Skip to main content

MARTIAL ARTS CONCEPTS FOR DAILY LIFE



About seven years ago, I was teaching a class of black belts when I severely damaged my knee. All three ligaments were torn and I had to have the knee rebuilt. During my recuperation, I thought  I should write a follow-up book to my first book on the martial art syllabus I had developed over three decades called Seishindo. Roughly translated, "Seishindo" means "spiritual energy way."

The first book, which is no longer available, was called "Seishindo: A Modern Method of Self Defence." It catalogued the techniques I was teaching and provided a philosophical basis for each ranking. It also provided a Use of Force Continuum spelling out the behaviour of an assailant and what under most laws would be considered the appropriate use of force to be used in defence of self. It was a unique aspect of my teachings.

But I wondered, as I lay on the bed, my rebuilt knee wrapped tightly, ice water pumping through to reduce the swelling  from the surgery, of what good would my martial arts teachings be to someone who had never studied martial arts. Was there anything I learned that would be applicable in daily life other than learning the physical techniques.

Yes! I thought so immediately but when pressed to put my thoughts on paper I realized this was going to take a bit of thought. I wrote down the list of Principles. They would be of no use, they were the essence of the physical martial arts techniques, not what I was looking for at all. 

Next, I wrote down the Five Concepts. Now I thought I was getting somewhere, it was just a matter of thinking about these five concepts in a non-martial way. The same went for the idea of the Five Mental Attitudes. I brushed up by reading articles on philosophy and psychology that I felt were germane to my project and in no time I had a manuscript. In fact, I submitted and had the book, THE SPIRITUAL ENERGY WAY, printed before I recuperated and returned to work.

So, for the next ten weeks I will post a synopsis of the chapters relevant to using martial art teachings in a non-martial way for daily life.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nirvana

I can no more cease to write than you can stop breathing. It is my salvation. Writing is my path to Nirvana, where suffering has been extinguished, and complete peace is realized, if you believe that sort of thing. I'm not sure that I do, but it's a nice sentiment. For me, since I must work at doing something that fails to excite me in any meaningful way, I must search for my own meaning. Writing is the vehicle I use now. It used to be that my path lay with studying martial arts, but life changes, the body wearies. I suspect many of us, no, most of us, are in the same boat. We are trying to manage our lives the best we can while searching for Nirvana, our own private paradise, or however we might  describe it. Viktor Frankl wrote Man's Search for Meaning. He posits that our meaning is what we choose it to be and that meaning may change day to day. He said, "“Those who have a 'why' to live, can bear with almost any 'how'.” Following your passion ...
2 comments
Read more

My Mother

My mother has died. That somber fact has me processing thoughts of guilt, love, and my own mortality. I am officially an orphan. My mother was one of the “Railway Children,” those Liverpool kids sent to the countryside to escape the bombing during World War II. She and her sister were sent to Wales and were bounced from household to household, relative to relative, and finally to an orphanage. Dad moved to Canada in 1960 to forge a better a life for us. Before my mum took my sister and I to join him, the family held an “American wake,” a mournful goodbye, as if a loved one had died. Mum left everything and everybody she ever knew to join her husband in the new world. My mother and father worked hard to give us a good life. There were tough times, money was scarce, and there was tension between my parents. Hell, let me be honest, my father hit my mother, I saw it. My mum was sixty when she left my dad. She just walked out with the clothes on her back. That was my mum. Tough. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Life's Uncertainty Principle

There was a particular moment, a span of about ten seconds, in my life when I chose a course of action that changed everything and with very dramatic effect. It is hard for me to talk about this without telling you the details but I am going to try. It started in 1982, I had worked hard to earn a position within my job. During my course of duty, a situation developed and I had the obligation to choose, literally, to stay where I was or go. I know, " should I stay or should I go now." I could have stayed . I should have stayed . But I didn't, I went . Ten seconds of my life, that's what it took to change my life's path in every way. I am not talking about military service and fighting a war, where one looks back thinking had I gone right and not left, I wouldn't have been shot. No, nothing that noble. I wasn't shot, blown up, or physically injured in any way. But the situation turned sour and the result from that decision of mine played out in the cou...
Post a Comment
Read more