The Philosophy of Defense
In martial Arts as in anything else worth doing in life there are certain rules and principles that help your growth and improvement, here are a few that have helped me. Some are taken from writings such as Miyamoto Musashi's Book of Five Rings, Sun Tzu's The Art of War and some from my own meditations.
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DEFENSE | SAFETY | FIRST AID | HEALTH AND FITNESS | THE FIGHTING MIND
Your thoughts make you what you are, your actions further define who you are. Think wisely and think before you act. There is a price paid for everything your mind encourages and every action of your body.
Be
like water, honestly expressing yourself comfortably in any form.
The
only constant in the universe is change. Change,
improve.
Empty your cup – no thoughts, no mind, make the spirit strong.
Let
the spirit of the thing possess you so you can be of the spirit.
Martial Arts? A more efficient way to an aggressive end? a way to avoid violence? Spiritual enlightenment? Or does each cultivate the next?
Be
full of will but void of desire
Strengthen your Spirit, think of positive things often, clear your mind occasionally, sacrifice something to a good cause at some times.
The stronger spirit will live to see the next dawn.
Train
at all times, with your spirit, mind and body
Seemingly without sound, seemingly without motion, seemingly without effort, seemingly without life.
Never train yourself only train for something greater.
If one masters a weapon, he has accomplished; if his weapon is only his hands and feet he is closer to ideal. No weapon at all therefore is perfection.
Martial arts starts with respect, for yourself and others.
The
true spirit of a thing can never
be wrong
Strip away the fear, the pain, strip away the anger, face them until they are nothing to you, let only the spirit remain.
Be worthy.
Pray, Train and Fight because there is much to pray about, more than you even know, there is much to be thankful for and much that will require a strength greater than your own . . . and there is much to fight for.
Keep
your form, make yourself bigger in your mind, nail yourself to the ground and be
fluid with the air
Let your rage, not your anger, be bottomless, calmly match your opponents teaspoon with a cupful, their cupful with a bowl, their bowl with a bucket their bucket with a barrel their barrel with a tank their tank with an ocean .
Never
just move – explode.
When training remember your foes will not be as kind to you as you are to yourself, love cruel but discriminate taskmasters, they are your salvation.
Giving up is easy and teaches nothing but weakness and failure.
Make your mistakes in training never in battle.
Know your body, know your mind, know the world you live in.
Have exquisitely brutal combinations, let parries flow from you endlessly, make your deep and fearsome rage be a wellspring of constant awe.
Your
mind is your greatest weapon.
Relax,
be great, be strong, be explosive.
To
speed up, slow down, relax
Never
give them a chance, they will take it.
Hit as quickly as possible, end it hard end it now.
Overcoming
your weakness is your greatest strength
Understand
your enemies strengths, they are often their greatest weaknesses.
The strong man who does not know politics has already lost his freedom.
Be quick be agile be flawless through practice but leave room for the unexpected.
Never be quick to start a fight but be quick to recognize one and to end it, never impatient, but quick.
Be
deeply thoughtful, unpredictable, an artist and gain
Have an iron will that cannot be broken and cannot be tricked or out-finessed.
Prepare for and expect the "unexpected" and when it happens don't be surprised.
Never
show your intention.
Rush
the illusion – Slaughter it, find the reality.
Try to be at peace with all people but if they cross the line, take them out.
Know
your opponents weakness live in his mind, in his pleasure & pain.
Give
a dead stare (pokerface)
In
the world today it is no longer who wins or looses but who lives or dies.
Low
self-esteem is your worst enemy, the predator knows the sight of a weak prey.
Do
not think, know, do not know be
Avoidance
is better then even
Fighting
is the last resort of a fool.
You don’t survive life because of the things you learn in martial arts, but the things you learn in martial arts help you to survive life.
We
never fight, we defend ourselves, or to train to defend, a fight is a test,
never test a situation, “ talk him out, walk him out or take him out”
Be
careful of the fights you choose, you will fight to win but the world looks very
different with another's blood in your eyes.
Be patriotic, there are few things greater save honor, family and most of all
God. But be careful to watch and study your leaders, choose them wisely,
question them loudly.
Do not believe that the savagery and wars of old is behind mankind, it is not,
it exists in the hearts of people that you see every day, people who represent
and lead others and people who are our peers and support, meditate on peace and
wisdom, train and prepare to protect your family and yourself.
There is no "co-incidence" and everything is created by Co-incidence
for it is one of the greatest forces in reality.
If I say "someone will try to rob, rape or kill you" one out of four
of you will think me a prophet. That is how drastic things are.
Give to your lessons and you will have them forever .
A
man without pain is already dead
What
you do , do simply, do with complete resolve, be sure of yourself, neither
over-bearing in attitude nor with false humility.
Hammer
away at your every weakness, from angles, all sides until your mind is open and
you have dredged the very bottom of your despair.
Know
yourself through training, understand your enemy through thought, never be
intimidated or fooled, train hard, be aware of what is right and that you can
never be defeated.
To understand life well you must understand its tools and challenges. Mediate, learn, discuss, act, and start all over again.
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