Times Are Changing

Thursday night’s Tri-Municipal Information Night gave me the opportunity to meet with some fellow traditional martial artists who have been teaching in the Stony Plain/Spruce Grove area as long as I have. It was great to reconnect with old friends and discuss the present state of the martial arts.

Our discussion was not a very positive one. The three of us agreed that the future of traditional martial arts is very much in jeopardy. For two thousand years, martial arts taught people how not to fight. Today, the new martial arts are all about fighting. We are all seeing the same thing - important, integral aspects of the martial arts are no longer being taught in favour of focusing on the external, transparent, and obvious.

“Showing off is the fool’s idea of glory.” - Bruce Lee (1940 - 1973)

Sustainability of Effort

Every January there is a massive influx of people joining gyms and starting new diets. Anytime there is a reset button handy, people are quick to implement the change they have had on the back burner for a while. A gym that was standing room only on January 2nd invariably is a ghost town come Groundhogs Day. Despite every moment of every day being an opportunity to begin anew, the majority of people procrastinate until they feel a call to action. While the call to action should be an expanding waistline, most wait for a chronological reset as opposed to a circumstance reset. Most see January 1st or Monday as better times to make change than the present.

The secret to lasting change is sustainability of effort. Anything you do to generate the change you are looking for, must be something you can do for the rest of your life if you wish for that change to be permanent. This is why people are rarely able to keep up the pace they set in January over the long term. Life tends to interfere with even the best laid plans and not many people enjoy doing the same thing after they have reached their target goal.

Earning a black belt in kung fu is not an easy accomplishment. It takes years of dedication that culminates with a twelve hour test. What separates the students who will be around to earn higher degrees of black belt from the ones that will not go beyond their first degree blackbelt is the sustainability of their effort. Those who approach the black belt as a journey as opposed to a destination are best equipped for training for the long term. Those who see the black belt as a destination tend to sacrifice so much to achieve it that they do not have anything left after reaching that first summit. They have the best intentions about their future but they do not establish a sustainable training regime to serve themselves beyond their immediate goal.

Mastery is process driven. Develop a process that serves your goal, you will reach that goal. Make that same process sustainable, your goal becomes permanent.

“Sustainability is growth based on forms and processes of development that do not undermine the integrity of the environment on which they depend.” - Jim MacNeill (1928 - 2016)

Out Of the Kwoon and Into the World

It is said that if you can master one thing, you can master anything. Anyone who has successfully spent a year in the Ultimate Black Belt Test or the I Ho Chuan can attest to the truth in those words. Mastery is a process, it is not a state. Once you learn and consistently apply the process, the process is applicable to all aspects of your life.

Many people travel a long distance on the road to mastery, only to veer off or give up without ever learning the path’s secrets. How often I have heard the rationalizations. “I am too busy”, “It is too difficult for me”, “I need to concentrate on something else” . . . The list goes on. Ultimately there are a multitude of reasons to quit. Any reason you can think of can legitimately bring justification to a decision you want to make.

My career in kung fu is in it’s fourth decade. In that time I have yet to meet a person who is actually doing the work that wants to give up. This fact is not a coincidence. If you invest the time, you will reap the rewards. Anyone who is engaged and applying themselves is aware of the massive return on their investment and becomes passionate about the art and its value. Not unlike a weight lifter who has stopped lifting weights, those not applying themselves are not gaining those same benefits.

Stop looking at effort as a sacrifice and recognize it as an investment. There is a reason why they say a master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. If you want to succeed, double your failure rate.

 “From one thing, know ten thousand things” - Miyamoto Musashi (1584 - 1645)

Surface vs Depth

I found an old stock of dishwasher detergent in the store room I was cleaning out. It is the exact same tab detergent that I am still using but with a difference. These vintage detergent tabs are individually packaged in foil wrappers. The current version is the same detergent tab enclosed in a water soluble coating. Obviously this new method is reducing the amount of waste that is ending up in the landfill. This is a very good thing. What I am wondering about is the environmental impact of the water soluble coating used on today’s version. What chemicals and processes were used to create this solution and what are the long term impacts?

I have no doubts that the manufacturer initiated the change to address environmental concerns. I also have no doubts as to the depth of their concerns. Most corporations focus only on short-term profits for their shareholders, not on the sustainability of their business practices or the health of their customers and the planet that is serving us all. My point is, the manufacturer made the change to improve public perception of their product’s environmental footprint, and any actual benefit to the environment was, if at all, a collateral benefit. In essence, their change was perception-driven and had no soul behind it.

I see this same issue with people’s kung fu. Some students train to learn while others train to be promoted. While the two approaches may appear to serve mastery, only one approach has soul behind it. Those training to learn show up to class with a plan and a purpose. They control their lesson and ensure they get what they need. Those training to be promoted never have a specific plan and rely upon their instructor to map out their progress. This is only half of the educational formula. The instructor is there to teach and the student is there to learn. If either one of the two does not have a plan, any knowledge passed on is only superficial.

Unlike my dishwasher detergent company, kung fu cannot be superficial. There must be soul behind our intent so all our energy is applied to mastering the art beyond just superficial ranks and appearances. There are two types of black belts - those who wear the belt and those who live the life.

“It takes time to practice generosity, but being generous is the best use of our time.” - Thich Nhat Hanh (b. 1926)