the Evolution of Martial Arts.

Breaking the cycle

Posted on 27th April 2024 Last updated on 28th April 2024 by joeharman8 | 9 min read | 67 views

From Expectation to Inspiration

Posted on 9th March 2024 by joeharman8 | 12 min read | 108 views

There in many in Martial Arts who believe that it is best to switch off your concerns about the opponent. For them, the thinking is “We should handle it severely, and that’s it, to Hell with the other guy”. When you follow this line of reasoning, then you justify maiming your opponent or worse. However, when you say “There is no opponent”, it is possible to lapse into defeatism and accept your fate. This has always been the problem with the spiritual side of martial arts. However, the goal is always to develop your consciousness and awareness, without being defeated. In other words, you do what is needed to ensure your survival, but when your survival is ensured and you just want revenge, this becomes a sickness.

It is not about embarrassing the other guy. This requires a certain resentment towards the opponent, that they are the bad guy and you are delivering justice. When you hyper develop egotistical thought, your own mind stabs you in the back. It cuts you just as a sharp blade wielded by a novice. When you carry bitterness in your heart, or sow the seed of it, then this is not what is referred to as the empty mind approach. This is a sickness.

So the idea behind taking action is to ensure that it does not grow into something bad. For instance, the goal of winning a contest is to strive to the utmost. this becomes bad when you try to secure a victory, or you fear losing such a status. This is because such accumulated baggage becomes burdensome and you are no longer driven by inspiration but by narrow minded expectation. Never waste time become self satisfied in such a way. If you are never satisfied, then that is good, it means you expect a lot from yourself. If you expect little from yourself, it means you have given up hoping to stretch and surpass expectation.

Empty Mind

The empty mind approach simply means you have emptied the car of its petrol. This does not mean you forgot to fill it up, or that you drove nowhere. No, instead “empty your mind” means drive to the destination, not anywhere that’s unnecessary. So you empty only after you have reached. So you are driving your own inspired action to its natural conclusion, rather than an unrealistic or unnatural conclusion.

Let’s say you wanted to become the greatest martial artist ever. It is only when there are such grand expectations that inspired action becomes possible. So reaching the goal would only inspire less action. It is better not to reach that goal in that case. Or, if you did somehow reach it, you would quickly need to find another way of staying involved. This is where most people fall short. When they have achieved their dreams, they no longer see the point. But you can always push a little further, couldn’t you? If your dream was to achieve ten thousand hours of practice, then raise that expectation to double, and then triple!

Empty mind means you take no sides and you just see things the way they are. It is said that there is honour among thieves. What this means is that when you take from a situation to benefit yourself, you will find many other corroborators to encourage you for your efforts. So a thief is never short of friends. If you lower your expectations and inspirations to something achievable, you will find no shortage of encouragement. This is self robbery. It is only when you disregard such encouragement that you will truly surpass realistic everyday goals. This is important, because most goals people make are usually too easy to remain motivated with for long, or they are inspired by others expectations for them. This is for them, not for you. Quality is measured not by fulfilling some goal. So the goal need to be measured in terms of whether you are applying yourself totally or not.

Becoming Aware

But when you remain aware, aware for instance that your opponent could be less dangerous than you immediately think, you open up different possibilities. This is equally so if you see them as more dangerous than you. We will get onto this shortly. It is often the case that people walk around without concern for how they are behaving towards others. If you walk in a forest loudly, you will disturb the wildlife so that they run away. This is happening everywhere, people disturb each others peace and then blame each other for their own lack of consideration. I would say that this is how the vast majority of fights break out, due to sheer ignorance. This is a huge development of the ego that was never there in previous generations.

Assailants are often like wild animals, they pay attention to these things and are in a hurry to react. This is partly because they have hyper developed their survival circuits so that they are on red alert all the time. To achieve this is beneficial, but to stay there indefinitely is a disaster. From the survival perspective this makes sense. From a well being perspective, this is every day torture because it’s overusing the senses which become unavailable for anything else. Your whole experience then becomes one of emotional chemistry geared towards survival rather than prosperity. So the survival circuits should be available when needed, but not compulsively reacting to outside events indiscriminately.

The human being is built more for well being as its ultimate goal. The same body that hates can contain the opposite emotions too. Therefore, it is not about the body. It is instead how you perceive the world and the way you orientate the energies which itself creates the chemistry. I frequently change from struggling at a task to being dead to the world. this is not a problem for me because one state naturally transitions into another if you go about closing and widening the gap between activity and rest form that occupation.

When you look at what people fight over, these are petty, useless matters. Someone spilling your drink in a bar has nothing to do with you. This is simply societies experience playing out in a social situation. It may be happening around you and in a situation you are involved with, but it would happen anyway without you there. These situations are just thousands of years of evolution by trial and error still happening. The intelligence within you should guide you towards intelligent action.

Being No. 1

You should not have a problem that someone is bigger and stronger than you. If you meet somebody more capable than you, this is good because you have an opportunity to learn. If you can befriend such a person, then this will be a great partnership. If your idea of winning and victory is beating down somebody else, just to secure your own image, then this is a horrible waste of potential. If however, you engage in a martial arts contest with somebody far better than you, then you are pushing yourself to the limit. You will reach your full potential. You can never do this against an easy hand picked opponent, or an easy target. If somebody is pushing you to the limit, then this will just make your experience more intense and meaningful. It will make you perform better and experience the richness of life.

So far we have looked at how, most of the time, just paying attention to how you might rub people the wrong way in an environment stops most altercations. You see their intensity as a means to switch yourself on and become more aware rather than threatened. Through certain meditative practices you can be totally involved in chaos yet keep a fire between yourself and the outside world. Fire is a pressure that burns everything.

I would say that around ninety percent of fights can be avoided by paying abolsute attention to how you are in your surroundings. This makes such situations positive rather than negative. The problem is people pay absolute attention to fixate on how somebody has looked at them the wrong way, or bumped into them. You cannot pay absolute attention to two things. You can have the two things going on at once, but they need to synthesise into a coherent vision. It is not either or.

Instantaneous Analysis

In martial arts, it is necessary to develop an instantaneous analysis. This isn’t a case of stopping the response to danger and slowly going over the options. No, because then you set yourself up as a mark who cannot think on the spot. You don’t want to come across hesitant. Hesitation kills. If you hesitate, you are then clearly demonstrating that you are incompetent to act. It is about seamlessly going over the options and doing what’s necessary instantaneously, there and then.

Similarly, in a martial arts match if you are going over some exercises in your mind without perceiving what’s in front of you, you miss the point. You are building an experience based on the past rather than building a future based on the present. This way, even if you make a mistake, you are paying absolute attention and full awareness so you know where you went wrong instantly. You can then auto correct in a kind of flow state of improvisation. This is something master guitar players do, they play the wrong note on occasion but it is dealt with then and there and actually opens new possibilities. So a mistake accepted as a pathways becomes a means of liberation from hesitation and inertia. It is part of the creative process, not fearing mistakes. This requires a certain clarity and consciousness about life.

From powerlessness to Power

When a cornered animal fights, it just goes into survival mode full on. Does this require any sort of power? No it requires a powerlessness to do anything else. When one is powerless and insecure, they always seek to squash somebody else because they know they’ve had it otherwise. This is not a bad thing, there is no good and bad in nature. This kind of emergency mind set is obviously what will happen if somebody comes along and butchers your family in front of you. This is not meant to scare you or sound harsh, but in all likelihood you will grab the nearest thing and survival will happen as it does in the jungle. You will just do what’s necessary to stop them, yes or no? This requires responsible action to avoid. So this doesn’t need to be practiced or rehearsed. This is what we want to avoid, but it will happen if we don’t take precautions to ensure our own security.It is the avoidance which needs to be practiced as means to gain control over the situation.

Fear is a powerful externalisation of energy which happens whether you want it to or not. However, the way it expresses itself can be changed. So even the automatic survival process can be harnessed to some degree, or it can be left to react with events on its own. Men in particular tend to become more aggressive when under threat. In martial arts we say that the greater the challenge, the greater the potential power to overcome. This means that under extreme circumstances, if you can harness the energy and squeeze opportunity out of it, this is where true power lies. So when under threat, you can just dissipate the energies at the level of the instinctive reactions, or you can send it upwards. There are many ways to go about this.

Not for the faint of Heart

Say you have particularly powerful energy emitting outwardly. You need to develop certain tools which are purely receptive and absorb this energy. This is where the breathing comes in, as well as the postures and stances. The Hara Centre1 is the powerful energy centre for generative purposes. The Solar Plexus, or heart centre, absorbs this energy when breathing becomes properly attuned to the internal system. This proper attunement does not happen when you are breathing purely in reaction to external events. So by concentrating here, at the Hara Centre, you remain more in control.

The other way is to make certain sounds2, which create the right kind of internal attitude and synchronise the breathing patterns with a strong posture or stance. So remaining mindful of these considerations can greatly enhance your ability to respond to emergency situations and find cunning ways of subverting them altogether. This takes the fire and intensity of a situation and transforms it into something beneficial. The idea is to become aware that the situation is happening, but conscious there is more going on than just the survival process.

In many self defence classes, you are advised to fight back automatically. For example, there is the whole “It’s me of him” mentality, or “he’s trying to stop me feeding my family, so I must put an end to him”, this kind of thinking. Either that, or you are told to pre meditate a minimal damage response. The thing is, that if you’re wrong about this, you have a big problem. This kind of thinking came about when martial arts became a mass production affair.

Just like we predicted that people would always work in factories, we predicted that the situation could be planned for in advance. Evolution does not work this way. So it become necessary to pre package techniques which are said to work in the absence of awareness or even basic competence. This gets people moving and gives them a bit of confidence to take further steps. However, if you make the mistake of taking on some sort of quest to defeat people, then then existentially this requires a huge level of self responsibility and competence. It is not me saying this, it’s a condition of taking things on in life. This is why martial arts was deemed not for the faint of heart.

References

1 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2024/02/13/hara-centre-seat-of-creation/ Hara Centre: Seat of Creation

2 https://intuitivemartialarts.com/2023/12/20/sound-and-form-part-1/ Sound and Form Part 1

Becoming rounded

Expansion of the Bubble

Water and Circulation of Energy

From limited functioning to the unlimited

The Power of Full Engagement: Mastering Effort for Peak Performance

Emotion or Intelligence?

Become Air Bourne and Grounded

The Art of Martial Art

Competition or Cooperation?

The enemy within

Focus on the Work, Not the outcome

Turbulence and Chaos as a Foundation

Engineering the Power Generator

Goal Orientation Gone Wrong

The Rise of Narcissism

Social Media

Building the Energy Base

References

References

Subscribe to continue reading

Empty Mind

Becoming Aware

Being No. 1

Instantaneous Analysis

From powerlessness to Power

Not for the faint of Heart

References