If you knew today was you last day on earth, and not worried about it, what would you really like to do? Well whatever your answer is, ask yourself why then are you not doing that today? People tend to think somebody else is going to die today, but not me. Child or adult it makes no difference to death. Children die everyday by the thousands in this world. Death is ageless, It has no regard for your present age, conditions young and old alike die, it takes you when your time comes without a second thought. None of this is being said to frighten you, but rather to remind you of what you should remind yourself each day of your life. If you do, you wont let a moment go by so quickly, you will embrace it and savor the moment for what it is no matter what your doing.
Death can change the quality of your life by the gentle reminder to live fully and learn, and enjoy and don't be afraid to live freely, savoring your desires to know and experience them freely. You can even be thankful for "bad" things because often they lead to something positive through learning, changing and growing. The secret to happiness is having your basic physical needs sustainably met for health warmth, clean air, clean water, nutritious food, rest and movement, and a variety of interesting things to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch, having the freedom to make your own decisions about your life, without fear of criticism from others for your life style.
According to Karmic Law we are born for certain periods time so as to balance our Karmic scale then and only then can we leave this vibrational state of existence so we may move upward in evolutionary development. I asked, in one of my email's, are you really free? Well, the answer to that question is NO! Only those who are awakened are really free. Until that day arrives you are a slave caught in the illusion, this is not freedom, it is slavery is of the worst kind. As long as you are trapped by the illusion of Yin and Yang you will always lean one way or the other, and never finding balance, thus freedom.
You are not free, you are captive, forever, choosing this or that, fearful of this or that, denying this or that, judging this or that and even with your judgement calls you wont be find satisfaction. In your heart you will be wishing it were different, but the power of the dream is too overwhelming for the average person to overcome. You need a discipline, a path a direction to follow so as to be shown the clearing ahead to the top of the mountain, the way through the dream, and into reality, then you will be fully awake and thus fully alive and content with life as it is, without the phoniness associated with the dream. You will be truly alive and free then and only then.
Freedom is happiness, freedom from your Master namely the illusion. You can live happier today if you take the chains off your free will, live as you feel, your inner naturalness cant make a mistake, only the thinking calculating mind can cause confusion and doubt. Until you are free you will always remain the slave of the illusion. You make your decisions according to societies rules, not yours, you live according to societies demands, not yours, You do this because of the threat of punishment by society or others criticisms if your don't. You are not your own master as long as you are caught in this web of yin and yang. Some will say we have no choice, it is either yin or yang, what else is there? There is choice not to take either, it is the third choose not spoken of by society because it is to dangerous for societies survival. The sage takes neither choice but rather simply follows his or her inner callings.
This reminds me of a story I have told before; but I will tell it again for those who not read it. There were two monks walking down a road, when they came upon a large floor of water blocking the path. There by the flooded waters stood a woman wondering how she was going to pass over the water without getting herself wet. Now monks are not supposed to touch or even look at woman for fear it would arise sexual thoughts, but one of the monks picked the woman up into his arms and carried her across the water and put her down on the other side. The other monks was shocked, and after some time asked his follow monk, "how could you do that?" "Do what? Replied the other monk." Pick up that woman, was his reply. The other monk looked at him and said, I put her down hours ago,, yet you still carry her, why so?... End of story
This is an example of what we do each day of our life, carry our fears with us, if we but put it all down and forget good or bad, yin or yang we could learn to do what we see fit to do without guilt or shame. Simply doing what comes naturally, without regrets. Knowing the ways of existence brings with it the freedom to break free of the dream and live as nature intended you to live. FREE At Last!!! FREE at Last!!
Buddha Bless
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Martial Arts Beliefs
Tantra, Buddhism , Taoism all speak of finding the truth of existence. There will always be those who seek Religions, and some also practice Buddhism or Taoism or Tantra as a religion, but they are not. Once you change these philosophies into religions you are lost again. They are not religions they are philosophies that don't center on a God but rather theories of existence that make a great deal of sense when analyzed closely.
We as humans have always sought after the power that created the wonders around us. We associated all this with a being that did it all and it is this being who judges us and control all the wonders of the universe out of chaos, yet everything is perfect in every way. This order is unexplainable so they associate it a higher power, rather then the perfection of existence. The Chinese don't have a name for God, so they call it the workings of the Tao. A force that although appears to be chaotic is perfect. So we assume there is some kind of control, therefore there must be a God doing all this.
What is the Tao nobody knows, it is beyond our human comprehension. But logically speaking with such order out of disorder their must be some form of awareness of consciousness in control or everything would cease to exist. In reality there is nothing to pray to nothing to fear there is no sin there is no hell there is no heaven. There is only what you project to be real. The sad part of this is we are like a genie in a bottle, what we wish for will at some point come into existence. If you believe in a hell, you will create one. This story came's from the New Testament. The was a place just outside of Rome where dead bodies were dumped, it become know as the place of hell. So hell was born into the imagination, we create our a dream and believe in it and with this belief the dream becomes real in time.
There is a greater power, but don't associate it with some being who will judge you, you will in the final analysis judge yourself. There is no being that wants to dam you to eternal damnation, you will do that yourself, this your are capable of without the help of any one God. You are a product of nature, or should I say existence. Like all other creations you are subject to the laws of the universe, the laws of creation and destruction. You are never ending, you are nothing more then the matter which is physical material as opposed to spiritual; you are a substance of a particular composition and consistency ( mass,is a fundamental concept in physics) of the universe in human form.
If you understand all this and believe it you can live fear free knowing all is as it should be. That's you will never die, but only take on new form as matter evolves into a different form of mass. There is nothing good nor bad, it is only how you define things. Yet people live their lives in fear of breaking some kind of law that will condemn them to eternal punishment. They live the whole life in fear of doing something wrong. You cant ! You cant change your roll as a human, You can change your thinking but not your humanness. Just live as you feel this will come from your humanness, you don't need a manual on humanness, to find out how to live, or follow some prescribed way to live. A dog follow his nature, so should a human being. You would say it is ridiculous to have a bible for the dogs, they are dogs and should live as a dog lives and nothing more. Yet we do that already as humans. This is because humans don’t know who they are to begin with and the dogs do.
Fear freezes you up, restricts your life and happiness, All this comes from believing is children's stories. Free you spirit, live freely, you are intrinsically good, not evil. I ask you what in the universe is evil??? As they say:: Its all Good! Now live as you feel, and feel as you live...
Buddha Bless
We as humans have always sought after the power that created the wonders around us. We associated all this with a being that did it all and it is this being who judges us and control all the wonders of the universe out of chaos, yet everything is perfect in every way. This order is unexplainable so they associate it a higher power, rather then the perfection of existence. The Chinese don't have a name for God, so they call it the workings of the Tao. A force that although appears to be chaotic is perfect. So we assume there is some kind of control, therefore there must be a God doing all this.
What is the Tao nobody knows, it is beyond our human comprehension. But logically speaking with such order out of disorder their must be some form of awareness of consciousness in control or everything would cease to exist. In reality there is nothing to pray to nothing to fear there is no sin there is no hell there is no heaven. There is only what you project to be real. The sad part of this is we are like a genie in a bottle, what we wish for will at some point come into existence. If you believe in a hell, you will create one. This story came's from the New Testament. The was a place just outside of Rome where dead bodies were dumped, it become know as the place of hell. So hell was born into the imagination, we create our a dream and believe in it and with this belief the dream becomes real in time.
There is a greater power, but don't associate it with some being who will judge you, you will in the final analysis judge yourself. There is no being that wants to dam you to eternal damnation, you will do that yourself, this your are capable of without the help of any one God. You are a product of nature, or should I say existence. Like all other creations you are subject to the laws of the universe, the laws of creation and destruction. You are never ending, you are nothing more then the matter which is physical material as opposed to spiritual; you are a substance of a particular composition and consistency ( mass,is a fundamental concept in physics) of the universe in human form.
If you understand all this and believe it you can live fear free knowing all is as it should be. That's you will never die, but only take on new form as matter evolves into a different form of mass. There is nothing good nor bad, it is only how you define things. Yet people live their lives in fear of breaking some kind of law that will condemn them to eternal punishment. They live the whole life in fear of doing something wrong. You cant ! You cant change your roll as a human, You can change your thinking but not your humanness. Just live as you feel this will come from your humanness, you don't need a manual on humanness, to find out how to live, or follow some prescribed way to live. A dog follow his nature, so should a human being. You would say it is ridiculous to have a bible for the dogs, they are dogs and should live as a dog lives and nothing more. Yet we do that already as humans. This is because humans don’t know who they are to begin with and the dogs do.
Fear freezes you up, restricts your life and happiness, All this comes from believing is children's stories. Free you spirit, live freely, you are intrinsically good, not evil. I ask you what in the universe is evil??? As they say:: Its all Good! Now live as you feel, and feel as you live...
Buddha Bless
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Real Character
As my student Master level Eric Sbarge so apply put it " which would you rather have it say on your tombstone, " Here lies a man who could kick your butt" or " He lies a man who was compassionate, gentle and loving" Well said Eric!, because in essence that's what it is all about in life. Living life in harmony with others and the world around us. Here is another paradox of Taoist thought; You are important and unique, there is no question of that, and your existence matters so as to maintain the balance of the universe, but on the other hand you are insignificant in the scope of things.
What counts in life is how you deal with life. Don't take it so seriously, yet, don't' miss the chance, there is that annoying paradox of Zen again. It is important yet, it is unimportant, both exist, you have to balance the both of them. What matters is finding the balance of things, as the saying goes; a balanced scale neither goes up nor down, but rather finds it center and stops..
Nothing matters yet everything matters, down to the last second of human life. We have to find the important points of life. It not making money, or attaining the American Dream, it is finding peace, contentment, and banishing our fears. Money is meaningless paper. Yet people call money the root of all evil, still I say it is not, people are the root of all evil. Money is ok if you don't make it an another obsession. All you really need is a roof over your head for shelter and some food, maybe a place you can call your own where you can hide from the world , we tend to call this place... HOME. That's all you really need, all else it simply over extravagance, unneeded, garbage.
So what is good character? The dictionary defines it as : a quality indicative of the nature of an object or an organism. So, if you look you will see the word nature. So the word character doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means, like saying this person is; loyal, or selfish, or friendly, or nasty. This has nothing to do with our real nature. These are qualities are inherited by being infected by the illusion. Character means what is in your heart, knowing who and what you are. Knowing what's really important that brings you into balance with your nature. You are part of the Tao, there is no escape of what you are, Your were born out of existence, and will end by moving back into existence. Your character is that which comes with inherent humanness.
The character I speak of is your real character which comes from the Tao not society or your upbringing. But I ask you how real are you now, what role are you playing now, how are you fooling yourself today? As I keep reminding you, don't live by society rules, they changing day by day. Live by natures rules, have been in existence since the conception of time was realized. These are the essential rules to live by, it should be easy as this nature comes with your appearance into existence at the time of your birth, but the second after birth the conditioning starts and we loss our real nature into the ever developing illusion, obstructing the truth of who you are..
Be yourself, but without the phoniness society imposes on you. Live as you feel, and feel as you live, experience life as it was meant to be experienced before you were blinded by the illusion. There is no sin greater then missing the point of your existence. Because if you miss, you will continue to suffer, your life will be enslaved by your fears, you will continue to seek the unattainable from an illusion. The sad part is that you know it is a dream yet, your still pilled into it, helpless as a new born infant, this is the only sin. That's is why we all must continue to work toward freeing ourselves, so our real nature can emerge, this is enlightenment.
Your character is the same as mine, if we strip away the influences of society and reveal the dream for what it is, we will all understand this point clearly. We are the human animal, homosapien. As humans, we seek to understand and influence the environment around us by trying to explain and manipulate natural phenomena. Here is where we make the mistake, don't try to manipulate, rather we all must learn to flow with the Tao and again be part of our original nature. One who does, their character will naturally be a good one, for they will be in harmony with their naturalness and that naturalness is the Tao.
Buddha Bless
What counts in life is how you deal with life. Don't take it so seriously, yet, don't' miss the chance, there is that annoying paradox of Zen again. It is important yet, it is unimportant, both exist, you have to balance the both of them. What matters is finding the balance of things, as the saying goes; a balanced scale neither goes up nor down, but rather finds it center and stops..
Nothing matters yet everything matters, down to the last second of human life. We have to find the important points of life. It not making money, or attaining the American Dream, it is finding peace, contentment, and banishing our fears. Money is meaningless paper. Yet people call money the root of all evil, still I say it is not, people are the root of all evil. Money is ok if you don't make it an another obsession. All you really need is a roof over your head for shelter and some food, maybe a place you can call your own where you can hide from the world , we tend to call this place... HOME. That's all you really need, all else it simply over extravagance, unneeded, garbage.
So what is good character? The dictionary defines it as : a quality indicative of the nature of an object or an organism. So, if you look you will see the word nature. So the word character doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means, like saying this person is; loyal, or selfish, or friendly, or nasty. This has nothing to do with our real nature. These are qualities are inherited by being infected by the illusion. Character means what is in your heart, knowing who and what you are. Knowing what's really important that brings you into balance with your nature. You are part of the Tao, there is no escape of what you are, Your were born out of existence, and will end by moving back into existence. Your character is that which comes with inherent humanness.
The character I speak of is your real character which comes from the Tao not society or your upbringing. But I ask you how real are you now, what role are you playing now, how are you fooling yourself today? As I keep reminding you, don't live by society rules, they changing day by day. Live by natures rules, have been in existence since the conception of time was realized. These are the essential rules to live by, it should be easy as this nature comes with your appearance into existence at the time of your birth, but the second after birth the conditioning starts and we loss our real nature into the ever developing illusion, obstructing the truth of who you are..
Be yourself, but without the phoniness society imposes on you. Live as you feel, and feel as you live, experience life as it was meant to be experienced before you were blinded by the illusion. There is no sin greater then missing the point of your existence. Because if you miss, you will continue to suffer, your life will be enslaved by your fears, you will continue to seek the unattainable from an illusion. The sad part is that you know it is a dream yet, your still pilled into it, helpless as a new born infant, this is the only sin. That's is why we all must continue to work toward freeing ourselves, so our real nature can emerge, this is enlightenment.
Your character is the same as mine, if we strip away the influences of society and reveal the dream for what it is, we will all understand this point clearly. We are the human animal, homosapien. As humans, we seek to understand and influence the environment around us by trying to explain and manipulate natural phenomena. Here is where we make the mistake, don't try to manipulate, rather we all must learn to flow with the Tao and again be part of our original nature. One who does, their character will naturally be a good one, for they will be in harmony with their naturalness and that naturalness is the Tao.
Buddha Bless
Sunday, August 9, 2009
The Great Search
Life is a search, a constant search, a desperate search but what your searching for you have no idea. All you know is your missing something but you know not what it is, so the search is always on.
Whatever you find never seem to be what your looking for, whatever you find bring you no satisfaction, your search leads you again to searching again for the elusive something that will bring satisfaction, but it never does.
There is a certain state of mind in which whatsoever you get is not going to bring you satisfaction. Frustration seems to be the destiny of humanity, because whatever you get becomes meaningless. The moment you get it, you start searching again.
The reason for this frustration is because what you are searching for does not quench the thirst of the soul. Until you find the truth it is like drinking salt water, the more you drink the sicker you become and the thirst is never quenched.
The answer lies in finding the truth, then the search is over, this is enlightenment, like drinking pure cool water, the thirst is GONE..........
There is nothing in the world that will help you, for Truth is not part of this illusion, it is fake, salt water, it looks like water but it is not, drinking it does nothing but make you sick.
Look for the reality, there you will find the cool stream you seek, the search will be over, your thirst will be quenched.........
A true martial arts school main focus is finding the pure stream of salt free water; thus bringing the follower the relief they seek in life. It is so much more them fighting, fighting is easy, just go slap someone in the face, and the fight is on, but try finding love, compassion, and forgiveness, and all fights come to an end. Truth will set you free of the eternal search.
Whatever you find never seem to be what your looking for, whatever you find bring you no satisfaction, your search leads you again to searching again for the elusive something that will bring satisfaction, but it never does.
There is a certain state of mind in which whatsoever you get is not going to bring you satisfaction. Frustration seems to be the destiny of humanity, because whatever you get becomes meaningless. The moment you get it, you start searching again.
The reason for this frustration is because what you are searching for does not quench the thirst of the soul. Until you find the truth it is like drinking salt water, the more you drink the sicker you become and the thirst is never quenched.
The answer lies in finding the truth, then the search is over, this is enlightenment, like drinking pure cool water, the thirst is GONE..........
There is nothing in the world that will help you, for Truth is not part of this illusion, it is fake, salt water, it looks like water but it is not, drinking it does nothing but make you sick.
Look for the reality, there you will find the cool stream you seek, the search will be over, your thirst will be quenched.........
A true martial arts school main focus is finding the pure stream of salt free water; thus bringing the follower the relief they seek in life. It is so much more them fighting, fighting is easy, just go slap someone in the face, and the fight is on, but try finding love, compassion, and forgiveness, and all fights come to an end. Truth will set you free of the eternal search.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Ego
Martial arts Teachers are some of the nicest people I have ever meet. I would say just about everyone I have ever known in the arts has been a perfect gentleman or lady. However, there are those who only seek to be famous in the Arts and those few are some of the most devious people I have ever meet. I am glad to say the percentage is very low, but they do exist, and you should be aware of them.
You should be able to tell if you meet a Teacher who seems to be trying to prove how great he or she is. If you spot one of them just leave the school because your in for nothing but trouble and extremely bad teachings that do not agree with our Kung Fu ethics which 99% of us believe in and live by. A True Master is a pure gentleman in every sense of the word. But there are those who only want to be recognized as the Best in the arts. They will claim they have privy information no one else has or special skills nobody else processes. Or they will boast of being the toughest and unbeaten fighter there is. They will lie and cover the truth so as to get you to think how great they are, and how lucky you are to be able to join their school.
However, a true master is modest, caring and has a gentle nature. They have nothing to prove to anyone. They stand by their well earned reputation and associations which will verify their skill level. Once you meet a true Master you will feel his or her warmth and good character. On the other hand when meeting a egotistical so called Master their ego will be easy to see. But beware, some of them can be very cunning as well, and will do most anything to make you believe theirs is the best system and they are the only ones who have such a high rank or status in the arts.
It is sad for me to say this, as most all the people I know in the Martial Arts are really wonderful people who have shed their ego and have come to realize their own shortcomings and are always at work to make themselves better yet and do all they can to help those who seek true martial arts training.
Just like any other profession there will always be the bad apple in the group, just because someone claims to be this or that does not make them good people. So when thinking of joining a school ask to see the head Master, if he/she makes you feel welcome and has what appears to be a gentle and kind personality then chances are they are just fine and you can learn from them very well. But if that person seems gruff and mean or boasting about his title or skills and putting down others Masters or schools you should head for the door and find another school.
You should be able to tell if you meet a Teacher who seems to be trying to prove how great he or she is. If you spot one of them just leave the school because your in for nothing but trouble and extremely bad teachings that do not agree with our Kung Fu ethics which 99% of us believe in and live by. A True Master is a pure gentleman in every sense of the word. But there are those who only want to be recognized as the Best in the arts. They will claim they have privy information no one else has or special skills nobody else processes. Or they will boast of being the toughest and unbeaten fighter there is. They will lie and cover the truth so as to get you to think how great they are, and how lucky you are to be able to join their school.
However, a true master is modest, caring and has a gentle nature. They have nothing to prove to anyone. They stand by their well earned reputation and associations which will verify their skill level. Once you meet a true Master you will feel his or her warmth and good character. On the other hand when meeting a egotistical so called Master their ego will be easy to see. But beware, some of them can be very cunning as well, and will do most anything to make you believe theirs is the best system and they are the only ones who have such a high rank or status in the arts.
It is sad for me to say this, as most all the people I know in the Martial Arts are really wonderful people who have shed their ego and have come to realize their own shortcomings and are always at work to make themselves better yet and do all they can to help those who seek true martial arts training.
Just like any other profession there will always be the bad apple in the group, just because someone claims to be this or that does not make them good people. So when thinking of joining a school ask to see the head Master, if he/she makes you feel welcome and has what appears to be a gentle and kind personality then chances are they are just fine and you can learn from them very well. But if that person seems gruff and mean or boasting about his title or skills and putting down others Masters or schools you should head for the door and find another school.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Yes, we are Dinosaurs, and we are Proud of It!
The commercial Martial Arts associations call us Dinosaurs, and we do love it, that's just what we want to be, the Old School. They say we should wake up and treat our schools a business and back away from the old way of doing things. But the truth of the matter is we are not a Business we are a Family of devotees that love the old ways of teaching and dealing with all aspects of our ancient arts.
Commercial schools would have you believe their way is best to earn tons of money and hundreds of students. But a Traditional School does not think that way. Money has never been our goal in teaching but rather finding people who have a love for this art and its old ways of doing things, which in my opinion has a quality about it that commercial schools have lost along the way. They tell you we have our head buried in the sand of time and refuse to change with the times. And I agree with that and love it. Traditional Martial Artists are not interested in the number of students as much as they are interested in the quality of students, not how much they can gain from ripping people off for every little thing the offer.
Now commercial schools have many big name Martial artists behind them, and to this I say they Sold Out the Old Ways, and more then likely it was for some monetary gain. I would rather close my schools then ripe people off. I love teaching, so I can help people find their way through the hard road we call life. Money was never a motive for my Master nor is it for me.
ACCS is a unique school that focuses on quality of teaching and helping people even those with little or no money. You can not buy anything from us you don’t earn, that means rank. Where as in many commercial schools if you got the money you will get the Black Belt after they take you for all they can. In traditional schools we don’t even charge for promotions that you earn, but you wont get it if you don’t meet the standards no matter how much money you offer.
Commercial associations contact me almost on a daily basis trying to get me to join in their associations telling me how much money I can make if I follow their prescribed way of doing business. My answer is always the same NO Thanks! I would rather close my schools then submit to ripping people off for every penny I can get from them or having collection agencies going after delinquent students. In a Traditional School this never happens. If you don’t pay we try to help you and work with your finances so you can continue in your training without worry. It is always The Students Word of Honor and Our word of Honor that is the basis of the relationship between the student and the Master.
As I have always told my up and coming Black Belts, which we call Laoshr Levels in Kung Fu, " If you want to be rich then don’t become a Teacher of this Art." Money is never the objective rather, it is a means to preserve what we hold near and dear to our heart, namely passing the arts and all its traditions on to the next generation of people. It has survived that way for thousands of years and I am not about to change what I have been taught from my Masters. I can sleep at night knowing I have never cheated anyone out of money, but rather have given them the gift of our art to help them in develop the Mind Body and spirit development.
Yes, I am a dinosaur, and I love it and those that train in a traditional schools will say the same. There is a love there between the Master and his students that money can not buy. There is a respect there for what our Masters taught for generations and remains the same to this day. We are not progressive, we are constant in our approach to teaching and spreading the Real Meanings of this art and one of them is not ripping people off.
Commercial schools would have you believe their way is best to earn tons of money and hundreds of students. But a Traditional School does not think that way. Money has never been our goal in teaching but rather finding people who have a love for this art and its old ways of doing things, which in my opinion has a quality about it that commercial schools have lost along the way. They tell you we have our head buried in the sand of time and refuse to change with the times. And I agree with that and love it. Traditional Martial Artists are not interested in the number of students as much as they are interested in the quality of students, not how much they can gain from ripping people off for every little thing the offer.
Now commercial schools have many big name Martial artists behind them, and to this I say they Sold Out the Old Ways, and more then likely it was for some monetary gain. I would rather close my schools then ripe people off. I love teaching, so I can help people find their way through the hard road we call life. Money was never a motive for my Master nor is it for me.
ACCS is a unique school that focuses on quality of teaching and helping people even those with little or no money. You can not buy anything from us you don’t earn, that means rank. Where as in many commercial schools if you got the money you will get the Black Belt after they take you for all they can. In traditional schools we don’t even charge for promotions that you earn, but you wont get it if you don’t meet the standards no matter how much money you offer.
Commercial associations contact me almost on a daily basis trying to get me to join in their associations telling me how much money I can make if I follow their prescribed way of doing business. My answer is always the same NO Thanks! I would rather close my schools then submit to ripping people off for every penny I can get from them or having collection agencies going after delinquent students. In a Traditional School this never happens. If you don’t pay we try to help you and work with your finances so you can continue in your training without worry. It is always The Students Word of Honor and Our word of Honor that is the basis of the relationship between the student and the Master.
As I have always told my up and coming Black Belts, which we call Laoshr Levels in Kung Fu, " If you want to be rich then don’t become a Teacher of this Art." Money is never the objective rather, it is a means to preserve what we hold near and dear to our heart, namely passing the arts and all its traditions on to the next generation of people. It has survived that way for thousands of years and I am not about to change what I have been taught from my Masters. I can sleep at night knowing I have never cheated anyone out of money, but rather have given them the gift of our art to help them in develop the Mind Body and spirit development.
Yes, I am a dinosaur, and I love it and those that train in a traditional schools will say the same. There is a love there between the Master and his students that money can not buy. There is a respect there for what our Masters taught for generations and remains the same to this day. We are not progressive, we are constant in our approach to teaching and spreading the Real Meanings of this art and one of them is not ripping people off.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Can Martial Arts Books Teach You?
I can say the answer right off with ..NO! books can not teach you how to do a Martial Art. Books don’t teach only human can do that. But books can help you in many ways to better understand the vast world of Martial Arts. Bruce Lee had an extensive library, and I also have a hugh library I have collected over the years, but I can say it was my Teachers who showed me the moves and corrected my errors, not the books.
If you are now training with a Teacher then books can be useful to read and better understand history, or theories of movement. I wont say that books are useless because they are not, they can be great help to better understanding of styles and systems. It like when you go to high school, you have to buy the books, but it is the Teacher not the books that grades you and corrections you misunderstandings.
However, having said all that, there are some wonderful martial arts books out there that have be written that can very enlightening while in training with a legitimate school of learning. Some of these books titles I will mention in future writings for those who may be interested in which books are well worth reading. Some books are pure garbage and a waste of your money to buy, believe me own a few of those myself, these books served me well in starting a cozy fire in my fireplace on cold nights.
I am often asked, What if there is no schools near me then what?, can books be of help? I still hold to my comment, not really. Books can not correct you and to learn Kung Fu skills you need the presence of a Teacher to correct the many error new practitioners have in starting out. I have always told my students, If your Kung Fu is Bad, don’t use it, it would be better to fight the way you always fought, because bad kung fu will not work against a polished street fighter.
I love books so please don’t get me wrong, I am an avid reader and much of what I have read has illuminated my thinking in many ways. But this does not have anything to do with actual fighting skills which I learned under the eye of my Masters criticism and corrections.
I always tell me students to study which means reading, because knowledge is good and can certainly help in better understanding of complicated theories and or Kung Fu history which can become clouded at times. Books do have a place in the Arts but not for teaching a beginner basics, Absolutely nothing replaces a Teacher standing there looking at your moves and making the adjustments to your errors. Books will never correct your mistakes, and it is these mistakes that will cause you to lose in an encounter.
If there is no school near you may have to travel as I did over my years of training. I went as far as China and Taiwan to find the best Teachers of the day. Oh by the way, my last Master Chang Tung Sheng had little or no library to speak of. He was not a book man, as most great masters are not, they learned the old fashion way, Hard work, sweat and injuries under the eye of their Masters.
Some will argue books can teach you, well maybe some things for sure, but the arts requires a certain type of movement that can only be taught by hands on experience under the eye of your Teacher. So if you serious about learning the true Art don’t expect him/her to come to you, you must seek out the Master if you really wish to learn...... then read all you want..........
If you are now training with a Teacher then books can be useful to read and better understand history, or theories of movement. I wont say that books are useless because they are not, they can be great help to better understanding of styles and systems. It like when you go to high school, you have to buy the books, but it is the Teacher not the books that grades you and corrections you misunderstandings.
However, having said all that, there are some wonderful martial arts books out there that have be written that can very enlightening while in training with a legitimate school of learning. Some of these books titles I will mention in future writings for those who may be interested in which books are well worth reading. Some books are pure garbage and a waste of your money to buy, believe me own a few of those myself, these books served me well in starting a cozy fire in my fireplace on cold nights.
I am often asked, What if there is no schools near me then what?, can books be of help? I still hold to my comment, not really. Books can not correct you and to learn Kung Fu skills you need the presence of a Teacher to correct the many error new practitioners have in starting out. I have always told my students, If your Kung Fu is Bad, don’t use it, it would be better to fight the way you always fought, because bad kung fu will not work against a polished street fighter.
I love books so please don’t get me wrong, I am an avid reader and much of what I have read has illuminated my thinking in many ways. But this does not have anything to do with actual fighting skills which I learned under the eye of my Masters criticism and corrections.
I always tell me students to study which means reading, because knowledge is good and can certainly help in better understanding of complicated theories and or Kung Fu history which can become clouded at times. Books do have a place in the Arts but not for teaching a beginner basics, Absolutely nothing replaces a Teacher standing there looking at your moves and making the adjustments to your errors. Books will never correct your mistakes, and it is these mistakes that will cause you to lose in an encounter.
If there is no school near you may have to travel as I did over my years of training. I went as far as China and Taiwan to find the best Teachers of the day. Oh by the way, my last Master Chang Tung Sheng had little or no library to speak of. He was not a book man, as most great masters are not, they learned the old fashion way, Hard work, sweat and injuries under the eye of their Masters.
Some will argue books can teach you, well maybe some things for sure, but the arts requires a certain type of movement that can only be taught by hands on experience under the eye of your Teacher. So if you serious about learning the true Art don’t expect him/her to come to you, you must seek out the Master if you really wish to learn...... then read all you want..........
Monday, July 20, 2009
People Just Don't Know the Truth
I don’t like to mention names, so I wont. I could easily point to names of so called Masters who are nothing but failed students who wish to make a name and money for themselves. I have had many so called instructors come to my school asking for instruction which is not unusual, having taught Teacher levels before, so this was not unusual, but when I saw the skill level of these so called instructors I thought my eyes failed me.
The basics of our Art were almost totally absent, and after asking them to take a simple stance I proved it to them by dropping them in their tracks. The very core of our teachings was absent, yet they were out there somewhere teaching unsuspecting students who would not know one stance from other unless taught properly. It is sad to think how our Art could be so badly represented, yet it is, and the newly inducted into the Arts suffer the loss of learning the true skills that comes with years of practice under the eye of a qualified Master.
I often tell beginners, you can learn the Art, even a child of two can learn this Art, WITH 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. True skills are not instantaneous, it is knowledge gained and nurtured with years of experience, making the moves true to form. But if you really love what you doing then you don’t worry about how much time anything with take, you simply enjoy the journey, loving each passing year.
I started this Blog to get the attention of the public, for as a devoted follow of the Arts, my only wish is to see our Art spread to the public in its true form. Let the public beware and choose carefully if you really wish to learn the Arts as they were intended to be learned.
Check out the school thoroughly and ask for references and their lineage. Then make the effort to check it out what you find. If they are good you will find out and if bad you will find that out to.
If you find the right Master, they can change your life for the better, if you find the wrong teacher you gain little in the way of true skills, but for sure you will lose money and your precious time......
As they say, a True Master is like a candle, he exhausts himself in shedding the light of knowledge...
The basics of our Art were almost totally absent, and after asking them to take a simple stance I proved it to them by dropping them in their tracks. The very core of our teachings was absent, yet they were out there somewhere teaching unsuspecting students who would not know one stance from other unless taught properly. It is sad to think how our Art could be so badly represented, yet it is, and the newly inducted into the Arts suffer the loss of learning the true skills that comes with years of practice under the eye of a qualified Master.
I often tell beginners, you can learn the Art, even a child of two can learn this Art, WITH 50 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE. True skills are not instantaneous, it is knowledge gained and nurtured with years of experience, making the moves true to form. But if you really love what you doing then you don’t worry about how much time anything with take, you simply enjoy the journey, loving each passing year.
I started this Blog to get the attention of the public, for as a devoted follow of the Arts, my only wish is to see our Art spread to the public in its true form. Let the public beware and choose carefully if you really wish to learn the Arts as they were intended to be learned.
Check out the school thoroughly and ask for references and their lineage. Then make the effort to check it out what you find. If they are good you will find out and if bad you will find that out to.
If you find the right Master, they can change your life for the better, if you find the wrong teacher you gain little in the way of true skills, but for sure you will lose money and your precious time......
As they say, a True Master is like a candle, he exhausts himself in shedding the light of knowledge...
Low Level Instructors
With the advent of Kung Fu in American along with that came many low level teachers. Some are becoming so called Black Belts in four to five years. If you got enough money just about anyone can now attain rank and call themselves Teachers. But the truth of the matter is it takes many years before one can call them self a Teacher. Reaching a Black Belt level is really just the start, not the finish of learning. In traditional schools it can take up to Ten Years before one is called a Teacher and even then they are not fully qualified in there teaching methods. In traditional schools a Teacher is made after many years and even then they stay with their Master until he or she feels they are ready to take on students of their own. Only after the Master sees just how they are teaching and passing on the Arts will they truly be acknowledged as qualified Teachers. If a person tells you they are a Teacher, always ask how many years have they been teaching and how long it took them to archive the level of Teacher, look for long periods of time, a few years just don’t make it in the Arts. Teaching is so much more then just showing moves, anyone can do that. Never settle for some young kid in the Arts, look for the Teacher who has years behind him or her and can be verified with their Master.
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