Dig deeper


This morning I woke up feeling the chill on my finger tips and ears as soon as I cracked the door. I don't know whether it's global warming or just because it's 5am but it sure doesn't feel like June. It was enough to make me really question my motivation to train today. After all I have a job interview at 8 that I could be getting ready for. Soon I will be dedicating 9 hours a day to some one else's quest to make more sales. If I can't give myself just two hours of something meaningful, then I will eventually find my being drowned in the sorrows of artificial comforts. So I bite my lip, button up my jacket and grab my spear.

Every morning I wrestle with the thoughts that would discourage me from making that small amount of progress I need for the day. It's amazing how persuasive we become when we choose to comfort or feel sorry for ourselves. Every time we can overcome this mental wall we bring more quality to our character. This mental accomplishment will become the most significant part of our training.

Today's battle with the cold sparked a new revelation in the terms of energy. Bagua studies energies from 8 directions that lead into an infinite amount of gateways. In order for me to open more doors I must relentlessly explore within myself. In the middle of an empty street I can hear my shoes tearing away at the step of every technique. I've done this technique so many times but I still can't do it fast enough...or slow enough. It isn't good enough to just practice, I must practice more perfectly and completely.

Some where between hearing the words of my master, my father and the sound of my hands slicing against the crisp breeze, I found something. It was as if I touched something so real that everything else seemed to become an illusion. It was only a flash but the feeling continued to linger with me. At the end of my work out I found myself surrounded by animals. Birds and squirrels within a hands reach stood next to me unafraid. It was like they were able to identify a part of me that I never knew I had forgotten.

In the shower I was able to start putting together what it means. It's said that we can identify hundreds of logos from every type of product yet we are unable to identify the plants outside of our own house. Why do I know more about the lives of movie stars than I do about my own neighbors? All of the food, information and entertainment is provided by people that I don't even know. We are being stripped from each other and the Earth to live as isolated servants. We may seem smarter and stronger than people in the past, but how many of us can retrieve our own food? We are completely reliant for our most basic and essential needs.

Maybe that's why martial arts is the one thing that keeps me feeling in tuned. Fighting seems to be the most surface level of the arts. Who knows what secrets have been hidden inside the depth of the techniques? We must continue to train in order to find the real truth behind the illusions. What ever your trade is you must grow enough that you can take care of your family not just in terms of finance. If you are unable to do so then I suggest you get started in those little things that might save your life. The system that we all have grown to love, might not be there one day.

Comments

hermann said…
Wow, back to work?
Still not possible to make a living with your MA knowledge from Taiwan?

Do you miss the island?
36° for several days, down south in Gaoxiong.
June 18, 2011 at 1:44 AM
Robert Jay Arnold 孔有有 said…
Soon I will be able to work it out so that I am only doing Bagua, but it will take some time to get everything in the correct working order. I miss Taiwan but am in no hurry to go back now. Like a bird out of his nest, I need to get used to flying.
June 18, 2011 at 9:40 AM
Jason said…
Great post. I suggest reading "The Four Hour Work Week" by Tim Ferris. You might find it useful in giving you more freedom and time to pursue your bagua training.
June 27, 2011 at 10:27 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Take the day with you

Image
My father used to tell me stories about his masters and his master's masters. I remember one about his master Choi, who used to go into the mountains in Korea to train. Inside of a cave he would do a ridiculous work out, thousands of punches and kicks. He mentioned to my dad that he used to punch the wall hundreds of times a day for several years. After years had passed he said that the wall had not changed much aside from the small, smooth groove. But now every time that he hit someone with that punch, they would also feel the wall of the the cave. I don't recommend punching walls for training these days but there is more to the story than that. Every day that you are able to get up and train, you take a part of the day into your technique. The days I train and it's freezing cold I add the frost to my footwork. The days I train in the intense heat I add intensity to my lungs. The days I train in the blinding rain I add clarity to my attack. The days I train when I have no
Read more

Warfox Training Rooms and Missions

Image
In order to meet with the needs of students that are all over the world, I've decided to open the Warfox Training Rooms for FREE  online tutorials.  Check out online tutorials for Soft Body Flowing Baguazhang on my facebook page, "The Warfox Training Room." (https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Warfox-Training-Room-RJA-%E5%AD%94%E6%9C%89%E6%9C%89/925078367526760) The Warfox Training Room is a free visual training blog with  tips to help people have a better understanding of the physics of this system of combat.  There will be videos on an almost weekly basis to help my online students with their practice from the comfort of their home. The first room is focused on the Heaven Section of training, meaning it is the simple truth of how techniques are used and applied. After students have gained enough Warfox Experience points they will be able to advance to the  Warfox Water Section, which goes deeper into the mechanics, offering even more thorough explanations
Read more

The One Thing

Image
Two years ago I finished learning the movements in the system of Gao Bagua and was very excited to begin my journey of developing. Learning all of the movements is only the beginning of our quest. I have spent all of my recent time refining and perfecting all of the techniques. The sword, spear, footwork, combat, conditioning have all been a daily routine for me in finding my understanding of the art fully. I have mapped out new training techniques and ideas that will revolutionize the way people train or perceive the martial arts. My training has been going very well but progress as always has been slow and steady. I have trained everything that my master showed me. Well, almost everything. There is this one exercise that I just hated practicing. It made every part of me ache so much that I didn't have energy to do the rest of my workout. I have never been a lazy person, but this one exercise just took everything out of me. So every time I have set up my workout schedule for the
Read more