Wuji

After my posting last week I have been much more conscious of the concept of wuji (without extremes) and its importance in everyday life. With anything that requires discipline for success, the value of wuji is obvious. If wuji is not applied to your approach to training, it is very hard to make meaningful progress in something like kung fu. Training like a demon when you are inspired and motivated while not training at all during the inevitable periods of low motivation makes attaining a black belt almost impossible. Discipline is not an all or nothing concept. It is all about consistency — without extremes.

The value of wuji extends to all aspects of life but it can be an easy abstraction to overlook. I find the more stress that enters my life, the greater extremes I go to in order to endure it. Ironically those extremes rarely serve me and tend to generate more stress and perpetuate a negative cycle. Mindful effort to stay in the present moment is really all that is needed to eliminate extremes and apply wuji.

“If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart…" - Pema Chodron (b. 1936)

Intensity

The term intensity, when applied to kung fu, can be a difficult concept for a student to grasp. Intensity is a physical state that is induced by your mental state. Many people are mentally intense but cannot channel that mental intensity so that they benefit physically from it. There are many facets to intensity but they all come down to right mind. Right mind can be defined as right thought, right emotion. Right thought has many components behind it but the biggest factor contributing to right thought and right emotion is wisdom. The more experience we have, the easier it becomes to control our emotions and by extension, our thoughts and the focus of our actions.

Wude, or 'martial morality' describes kung fu's code or system of ethics. The term consists of two aspects — morality of deed and morality of mind. Right thought and right action are achieved by harmonizing our emotional mind and our wisdom mind. It is all about control.

Wuji, or 'no extremity', is the ultimate goal of a kung fu stylist. This is a state where emotions and wisdom are in perfect harmony. The right mind required to maintain this harmony is in constant flux from environmental factors. I teach my students to disrupt their opponent's mental state before concentrating on defeating them physically. Pushing your opponent out of a balanced mental state (wuji) diminishes their effectiveness.

The six harmonies teach us to harmonize our spirit with our intent, our intent with our chi, and our chi with our strength. When I talk about intensity I am referring specifically to the first internal harmony — your spirit with your intent. If you have not achieved wuji, this harmony will elude you.

"Be master of mind rather than mastered by mind." - Zen Proverb

Regrets

Perhaps the greatest gift my parents ever gave me, beyond their unconditional love, is the gift of music. I was five years old when they acquired the family piano and gave me and my sisters the opportunity to learn to play. Their only condition was that once we started, we would not have the option of quitting until we were sixteen years old. With my five years of life experience, I considered all the implications and jumped in with both feet. There was never any doubt in my mind.

Within days I learned that time was relative. Thirty minutes of practice everyday did not seem like much when I considered how fast each episode of the Fintstones flew by. Yet a half hour is a lifetime when you are sitting at the piano, practicing a piece you hate, while outside your window all your friends are playing hockey within your peripheral vision. How I pleaded with my mom and dad to let me quit.

Mom and dad were true to their word. I spent the next eleven years studying through the Royal Conservatory because quitting before sixteen was not an option. My biggest regret in my life? Quitting piano at sixteen. Ah the folly of youth.

Studying the piano gave me an appreciation for music that I have since passed on to my own children. The discipline of the art, forced or not, has taught me to be to not be a quitter. I hold a black belt because of that piano. My experience with the piano reinforces what I have observed as a teacher — Children need the benefit of their parents' experience to make important decisions for them. If it were up to me, I would have quit piano before my sixth birthday. What a horrible loss that would have been.

Thank you mom and dad for looking out for me and making the right decisions for me. My only regret is that you gave me that much control at sixteen because my decision to quit was the wrong one.

“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents.” - Jane D. Hull (b. 1935)

Mental Health

Silent River Kung Fu supports Rotary's Run For Life every year to help raise funds for suicide awareness and prevention. Odds are that we all will be touched by mental illness in our lifetime yet finding help when you need it can be difficult. As a society we are quick to address obvious physical ailments but we tend to sweep mental issues into the closet and cloak them in a shroud of stigma.

I have witnessed loved ones suffer unspeakable mental anguish while I feel alone and helpless, unable to help or fully empathize. There is no greater feeling of guilt than the guilt of letting down those you are responsible to protect.

Rotary's Run For Life is a big step in the right direction. Mental illness needs to be brought out of he shadows and acknowledged as an important health issue that deserves proper attention and funding.

“If there were a physical disease that manifested itself in some particularly ugly way, such as postulating sores or a sloughing off of the flesh accompanied by pain of an intense and chronic nature, readily visible to everyone, and if that disease affected fifteen million people in our country, and further, if there were virtually no help or succour for most of these persons, and they were forced to walk among us in their obvious agony, we would rise up as one social body in sympathy and anger. There isn’t such a physical disease, but there is such a disease of the mind, and about fifteen million people around us are suffering from it. But we have not risen in anger and sympathy, although they are walking among us in their pain and anguish.” - Russell Hampton - The Far Side of Despair

Gratitude - Brian Macdonald

It has been over thirty years since I took my first lesson in kung fu. Kung fu has been a huge part of my life ever since and I am very grateful for the people the art has brought into my life.

I first met Brian Macdonald around twenty years ago. I had sought out certification under Grand Master Margie Hilbig and Brian was her right hand man at that time. Margie spent around five minutes with me that first day and then passed me on to Brian. I was immediately struck with how engaged he was. His manner is such that he can immediately put anyone at ease. Little did I know that I had just met the person who was going to become one of the most important and influential people in my life, and a trusted lifelong friend.

Sigung Macdonald is one of the most skilled martial artists I have ever met. I know that if he ever reads this he will cringe. His humility makes him an avid promoter of others and reluctant to accept praise for himself. I think it is that humility that drew me to him as it is an attribute I greatly admire.

I am grateful to have Brian Macdonald in my life as an example of what it means to be a dedicated student of the art. Anyone who has been on the receiving end of his flying spinning back fist knows first hand what blinding terror feels like. We also are blessed to have experienced, a moment later, the absolute relief and joy that comes when you realize you are still alive. Despite his advanced rank and skill, Sigung Macdonald sees himself as a student first and a teacher second.

Kung fu has blessed me by bringing many amazing people into my life and none are more important than Brian Macdonald.

“In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” - Albert Schweitzer