Personal Experiences and Thoughts on the Path

A quick note:  I want to apologize for not having updated more recently. No excuses, real life - particularly work - reared its ugly head and took huge bites out of my time. I'll do my best to pay less attention to work, I promise :) Now onward!


My father practiced traditional Wing Chun for several years until a nasty knee injury made it impossible to do so much as even hold the proper stance for prolonged periods. The effects it had on him over that time were astounding. He got fit for the first time in my memory and felt better able to protect himself and his family, both of which led to a greater self confidence, which in turn led to a sunnier disposition, which in turn caused him to leave others around him happy. The cycle continues. The changes between my worked down father and this man were staggering. It took me a while to grasp how working a 12 hour day in the sun, and then coming home and spending another 3 or so hours doing different exercises to train techniques could possibly be relaxing. My father never really had an answer for me, he didn't ever try to catch that tiny feeling and articulate it. Later, I would try myself.

There is a sense of peace in practicing these movements that is both subtle and profound. There is something exhilarating about the power behind the strikes, and something graceful about the shifting footwork. There are moments where you are fully and completely aligned with yourself, your complete and utter concentration held entirely in that one moment of time between one step and another, between the flow of force that precedes from within you, travels down your arm, and through your fist. Strangely, there is no aggression in these movements, but peace. As my father's Sifu (instructor) used to say, "Love everyone, even if you must love them with your fists." 

The martial path, to me, represents a realization that love binds and composes all things. That people are not as separate as they sometimes feel, but are rather drawn together through threads so infinitesimal that they are nigh imperceptible, much like spider's silk. That these threads weave tapestries of our lives and intertwine us all together. It is the realization that to do to another is to truly do to oneself. This is the golden rule, and many people understand it and grasp its tenants. However people who dedicate themselves to it live it experientially, whose every action is testament to their living the truth. This, I believe, is what enlightenment must be. The martial path is one path that leads up that hill, so long as people are willing to spend the time to climb inside themselves and find the way.

So, what do you think?