It’s been so long, I am not even sure if it was ever there. Teaching the concept of intent, as it applies to the six harmonies, can be an exercise in frustrating abstraction. Talking to my black belts after class last week, I was posed with a question concerning the difficulty in maintaining a pure technique based upon intent while reacting to a fist coming toward your face. As I answered that I never perceive the fist, at least not specifically, I started to wonder at what point in my training did the fist disappear? Have I always been this way or did something change along the way?
I do know that intent, at least my intent, is independent of the fist. In order for me to apply the six harmonies, my reactions must be tempered with intent. If I am absorbed in intent, my body responds rather than reacts. Intent is the difference between responding and reacting and the difference between power and energy.
“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” - Lao Tzu (604 - 531 BC)
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