Don't overthink it- it works well enough without you thinking about it (if not better)
You know who this lady is, right?
To me she is the author of the greatest book of the 21st century. Earlier centuries may have had the various sutras, the Tao Te Ching and so forth. Our century has The Secret.
What I have learnt from it has changed my life in many ways and I can write lots of blog posts of each and every change brought about in my life by the teachings in this book.
Two nights ago I have picked up my copy of The Secret and looked where it would fall open. The passage that I have read that night reminded me of one flaw we as humans are most likely to have-
the tendency to worry.
The Secret teaches us to focus on attaining a goal by focusing on the feeling of already having attained it.
Now- before that night, for quite some time, I had this habit of going over some kicks that I were not feeling comfortable with. I would do this until I felt at least a bit better about the kick in question.
The feeling of being satisfied with the kick would last a while until something feels off again.
So- I would again spend extra time on practicing that very same kick again.
Now- having read this passage, I decided to try something out...
I know how the kick is supposed to hit its target. I even know how it feels hitting the target just right. I know the sound it makes as well.
So- I decided to put all other details aside and focus on just that.
Did it work?
It certainly did. I could do the kick against empty air in practice. I was able to do it on the fly while fighting. Lastly- it hit the bag just right. :)
Like Mickey used to say- "You see yourself doing right, you'll do right."
One thing that I did not really like about my own style was that the techniques did not look as beautiful as those from other styles of Kung Fu and Karate.
Thing is- however- if you concentrate on your techniques looking beautiful they will eventually become beautiful, but then there is no guarantee of how they will work in a fight.
For fighting- we want our attacks to be on time and effective. Then things like which way your toes are facing mean absolutely nothing.
Martial arts are actually the best way to teach anyone about the power of the mind.
If you think that the key to unlocking the power of your mind over the material world lies in knowing this or that mantra or gaining this or that knowledge- let me tell you- it is more a matter of letting go of things to consider and involves a lot less thought.
I do understand that if you are among the lower ranks of your style (like yellow belt in Karate) there is still a lot that you HAVE to think about. You have to get your stances right. You have to learn to relax your shoulders, get that thumb tucked in over those rolled up fingers etc. One you are expected to do free sparring with people (which I hope only takes place after the basics have been mastered to at least a fair extent) thinking about how your knees are bent and whatever else just gets you punched in the face or something of the like.
You will hear lots of people tell you that martial arts training is as much a spiritual exercise as it is physical. You will hear talk of things like "perfection of character" and you might even hear of people seeking "enlightenment" through their training. This may all sound very mysterious and a lot of books out there help to deepen the mystery even further with talk of alien concepts and profound sayings. In the end, however, you learn by doing and experiencing.
This is why you can test this theory in your own training.
So- if you are still struggling with getting your hits in- instead of revisiting your technique, asking online for advice and thinking about ways to get better- start feeling what it feels like to land that blow. Start seeing yourself doing it right.
:)
To me she is the author of the greatest book of the 21st century. Earlier centuries may have had the various sutras, the Tao Te Ching and so forth. Our century has The Secret.
What I have learnt from it has changed my life in many ways and I can write lots of blog posts of each and every change brought about in my life by the teachings in this book.
Two nights ago I have picked up my copy of The Secret and looked where it would fall open. The passage that I have read that night reminded me of one flaw we as humans are most likely to have-
the tendency to worry.
The Secret teaches us to focus on attaining a goal by focusing on the feeling of already having attained it.
Now- before that night, for quite some time, I had this habit of going over some kicks that I were not feeling comfortable with. I would do this until I felt at least a bit better about the kick in question.
The feeling of being satisfied with the kick would last a while until something feels off again.
So- I would again spend extra time on practicing that very same kick again.
Now- having read this passage, I decided to try something out...
I know how the kick is supposed to hit its target. I even know how it feels hitting the target just right. I know the sound it makes as well.
So- I decided to put all other details aside and focus on just that.
Did it work?
It certainly did. I could do the kick against empty air in practice. I was able to do it on the fly while fighting. Lastly- it hit the bag just right. :)
Like Mickey used to say- "You see yourself doing right, you'll do right."
One thing that I did not really like about my own style was that the techniques did not look as beautiful as those from other styles of Kung Fu and Karate.
Thing is- however- if you concentrate on your techniques looking beautiful they will eventually become beautiful, but then there is no guarantee of how they will work in a fight.
For fighting- we want our attacks to be on time and effective. Then things like which way your toes are facing mean absolutely nothing.
Martial arts are actually the best way to teach anyone about the power of the mind.
If you think that the key to unlocking the power of your mind over the material world lies in knowing this or that mantra or gaining this or that knowledge- let me tell you- it is more a matter of letting go of things to consider and involves a lot less thought.
I do understand that if you are among the lower ranks of your style (like yellow belt in Karate) there is still a lot that you HAVE to think about. You have to get your stances right. You have to learn to relax your shoulders, get that thumb tucked in over those rolled up fingers etc. One you are expected to do free sparring with people (which I hope only takes place after the basics have been mastered to at least a fair extent) thinking about how your knees are bent and whatever else just gets you punched in the face or something of the like.
You will hear lots of people tell you that martial arts training is as much a spiritual exercise as it is physical. You will hear talk of things like "perfection of character" and you might even hear of people seeking "enlightenment" through their training. This may all sound very mysterious and a lot of books out there help to deepen the mystery even further with talk of alien concepts and profound sayings. In the end, however, you learn by doing and experiencing.
This is why you can test this theory in your own training.
So- if you are still struggling with getting your hits in- instead of revisiting your technique, asking online for advice and thinking about ways to get better- start feeling what it feels like to land that blow. Start seeing yourself doing it right.
:)
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