The Power of the Yellow Belt

"The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with a Single Step." - Japanese Proverb

In many martial arts, including ours, yellow belt is the first rank test a student takes.  In Kali Majapahit, this is usually about 3 months into their journey - after the first cycle of training.  For me, my yellow belt test was done in Singapore back in 2008 at the old school on Yan Kit Road.  It's been a long time since then and I've taken many other tests along the way, but I often feel like the yellow belt test was the most important of all.  Yes, in some ways, as important as the black belt test.

Why?

When I started in KM I was already a black belt in 2 other systems (Ninjutsu and Iaijutsu), and getting ready for black belt testing in a third (Yoshinkan Aikido - which I passed in 2009 - Osu!).  I was at a crossroads.  I wanted to do something new and was fascinated by Guro Fred and the KM approach.  At the same time, it was hard to step out of my comfort zone in Japanese traditional martial arts, which I had been doing for over 25 years.  I doubted whether I could adjust to something so different.  It was a struggle.

For the first few months my arms and legs felt like lead.  My footwork was always wrong.  ALWAYS. I had no flow, no presence and no idea what I was doing.  Everyone else was better than me at everything.  I was ashamed and kept thinking that after so many years of studying other martial arts I should be...better.  Still I kept going to class twice a week.

When I took my yellow belt test I did my best but still I expected to fail.

I got my feedback after the test and of course I had a lot to improve.  However, there were some brights spots, too.  I PASSED.  I was so happy and proud.  Walking home from the school that Saturday I knew something was different.

Until that moment I was a tourist.  I was checking it out, but I was not invested in my outcome.  I had not committed to change.  I didn't expect to succeed and focused all my energy on feeling bad about what I COULDN'T do rather than encouraging myself for what I COULD do.  I let negativity and self-doubt control me.  I couldn't see my future in this new art.

After the test, things changed.  This was my first milestone and I had not only proven to myself that I could start a new journey (I was already over 40 years old) but that I could do well enough at it to pass a test - even a beginners' test.  I was recognized and acknowledged for making progress.  This meant so much to me.  I had proven to myself that I could do it, even by taking painful, baby steps.  Even though my footwork was often wrong,  I was moving forward. That's what mattered.

It's been nearly 11 years since that test and I continue to follow the path I set in motion back then.  I continue to prove to myself that I can overcome my laziness and the many excuses for not going to class.  I continue to seek the positive in myself and others and celebrate the good things I do and the good habits I establish.  I continue to reinforce my awareness that effort -> outcome, and I prove to myself again and again that I can set and achieve the goals I set.

I OWN MY LIFE.

You own yours, too.

Celebrate every step of your journey.  I'm so proud of you.  You should be, too.

 

Important Matters

I really like the above.  First of all, because I'm a hugger.  I am not afraid to hug people I care about and not afraid to tell them regularly how important they are to me.  I think hugging is a natural, important form of communication.  Much of my attitude on hugging came from learning about Amma, the hugging saint.  If you've been hugged by her you will never forget.  You will be forever changed.  She is living proof of how profoundly powerful (daresay life-changing) such a simple act can be.

Also important to me in the above picture is how it highlights the importance of showing others that they matter.  As I put when I shared it on Facebook, "in the end, mattering is all that matters."  For so many of us these days the subtle message is that we don't matter.  We are stuck in long lines of people or cars, surrounded by people we don't know.  We work remotely.  We eat alone.  If we have moved away from where we grew up we may find it very hard to develop new friendships.  People prefer text or social media to actual conversations.  Standard font eMail is preferred to letter-writing.  Many young students cannot even read or write in cursive any more (but they can type or text 100 wpm).  It feels like the more overcrowded the world becomes, the more lonely we feel.  I personally believe that feeling like we don't matter is a common ingredient of the downward spiral into depression and, unfortunately, sometimes even leads to suicide.

Human beings have a desperate, primal need to MATTER.  We want to feel important and we want our lives to have meaning.  Conciously or not, we are all seeking our Purpose in this incarnation.

This is one of many things I love about martial arts.
As I have written before, martial arts practice begins and ends with a bow.  This is so much more than just a sign of respect.  It is an affirmation and acknowledgement of our legacy, our dojo, our teacher(s), our training partner(s) and even ourselves.  In the bow, we are showing that we matter.

We know that to become really good at martial arts, especially Kali Majapahit, we NEED each other.  We have to be trained by others, especially in our boxing and stickwork.  We depend on each other to help us get better.  Of course, we do our best to train our partners when it is our turn.  Like whetstones - steel sharpening steel - we push each other to give 100% during class and to correct each little movement, knowing that our partners will do the same for us.  We build deep, long-lasting friendships because we really see the essence of who we are - under pressure we see what we are really made of.  We test ourselves again and again and each time we forge ourselves into stronger people than we were before.  The lessons don't get easier - we get stronger.

The dojo is a very special place.  Using the gloves and mitts we experience contact - giving and taking - and project/receive emotional intensity from each other.  We give and get personal attention throughout the practice.  In the dojo we cannot be invisible.  There is no "hiding in the back".

I want to believe that this practice carries over to the rest of our lives, outside the dojo.  We learn to be more aware of others and to acknowledge them with our eye contact and our body language.  We learn to express ourselves physically and be comfortable in others' personal space, just as we become comfortable when they are in ours.  We become more...human.  I for one think this is something the World needs now more than ever.

Go forth and remember that YOU MATTER.  Make sure to let other people know they matter, too.

U B U

For those of you not familiar, Stefani Germanotta goes by the professional name Lady Gaga.  She is super-talented and has a powerful singing voice.  Beyond that, she continues to challenge the status quo and use her influence for positive social change.  I LOVE LADY GAGA.

I really enjoyed "A Star Is Born" despite it being a 4th remake of a classic story, and was very happy to see Lady Gaga and her fellow songwriters acknowledged with an Oscar from the Academy for Best Original Song for "Shallow" sung with Bradley Cooper.  My favorite version here.
Moreover, I loved her Oscar acceptance speech, an excerpt of which bears repeating here:

"There's a discipline for passion, and it's not about how many times you get rejected or you fall down, or you're beaten up. It's about how many times you stand up, and are brave, and you keep going."

This is a very important message for all of us.  The photo above shows a Facebook Group set up by some of her detractors in college called "Stefani Germanotta you will never be famous".  After 9 Grammys, multiple Golden Globes, a BAFTA, a few Guiness World Records and now an Oscar I guess we can definitively say they were WRONG about her.

Nobody knows our journey, our struggles, our challenges and our victories better than ourselves.
Along the way, again and again, people will tell us we can't.  They will laugh (and sometimes even spit) in our faces and try to make us give up.  Sometimes, like with Gaga, it is even our boyfriend/girlfriend that fails to encourage us.  In the end, as Gaga says, we must stand up, be brave and keep going.

We all love the limelight, but we tend to forget how much hard work and perseverance it takes to face rejection again and again and keep believing in ourselves enough to drive forward.  Not all of us are destined for fame (and I think it is only ever a by-product, never the goal).  We are, however, destined to be WHO WE ARE, and it takes hard work and courage to become, and continue to be, that best version of ourselves.

U B U means "You Be You".  The best version of you.  100% You. 24/7/365 You.  Unapologetically, unashamedly YOU.  Be brave enough to fight for your dream, whatever it is.  Work as hard as you have to.  Other people can (and should) encourage and support us, but we are the only one 100% guaranteed to be with us every step of the way.  This means it is important to love ourselves, take care of ourselves, and be our own best friends and cheerleaders.  So many people I know are far too hard on themselves, which only makes stressful situations that much worse.

Thank you Lady Gaga for working hard.  For not giving up.  For fighting for your dream. For believing in yourself.  And for reminding us all to do the same.

Dive Into In The Deep Waters. Keep Swimming.

Bricks

(thanks for the inspiration KGW)

Everybody loves Legos, right?  I can't think of too many kids, myself included, that didn't spend hours making all kinds of things with them.  Of course, we would start by trying to make the things we saw on the boxes. We'd pore over the manuals, step-by-step, and try our best to get the final product to look correct.  Of course, at some point we would always disassemble and start making new things of our own.  That's really what Legos are about.

I even loved the Lego movie, since it also hit on themes of fostering creativity and innovation - necessary aspects of every happy and successful person.

Martial arts are quite a bit like Legos, too.

Legos come in pieces. So do techniques.  Unique shapes, colors and attributes are found in almost every set.  At first, each piece is already interesting on its own.  We examine each piece as a discrete block: tall or flat, round or square, number of pegs, and so on.  Later, we imagine how to assemble them to create what we want.  We go from conventional designs like houses, cars, animals and the like into rocket ships, aliens and everything in between.

Techniques are also much more interesting when we consider how they can be combined to create different effects.  The more we learn and understand the attributes of each technique or tool, the better able we are to find the right place to put it in our flow.   Over time and with diligent practice, we become better able to express our thinking through how we move.  We combine and reassemble techniques dynamically to do what we want at any time.  We FLOW.  We can even imagine what pieces we might need for a particular objective we have in mind by imagining the attributes the pieces need to fit together.  Yes, we can do this thinking and problem solving with martial arts techniques too.

Of course, when building structures, the basics still apply.  We don't build buildings from the top down, we build them from the bottom up.  More about that topic here.  And here. A practical example here.

I used to visit friends who always had special sets and pieces I didn't have.  We'd trade and share Legos all the time, trying (not always succeeding) to make sure we got back and returned all the pieces when we were done.

In the Martial arts, we attend seminars, go to camps, watch videos and share with others to better see what movements they have that can enhance what we know.  The sharing and fellowship is truly one of the best parts of the training.

As Emmet Brickowski, protagonist of the Lego Movie, correctly points out "You are the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe.  And you are capable of amazing things.  Because you are the Special.  And so am I.  And so is everyone.  The prophecy is made up, but it's also true.  It's about all of us.  Right now, it's about you.  And you still can change everything."

Everything is Awesome!

The Boomerang Effect

When I was maybe nine or ten years old I got a boomerang as a present from someone who visited Australia.  I was fascinated, and immediately I went to the park to test it out.  Time and again I lobbed the boomerang and it never came back.  Of course, nothing is ever so simple.  There's a lot to learn about boomerang throwing technique.  In fact, there's a lot of science behind it.  Maybe all Aussie kids innately know how to do this but we Chicagoans certainly do not.  After reading a bunch about it (using encyclopedias, since the Internet did not exist back then) I applied some practice and eventually was able to get it to come back pretty regularly.

Aside from its original intended use as a weapon, there is a lot to learn from the humble boomerang.

First, you must LET GO
The boomerang obviously cannot travel and return without you first letting go (via throwing).  There is an obvious metaphor here in that most of our life is like this.  Grasping onto anything too tightly keeps it from accomplishing its goal.  This applies to emotions as much as it does to people.  Learning the importance of letting go is one of the foundation achievements toward attaining happiness.

The Necessity of TRUST
Of the many things we must let go of, FEAR is probably the first and most important.  Fear and worry dominate us and keep us in a state of inaction and paralysis.  Moment by moment, day by day our lives escape us and we fail to act - because we worry and are afraid.  We fear so many things: rejection, anger, loss, sadness.  Most of what we fear never happens anyway.  Regardless, the feelings are real and can keep us from working towards the happiness we deserve.

When I first started to try my boomerang, I was hesitant to throw it because I worried that it wouldn't return.  That would make me feel inadequate - like a failure.  Of course it didn't return.  With a heavy sigh I walked over and got it, hoping nobody was watching.  As I kept trying, I started to worry that I would never actually be able to do it.  Maybe the boomerang was broken or defective.  That was far easier to accept than the truth - my own lack of understanding and practice was keeping me from success.

It would have been easy to give up and hide the boomerang away in the back of my closet or under the bed.  Somehow, I had faith and trust that eventually I could figure it out.  Not only did I practice, I studied other sources of information until I got a better training plan together.  With some additional time investment, I learned how to do it, theory and all, and felt proud of the accomplishment.  I was glad I didn't give up.

It's important to trust in ourselves and our ability to achieve, given enough study and practice.  Most worthwhile skills do not come easy, and learning the value of persistence/perseverance sets us up for success better than almost anything else.  This is not arrogance or overconfidence.  Rather, it is a simple awareness of the relationship between preparation, effort and outcome that underpins every skill we ever master.

In relationships, too, it is easy to imagine that every new person we engage will have the same flaws as the last.  We tell ourselves that because it didn't work out last time, nothing will ever work out in future.  The Monkey Mind deceives us into believing we shouldn't trust others when in fact trust is the cornerstone of all happy relationships.

Everything Starts with YOU
Standing there holding the boomerang tightly and waiting for something to happen is ridiculous.  It can't come back if you don't throw it.  However, many people are waiting for someone/something to "complete" them or make them happy.  They want someone to love them but take no action to love themselves.  In many cases the same people are afraid to go out, meet new people, or allow new relationships to bloom.  They are frozen with fear and worry, never getting past feeling sorry for themselves and wishing someone would magically appear to "save" them.  So much time is lost just...waiting...

• The emotions we give are the emotions we get - good or bad.
• The love we give comes back to us.
• To forgive ourselves we must forgive others FIRST.
• When we care about others they become empowered to care about us.

It is the responsibility of every one of us to share happiness, love, joy, compassion to everyone wherever and whenever we can.  Each action, however small, starts the wheel turning and ultimately brings those same good things back to us.  Helping others helps us.  Saving others saves ourselves.

Don't wait.  Start now.  Help make the world a little brighter.

Throw the boomerang.  It will return.  I promise.

5 Keys to Using Impact Weapons

Lately, I've been reminding students of the basics of using impact weapons, such as the rattan sticks we handle in Kali Majapahit.  For review, here they are:

1. Extend Your Arm
2. Hit with the Tip
3. Use the Edge
4. Flex Your Wrist
5. From your Body, Back to your Body

1. Extend Your Arm
Sticks are centrifugal force weapons.  Imagining the shoulder as the center of a circle, using a ball joint design our shoulders swing our arms in circular rotation.  Math and physics show us that the greatest impact force will be generated from the largest circle.  Use the maximum possible reach of your weapon to keep the most distance from your opponent.

2. Hit with the Tip
Similar to point 1, the maximum velocity (impact force) will be at the edge of the circle, which means the last 3cm or so of the stick is the optimum spot to use for striking.  Blocking is usually done as close to the hands (base of the stick) as is safely possible, to insure stability, while striking should be done with the tip.

3. Use The Edge
First of all, Filipino Martial Arts are known for the use of the rattan stick, however at their foundation they are blade arts (as per the barong on our logo).  The stick is usually used as a cheaper/safer proxy for the blade when training.  This is not to say that sticks are not valid combat tools.  In fact, the strong Filipino hardwood sticks (cocobolo, gijo, kamagong) are every bit as deadly.  However, for training we emphasize using the 2nd knuckle line which is where an edge would be if the stick were a sword.  Not only does this allow us to transition seamlessly between striking and cutting tools, it also creates a more powerful body mechanic by aligning our arms and shoulders with the power generated from our hip rotation.

4. Flex Your Wrist
We sometimes refer to this as "casting" since it is similar to the motion of fly casting for fishing.  The wrist is flexed forward, further accelerating the tip of the stick and extending the diameter of the circle.  Done properly with an impact weapon, the tip should "snap" like cracking a whip.  Particularly for wrist-rotation striking like vertical redondo, witik or abanico, the wrist flexion can add a lot of additional tip velocity.

5. From your body, Back to your Body
This is also called "chambering".  To generate power, we need to transfer energy to the hand/wrist from the feet via the hips.  The best way to do this is to have the tool start in contact with the body, chambered at either the shoulder or waist.  As the feet push and drive the knees, hip rotation can occur and this energy can be delivered through the shoulders to the wrist and ultimately, the stick.  Once impact is delivered, the tool should "return to base" so the process can be repeated as needed.
Likewise, all punches should return to guard just as all kicks should return to stance.  In chamber, we have the maximum variety of possible responses to deliver any attack or defend any attack from an opponent.

• Note that for the high guard position (sticks on the shoulders), elbows should be tucked in, armpits closed and punyo (base end of the stick) pointed at the opponent.
• Note that for the side guard position (used in Cabca 2,3) the stick should rest on the upper arm midway between shoulder and elbow, punyo again pointing forward.
• Note that for the low portion of the side guard (cabca 4, sinawali 6) the stick should rest on the hip/waist (on the belt) rather than under the arm in the armpit. 

Review and Remember.

Inside Outside

Getting started in martial arts is a great accomplishment.  Just by coming to class a few times per week you are ahead of the game.  As the saying goes "even a white belt is higher than sitting on the couch".  Going from intent to action is the first step in changing your life and becoming the person you want to be.

Especially in martial arts, which is all about goal setting and goal achievement, the first steps make such a big difference not just physically but mentally.  We feel better when we do things we know are helping us be better.  Investing in ourselves just feels good, doesn't it?

At the beginning we may have a few aches and pains as we start using new muscles in new ways.
It's natural to get a bit confused by new ways of moving, new terminology, new training tools.  All of this is part of the journey.  Over time, these become as natural to us as our own names.

In class, we move fast.  A 2-hour lesson can cover a lot of material including sticks, empty hand, knife defense, boxing, kickboxing and more.  It can be hard to remember everything we did.  It's OK.  We try to illustrate our principles and concepts through the various drills, but even with an 8-hour class it wouldn't be enough time to master them all.

Why?

Simple.
YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO PRACTICE OUTSIDE OF CLASS.

As instructors we try to show you what you need to learn.  In class we try to give you enough practice to help get the basic ideas embedded.  This is so you can remember enough to train outside of class and have a good idea of what to work on.  In our classes we show the various principles and mechanics of what we do including footwork, posture, distance, body mechanics, focus, targeting and how to chain techniques together in logical and efficient sequences.  After that, what matters most is repetition, plain and simple.  The more you train the better you get.

so, what are the key takeaways?

COME TO CLASS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
We will keep introducing new stuff and showing you how to train it.  If you are not there you will not know.  If you are sick/injured, try to come anyway even if you can't train physically.  Take notes, pictures and video.  If that is impossible, ask someone else (or one of the instructors) what we did.

TRAIN AT HOME
More is better, but even 10-15 minutes a day is enough to see big gains in a few months' time.  Meet other students outside of class to review, drill and practice.  Video yourself and watch what you do.  Stretch after the bath or shower.  Pick up your sticks for a quick twirl while you watch the news.

As for me, I'm training constantly.  I'm always thinking about techniques and combinations when I am on the train or walking around.  Honestly, I dream about Kali. :-)
You need not go to my extreme (but it's OK if you do - I understand).

The years teach much the days never know.

Keep training.

All it Takes

Everywhere we look everyone looks and sounds...perfect.  Beautiful models in magazine ads, stunning people on every TV show.  Picture-perfect romances in every movie.  So many people with such better lives on every social media outlet fanning out seemingly endless pictures of their amazing houses, cars, vacations and meals we secretly know we can never have.  People announcing their new power jobs on LinkedIn, respected for their elite knowledge and skills that we can never measure up to.  Everyone everywhere having more fun than we are.  Somehow it all can conspire to make us feel small, worthless and insignificant.  Believing we are failures by comparison we fall into anxiety and depression, feeling woefully inadequate at every aspect of our lives.  THIS IS NOT THE TRUTH.  In fact, nothing could be further from it.  As a human being, we inherit a sacred birthright.

YOU ARE ENOUGH
YOU MATTER
YOU ARE WORTH LOVING
YOU DESERVE HAPPINESS
YOU CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

Every one of us, at the basic spiritual level, are equal.  Completely, totally, genetically equal.
Every one of us has within us the power to make the world a better place.  The pain, hardship and rejection we have faced gives us the ability to have empathy for others and show them our compassion.  We gain the wisdom of knowing that hurt doesn't last forever.

The worst part of modern messaging is the pressure to divide us from each other.  Our differences in appearance, social status, wealth, education, religion, sexuality, political beliefs, career choices are highlighted in an effort to make us feel jealous or resentful of each other.  Their aim is to break the inherent bonds which connect us and to deny us our human birthright, the same birthright our other brothers and sisters have.

Fight Back.  Resist the messages.  They can say whatever they want, but they can only divide us if we allow them.

Start small if you must.  Start by showing compassion to those around you.  Change the world right in front of you.  Resist the pressure to be cold to each other and instead light the world up a little brighter with your smile, your words and your compassion.  Let yourself care.  Don't ever let pain or hardship close your heart to the joy of helping others.

It's never too late.

Life in Salem

(inspired by a Facebook post from Rina Megnin)

One of my friends told me about a powerful lesson in her daughter's high school class this winter. They're learning about the Salem Witch Trials, and their teacher told them they were going to play a game.

"I'm going to come around and whisper to each of you whether you're a witch or a normal person. Your goal is to build the largest group possible that does NOT have a witch in it. At the end, any group found to include a witch gets a failing grade."

The teens dove into grilling each other. One fairly large group formed, but most of the students broke into small, exclusive groups, turning away anyone they thought gave off even a hint of guilt.

"Okay," the teacher said. "You've got your groups. Time to find out which ones fail. All witches, please raise your hands."

No one raised a hand.

The kids were confused and told him he'd messed up the game.

"Did I? Was anyone in Salem an actual witch? Or did everyone just believe what they'd been told?"

And that is how you teach kids how easy it is to divide a community.

Keep being welcoming, beautiful people. Shunning, scapegoating and dividing destroy far more than they protect. We're all in this together.

The above story is a valid example of our modern day, micro-tribal, polarized and highly emotional society.  We are encouraged to doubt, to challenge, to hate, to revile anyone whose beliefs do not exactly match our own.  Sometimes even in the same family, idealogical rifts are caused which may never heal.

Similar tactics have been used by dictatorial regimes since time immemorial, well before the Catholic Church industrialized it.  Even just in recent history Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Joseph McCarthy, Chairman Mao,  Ho Chi Min, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Slobodan Milosevich, the Kim family in North Korea and yes, even Ann Sung Suu Kyi in Myanmar have all used these techniques (and worse) to divide and conquer their citizens, leveraging xenophobia, racism and misinterpreted religion to incite hatred and violence.  Of course, no such list could be complete without Donald Trump, who expertly used the Hitler playbook to seize power during the 2016 US Presidential Election.  We are surrounded by voices telling us how different we are, with very few reminding us how alike we are.

Training in martial arts does far more than build up our bodies.  On the mats we are all equals.  No race, no gender, no rich or poor.  No religion except the truth of trying to better ourselves and each other - together.

I have said many times that martial arts is about learning to overcome fear --- this can take many forms.  physical fears (aggression/violence/accident), emotional fears (rejection, failure, helplessness, weakness, lonliness) but also spiritual fears (fear of the future, fear of heaven/hell).  Along this journey, we are challenged to explore our existence in this life this time, the frailty of our humanity and mortality, but also the strength of our character and our willpower to overcome obstacles and continue towards our goals.  More importantly, we are challenged to explore and discover our connectedness to each other - the universal nature which links us all.  This connectedness transcends human constructs such as race, gender, religion and sexuality.  It is a recognition that we are all born of the stars, formed and reformed again and again until we are called to the miracle of this life - right here, right now - together.  Kicking and punching are really only symbols of our fight for real understanding of why we are here and our struggle to find meaning in our lives.

I hope we will all remember to remain strong in the face of adversity, resist any persuasion to hate each other, and accept that THERE ARE NO WITCHES AMONG US.  

We are all ONE.

Hubud Lubud (Revisited)

In this cycle, we are working on Hubud Lubud (tying and untying), a drill common to many FMA systems - including ours.  I have written about the benefits of this training in prior posts (even using the same picture), but it is worthy of a deeper explanation here.

In my 2014 post (linked above), I explained the Hubud Lubud drill as a beneficial training method and briefly explored some of the ways in which it can be used to build skills and understanding of key FMA principles.  To go a little deeper, I have been using this drill as a platform or blueprint from which I am teaching the following bodies of knowledge:

1) Basic Hubud Lubud Empty Hand Pattern --- the basic drill, done on right and left sides, including various ways to switch from right hand to left hand feeds.

2) Weapons Training --- using this pattern to explore similar movements done with knife/karambit/stick/scarf.  FCS and Doce Pares also include (at least) the stick version of hubud lubud in their curriculum and it makes a particularly nice segue when used to transition from single stick 5-count sombrada to punyo sombrada patterns.  The knife/karambit versions are an effective way of starting to understand passing/trapping with blades, especially in CQB/corto distance.

3) Guntings --- Kali Majapahit's commonly taught hubud lubud patterns include several variations of classic horizontal/vertical elbow and pass/split knuckle guntings.  In particular, we drill a 5  step pattern that includes elbow guntings (inside/outside/sandwich) followed by low and high elbow locks.  Inosanto Kali includes these principles, as seen here in a video by Sifu Paul Vunak.

4) Hakka Kuntao 5 Gates --- Since Hubud Lubud is performed at corto (close) distance, it is an ideal base to develop hakka kuntao flows.  In Kali Majapahit, we use Hubud Lubud (often with an angle 2 reply) to see the common trapping concepts  of Hakka Kuntao, specifically scooping/passing/tan sao/bong sao/fook sao - also known as Hakka "5 Gates".

5) Aiki Flows --- My background in Traditional Japanese Martial Arts (Takeda Ryu Aikijujitsu and Yoshinkan Aikido) instilled in me the importance of learning to control the opponent's hands/wrists, called "Te No Tori" (手の取り）, a kind of Aiki version of Chi Sao.  The framework of Hubud Lubud lends itself very well to these setups, and I teach them often on both right and left sides.  Some of my favorites include applications of Ikkajo, Hiji Shime, Kata Shime, Kote Gaeshi, Ude Garame (short and full), Ushiro Udegarame, Shiho Nage, Shomen Irimenage, Sokumen Iriminage and others.  Using an angle 2 reply (see above) allows drilling most of these on the left side as well.

6) Multiple Angles/Lines --- Most students spend the majority of their training on the basic (angle 1) Hubud Lubud drill.  In fact, variations of this drill include other angles as well.  In particular, angle 5 (straight punch) and angle 2 (backhand) and two of the most common variations.  Hubud Lubud applications also exist for elbow strikes as well (usually received with a Sin 6 outside pass).  Once these are understood, Hubud Lubud can be trained with a combination of different attacks, thus becoming a more comprehensive flow drill.  See also this excellent example done by Guro Peter Weckauf of SAMI Systems.

Furthermore, advanced variations of Hubud Lubud include passing from high line to low line (often including guntings) as a way to drill redirection of the attacks.  This is a very helpful drill for knife defense and knife versus knife flow.

Standard Hubud Lubud etiquette suggests that we respond with whatever attack we are fed (if given angle 1 we give back angle 1, etc), but for a more advanced drill random angles (angle 1/2/5/elbow) can be fed back and forth.

One three-month cycle is barely enough to scratch the surface of all the learning that can be gained from studying this foundation movement and its many applications.  Please consider the above and how you can use this template to your maximum training benefit.

More to come... 

Blueprints for Success

Filipino martial arts differs from "traditional" Japanese, Korean and even Indonesian/Malaysian martial arts in many ways.  One of the most obvious is the lack of forms or "kata" in FMA.  We do have a wide variety of drills, but most FMA systems do not have forms or "kata" the way they are usually seen in other traditional fighting arts.  Forms were historically used as blueprints: a way of preserving techniques and transmitting them to larger groups in a consistent way before the advent of detailed texts and manuals.  We know the origins of many kata from various styles of Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Aikido, Judo, Wing Chun and even some styles of Silat (Jurus) and yet we do not clearly know the origins of many of the old, traditional kung fu katas, for example.

In FMA, we tend to use patterns or templates as a way of illustrating key concepts, but rarely with the idea that they are a fixed format for fighting.  These templates or patterns show a basic combination, and can then be "flavored" with other guntings/strikes, set ups for clinches/take downs/throws/chokes/strangles, or even modified to be done with a variety of different weapons including sticks, knives, karambits, scarves and so on.

Recently, Tuhon Kit Acenas of Kali Mundo visited Tokyo to conduct a joint seminar with Guru Maul Mornie of Silat Suffian Bela Diri - both experienced masters at the highest levels of their respective arts.  They worked in combination, taking turns teaching their two different styles (PTK and SSBD) from the same basic template.  Tuhon Kit referred to it as a "platform" and I really liked this expression.  A platform is a starting point or foundation, on top of which other structures can be built.  Over the course of a fantastic training weekend we built a lot on top of the platforms that Tuhon Kit and Guru Maul kindly shared.  My own teacher, Guro Fred, uses the term "solutions" and I like this very much also.  "Solutions" suggest more than one single possible answer, and include the idea of creative and dynamic problem-solving.

I often see students doing their best to exactly imitate the movements they see in a platform.  This is important, especially early on, since we need to train the eyes to observe the various important parts of technique - footwork, hand position, weight shift, kuzushi, atemi, irimi, distance.  At some point, however, we must learn to go beyond, to build on the platforms we are given, and to take them in new directions.  This is the basis for discovering our own "flow".

In summary, it is important to respect the form/pattern/drill/template, but not to the extent that we become a prisoner of it.  Use every drill fully, wring out every last drop of knowledge you can, but then break apart, break through and extend/expand beyond the limitation of it so you can achieve actual mastery.  Use the platforms as foundations to build on, but keep going until the knowledge from them becomes universal and applies to everything else you do.

FMA contains a lot of bodies of knowledge including single/double sticks, several systems of empty hand self defense (striking, kicking, locking, throwing, boxing, grappling), knife/karambit, staff, tomahawk, scarf/sarong, and other improvised/specialized weapons to name but a few.  At first these all seem like disparate sets of understanding, each very different from the others.  In the end, after years of training, they all become one big "knowledge lake" and blend together seamlessly.  In my case, after 10 years of Kali and almost 40 years of martial arts study in total, I feel like things are coming together and becoming part of a common core body of knowledge I can share with my students.  I could not have reached this point simply by mimicking the movements of others.

Keep training.  More importantly, keep learning, growing and exploring.  Eventually it will all come together.

"Obey the principles without being bound by them." - Bruce Lee

The Professional

One of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies - Akira Kurosawa's "Seven Samurai" (1954).  Of course, the original epic movie that spawned the western classic "The Magnificent Seven".

Here, we see the master swordsman, Kyuzo, played by the stoic and resolute Seiji Miyaguchi.  He is challenged by a nameless Ronin to test his skill with bokken (wooden swords) and accepts.  He knows he won but his opponent boasts a different story, insisting on it until the score must be settled with steel.  As expected, Kyuzo cuts the man down with a single, well-timed stroke.

Watching carefully, we see the brash and boastful ronin, who is not satisfied with the academic discussion of skill or sparring with the less lethal wooden swords. The ronin cannot accept that another man could be a better swordsman than he and feels desperate to back up his big words.  In front of the crowd, his insecurity and vanity cause him to put his life on the line.  In this case, unfortunately, against a truly superior swordsman.

There are many lessons here.  It is easy to respect Kyuzo as a master who is only interested in becoming the best he can be, and is willing to put that skill to the test to improve himself.  He is not boastful, but rather calm and confident in his skills.  He is not swayed by idle words or threats and ultimately accepts a real duel only when the ronin simply won't give up.  We must always be careful to de-escalate situations where we get challenged, since most people want to test us because of their own fear and insecurity rather than any interest in our skills.  Likewise, knowing there is always someone better, we should never feel a need to display our prowess in front of others. Vanity has no place in proper martial arts training.

Mastery of the sword - in fact, mastery of all martial arts - is really about mastery of the Self.  Mastery of the emotions, especially the Ego.  It is a lifetime process of discovering yourself and growing in your understanding and skill.  It is about looking inward rather than outward - about trying to make yourself better rather than trying to make other people worse.

People are sometimes surprised at the very few times I've had to fight in the past 38 years in and around martial arts.  They shouldn't be.  With nothing to prove and nothing to gain, I simply walk away.  I intend to use my physical skills only if the situation is unavoidable and cannot be resolved in any peaceful manner - really only to protect others from harm.

Last night at a dinner, my old colleague introduced me as a martial arts instructor, which I admitted, and our dinner guest felt the immediate need to want to challenge me with his "unbeatable Wing Chun".  I declined.  Losing might have gotten me injured.  Winning would have gotten me nothing.  Those are fights I always try to avoid.  My ego does not need to be appeased like that.  In such contests, "winning" is actually losing.

I love martial arts.  I love to meet and train with everyone I can regardless of background, so that we can all learn and grow.  I have ZERO interest in a duel of any kind, friendly or otherwise.  I know exactly what I can and cannot do, and feel no need whatsoever to have to prove that to anyone else.

Hagakure, by Tsunetomo Yamamoto, is an excellent book on the stoicism of the martial way, written by a man to his younger peers whom he felt were slowly losing their commitment to The Way.  I read this book in my early studies under my original teacher and it influenced me greatly.  I highly recommend it.

In the meantime, train more.

I Don't Know

"I don't know".  Somehow those three little words seem very hard for many people to say.  Our modern society places such an importance on (the appearance of) being right and on having all the answers - being instantly able to look things up on Wikipedia in order to find something we consider truthful.  Meanwhile, our elected officials lie openly,  directly to our faces without even the slightest shame or fear of being proven wrong.  To them, facts don't matter at all.  We don't care if we are actually right, we just want to "look right" (or at least don't want to look wrong).

Even in martial arts, there is a terrible temptation to think we know everything.  We chase every new technique and scan YouTube relentlessly for something interesting.  Our attention spans get shorter every day it seems, and no amount of new information is enough to keep us from becoming jaded and bored.  The surface knowledge, the easy first steps, are enough to satisfy us and many times we fail to dig deep enough to achieve real understanding.  We forget the importance of patience and perseverance.

As a teacher it is even worse.  When we cross that long-awaited bridge to become a black belt we somehow think that like a video game we instantly have new powers, abilities and knowledge we didn't have the day before we took the test.  Unrealistically, we expect ourselves to know the answers to everything...even when we don't.  Faced with the prospect of admitting we don't know, we may be tempted to make up something that sounds plausible rather than taking the question away to confirm the truth.  We try very hard to live up to others' expectations of us, and even our own expectations of ourselves.  We mean well, but...

However, teaching martial arts is not like teaching Math or English.  Although I am sure there are situations where knowledge of these topics is vital (landing a rocket ship or negotiating with a hostage-taker), the fact is that martial arts knowledge is commonly learned for self-defense.  The wrong answer could get someone hurt, potentially permanently.  Fortunately, martial arts is as much science as any other academic discipline (especially physics).  Voodoo doesn't make it work properly (or any better).  Sound body mechanics, physics, chemistry, nutrition and psychology explain why what we do works.  This is an overlay to the historical, spiritual and philosophical elements that we learn to help give our movements context and cultural relevance.

I've been in and around martial arts since I was 14 years old.  That makes almost 40 years of study and I feel I am just now starting to scratch the surface.  Every time I meet a new master I realize there is so much left for me to explore and learn.  I have read more than 200 books on martial arts (my personal library is probably that many at least) and yet there are probably 500 more I should read for background, not to mention re-reading some of the others.  And yet, I feel like I have hardly scratched the surface.

In Kali Majapahit, I am one of less than 10 people in the world who hold a 2nd degree black belt rank or higher.  After nearly 10 years of study, I think I am starting to understand a bit about what we do and why, and feel reasonably confident to answer the questions of beginners most of the time.  And yet, I feel like I have hardly scratched the surface in my understanding of Filipino and Southeast Asian martial arts.  There is so much culture and history behind all of it that I need at least another 20-30 years to get deep enough to have a good perspective.  I hope I live long enough.  Finally, I know how much I don't know.  I may be a bit further along than some, but I am still on the same path as the rest of us.  I still reach out to my seniors and my peers for answers when I am not 100%.

I prefer the right answer to the convenient answer.

So much of what I have learned came from questions.  Not just my own, but those of others that led me to search for answers and deeper knowledge.  Even this blog, started in 2005 and now with nearly 500 posts, was originally started as a way to put structure around ideas of Yoshinkan Aikido so our class could focus on training and drilling rather than stop for Q & A.

No one knows it all.
Many people know more than I.  That's OK.
It's OK not to know something or to not have the answers all the time.
Finding the answers, the REAL answers, is how we learn and grow.

Learn to be comfortable with not knowing.
Suppress the ego and admit it if you don't know.  There is no shame in it.
Take it away as homework and research the answer thoroughly.  You will learn as much from answering as the other person did from asking (maybe more).

Little By Little

This is a very important video.  It speaks to the value of the small things we do every day that have big results over the course of our lives.  These days we live in a world of superlatives, where everything has to be "Awesome" and exceed everything else.  Our attention spans grow shorter and shorter, and we are desensitized by the mainstream media and social networks to anything but the next most outrageous occurrence.  Our Instagram posts have to show us in exotic locations having more fun than anyone else, bragging about our lives to make ourselves feel more special and important (usually by making everyone else feel worse or inadequate).  There is incredible pressure on us not just to succeed, but to outperform everyone else.  We are told again and again there is no prize for second place.

The reality is very different from this.
If we achieve our own goals and discover our own happiness there is no such thing as second place.
There is no such thing as losing.  In the end, the most important factor for success is not skill - it is PERSEVRENCE.

Please remember the incredible value of the little things in life.
Remember that life is lived in small moments, one second at a time.
It is these small moments that matter most and which should not be taken for granted or wasted.

Show your love to those you care about.  Let your actions define who you really are.

When I was 14, my teacher gave me the example of the Stonecutter.
Every day he struck the stone with his hammer.  Again and again, seemingly to no effect.
Then, after years, the stone finally split, revealing the breathtaking geode inside.
Which blow split the stone?  The last one?  The first one?  Impossible to know.
The result was an accumulation of all the strikes, not just one.  The days teach much the years never know.

Our life is very much like this.
We adore the champion without seeing the sacrifice and training it took to reach that stage.
We admire the actor without seeing the countless hours of struggle and disappointment it took to reach that moment.
We admire strong couples without seeing the little efforts that it takes every day to make a relationship that will stand the test of time.

Let time work for you rather than against you.

IBGYBG

IBGYBG --- meaning?  "I'll be gone, you'll be gone."  I first read this expression in a book about the financial crisis, which suggested it was commonly used between sellers and buyers of highly leveraged CDS instruments.  These were highly risky "hot potatoes" and the underlying message was that even though both parties knew they were dangerous they should just get the deal done, book the commissions and sell them onward since anyway, both seller and buyer would probably be working somewhere else by the time the regulators showed up (if ever).  Sadly, many of them did just that, and CDS instruments were a central part of the crisis, nearly collapsing the entire global financial system.

I began to think about this idea more and more.  "I'll be gone, you'll be gone" suggests that we not worry too much about the details and that our mistakes (deliberate or accidental) are someone else's mess to clean up.  It tells us not to assume permanence of anything - our jobs, our relationships, our future...nothing.  Live in the moment and let the chips fall where they may.  #yolo.

On one hand, I absolutely agree with Buddhist principles of non-attachment.  As Master Yoda cleverly advises Annakin Skywalker (even more cleverly since he's a hand-puppet)  "Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose."  Clinging too tightly to anything strangles the life from it.  It is the greatest illusion to ascribe anything permanent to the transient nature of our lives.  Small as we are in the Greatness of Things, we are born and die in hardly the blink of an eye of the Universal Timeline.  To assume otherwise is tantamount to arrogance.  That being said, the ocean is made up of tiny drops, each one important in its own tiny way.  Our lives matter, and we are here to make meaning.

On the other hand, because "I'll be gone, you'll be gone" I feel a deep desire to make every interaction with someone positive and meaningful.  We may never see that person again, but what we say and how we act could leave a lasting impression on them that makes their life better or inspires them.  All of us have the capacity to be catalysts for positive change not just in ourselves but in others as well - even those we might meet only briefly.  We should neither ignore nor waste the opportunity for sharing.

If we are to be remembered at all after we leave this cycle, it must be for what we did as much or more than what we said.  Our moral center, our ethical framework and most importantly our ability to act with empathy and compassion are what define us as human beings (human doings?).  In our lives we must learn how to love --- ourselves and others, in order to ever truly find happiness, and the connections we make enrich and prolong our lives more than any material possession.  The great paradox is that to be strong we must learn to accept our vulnerability, to live fully we must learn to accept our inevitable death.

In my working life I have tried to abide by the rules my earliest mentors instilled in me, "Do Good Work, and never do anything you would be ashamed of."  In this way, no matter the many companies I have left, I have always been able to walk out just as I walked in: head high, confident in myself and my abilities.  I encourage you to do the same.

I'll be gone someday.  So will you.  All that matters is what we do until then.

Make Every Moment Count.

52 Card Pickup

52 card pickup.
For those of you not familiar with this card game, it's basically a practical joke.  Here are the "rules": one person throws all the cards in the air.  They land everywhere.  The other person then picks them up.  It's also American slang for "a big mess". 

Much of my life has been this way.  Cards everywhere and a slow, methodical pick up.  Over time, order is restored until someone (usually me) throws the proverbial cards in the air again and we start over.

In many ways, the past year has been a great example of 52 card pickup.  In January I started a new job where I had no existing support network, was not familiar with the products or customers, and had to learn new procedures and policies in a group that was itself only formed a year ago.  Somehow, 10 months later most of the cards have been picked up (at least I think they have).

So what keeps me going?

Today as I turn 52 I am more committed than ever to what I believe.
I am clear about what I love:

• I love my family and will work tirelessly to support them.
• I love my friends and I am grateful for their constant support.
• I love my teachers who have given so much of their wisdom to me.
• I love my students and I thank them for walking the Path with me.
• I love my customers and I genuinely want to help them improve what they do.
• I love my bosses and co-workers who inspire me to be my best every day.
• I love my country and I believe we can recover.
• I love other people and I try to treat them all with dignity and respect.
• I love to make people happy and their smiles make me feel good about myself.
• I love solving problems and finding answers, and the thrill of discovery has never faded for me.
• I love writing and trying to get my thoughts organized.  I love sharing my thoughts in case someone might benefit from them (or even just have a laugh).

This year has had some amazing moments.  There have been many big moments to remember, but also many small moments that I am careful to file away so they are not forgotten either.  Life is lived in the small moments.  Actively focusing on them brings a lot more joy than waiting for the big moments to happen.

I am acutely aware that my life is not forever, that I must die when my time comes and there is no adding extra days or minutes to it when the end finally arrives.  It comes for all of us the same, rich and poor, and all we really have are the moments that take us there.  I am pretty sure I am well past half of my life now, but I also think I still have some time left.  I am not afraid of dying.  More importantly, I am not afraid of living.

One of my close friends refers to me as "the most successful person he knows".
Today, on my birthday, I really believe him.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of my success, whether you knew it or not. I remember you and I am grateful for your support.

Black is the New Black

It was a great weekend, long awaited.  Five of my students, many who had been with me from Day 1, tested for their Kadua Guro (1st degree black belt) ranking in Kali Majapahit this past weekend.  As their teacher, their guide, their friend and brother, I couldn't be more proud.  To date, every single black belt in our system (including me) has been personally tested by the founder, Punong Guro Fred Evrard, to meet his exacting standards of excellence.

As per the KM website, there are only 32 active black belts in Kali Majapahit worldwide (now 37).  It is an elite brotherhood of experts committed to making themselves, each other and the world a better place.  We focus on martial arts, health, and personal development as the key areas of growth we use to achieve success in our lives on our own terms.  We share this method with everyone regardless of race, creed, color, nationality or social status.  All are welcome to join our family. We are all ONE. We are all connected.

The test is very difficult.  It usually is done over a weekend, and includes a written test as well as a practical exam.  KM black belts need to recertify every two years minimum to retain their ranks.
The physical part is formidable, including single/double stick flows, empty hand from all subsystems, boxing/kickboxing and knife defense.  Testers are pushed to their physical limits and beyond to see if they can find the willpower and determination to continue even when they are exhausted.

The test always includes "the Circle", where the each tester is put in the center of a ring of other students and black belts who assist.  Again and again they must fend off any kind of attack, including stick, knife, empty hand and continue to do so until told to stop.  It is an incredibly high-stress experience.  Later, they do boxing/kickboxing sparring with a sequence of opponents as their energy gets drained away...shaken, they continue on for nearly two solid hours.

Despite the stress and pressure all the testers performed well and got extremely positive feedback.  More importantly, even under stress they responded WITH CONTROL, and no major injuries occurred.  Rather than passively waiting for attackers to attack, each tester proactively engaged them, controlled the situation, and ended the encounter decisively.  As their instructor, I was convinced in a real self-defense scenario, these men would have been able to defend themselves and their loved ones from harm.  Forged in fire, they earned their black shirts.

Throughout their time as Kasama (assistant instructors), they have demonstrated leadership and maturity, and it has been a pleasure to see them advance their careers, find partners, start their families, and deepen their relationships with the people around them.  They shine brightly, and I like to believe their martial arts has given them confidence to be more...THEM.

Some have said that the martial arts is a lonely path, a lifetime struggle against ourselves to overcome our weaknesses, our limitations, and our doubts.  Instead, this group has shown that it is a fellowship, a brotherhood, a FAMILY that connects us and inspires us, that supports us and encourages us to be our best and to push past our old selves into new growth and awareness.  We are at once both learners and teachers.  More importantly, we smile, laugh, joke and HAVE FUN.  It is not enough to survive; we must THRIVE and prosper.  We do.

It has been a great honor to guide these Kadua Guros to this milestone in their journeys, and I have learned as much from them as they have from me.  Together we have built a strong Kali family here in Tokyo, where everyone is welcome to come and better themselves.

I ("We") will see you on the mats.

Pugay Po.

What Can I do?

Life can be very hard.  These days it seems especially so, somehow much more complex and difficult than it was when I was a kid (and my childhood was far from easy).  We are so, so busy and it seems we can never catch up on our to-do lists, our bills and on all the other various things we wish we had time to do.  Despite technological progress we seem to be expected to always be available to answer work emails, jump on early morning/late night calls or go on business trips (economy class, of course).  TV and media makes us think we should have...well...more.  Several times this month my commute was delayed due to someone committing suicide by jumping in front of a train (last night someone even did that for the Shinkansen, a fast bullet train).  Sadly, they average one per day in Japan.

Beyond this, many people suffering from depression, or even the earliest symptoms of it, say that they feel a deep, unsettling loss of control.  There is a despair and hopelessness that comes from feeling there is nothing you can do about all that is going on.  You are a receiver; a victim.  You might think "there's nothing I can do about it".  Yes, ultimately control is an illusion.  However, our state of mind is very, very real.

Many people you meet focus on what they can't do.  It's a constant litany of denial for everything and everyone.  "I can't get a better job", "I can't write a book or anything like that", "I can't look as good as him/her", "I can't afford it"... the list goes on and on, rooted in negativity.  This thinking closes our minds to the possibility of another method or another outcome being acceptable.  We set unrealistic standards (or allow them to be set on us) and then complain that we can't achieve them.  Before long we stop even trying.  We give up.

Another interpretation of the phrase "what can I do?" focuses on the "I" part.  It highlights the seeming insignificance of our individuality, meaning "I'm just one person, what can I do?"  We can think of so many cases where success or failure was dependent on the actions of an individual.  Where each individual collectively made a difference.  Without individuals there cannot be groups or teams.  Even on our own, we have the power to influence and shape our world, if only we choose to exercise it.  The greatest people in history were not born to it - they stepped up as individuals and made success happen rather than waiting for greatness to be bestowed on them.  Here's just one of many, many examples: https://www.seeker.com/theswim

Direct experience has shown me that we have very few limitations when it comes to our potential for success.  In almost every case, we can actually do whatever it is we think we want to do, provided we are willing to put in the time, energy and sacrifice it takes to get there.  Many of my friends and colleagues have achieved things I thought were impossible through their diligent effort.  Many struggled for years, inch by painful inch, to finally achieve their goals.  Their willpower and determination inspire me every day.

We see uplifting stories all the time of athletes, musicians and other public figures who overcame tremendous odds to achieve their measures of success.  Of course, we never hear about those who didn't.  Of course, being famous is not the point and not at all necessary for success.  They key is to adopt a mindset of success that will enable us to ask ourselves the right questions (or at least not the wrong ones).

Start not with thinking about what you can't do, but rather asking yourself what you CAN do.  Start small if necessary.  A complex knot is ultimately undone be a series of small, seemingly inconsequential movements.  The knots in our lives are not much different.

Even in martial arts there are techniques that look invincible.  There are locks and holds and chokes that seem unbreakable.  There are opponents who are bigger, faster, stronger...better.  Despite this, as long as you are alive and awake, there is always SOMETHING you can do.  A total commitment to survival is the best possible defense.  This has nothing to do with specific techniques and everything to do with mental preparedness.  I encourage my students to try to find something, anything they can do in a situation, to exercise their minds in looking for ways to make continuous progress, even one small step at a time.  I push them to never stop thinking and never stop trying.  I am so proud that they are not just great martial artists but also great people.

It is important to view the world as being filled with endless possibilities, knowing that if needed we can change our approach to go in a new, different, better direction.  There is always the chance to improve and increase our happiness if we avoid the illusion that there is nothing we can do.

Don't give up.  Stick around for the end credits.  Keep going, keep moving.  Grow. Learn. Expand. Extend.  You'll be glad you did.

Trust me, there's always something you can do.   

  

The Illusion of Permanence

(thanks for the inspiration GE)

It was a great day.  One of the best really.  The sun was rising on the beach in Hua Hin, Thailand and we were starting a day at the Peaceful Warrior Camp, surrounded by friends and doing what we love.  Later, as I watched the long, slow sunset and listened to the ocean my mind drifted away --- I could live like this.  I felt like I could stay like this forever.

In an instant of course I knew it wouldn't last.  The week would end and I would return to a rainy, chilly spring in Tokyo.  I would return to the chaos of meetings, conference calls, emails, bills.  But for now, I was here in Paradise.  I tried to stay in the NOW as much as I could that week.

The other side was also true.  I had been working 14 hour days for nearly seven months trying to close a multimillion dollar global contract renewal.  I would go to evening Kali class and then back to work until the last train (or later).  Weekends I was too tired to spend time with my family   All I could do was try to sleep.  I started to get chest pains and shortness of breath.  I added another life insurance policy - just in case.  Those long days and nights seemed like they would never end.  But they did.  Finally, we got the deal signed.  To reward myself, I bought a Rolex.  When I look at it, I remember those long, difficult days and it feels like a million years ago.

We tend to suffer from an illusion of permanence.  Good or bad, we think things will stay the same forever.  We become complacent.  Of course, reality always steps in to show us that this is not true.  Nothing is set in stone, and nothing is forever. Good times and bad eventually fade into memory and, after we are gone, fade into history and disappear just as we do.

To me, this understanding is very, very important.  The good times -  a good job, a good relationship, a sunny day, a vacation, dinner with friends, raising curious young children, Christmas Day, fireworks, a trip to Hawaii, the cherry blossoms - all will come and go.  It's important (and necessary) to allow ourselves to rejoice in the joys of the everyday.  At the same time, these are made all the more precious by knowing that they will be gone.  This reminds us to savor them fully, to squeeze every last drop of goodness from them.  It tells us to hug the people we love whenever we can, to pet the dog or cat one more time, to sleep in or to have the extra cup of coffee or a piece of apple pie.  Soon enough it will all be gone.

The bad goes, too.  We can endure almost anything if we see an end to it.  Tough jobs, tough relationships, economic hard times.  All of this can be endured.  It's important to remember that this, too, will pass.  Try to see the bigger picture and the longer term outcomes.  Suffer now to be a champion later.  Challenge yourself to be patient and learn the value of perseverance.  Remind yourself again and again to remain calm and try to see past the current hardship.  Meditate more.

Martial arts training also helps us to appreciate the impermanence of life more fully.  Our discipline and meditation practice can help us remain calm and centered, and keep our emotions from getting the better of us, good or bad.  Understanding how fragile our bodies can be (and how strong our spirit can be) helps us gain perspective about our place in the world.  Study of Chi/Ki renews our awareness in the connection we have to everything arounds us - the Fabric of Life - and helps us not be so afraid of the inevitable return to that Origin which awaits us all.  We are ONE. Unchanged.  But always changing.

Peace.

Reflections on The Road

Wow, it's been a long road.  I realized that I've been in and around martial arts some way or another for the past 37 years.  During that time, I have explored a variety of different arts including boxing, wrestling, fencing, karate, judo, ninjutsu, iaijutsu, kenjutsu, aikido and kali.  I have achieved black belt ranks in 4 arts (ninjutsu, iaijutsu, aikido, kali) and continue to study kali and express the other arts in it.

It was not a planned approach.  It has been more of a random walk, but I have been very lucky to have had the best instructors guide me throughout.  Time and again, I have met and been inspired by people who showed me the keys to open new doors (thank you Guro Claes) and helped me recognize and remember the connection between mind/body/spirit that underpins what we do.  My teachers called me to a higher purpose in service of my fellow souls, and challenged me to accept that Martial Arts would be much more than just punching and kicking.

I'd like to say that I never gave up - that I still continue training every art I learned.
That's only partially true.  I definitely incorporate everything I have done into my Kali flow, as I should.  However, I no longer actively train Yoshinkan Aikido, Takeda Ryu Aikijujutsu, Ninkage Ryu Ninjutsu or Kiyama Ryu Kenjutsu.  In most cases it's because my teachers have stopped teaching or because I have moved away from them.  Even in Kali Majapahit, which I teach currently, my teachers are in other countries and I am mostly left to build on their basics and discover the art through my own practice.  I am doing my best and I hope they will see some progress in between meeting me.

My martial arts is a core part of my identity.  It is central to who I am and how I am, and I cannot imagine ever being without it.  Achievement of black belt ranks has been a welcome recognition of my commitment but was never the end goal - nor the end - of any part of my training.

Sometimes students stall - for whatever reason - and they can't seem to progress as fast as others.  In some cases, it seems like they really don't progress at all.  This can be frustrating and cause them to lose hope and ultimately stop training entirely.  Maybe they feel ashamed or lose motivation if they don't go fast enough.

The reality is that we will all have peaks and valleys in the training, and especially over a lifetime in the arts things will change from time to time.  It is most important to find your way back to the Path, in whatever form it takes, so your personal journey can continue.

Progress can be measured in days and weeks, but it is the years that matter most.

I am grateful to all my teachers, fellow instructors and students for making my journey so fulfilling.
You remind my why I started, why I continue and why I will never stop.

See you on the mats.