Spirituality and Kung Fu

[Ray Pina]

If you ever spent the day ground-n-pounding a heavy bag, sledge hammering tires, pad work, sparring..... you quickly realize that you can become an aggressive *******.

My master always encouraged playing an instrument, etc. I like surfing, to mellow and balance you out.

I think this were the Buddhism, Taoism came into play with ancient warriors.

However, to focus on the spiritual side and not train the martial, equally leaves one out of balance.

[sanjuro_ronin]

MA are all about controlled and focused aggression.

One can quite easily head down a road that leads to violence as a way of life.
TMA tend to offset this issue in various ways:
Some don't advocate fighting at all, hence it becomes a non-issue.
Those that are "combat oriented" tend to try to instill a sense of responsibility in their practioners. This can have mixed results.
Sport combat systems tend to rely on the inescaple fact that, no mater how good you are there is someone better, to keep their practioenrs humble, this too has mix results.

Personally?
I have had issues with this and certain TMA training tends to "bring out the demon" at times.
For myself I found myself "losing" the "civility" needed to be a "gentlemen and a warrior.
I took awhile to get it back, but got it.

There are many different paths, one must choose the one that is best for THEM.

[David Jamieson]

Using the body calms the mind, when the mind is calm, it is in a state of bliss, when it is in bliss it is open to more happiness.

hence the contentment and well being AFTER a strenuous workout.

It's the endorphins, dopamine and saratonin all working together to drug you happy.

[TenTigers]

The body and the mind are inseparable. One cannot develop the body to a high degree of skill without developing the mind as well. This is especially true in Kung-Fu.
As Sanjuro states, there are methods to bring out the animal within you,in a controlled state, which if gone unchecked, can backfire and turn you into something uncontrollable.
There are methods within the Five animal form which teaches the student to aquire not only different techniques, but to develop different mindsets and emotional states as well.
In SPM, the mental training can be emotionally brutal at times, and not everyone is cut out for this methodology. There are training methods which are developed to build controlled aggression in the practitioner, and in doing so, may develop changes in their personality. This was one of the warnings given to me by my teacher before I agreed to undergo training in the system.
"It's nothing but a wee bunny."
"Yah, but it's got a mean streak a mile wide!"

[AJM]

That's the duality of nature. The stronger you are the more gentle you are, The healthier you are the more you notice when something is wrong ect. And art or music is the opposite of beating the crap out of the heavy bag.

[SPJ]

If you ever spent the day ground-n-pounding a heavy bag, sledge hammering tires, pad work, sparring..... you quickly realize that you can become an aggressive *******.

My master always encouraged playing an instrument, etc. I like surfing, to mellow and balance you out.

I think this were the Buddhism, Taoism came into play with ancient warriors.

However, to focus on the spiritual side and not train the martial, equally leaves one out of balance.

there are several ways to harmonize or soften your mindset and calm emotions.

1. painting, you observe and absorb yourself and paint away. your mind is focused to observation and admiration. not so much fight and destroy.

2. soft music, such as classical, carrie underwood, blondie, even elvis soft love songs.

3. hiking, be near the water and the mountains. even star gazing, ocean waves watching, the universe is big and way big, our problems and our existance are so tiny or not matter as much--

--

but when you are in a ring or combat, yes, you fight and destroy. you are in pain, blood and sweat--

--

my point is that, before you jump on the bandwagon of religions

that is all different area of persuits altogether.

--

[MightyB]

The body and the mind are inseparable. One cannot develop the body to a high degree of skill without developing the mind as well. This is especially true in Kung-Fu.

Maybe - But then again you could be wrong.

[Darthlawyer]

I think that part of the aggression that appears to come from training for sport/combat is just the inherent aggression in everybody. When you don't feel like you can "take" anyone who walks by, you are less likely to be aggressive with them. Meanwhile, if you feel confident that you could "whoop" anyone in the room, you might be more likely to act up. I'd guess that it just brings someone's inner character to the surface. Responsible people act responsible when they possess a dangerous weapon. Aggressive people act aggressive when they possess the same.

[Subitai]

I understand what your saying...

Like most people training for fights...I used to isolate myself or at least minimize contact with anyone that could cause me to blow up on them. When you stay in aggressive mode for weeks on end...you tend to have chip on your shoulder and can jump to fight someone for no reason. Thus endangering your REAL Scheduled fight before it ever happens. At least that was my experience.

That's also the job of a good trainer, to make sure you stay focused and on track. Also not going Tank Abbot on some poor slob in an elevator.

Totally agree that you can't be completely one side of the coin (artsy ****sy) or the other (Full on Fighting 100%) So for me the older I get the more middle of the road I become.

It's natural... "O"

BTW, My other "ME TIME" to unwind is BASS Fishing

[Blacktiger]

Great to see a thread like this on the main forum that has not been ruined by trolls 2 replies in.

Great stuff

[RenDaHai]

I Think of MA as a road to self development.

I think without having to find an alternate activity, there should be this calming element within the MA itself. This is why I have always preferred TMA over Sports combat.

I've done Sanda all day for months in a row before, and like some of the other guys say, it builds up this agression. After a while you are almost looking for trouble. This goes contrary to self defense, because although you are more likely to win any fight, you are also much more likely to get in one. And how is it good for anyone if you break a guys arm for stealing your parking space?

But it depends on the person. Those who are naturally gentle need to be more assertive and benefit a lot from aggression. Those who are naturally agressive would probably benefit more from a MA that tempers their spirit. A balance is of course the best way.

But finding this balance is very difficult for me personally. I yo-yo from one extreme to the other. If it does kick off you need a plan. You need to make a very definate decision that you are going to hurt someone. Then you have a chance to win. If you spend too much time in the peaceful philosophies this decision becomes harder to make and you find yourself paralyzed by indecision. Able to react only with defence not with response. This is a weakness. But Over-reacting is maybe even a bigger weakness. Walking the middle road is not easy.

[Blacktiger]

Its all about one word....balance

[David Jamieson]

BTW, My other "ME TIME" to unwind is BASS Fishing

With huge icicle harpoons. You probably should mention that so people don't get the wrong impression about your Bass hunting methodologies.

[Ray Pina]

One cannot develop the body to a high degree of skill without developing the mind as well.

What happened to Mike Tyson?

Why can I hardly understand many contact sport athletes when they speak? If there minds were developed in proportion to their bodies they'd have PHDs.

[bawang]

i blance the martial with the spiritual. every morning i pray to jesus for the death of my enemies. sometime i offer paper mache human heads.