Moral

The moral of today’s fight lesson was;

‘the worst thing you can DO, is NOT DO anything’

DO = choice

NOT DO = choice

So despite appearances, people who ‘do’ nothing are exercising choice, in that they are choosing to do nothing, or conversely, not choosing to do anything.

This applies to the fighter who, either through fatigue for lack of muscular and cardiovascular endurance, or lack of fight spirit, or suffering the sudden and unexpected symptoms of an adrenal dump, gives up the will to fight. This usually causes the the better conditioned fighter/aggressor, to latch on to this opportune moment to cause immense pain to the opponent/victim.

You still have a puncher’s chance. Throw something, do something.

Lemegeton

He spoke;

“Your beloved was created when the original 84 congregated at the table of sin and misfortune. Yes, 84 of them there were, reduced in number by your kind to the 72 of the Lemegeton.

Brothers of your beloved, they were.

My soul was cast eastward, my water replaced with charcoal ash from the first fire.

Blessings given unto me, all under the approving gaze of our Host and Lord.

It was thus that I was created and it was with your bidding that I return.”

If we manifest that which is the focus of our intention, then what parameters should we place on what we desire?

Barefoot Ultra Runners

When you gonna learn to ditch the runners?;

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/living/2009/10/07/barefoot.runner.mcdougall.cnn?iref=videosearch

Pressure Forward

In sparring we train our bodies to displace eneregy. This means for example, when we jab with our left hand our right hand withdraws to cover. In other words, as one arm goes forward the other hand comes back.

In clinch range and particularly in chi sao (sticking hands) there cannot be such a displacement. The objective in chi sao and clinch is to control the opponents’ body. To do this, the entire body must work as a unit to fill any gap created. We cannot withdraw our hands as this creates a gap which will likely be filled by our opponent at  our peril. Instead we train our hands (and body) to constantly apply pressure directed into our opponent.

(note from 24 November 2007)

Be A Mirror

Find yourself switching from your opponent to you, to him, to you. Feel his movement, his breathing, his shoulder positioning. Move from you to him, to you. Think his thoughts. What is his next move? Empathize. Understand and feel. We are biomechanically engineered to know what he is thinking. This isn’t remote viewing. It is embracing the capability of our mirror neurons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_viewing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neurons

A Stoic Prayer by Transcendence

“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realise this an you will find strength” – Marcus Aurelius

Throughout many points in history, great thinkers and philosophers have touched on very similar themes in search of truth and understanding. Whilst bathed in different names, languages and rituals, the core of these beliefs hold the idea of an interconnected universe, where everything is made from the same substance. This view point is very clear in Eastern philosophy, where belief systems such as Daoism, Sufism, and Sikhism hold at their cores this very idea. Stoicism, which had its roots in ancient Greece, touches on the above mentioned themes and in essence puts the idea of practicality to the forefront of its teachings.

A key theme in Stoicism is the logical idea that the only thing you have any real control over is your mind. All other things are external factors and these cannot be controlled as the number of influences over them is too great to maintain any control of. Therefore if you are able to exercise detachment from emotion and make decisions based purely on reason, you will ultimately find contentment and satisfaction, seeking serenity through self discipline. On reflection this may seem a very impractical step, moving toward indifference and apathy, but the idea is a drill for the mind. The endless highs and lows of emotions can be conquered by mastering goal setting and becoming better placed in the present moment to make rational decisions that would work in the long term; not allowing emotional reasoning to affect any choices. To emphasise again, this is an active mental process, continually exercising control over one’s mind and logic.

To build upon the idea of gaining control over your emotional state, an idea that again is reflected through eastern thought is the contemplation of your own mortality, accepting that one day you will meet death. In western culture today, this idea is seen as very taboo and is moved to the farthest chasms of our minds, when  if thought about logical, an acceptance of this very idea can be both liberating and can cause an honest shift in our perspective of the world. In practical terms, a true acceptance of this idea can help us appreciate the time that we have left in this world, thus forcing us to take action and commit our goals to reality. On a spiritual level, the eradication of the fear of death and the acceptance of it allows us to view ourselves as part of the eco system that is the earth and not beings that are separate from it.

The idea that things happen to us for a reason is also paramount in Stoic thought. This is the acceptance of the external order. Seneca the Younger once said: “Things do not just happen, but arrive by appointment. Everything that happens is connected to something else. Everything that exists is connected to the logos”. According to Stoic doctrine the logos is also referred to as God, Zeus, Nature and Cosmic Meaning, it is a force that reigns over the universe. The idea of the logos is similar to The Dao, that which is everything and resides everywhere. In a practical sense, the disciplined and logical person can be happy under any and all conditions, because he has resigned himself to fact that events are neither good or bad, they just are.

Transcendence is a guest writer. Enjoy his ramblings and writings at;

http://shadowsamurai.wordpress.com/

On Determination

In the Korean film Oldboy, the lead character Dae-Su finds himself imprisoned for reasons unexplained to him. In an attempt to stop himself from going insane, he draws the outline image of an opponent on the wall which he attacks with punches. He does this with fury over a period of years and when he is finally  released from his prison, he finds himself disconnected from humanity but emerges with superhero-like fight capabilities. Whilst obviously a work of fiction, I find some value in his story as a metaphor for strength of character and determination.

After arriving in a foreign country I found myself without training partners and spent at least two years training in isolation. Although staying motivated was difficult, I found that through determination and the use of some imagination, I could most of the critical components needed to be a functional fighter. I innovated unique ways of adding resistance to number of dynamic movements to make them harder.

Obviously I wasn’t able to engage in live sparring, so instead decided to work on power and striking instead. To improve chi sao (sticking hand) skills, I used resistance bands and light weights. The idea for resistance bands was given to me by Jesse Glover when I met him in early 2004 when he suggested the use of bicycle inner tubing tied and wrapped around the torso when doing the rotation platform required in chi sao.

All it takes is imagination and desire to succeed.

Flow

Our life is filled with complexity. As a result of sensory overload we sometimes lose sight of our true goals; those things that will help us move upwards and onwards. Complexity in itself can be a huge de-motivator especially if the easy option is to procrastinate and avoid tasks.

Similarly, physical health can deteriorate if we allow ourselves not to take charge of our fitness regimes. And reaching a state of fitness is not enough as ’staying fit’ is just as important as ‘getting fit’!

Once we cut through the endless stream of health information, there appear to be two fundamental truths that getting fit involves;

1) doing something physical like exercise and

2) eating well.

These are the two keys to achieving optimum health.

The goal  should not be too result oriented, e.g. dropping down to 8% bodyfat, as any disappointments become amplified and set us up for long term failure. Instead the goal should be to live a HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. This is not to suggest that results should not be enjoyed, but more rather, it should be understood that living a principled lifes will give rise NATURALLY to such results. They will just FLOW.

For those focused on martial arts, the principles remain the same. Eat well, and train consistently with good partners and using such tools as heavy bags, skipping ropes, etc. Keep training fun and provided training is consistent, you will move closer and closer to attaining fight skills. They will just FLOW.

Death

The tarot cards have it. A literal interpretation of the card representing death would be erroneous. As a member of the Major Arcana of the Tarot, death is usually depicted as the Grim Reaper. The card actually represents the end of a situation, the coming of age of an event and a new beginning often associated with a psychological awakening.

The tarot cards have it.

The 3rd Annual Gung Fu BBQ by Sean Grant

Imagine an event where some of the greatest martial artists of the day could attend and not have to put on a seminar, supervise training, or exert any physical energy except to lift an arm for eating. Now imagine that if these martial artists could bring their families & close friends and enjoy themselves, meet new people (even those not in the martial arts community), feed their faces, feel safe and swap stories of yesteryear and today.

Well such an event does exist; it’s called “The Annual Gung Fu BBQ”, hosted by Sean Grant of Kirkland, Washington, USA. This event first started 3 years ago to replace one of our normal Saturday afternoon people watching after Saturday trainings at Jesse Glover’s (dungeon) workout place in China Town. Normally after workouts most of us including Jesse go to either an Asian food court to eat or to Tai Tung Restaurant and have a bite. However, one Saturday back in 2007, Sean (that’s me) asked, “Hey how would you all like to come over to my house for a BBQ?” That was all it took, and so the first Gung Fu BBQ was born. Truth be told, it was my son’s and my birthday that weekend as well, and that is how the date was established…Sorry no shame in my game (SMILE). So the second week in June every year is about when the BBQ takes place.

The BBQ continues to grow each year. For example the very first year we (My wife T & I) hosted about 20 people. That included people from my gung fu family and some of my son’s friends. I have to take my hat off to my wife seeing that she had no idea what was happening that first year. All she knew at the time was that we were having a few people over for a BBQ. Boy was she surprised!!! After that event, everyone told me what a good time they had and if I ever had another event like this they would definitely come.

So that is how the event of the summer was born. We had spent quite a bit of money hosting the first BBQ and that was a learning experience, so last year I decided to turn it into a pot luck type of event; people could bring their own comfort food or foods of their native origin. For example my wife is Filipino and some have never experienced Filipino food. Boy many were surprised after tasting something like this for the first time.

Do you know how you can tell if everyone is enjoying themselves? Just ask a question and if all you can hear is lips smacking and finger licking going on then you know…

There was a lot of that going on here. This is also a great time for those from both world’s gung fu and non gung fu to meet one another and make new friends. We had three generations of people here and it was truly amazing how everyone interacted.

We were Blessed with having great weather (which is sometimes hard to come by) in the Seattle area for this BBQ. So the turnout was very impressive. Although a number of people were unable to attend this year due to previous engagements, I’m sure after they see what they missed they will be sure to attend next year! I’m thinking that I may have to move it to the park down the street seeing that it grew to about 40 or so attendees this year. WOW! So everyone just to let you know I am putting the word out now that the 4^th Annual Gung Fu BBQ will take place around the second week of June; so put that in your books to make it a date…

I would also like to thank those that brought all kinds of foods, salads, desserts and drinks over, it was a big help. And I would even like to thank those that stuck around to help clean up. Now that is what you call a family…When people are willing to assist with the clean up.

So as the afternoon went on and everyone began to settle in and enjoy one another’s company and took part in massive eating and entertaining. Some of the attendees included Jesse Glover, LeRoy Garcia and his lovely wife, Ted & Kim Hart (Son & Daughter of Ed Hart) Good friends and fellow students Chris Sutton Suki, Graham, Wes, Asa, Mike, Nick, Laura, Armand & dad Ramon, Paul and his dad Tim. And some students of Chris Sutton.

And now we get to the moment of truth…The last page of this story turns to the man of the hour that I wanted to feature at this year’s BBQ, even though I know he did not want to be singled out, but I felt it fitting to honor him with something from the heart. Sort of a small token from me personally to him for being my teacher, mentor, good friend & a second father figure for the past 20 plus years…I presented Jesse Glover with an 18”x24” hand penciled drawing (see below) featuring Bruce Lee in the upper left hand corner and Jesse Glover in the lower left hand corner with a collage of some of Jesse’s students (Ones that I know personally & myself)…An inscription in the picture says…”JFJKD to JGNCGF…From generations past…we create the Future” This picture was drawn by Kevin Hand from Illinois in the USA.

I presented Jesse with both the pencil drawing and a special t-shirt I had made especially for him.  I’m sorry this shirt will not be available for open distribution. It will only be available to Jesse himself, direct students, and close friends of Jesse.

Once again…I would like to thank those that attended this most joyous event and I can’t wait until next year for the 4^th Annual Gung Fu BBQ 2010…And as always. This will be a Non-Classical Event. Hope to see you then…

Sean Grant, Your Gung Fu Brother…

Seattle NCGF