The reconciling force

By Scott Ripke

In today’s society there are many reasons people come to a school of martial arts. Probably one of the most important reasons is that people want to know how to defend themselves. Chinese martial art is exotic and people like feeling as though what they are doing is special. Kung fu is seen as spiritual self-defense. Walk softly, act humble and kick ass if required. The truth is that human beings are born knowing how to fight. Some people are better at it than others and the irony of this is that fighting has nothing to do with skill.

I started doing Kung fu when I was fourteen years old. By the time I was seventeen years old I could fight very well. My kung fu was not very good and I knew this.

Real kung fu only begins after you give up the need to be a good fighter. This does not mean it is not a great art that can be used as self-defense. A real practice teaches us how not only to keep ourselves safe but more importantly how to reconcile difficult situations in our lives. Kung fu is not how I defeat my opponent but rather how I reconcile the opposition. This is much harder than fighting and it is worth spending the time perfecting.

To do this is more than a skill. It is an art.

In martial art when you reconcile the opposition of an opponent it forces them to raise their intention to a higher level. A good teacher draws out the best in his/her students by matching their force and then leading them to a higher level of approach. Conscious movement only begins when you not only engage the head but the heart and body also. A real art encompasses our entire being, making use more alive, more aware, more compassionate. This takes far more time than learning how to fight and is more interesting.

Fighting is easy. There are many places where people teach you how to fight, kick ass and take names. But what does that do to our minds? Does it make us feel safer or more paranoid? Are we better people because can fight better? Any method that teaches how to protect you at the cost of others is a defective method. I love to do free martial practice with my students and other practitioners with good skill. When we engage in free exchange we are not trying to hurt each other. There will be the occasional bump and bruise. If one of us becomes frustrated or gets angry we will stop. No benefit comes from bad intentions. Respect! Always there must be respect.

I teach traditional Chinese Martial Art, not fighting. The goal is to stop the fight. The greatest skill is to be able to take what appears to be an irreconcilable condition and create something beneficial from it. Respect! There must always be respect.