Martial art is quite unique among leisurely passtimes. While some go to the gym to build their body, and others read books to build their mind, and others go to church or listen to music to raise their spirit… In martial arts you can build your mind, body and soul all in one go. What’s more, you can learn a practical skill – how to fight!
But it’s not necessarily the perfect passtime. The problem with martial art is that a lot of people who practise it use it to bring out their violent side. They do hard-style moves that make no sense and have no compassion. They use sharp weapons which are made more for brutal assassination than considerate self-defence.
So my thought for the day is, practise martial arts if you want to enhance & refine your mind, body, soul, skills and all the rest. Practice martial arts to invest in the development of yourself. But do it modestly, without aggressive weapons. Do it calmly, not hot-headedly.
Here’s a thought from Laozi, forgive the poor translation:
Great men are not angry men.
Great fighters aren’t hot-headed.
For the best fighter, there’s no competition.
The best leader takes the lowest place.
This is called the force of no competition.
This is called the power of the leader.
This is called walking with heaven.