The Reflection: A poem.

Days, weeks, and months went by and I still haven't heard nor seen her. I hope she's well. I am working on my latest project to get myself back in order for her. I leave for tomorow. Where? I do not know. Fate will decide. I journey alone. It'll be dangerous and challenging, but I know that I am ready. My fears have held me back for way too long. There's a fire within me that's been waiting to egnite and now its time has come. My love, I'm coming. Don't hide, seek out my heart, it burns bright for you.

A slight reflection on the Wude: Martial Morality

Martial Morality, a Required Discipline in Chinese Kung Fu or Chinese Martial Arts Society


Morality of deed includes: Humility, Respect, Righteousness, Trust, and Loyalty.

Morality of mind consists of: Will, Endurance, Perseverance, Patience, and Courage.

Traditionally, only those students who had cultivated these standards of morality were considered to be worthy of teaching. Of the two aspects of morality, the morality of deed is more important, because itconcerns the student’s relationship with master and classmates, other martial artists, and the general public. Students who are not moral in their actions are not worthy of being taught, since they cannot be trusted or even respected. Furthermore, without morality of deed, they may abuse the art and use their fighting ability to harm innocent people. Therefore, masters will normally watch their students carefully for a long time until they are sure that the students have matched their standards of morality of deed before letting them start serious training.

Morality of mind is for the self-cultivation which is required to reach the final goal. The Chinese consider that we have two minds, an “Emotional mind” (Xin) and a “Wisdom mind” (Yi). Usually, when a person fails in something it is because the emotional mind has dominated their thinking. The five elements in the morality of mind are the keys to training, and they lead the student to the stage where wisdom mind can dominate. This self-cultivation and discipline should be the goal of any martial arts training philosophy.

MORALITY OF DEED

Humility comes from controlling your feelings of pride. In China it is said: “Satisfaction (pride) loses, humility earns benefits.” When you are satisfied with yourself, you will not think deeply, and you will not be willing to learn. However, if you remain humble, you will always be looking for ways to better yourself, and you will keep on learning. Remember, there is no limit to knowledge. It does not matter how deep you have reached, there is always a deeper level.

Respect is the foundation of your relationship with your parents, teachers, your fellow students, other martial artists, and all other people in society. Respect makes a harmonious relationship possible. However, the most important type of respect is self-respect. If you can’t respect yourself, how can you respect others or expect them to respect you?

Righteousness is a way of life. Righteousness means that if there is something you should do, you don’t hesitate to take care of it, and if there is something that you should not do, you don’t get involved with it. Your wisdom mind should be the leader, not your emotional mind. If you can do this, then you will feel clear spiritually, and avoid being plagued by feelings of guilt. If you can demonstrate this kind of personality you will be able to avoid evil influences, and you will earn the trust of others.

Trust includes being trustworthy, and also trusting yourself. You must develop a personality which other people can trust. For example, you should not make promises lightly, but if you have made a promise, you should fulfill it. Trust is the key to friendship, and the best way of earning respect. The trust of a friend is hard to gain, but easy to lose. Self-trust is the root of confidence. You must learn to build up your confidence and demonstrate it externally. Only then can you earn the trust and respect of others.

Loyalty is the root of trust. You should be loyal to your teacher and to your friends, and they should also be loyal to you. Loyalty lets mutual trust grow. In the Chinese martial arts, it is especially crucial that there be loyalty between you and your master. This loyalty is built upon a foundation of obedience to your master. Obedience is the prerequisite for learning. If you sincerely desire to learn, you should rid yourself of false dignity.

MORALITY OF MIND

Will It usually takes a while to demonstrate a strong will. This is because of the struggle between the emotional mind and the wisdom mind. If your wisdom mind governs your entire being you will be able to suppress the disturbances that come from the emotional mind, and your will can last. A strong will depends upon the sincerity with which you commit yourself to your goal. This has to come from deep within you, and can’t be just a casual, vague desire. Oftentimes, the students who show the greatest eagerness to learn in the beginning, quit the soonest, while those who hide their eagerness deep inside their hearts stay the longest.

Endurance, perseverance, and patience are the manifestations of a strong will. People who are successful are not always the smartest ones, but they are always the ones who are patient and who persevere. People who are really wise do not use wisdom only to guide their thinking, they also use it to govern their personalities. Through cultivating these three elements you will gradually build up a profound mind, which is the key to the deepest essence of learning. If you know how to use your mind to ponder as you train, it can lead you to a deeper stage of understanding. If you can manifest this understanding in your actions you will be able to surpass others.

Courage is often confused with bravery. Courage originates with the understanding that comes from the wisdom mind. Bravery is the external manifestation of courage, and can be considered to be the child of the wisdom and the emotional minds. For example, if you have the courage to accept a challenge, that means your mind has understood the situation and made a decision. Next, you must be brave enough to face the challenge. Without courage, the bravery cannot last long. Without the profound comprehension of courage, bravery can be blind and stupid.
Daring to face a challenge that you think needs to be faced is courage. But successfully manifesting courage requires more than just a decision from your wisdom mind. You also need a certain amount of psychological preparation so that you can be emotionally balanced; this will give your bravery a firm root so that it can endure.

Is it possible for one to teach himself Martial Arts? My personal journey into the arts.

In my opinion one can get a education in the arts from books, but finding "your own way" is all about the "experience and application" of that knowledge that you get from them. The written word is for reference, and like road signs, they can point you in a direction, but you still have to actually take the journey. I myself am self-taught even though however I do learn from teachers. In my own process/journey into the arts I read up on: Confucianism and Confucius, northern and southern kung-fu styles coupled with bios of the creators, Taoism, various training manuals, Tao of Jeet Kune Do, fighting strategies, so on and so forth.

I was doing more "reading" then actually "applying". The reason for me to do this is so that I can get a better understanding of the martial arts so I wouldn't end up being confused or heading in the wrong direction. Also at that time I've been watching movies. Old Hong Kong action films, Bruce Lee, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, and the like just to see the application of bodily involvement in the arts first hand for myself. Bruce Lee was my inspiration at the time. His philosophy, methods, and movements were interesting to me. He was more flowing and fluid then other artists that I've seen and heard of so when I was just starting out he was my hero. I admit, I was 14 at that time and I was quiet arrogant, not of the arts, but of myself. Knowing a handful of moves from books and videos had me feeling as if I was "The God of Fighting", but I don't feel that way anymore since I've became more mature and more in tune with myself.

I didn't get that lesson of maturity until I meet someone that showed me the error of my ways. I forgot his name but we both would always get on each other nerves. He practiced Jeet Kune Do of his own style and learned it almost the same way I did but he didn't tell me how and I respect that. I met him one time when I was outside in the park practicing little of what I know. I saw him walking by and he began to stretch and loosen himself out. We exchanged words, the one statement I could remember him saying is: "That is wrong what you're doing. Your form and posture is all wrong." I'm not the one to get or be self- possessed on myself but I didn't like what he was saying about me. Again, at that time I was arrogant and foolish so I asked him if he would like to prove his theory. We began to spar. Soon that spar became an actual fight. This man was good, I only walked away with my left eye scratched up a bit and a lesson. Not to go into too much detail in the fight, because I can't recall all of it, after it we began talking. We both became friends after that and we both taught each other what we knew.

It was pleasant. He gave constructive criticism about myself and said the martial art he was using was JKD of his own style. The one thing I remember that he told me was that: "You are a good fighter, and I can tell that you have some knowledge in the martial arts, but you are lacking in one thing. That is to express yourself in what you are doing. When you attack me, it is almost as if you are a robot, copying what you see on paper and moving your body like wise. Just let go and express yourself my friend. Then and only then will you be able to create yourself and move on."

Two months after that day he left and I was solo for awhile only going on what he said and my experience. I was without help and direction. I began to write in my journal about my experiences and about a friend I met in all of this. At times though I thought about quiting. Just getting rid of books, movies, journals, everything. It wasn't until I met a friend in college, a fellow martial artist, that I slowly began to re-make my way back into the arts. We both trained together and he taught me a few moves and styles and taught him all that I knew. I learned from him: TKD, Jujitsu and some movements in Ninjitsu. We shared philosophies and backgrounds. Were still friends today and I would consider him my blood brother.

Later on, I decided to take a short class at this one school that was a few blocks away from home. From that school, I learned a Wing Chun/Ba Gua mixed art that incorporated some JKD in its root. I didn't stay long at the school however. I remembered my friends words about expressing myself through what I do in the arts. And from that I had a strong beliefe: By applying the philosophy of a style, you have learnt the style for yourself. When you learn the philosophy from a school you don't learn the style for yourself but how the teacher made the style work for HIM. There is a freedom in learning from yourself that you don't have an outside influence to mold you to their fitting. You can try things on your own and decide how they suit you. How your particular makeup reacts to certain situations and how well you can react to those things using the tools given you. Two weeks or so into the class I left. I gave my respects to my sifu and my reason and he respected it as well. Even today I wonder how he's doing.

So my answer to the question should be quiet evident from my experience of the arts. Learn from books, then yourself, and finally your opponent. Then when that's done, reflect on what you have learned and learn about yourself all over again. Rinse, lather, repeat. But that is just my way, my process, you have your own. As I like to say, I didn't find the martial arts, the martial arts found me!!!