Traditional Forms

I have been blessed throughout my life to have had access to many mentors. I owe all my accomplishments to their experience and their willingness to share that experience with me. One can go so much further if they can benefit through the wisdom of those who have gone before.

This past week I was very disappointed to see one of my past mentors post a video about forms training in the martial arts. In his video he included an old video of himself grading for his black belt where he provided commentary as his old self performed a form and applications of his form against opponents. His running commentary was a cynical analysis of how useless his form and bunkai would be in a real self defence situation. Every aspect of his performance was put down and disregarded as useless. 

I am seeing more and more schools eliminate teaching forms as part of their curriculum. This approach has been trending ever since the martial arts were introduced into the west and it is threatening the very future of the martial arts.

First off, if forms training did not apply to real world self defence, traditional marital arts and forms training would not survived over two thousand years. There is a reason why arts like kung fu have been around for a couple of thousand years - it works. It has been my experience that those who do not value or teach forms training do not understand forms training.

Forms training has many benefits and applications in the modern world. The three main benefits are:

• Health. Forms training reinforces the body’s proper structure by reinforcing better posture and ideal alignment of the skeleton. This in turn supports proper organ location, spacing, and function. Overtly, forms training provides a good cardiovascular workout while building muscle mass and flexibility. Forms training is the also the best form of moving meditation I have experienced. There is a reason why martial arts training has proven beneficial to reducing stress.

• Skill. Everything physical that one learns in the martial arts is found in forms training. Every movement has a purpose. That purpose can be the expected self defence applications associated with the movement but the purpose can also be less obvious. Some of the techniques within a form are about flexibility and efficiency of motion. In hockey terms - the drills a team works on in practice have real world application in a game by helping the players develop speed and efficiency within their own skill sets.

• Fighting. Before the advent of protective pads, sparring in the martial arts was much more dangerous. It was impossible to practice your technique and applications at full speed because of the danger it presented to your training partners. Forms training was how a fighter trained and prepared safely. All the best forms practitioners I know are also the best fighters.

Forms training is the essence of traditional martial arts. You cannot eliminate forms training from your training regime and continue to call yourself a martial artist. While all martial artists are fighters, not all fighters are martial artists.

“The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don't know anything about.” - Wayne Dyer (1940 - 2015)

Teaching and Learning

The biggest hurdle that most students of the martial arts face when attempting to master their art is being able to differentiate between knowledge and skill. Knowing how to do something is not the same as being able to do something.

If I want to learn how to use a computer program and take a course to teach me how to use the program, if I do not immediately start to apply the knowledge, I will lose everything I have gained. Application reinforces knowledge.

In kung fu one can learn a new technique but if one does not take the time to actually apply the technique, the skill to use the technique is not acquired despite knowing the technique itself. It is akin to not being able to pull off a David Blaine illusion even though you know exactly how the trick is done. David Blaine has practiced a lot more than you have in order to do the trick as well as he does.

Teaching is one of the best learning tools any of us has when it comes to mastery. When you teach a technique it reinforces your own knowledge by forcing you to look deeper into the intricacies of a technique so that you can explain it better to your student. We instantly become aware of the hypocrisy and mediocrity within our own training when we realize that the eye for detail we are applying to our students’ technique is not always being applied to our own technique within our training. By teaching, our eye for detail becomes contagious and will permeate to our own training.

“When one teaches, two learn.” - Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)

Positive Cycles

Something I wrote for a student struggling to find the time to train . . . 

Everyday we are all faced with decisions. Sometimes success is only a positive decision away. It is a lot easier to make a positive decision when you have clarity in your goals. Why are you studying kung fu? Obviously you have spent years practicing it for a reason. If that reason is empowerment, then you already know that there are benefits to all aspects of your life when you train in kung fu. If your training is benefitting all aspects of your life, how can cutting kung fu to focus on other aspects of your life even make sense? 

You have separated your kung fu from your life to the point where it may have already just become yet another stressor. If your training is relegated to "When I have time", there really is no future in the art for you until that perspective/priority changes.

Think about your diet. Very few of us eat clean. We rush about our day sometimes only feeding ourselves with what is handy and convenient instead of mindfully consuming food that nurtures us. Yet when we consistently clean up our diet, we feel the immediate benefits - clarity of thought and reduction of stress. Those benefits give us more time to mindfully prepare our future meals. The cycle has now become self-perpetuating - in a positive way.

At the same time, it does not take much to let things slide. A day here and a day there where, in a weak moment, we let down our guard and eat something we know is not good for us but it is more convenient. Our clarity begins to erode and is not so clear, our thoughts not so efficient, and our stress begins to build. Once again this cycle now becomes self-perpetuating - in a negative way.

If you want to stay on a positive cycle, STAY ON A POSITIVE CYCLE! It really is that simple. If you want to get on a positive cycle, GET ON A POSITIVE CYCLE! That too is really that simple. There is no magic to earning a black belt. Train. If you do not want to train? Train! Positive cycles do not just randomly start. You need to make the correct decisions - one at a time, every time.

“Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.” - Lyndon B. Johnson (1908 - 1973)

The Dickens Process

I met with one of my mentors, Tom Callos, a couple of weeks ago and he introduced me to the ‘Dickens Process’ that he was introduced to by Tony Robbins.

The Dickens Process exercise drives its name from the Charles Dickens novel "A Christmas Carol" in which Scrooge is visited by ghosts showing him his past, present, and future. By following this strategy of analyzing your limiting beliefs across each tense (past, present, and future), we can see what the actual cost of our beliefs is by looking at each belief in detail to answer the following questions:

• What has each belief cost me and the people I care about in the past?

• What has each belief cost me and the people I care about in the present?

• What will each belief cost me and the people I care about in the future?

When we ask ourselves those three questions, it is important to answer completely by hearing the answer, seeing the answer, and feeling the answer. We must illicit not only a logical response, but an emotional one as well.

By dwelling upon the consequences of our limiting beliefs, we begin laying the foundation required to create new beliefs to replace them. Sometimes it is as simple as reframing the narratives of our beliefs so they are no longer limiting our growth.

“One of my top three limiting beliefs was ‘I’m not hardwired for happiness,’ which I replaced with ‘happiness is my natural state.’” — Tim Ferris’s (b. 1977)

Predetermined Mediocrity

Sometimes we make decisions that cater to what we want rather than what we need. A lot of those decisions are made long before we realize it. We will take time to acquire data that will support these decisions so that we can justify making the decision we want, even when we know it is not what we need. 

• Work today wiped me out so it is not a good idea to go to the gym.

• I don’t have time to cook so fast food it is.

• I am too busy to train consistently so kung fu is not in the cards.

There are an almost infinite number of reasons to make any decision. Hence why it is important to always differentiate between wants and needs. We tend to gravitate to mediocrity even though our goal is mastery. We all know what is good for us but we spend an awful lot of time convincing ourselves that the easy way - what we want, is actually what we need.

Mediocrity is easy. So easy that most of us gravitate to it so seamlessly that we don’t even realize it. The thing is though, mastery is almost as easy. It is just a matter of maintaining clarity and making the right decisions.

“Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait. Be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come.” — Robert H. Schuller (1926 - 2015)

Year of the Tiger

Starting the lunar year with a banquet and the promotion of two students to the rank of black belt is the best way to begin the lunar year. Yes the banquet was only a virtual event for the second year in a row but it was inspirational nevertheless. The excitement that this brings is the best part of Chinese New Year and the busyness of hosting such an event is the worst. 

Of course a lot went wrong with such a technologically intense endeavour and those numerous glitches weigh on me. It is difficult to talk coherently when you are multi-tasking while putting out technical fires. The experience was not ideal but the frantic memories will serve as anchors to recall the positive experience of the event moving forward. 



Congratulations to Sifu Jackie Kohut and Sihing Kody Bjorkquist on earning your black belts. I am grateful that I was able to travel with the two of you on your mastery journeys these many years. You are an inspiration to me and everyone who has had the pleasure and honour to share the experience. 



“She who succeeds in gaining the mastery of the bicycle will gain the mastery of life.” — Susan B. Anthony (1820 - 1906)

ACTS OF JERKINESS

Probably the most important requirement to earn a black belt in my school is the Acts of Kindness requirement. Every black belt candidate must record at least one thousand acts of kindness in the year. I stress the ‘record’ aspect of the requirement.

I don’t think anyone can argue the value and purpose of performing an act of kindness to earn a black belt. Humbleness and empathy are important attributes for a person looking to earn recognition for their fighting ability. As a martial artist, I am not interested in feeding anyone’s ego or narcissistic attitude. Knowledge with humility is what I value.

Despite the obvious value of such a requirement, I get a lot of questions and even objections about the recording aspect of the requirement. “I do dozens of kind acts everyday. Why would I write them all down?” Is the most common argument against recording each act. Sometimes the value of something may seem so obvious that people do not delve deeper into the depth of that value.

Perhaps if I changed the requirement from recording ‘Acts of Kindness’ to recording ‘Acts of Jerkiness’, I would generate deeper understanding and appreciation for the potential of the requirement. For me acts of kindness are easy, just like they are for everyone else. Most of us are naturally kind. However when I started recording my acts of kindness, I became much more mindful and aware of the kind acts I was doing but more importantly, I began noticing a lot of opportunities to be even more kind that I had been missing.

Maybe if I kept closer track of all the times in a day I am actually being somewhat of a jerk, I would become more kind. Sometimes focusing on the negative helps us eliminate the negatives to make our lives more positive.

Master and mediocrity, kindness and jerkiness. Two sides of the same coins

. Where you find one, you will find the other. The Yin and the Yang.

“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” —The 14th Dalai Lama (b. 1935)

Avoidance and Engagment

Disciplining yourself over the long term to achieve your goals is never easy. There are always motivational traps eroding away at your resolve and affecting your self-talk.

I have been through a lot in my lifetime when it comes to my training. I think I have tried every shortcut I could think of when it comes to kung fu; only to face the ultimately reality that I had wasted more time trying to save time. There are no shortcuts to mastery.

My experience has given me a lot of empathy for my students and what they face. Mastery is not an easy journey. The self doubt, the negative self-talk, the long hours - everything seems to be against you.

The common response to the overwhelming magnitude of the mastery journey is withdrawal and avoidance. We avoid thinking about the positives and withdraw from engaging ourselves in the very activities that we know to be beneficial. Our negative self-talk convinces us that the value of what we seek is not worth the investment of our time and sweat.

When we are going through difficult times we tend to disengage - the exact opposite strategy we should be using. Not avoiding but rather pushing ourselves to engage has a positive snowball effect on our attitude. Our perspective clears and clarity returns to our vision and our thoughts. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done.

I am extremely passionate about kung fu because it has changed my life. Everything I have is due to kung fu. I know it will change the life of anyone who embraces the art and I have dedicated the last thirty years to help people realize their potential.

Unfortunately I can only do so much. Being eager to help is only part of the solution. Engagement is necessary to access help.

“He was a self-made man who owed his lack of success to nobody.” - Joseph Heller (1923 - 1999)

Strength and Energy

Kung fu, while being a great way to get get into shape, is so much more than a physical activity. Of course there is all the character development that comes from learning discipline and respect, and there is the obvious self-esteem benefits: followers become leaders and angry people become calm and compassionate. The less obvious benefits from practicing the art, at least for those who never achieve the higher ranks, comes in the form of cultivating your chi, your internal energy.

Energy. Everyone has it but not everyone can use it. It takes years to develop your awareness of your chi and decades longer before you can control and use it. Using chi comes from mindfully practicing the six harmonies or more specifically, practice the three internal harmonies: sprit with intent, intent with chi, chi with strength.

From my experience, the biggest thing in the way of a person mastering those three internal harmonies is their attitude. When I say attitude, I mean the intent behind their actions — what is the thought process behind what they are doing?

Physical output requires engagement. Engagement of the muscles, and the alignment of the skeleton. Internal output (energy) requires letting go and releasing. Yes, a very abstract concept but nevertheless an important concept.

“The purpose of abstraction is not to be vague, but to create a new semantic level in which one can be absolutely precise.” - Edsger W. Dijkstra (1930 - 2002)

Effort and Right Effort

Mastering anything requires effort. The great thing about effort is that it is never wasted. The discipline you develop from applying yourself, even if you are unable to attain your goal, has value. The great thing about discipline is that it is transferable to all aspects of your life. 

There is effort and then there is right effort. Again - no effort is wasted BUT if you are not mindful in your effort, there is a risk that you may confuse effort with progress. For sure effort is needed if you want to progress but like an engine running at 10,000 rpms, effort does not always mean you are getting traction and making progress toward your goals.

Right effort is mindful effort. You are not just actively working but you are mindfully working to maximize the benefits of your effort. This is where a mentor can be priceless. A mentor can help you refine your efforts and fine tune them to help you achieve your goals faster and more efficiently.

I have been blessed with many great mentors in my life. I have learned that having a good mentor is like having a good tool. It is has value if you use it. Put in the effort and use your mentors to help you direct it correctly.

“We all carry the seeds of greatness within us, but we need an image as a point of focus in order that they may sprout.” – Epictetus (50 - 135)

Connections

The pandemic has lasted longer than anyone expected and I think everyone is suffering from the relentlessness of the situation. As we approach another lunar new year without the likelihood of being able to celebrate together for the second year in a row, I am becoming more aware of how much I rely upon special events to maintain and reconnect with my friends and mentors. 

Yesterday the Canadian Ging Wu celebrated the grand opening of their new location. I had no idea how much I missed connecting with my peers and mentors right up until I arrived at the event. Seeing Sifu Bok Koh, Sifu Ben Mah, Sifu Bill Gee, Sifu Dale Lee, Sifu Michael Yong, and Sifu Brendan Lee reminded me of how important they all are in my life. At a minimum we tend to reconnect at Chinese New Year events every year but it has been two years since any such event has been possible so yesterday’s event really nurtured my soul.

Kung fu has made me who I am and I owe everything in my life to the art. Nothing though is more valuable to me than the connections I have made on this journey.

“Invisible threads are the strongest ties.” - Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900)

Time to Heal

The past two weeks have been a challenge to train, teach, and engage. I have significant inflammation in one of my knees that is conspiring to keep me off the mats. 



I usually try to push through and around these issues when they flare up but this time seems to be different. Any type of activity is exasperating and prolonging the situation.



As what tends to happen in these situations, life has presented me with an opportunity. A focus group I am part of has a few meetings coming up that are going to interfere with my teaching. Hopefully by taking some time off the mats to attend these meetings, my knee will get a chance to recover enough to allow me to get back to training and teaching the way I am used to within a couple of weeks. 


Always one step forward, no matter what. 

"Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving." - Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955)

Intent in Hindsight

A fundamental tenet of mindfulness is aligning our actions with our intent. This is why intent plays such a crucial role in the six harmonies of kung fu. Yet what is often missing in a person’s approach is an awareness of realtime intent.

We all can identify instances and situations where we are embroiled in a pursuit that we used to have a deep passion for but now we just seem to go through the motions. What used to stimulate us has just become white noise. What we used to do for pleasure and benefit is now an inconvenient responsibility. What used to be a career is now only a job.

Even though they seem to be polar opposites, the difference between mastery and mediocrity is surprisingly small. That small difference can be found primarily in your intent. Completing the exact same actions with two different attitudes will generate two different results.

If I am completing a task as if it is a hoop to jump through as opposed to it being tool to help me improve myself, the outcome I experience from completing that task can be vastly different. Maintaining a positive intent in our actions is crucial for mastery.

Positive intent cannot be in hindsight, it must be present when we take action. This is where many people fail. They complete their task and reflect after the fact on the benefit of doing such a task. If the awareness of the benefit arrives only after the task is completed, the proper attitude at the time of action was not in place.

Differentiating between a hoop and a tool cannot be an analysis that takes place after action. Your action is what is important so what you are thinking at the time of the actions is just as important. Therefore hindsight is not helpful when analyzing whether or not you did something because it was a hoop or a tool.

Intent must be maintained in realtime, not hindsight.

“How you look at it is pretty much how you’ll see it.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru (b. 1970)

Evolutionary Growth

We tend to, and have been conditioned to, expect instant and obvious results when we apply ourselves to accomplishing a specific goal. A person only needs to checkout the average gym in January every year and then compare the energy and crowds to what you see a couple of months later. All the potential and intent the new year brought has been mostly burned up by March.

What is missing for most people is the understanding of the importance of incremental progression. Lao Tzu has said that “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” On an intellectual level, we all understand that. On a practical level, very few accept this.

Approaching our progression and growth as an evolutionary process changes everything. Setbacks become gifts, hoops become ladders, and destinations become journeys. Our perspective and understanding can open doors of opportunity or it can slam them shut. It is either the biggest limitation to our success or the strongest catalyst in our personal growth.

"One can choose to go back toward safety or forward toward growth. Growth must be chosen again and again; fear must be overcome again and again." - Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970)

Trajectory and Sustainability

I’ve said it before - mastery is a journey, it is not a destination. While it is an easy concept to understand and agree with, it tends to be a difficult concept to accept. I think our big issue with acceptance is because the average person tends to not accept change. Our bodies and our minds are in constant flux. We are constantly evolving as we continue on our path toward our death. We literally begin our death journey the moment we are conceived. From that point on it is in our nature to grow old, it is in our nature to get sick, and it is in our nature to die. 

Ultimately, mastery is a moving target. There is so much of ourselves that changes day to day, our mastery journey is always adapting to our new situation. Knees wear out, injuries pile up, and our mentors pass on while new ones take their place. Change is inevitable and unstoppable. Change is not good and it is not bad. It is just change. It is what we do with the change that determines if it is good or bad and that ultimately determines our mastery journey’s trajectory. 

Once mastery is recognized as a never ending journey, the trajectory and sustainability  of our journey will become our focus. 

“What you choose today will determine who you are tomorrow.” - Tim Fargo

Obstacle and Ladders

Every limitation and every challenge I have ever had to deal with in my life started out as an obstacle. Torn cartilage in my knee limited my hockey career and continues to impact my kung fu. Coming from a poor family limited my opportunities and created barriers not being experienced by other children. There is not doubt that on the playing field of life, all things are not equal.

When I started kung fu, I was known for my fast, flexible kicks. Even my instructors had to be careful when they sparred with me. My kicks were quick and my most powerful weapons. Then, somewhere between yellow belt and orange belt, reconstruction of my right knee was required to repair a massive tear and subsequent joint damage. I went from the guy who almost exclusively could rely upon his kicks to defeat any opponent to a guy who could not kick meaningfully again for almost eighteen months. Through the eyes of resentment, my kung fu had been completely wiped out. My best weapon was taken away from me and I was set adrift. Today, over thirty years and four more knee surgeries and another reconstruction later, I only see the injury through the eyes of gratitude. 

The path I was on and unwilling to venture off of, was the path of a one-dimensional martial artist. Who needs to work on his hand techniques when his leg techniques are easily taking care of business? Well the guy who just had his legs taken away from him for the next year and a half, that’s who. In those eighteen kickless months I worked hard on my forms and I worked hard on my hands. When I emerged from the other end of that first reconstruction, I was a more complete and well-rounded martial artist. Yes I lost something but I also gained something.  Something wonderful. Something that changed my life. 



Today I am reaping in the benefits of my wonky knees. I earned my black belt because of my bad knees. I met my wife because of my bad knees. Everything I have can be traced and tied to my bad knees. One could argue that I might have been able to earn my black belt without having bad knees but that is not something I even think about. I like where I am and I like who I am. I am the sum of all my experiences and decisions. Changing anything in my past would put everything I currently have in jeopardy. I have nothing but gratitude for my knees and their limitations. For without them, I would not be who I am today. 



Nothing in life is for free. Everything we are and everything we achieve is because of the decisions we make and the actions we take. I can choose to take the path of resentment or I can choose to boldly proceed forward. The bottom line is, I always have a choice. 

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” - Wayne Dyer (1940 - 2015) 

Incremental Progression & Sustainable Training

I talk a lot about the value of incremental progression. The idea is that a bunch of small acts of mastery will add up to significant improvement. There is a lot of common sense in this approach and the idea is easily understood by most.

An aspect of incremental progression that people do not always appreciate is the idea of sustainable training. Sustainable training is an important aspect of mastery that addresses the fact that whatever you do to attain mastery must be continued if you wish to maintain mastery. Binge training to achieve a short term goal does not always serve long term mastery ambitions. If mastery over your lifetime is the goal, your training regime must be sustainable over your lifetime.

This time of year is when I find myself thinking about sustainable training, incremental progression, and mastery a lot. Of course my thoughts are drawn this direction because this is the time of year my black belt candidates are finalizing their preparations for their black belt grading.

It is difficult to maintain a clear perspective on mastery when a deadline, such as a black belt grading date, is added to the mix. The second a due date is put in front of you, it becomes almost impossible to not panic as you notice the gaping holes in your knowledge and skill. It is important at this time to remind yourself that mastery is an infinite journey, not a final destination.

Approaching your training as a continuous journey will reinforce the ideas of incremental progression and sustainable training. If your goal is to earn a black belt, keep moving forward and you will eventually amass the skill and knowledge necessary to earn the rank. Training in an unsustainable way may help you earn your black belt but that approach will not help you maintain the knowledge and skill after you earn the rank.

The priceless value of mastery is yours if you embrace mastery’s process and not just the accolades that come with it.

“Accolades are there to congratulate you but also to make you understand that it's not over. You now have to continue trying to improve the craft and keep going. It's not something to rest on.” - Joe Morton (b. 1947)

Why

Why do we do anything? Have we forgotten? We have been conditioned to commodify everything so much that we forget why we did it in the first place. We work hard to earn money to improve the quality of our lives. Yet more often than not we forget about the quality of life we were striving for and only focus on acquiring more and more money, even sacrificing the quality of our life to to earn more than we need.

If we do not consistently remind ourselves of why we are doing what we are doing, our attitude will no longer align with our goals. Education becomes commodified to become about the degree instead of the knowledge that the degree represents. In kung fu, forms practice devolves into a hoop to jump through in order to earn another promotion as opposed to being about personal mastery.

Where am I? What am I doing? Two important questions that cut through the haze of distraction and remind us of why we do what we do.

“Fact: If standard of living is your number one objective, quality of life almost never improves. But if quality of life is your number one objective, standard of living invariably improves.” - Zig Ziglar (1926 - 2012)

Dedication

Over the years I know a few of my friends have made comments about how much of my life I dedicate to kung fu. For the longest time I did not even think about what they were saying nor did I delve for any deeper insight. I think, at those particular times, I agreed with them and left things at that. Kung fu has always been an investment and, like any investment, a return is expected. If the return justifies the investment the decision is a no-brainer.

Now older and wiser, I realize how far off the mark those comments are. In fact they are 180 degrees out of phase with my reality. I do not dedicate my life to my kung fu, I dedicate my kung fu to my life. Everything I do and everything I have — I can see kung fu’s influence.

I may encourage my students to take their kung fu out of the kwoon and into the world but inevitably it goes beyond that. My life is my kwoon.

“Our teachers did not give us a clear explanation of the kata from old times. I must find the features and meaning of each form by my own study and effort, by repeating the exercises of form through training.” – Tsuyoshi Chitose (1898 - 1984)

Infinite Insights

My daily meditation practice has evolved substantially over the past month. I have revisted some of my Zen roots and have found some wonderful gems.

I have been focusing on Thich Nhat Hanh’s 16 breathing exercises as part of my morning routine and the practice has reminded me of the value of just that - practice.

Zen, Kung fu, guitar, whatever your discipline - practice makes perfect. Everyday that you neglect your discipline, you dig your motivational hole deeper. Sometimes that hole gets so deep that it feels impossible to pull yourself out. Hence why taking consistent action is paramount to mastery.

Practicing my old breathing exercises has revitalized me and my practice. Beginning anew with the basics can generate infinite insights.

‘You don't get to the highest levels of the sport without having the basics in order.” - Daniel Cormier (b. 1979)