Being a Martial-Artist

Sometimes I wonder what if I could be practicing Martial-Arts since my early childhood, what I could have become by this age, the dawn of youth and the rise of manhood. Now since such kind of life never came to me, what if somehow I got enough money so that I can quit my job and practice Martial-Arts whole day and night. What if I get enough money from my job and also get 2 hours to practice Martial-Arts everyday ?

I will take the last one, that seems possible. I can’t go back to my childhood, no one can. I can’t get enough amount money out of nowhere. So, 3rd option of practicing Martial-Arts with the job itself looks possible. I don’t have a Master who can teach, not nearby anywhere but I can ask some man who is a real Martial Artist to become my Master (though only online).

What if I become a hard to defeat Martial-Artist, I mean in real, not in sports. There are rules in sports: you don’t hit there, you don’t use your hand like that, you have to wear a proper dress… blah blah blah… but in real-life there are no rules. Reality is painful, unconventional and fundamental, any Martial-Artist needs to accept that and if he does not then thats his problem. Whatever he believes or not is not going to affect the reaility of fighting, the universal truth remains the same no matter what an artist thinks about Martial-Arts. So, what if I become a hard-to-defeat, born-to-fight Martial-Artist by the age I will be still young (next 10 years) ? What will I do then ?

First thing I need to do to become like what I dream always is to break the pattern of physical and mental pain. Practicing kung-Fu for hours and hours, thinking about it at every moment no matter at what place you are, takes a lot of pain on both physical and psychological level. Physical pain belongs to the hard practice and psychological pain belongs to the changing habits. Man is a creature of habits, so when you want to be undefeatable, you have to change the way you live life, slowly and slowly you have to change you daily-routine, you have to change the things you think about everyday. Becoming a real Martial-Artist means not only physical practice and fighting with the opponents outside but the hardest and most demanding fight is with one’s own inner demons, one own’s inner opponent. When you fight with someone and you loose, its not because he is better than you, its because you have some limitations, in your habits, in the way you live life. The gretest fight that ever happens when two men fight each other to win, is not between them but within themselves. When you try to go beyond an average man’s capabilities, your inner opponent pulls you back to your old meaningless but enjoyable and full of fun life. That inner opponent tries to pull you out of your new track of pain and tears to your old track of happiness and joy. Now everyone wants to enjoy (yeah, me too) and no one wants pain but why then being real, being natural, being going beyond the average, being fundamental means inviting pain and tears into your life ?

I think there is a mistake, there is complete mistake in being able to identify and define what is pain and happiness. When I try to go beyond my current physcial capabilities. When I try harder and harder to become real, to become a born-to-fight Martial-Artist, what I am doing is following the long-term happiness rather than what my current life has or what everyone wants. What everyone wants is short-term-gratification, a short term happiness. when I try to break my current patterns of life, it means I am trying to put my foot on long-term happiness. After 10 years from now, will I be happy if I keep on living with the short-term happiness ? Will that be a meaningfull life ? I don’t think so because I will always know in the corner of my heart that I could try hard but I did not, that I could have become what I wanted but I just chose to live with short-term happiness rather than ibnesting my tears and pain. Will I be happy when I have put 10 years into conditioning my body and making myself stronger ? what is more practical, doing what is everyone is doing or being able to defend myself and my loves ones and being a stronger man at mental level. I think I have chosen the 2nd option because I feel it is the truth, that it is what I am , I feel that it is in my nature.

So being a Martial-Artist does not mean punching the bag for 30 minutes and then practicinig some moves for 30 minutes and then you go home and enjoy what you do everyday. Being a true Martial-Artist means having a way fo living life, a way of life that connects you with the nature itself, that helpes you win over you inner enemy, that makes you a man who accepts his inner limitations and then does not fear or hesitate to overcome them. The greatest fight, is within one’s mind, is winning over your mind, is to rule your brain to make it do what you think is truth, what you think is long term happiness. Either you inner demons and limitations will drive you or you will drive them out. There is no 3rd way to this. Its hard and painful but it is the truth, either you remain an average man devoid of fundamantals or you connect with the Nature. I decided to be with the Nature, always.

 

 

Copyright © 2008 Arnuld Uttre, #331/type-2/sector-1, Naya Nangal, Distt. – Ropar, Punjab (INDIA) – 140126

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice, and the copyright notice, are preserved.

The Dao

As explained at Tan Dao that Bruce Lee actually modernized the ancient Chinese thought. Majority of Martial-Arts practinoners are impressed with Bruce Lee’s “Be Like Water” approach. Now being like water is just the tip of the iceberg. I think “be like water” is actually the result of something more fundamental, something more basic. Bruce Lee also talked about these fundamentals (which I myself found even before hearing them from Bruce Lee or anywhere):

• Absorb what is practical, discard the rest.
• You know I can pull out some fancy hand-movements and stunts. I can be cocky but that is not the truth. To be true to yourself, not lying to oneself , to be true to yourself is the expression of human body. To be true to yourself is hardest thing to do my friend.

These words were spoken by Bruce Lee himself. You can listen “Bruce Lee – The Lost Interview” on YouTube.

Now I have also found the same thing, before I heard Bruce Lee and these 2 things came from my own personal experience as a growing man in this life. But from where these words are getting generated, what is the source of this thinking. The source is being Natural. You don’t be true to yourself just because Bruce Lee said it or your JKD instructor told you so. You follow it because you believe in Nature, you believe in the path that follows Natural Laws. What is JKD ? and what is The Dao ? They all stress the originality.

The true essence of JKD, the true essence of “The Dao” is when you learn JKD (or any Martial-Art) you don’t duplicate Bruce Lee ( or the Master of that art), you try to be true to yourself. You try to put that training into you and become fluid with the core of that art, you become one with the extract of that art and you can only do that when you will follow the Nature, laws that govern the birth, that create this life and other lives. Why you try to be true, because you found that following the true you, the Natural you, removes any arrogance and self-glorification form you, being the Natural you, being true to yourself, liberates you from this artifical world and its phenomenon and puts you in one with art itself. And when you find this truth, you no longer bound to any art or any law but to the Natural Evolution of your as an artist, the transcendence of one by hard training.

Now what I explained is what I have experinced myself but this is also explained in ancient Chinese thought as “The Dao”, so I guess Bruce Lee took it from there and put it in real-life perpective along with his own experience in Martial-Arts and result was JKD.

I really wonder why Bruce Lee did not adapt any of the animal techniques in JKD. May be this was because of his background in Wing-Chun (not in Black Tiger Kung-Fu, of which I am impressed very much). Bruce Lee adapted ideas from western boxing and fencing instead. If you look at how Tommy Carruthers practices JKD, all you will see are these words “Pure and Practical Practice” and nothing else. Evrything else which is not useful in real-life is completely discarded.

 

 

Copyright © 2008 Arnuld Uttre, #331/type-2/sector-1, Naya Nangal, Distt. – Ropar, Punjab (INDIA) – 140126

Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article are permitted worldwide, without royalty, in any medium, provided this notice, and the copyright notice, are preserved.