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Karate a History
Although the basic forms of self defense are probably as old as the human race, the art of karate as it is practiced today can be traced directly to the Okinawan technique called, in Japanese, Okinawate-te (Okinawa Hands). This system of defense...
Martial Arts Webmasters: Time to Optimize your site!
A few months ago I was looking through the search engines to see if my website www.aimusainc.com was even found for certain keywords. Well it wasn’t. I knew something needed to be done, because I was losing potential customers to my Martial Art...
The Kenshiro Abbe 50th Celebration Event
THE KENSHIRO ABBE 50th CELEBRATION EVENT
14th May 2005 Crystal Palace Sports Centre London. UK
By Henry Ellis
Henry Ellis, a direct student of the legendary Budo master Kenshiro Abbe Sense, from 1957 describes the great event at the Crystal...
Which Boxing Gloves Will You Buy?
Do an online search of boxing gloves, and you'll get more results returned than you know what to do with! First of all, you need to determine the purpose of your gloves. Are they for full contact boxing? Martial arts sparring? Training? Bag work?...
Women in The Martial Arts
Women In The Martial Arts by Anita Wilson 1st Lady Assistant to Sensei Henry Ellis Ellis Schools of Traditional Aikido I was born in West London in 1963, my father was very involved in the martial arts and a dan grade in Karate he was also a...
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Martial Training as a Timeless Portal
Thanks to several centuries of enlightened teachings by extraordinary men in the martial disciplines, we don’t have to be restricted to lives of getting and spending, waiting in quiet desperation for the pain to cease.
Most of us in the Arts focus on the tasks in front of our noses (the correct hand forms/kicks/body alignments), forgetting our option to consciously evolve along the way to physical perfection.
Words are easy, but we can avoid just blowing mouth-wind here by listing some timeless guides for self-growth, followed by training suggestions:
[ The physical and cerebral functions die, while the spirit continues to grow. This is a no-brainer, but it’s amazing how many clubs are satisfied with learning only to kick butt. What’s left when full contact is a thing of your matured past, with only knee pains to jolt a dim memory? Lots of ways to answer that one—and it’s better to cultivate chi and meditation practices now.
[ Assume you know nothing—then the Superior Man will appear. The most formidable opponent is your own ego. In training, first learn to listen and watch carefully, then proceed with selfless attention and caution. Your higher functions will then operate without impediments.
[ No authority exists outside of your Self. The successful student-master relationship is necessarily a symbiotic one. Each needs the other in order to bring the task at hand to fruition. Many modern followers of the martial arts have forgotten that the grading system produces no absolute ranks. The system is circular: the student must decide by what criteria he wishes to be graded, and then he finds an acceptable person to confer the content of the desired curriculum. Similarly, the teacher must decide the qualities of a potentially desirable student, then contract with that candidate. Both are dipping from the same well, both are reflections of a Being offering meta-cultural sustenance.
[ Nature points the Way. It is not possible to express in words what is most real, sublime, and ultimate. Recognizing the limitations of the intellect, martial training traditions guide with the lamp of direct experience. The fool wastes energy talking,
while the Master gets on with the work—usually outside.
[ Change or die. You are here to evolve, and that means transformation—rarely pleasant, always necessary if we wish to do more than languish in a past of illusions. That which does not change dies soon thereafter. It’s important to keep your training fresh and stimulating; this usually will mean putting some quality hours into solitary disciplines.
[ Comfort is dangerous, seek the difficult. In training, eat bitter every day. Don’t forget to hammer the basics: they will keep your workouts honest—and provide you with powerful tools to manifest new ideas.
[ Bitter alone is a poor diet. Eating bitter every day is only one side of the tri-lateral equation. One thousand kicks daily will not stretch your mind’s rational capabilities, nor will it feed psychic circuits of intuition. A complete Art of leg maneuvers combines proper attention, visualization, and conscious breath control patterns, along with repetitions of well-aligned kicking form.
[ Suffering is a great Teacher, but life-threatening poverty is not Noble. It is a fact of human existence that we learn a great deal more from our struggles than from complacency. But if we are to advance in training, we must maintain a decent standard of living, thus guarding the Three Treasures of the Temple.
[ Chasing the illusions of wealth, position, status, social power will stunt your evolution. Modern men have been divested, emasculated, and tamed through social programming by the culture of commerce. We are told to defend marketing strategies, bottom lines, and aggressive growth policies of business cartels. These social programmers love money. What do you love?
About the Author
Edward Orem has 40 years experience in integral mind-body training systems, and holds the following titles: Certified Instructor, Guang Ping Yang T'ai-Chi Assn; 6th Degree Black Sash in Chinese Boxing; 8th Degree Black Belt in Zen Kempo-jitsu, as well as a PhD in Holistic Health. Dr. Orem is the author of several manuals, and has produced 50 training videos. In 1990 Sifu Orem founded Chuan Fa Kempo International, http://kempochuanfa.com.
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