I expect that the direction to be loyal to one’s school and teacher stems from times when letting the word out that you trained in martial arts could have lethal consequences for your schoolmates and teacher. Japan and China both have endured such periods in their histories. Inter-style rivalry is also a great motivator of loyalty. It’s so common – even today – that you see this as a plot to many martial arts films.

I imagine loyalty to school and teacher was expanded to loyalty to country via Confucian thought in China, and during Japan’s feudal period. After all, if you have the capacity to defend your country, do you not have the responsibility to do so? I argue that the responsibility to defend your nation is a corollary of citizenship, but that’s another post for another day.

In all honesty, I’ve been putting this post off for some time, precisely because I have a problem with loyalty as many define it. Really my difficulty is in trusting people. I’ve never really explored why, though I suspect the roots of it are at about five years old, when my parents divorced. In any case, my personal policy on the matter starts with TNO – “Trust No One.” It’s more complicated than that, of course, but that’s the starting point.

These codes of behavior demand loyalty with the implication that it is unquestioning loyalty. That’s one place where I draw the line. I consider myself loyal to Master Lu – I will uphold what he has taught me to the best of my ability until I am dead. I will not, however, blindly obey direction or follow teaching I consider ineffective for me. People are fallible, and thus must be doubted at all times. Yes, that includes me, sadly. So, when I found that I was no longer getting what I needed, I branched out to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Krav Maga.

Rather than being loyal to people, I prefer being loyal to ideals. I do my best to live the ethics I have laid out so far – and there’s more to come. One might suspect that this would lead to disappointment. I have just stated that I am fallible, and so I fall short of these ideals. Rather than being disappointed, however, I am comforted at proof that I am still merely human. I note my missteps and hopefully do better next time. That, to me, is the core of martial training.

Peace,
Brad

Back when I first started – must have been a year or so in – I and another dedicated student were the last ones still in the studio practicing. We’d decided to study some Xing Yi for a while and were practicing basics in lines across the floor. Master Lu had come out from the acupuncture clinic in the back and was doing some bench presses. At 60-ish years old, the man busts out sets of 10 reps of 150 lbs like he’s pressing feathers. Anyway…

Master Lu finished a set, sat up and watched my fellow student and I for a few seconds as we finished a line. When we turned to start again, he said to us with no preamble, “Someday, you never know, you have to kill someone.” With that, he stood up and walked back into the clinic without another word or a second glance.

We two newbies stood there, stalled halfway through a movement. I was quite sure I’d heard him right. And I was certain that it was a statement of fact, not a speculation. Someday – I don’t know when – I will apparently have to kill someone.

We looked at each other. My studio brother said, “More training!” I nodded grimly and we kept practicing until Master Lu kicked us out for the night.

To this day, whenever a belligerent moron walks in the front door of the studio, I think to myself: “Is today the day?” Thankfully, it hasn’t been. Yet.

Peace,
Brad

Developing The Five Elements Breathing Method

The Five Elements Breathing Method has five phases. The first phase invites the maximum amount of oxygen into your lungs. As we know, our two lungs branch out to thinner and thinner tubes until it reaches tiny air sacs called the alveoli. In most of us, the air only reaches a fraction of the alveoli, therefore only utilizing a fraction of them. By performing the first phase to cause a deeper breath and lower your diaphram, you are slowly activating more of these unused air sacs.

Once we get more oxygen to these air sacs, the second movement will help will direct the benefits toward your liver. How is this possible, you say? Well, it is believed that each major organ correlates to a limb or body part, and Master Lu has figured out the precise connections to create these movements. For example, people with weak kidneys likely have trouble walking. Or weak lungs typically results in physically weak upper body strength.

Master Lu’s method uses precise movements to create an unheard of reverse stimulation. Which, the only one most are accustomed to is the cardio workout, by moving very fast to make the heart beat faster. But we often fail to remember that a faster beating heart needs more oxygen to supply the faster flow of blood. Master Lu’s method is simply following the order of how the body actually works.

Mininova

Demonoid