Sacred Balance

My first journal entry of 2008 - a brand new year with awesome potential. Now the hard part. Figure out how to best realize that potential and actually make a difference.

I have been reading David Suzuki’s “The Sacred Balance”. This book is truly inspiring and enlightening. The quality that gives us, the human species, such an advantage and the ability to excel in the bleakest corners of nature is our cultural diversity. As per Suzuki: “Our ability to exploit our surroundings and to pass on with language the lessons learned by failure and success accelerated the pace of human evolution. Humans have had an added edge in culture. Every individual human being must begin life from the same starting point, as an infant, laboriously acquiring all the accumulated lore and beliefs of society until he or she is ready to become a productive adult. But culture grows steadily, without having to go through the same learning curve every generation. Compared with rates of biological change, culture evolves with lightning speed - and for this reason we have come a long way in a relatively short time.”

Wow, why did I never really think about this before? It is something I have known but not really dedicated much thought to. I guess I started thinking more about it in the past year which is why I am on this accountability kick. I have looked at what I have accomplished in my life and upon reflection I realize that I have wasted a lot of time and potential. That is the folly of the arrogance of my youth - failure to accept my own mortality. Really what kind of lasting impact did I expect to have on the world in the short time that I am going to be here? Very little since I have been living my life as if I have an infinite amount of time to accomplish my goals. Eureka! If I invest my time and efforts toward influencing my culture, the impact of my life will be felt for many generations long after my death.

Silent River Kung Fu is a culture that is growing and evolving. Every one of us is contributing to this culture. I continuously remind my students that they are the future of kung fu. Two thousand years of development and refinement are now in their hands. What happens now will help determine the future of kung fu for the next two thousand years.

So what happens now? Are we going to define kung fu by the quality of our kicks and punches or the quality of our character? It is time to guide our culture and set an example for our community that shows just what value we are bringing to the table.

We are martial artists who define our growth not by the perfection of our skill but by the self realization and enlightenment we achieve from the challenge of the journey. We are leaders. We are accountable. We are Silent River Kung Fu.

“A leader is a dealer in hope.”
- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)