Right on the edge of happiness

Martial arts has always been a strange animal. I find it paradoxical that people have a desire to be strong without an understanding of where real strength comes from. If I tell a stranger who comes to my school that I teach how to invest in failure they may leave on the spot. We live in a society where the motto,’ Invest in success‘ , is yelled from the roof tops and our idea of success is what we can obviously see. In Kung Fu the things of importance are not obvious and, quite frankly, not necessary in our daily affairs. This practice is about rebellion, not the kind that everyone thrives on, the attention grabbing affair, but rather the inner struggle: doing otherwise when it is most difficult. What I am talking about is pushing ourselves the point of failure, always slightly beyond our capability and instead of submitting to defeat,  getting up and doing it again. This may appear to be masochistic at first glance, but as an experiental method it can be the highest form of self examination. Traditional methods are directed towards the highest ideals for self examination.

A real school should be a forum where individuals learn to give up what is most wanted for what is most needed.  For us, what is most needed is  an unbroken line of attention matched by an unbroken line of force. In traditional methods to stop conflict is not as important as how a conflict is dealt with; to reconcile opposition and create new continuing lines of innovation is the ideal. The teachers responsibility is to pull the best effort from the students and keep them safe at the same time. This requires enough skill from the teacher to give the students freedom to make mistakes and  take chances without being beaten down or injured. A good teacher with proper skill should be able to say to their students, “Do your best! I promise not to hurt you and if I get hurt in the process I will not blame you.”

Kung Fu has a  pragmatic methodology that is experiential by nature. Without experiential verification there can be only words, postures and pretty movements. A good teacher should be open about exchanging with the students not only through showing but through physical contact. This can be as simple as checking the rooted mobility of a student or moving on to various levels of free practice. The free empty hands sparring and/or weapons practice may be competitive but self examination is the true intent. Traditional schools should avoid excessive amounts of heavy protective equipment because they allow people to be clumsy, aggressive and stupid. We should develop fluidity and make adjustments in the degree of force we use. That’s what real skill is. It is one thing to keep yourself safe at the cost of another person. A skillful practitioner should be able to keep himself and the other safe. The degree of the skill the practitioners possess dictates the level of intensity of the interaction between them. The more skill the practitioners have the less protective equipment they should need.

The skill of the practitioner is in direct relation to  the responsibility given in a traditional school. The structure is similar to an extended family. In order for the family to flourish there must be mutual assistance and a shared common goal. The first and most important goal of practice should be an impartial self examination leading to a deeper understanding. To do this we need to remove all the internal dialogue that infests itself into every waking moment. Intense physical practice along with calm breath can be very efficient for quieting the mind. The form and function of a traditional school is an intense physical method requiring a response to spontaneous changes along an unbroken line of direction, force and attention. This is right on the edge  where we are most awake and alive. Once a person has tasted the essence of this profound yet fleeting experience there is no turning back. We want to go deeper and for this to happen we must invest in the unknown. In doing so we know that failure is just around the corner. This is what is meant by investing in failure, holding on to the essence of the unbroken line until it breaks.  Our success is in the duration of time we maintain the unbroken line. This is not fighting in the ordinary sense because a real fight should last only a short time and it is not particularly enjoyable. What we want to do is maintain that razors edge as long as possible. To live right on the edge of happiness is a worthy goal.