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Here is the task that I asked some of you to carry out before your next lesson: Find an object that represents
your essence. It shouldn't contain significant material value. You have
to be able to give it away to me. You have to be comfortable that this
object will be a material representation of yourself, in my mind. You
also have to know why you chose this object and be able convey that to
me. Those of you that did not get this assignment can think about what you would do. The purpose of the exercise is to cultivate the awareness of you own individuality. I consider this cultivation the primary role of this martial art. I try to foster this in every lesson. Are you brave enough to show your soul, even if you might set yourself up for ridicule? Bruce Lee considered martial arts to be the art of the soul. "The aim of art is to project an inner vision into the world, to state in aesthetic creation the deepest psychic and personal experiences of a human being. It is to enable those experiences to be intelligible and generally recognized within the total framework of an ideal world." -Tao of JKD, BruceLee In general, regarding the techniques – all of you across the board – shoulders down, stretch and strengthen hips and at least one of you has ankle work. The other concept that I want you to think about this week is "locus of control." As far as technique goes, a good example is knowing when to control a movement and when to let the flow take over. For example, if you over-control the front punch you will not develop sufficient speed and velocity to make the technique effective. You have to initiate the motion, let it sail unimpeded, and then snap it into focus at the end. So, with the punch it is possible to over-control the whole thing which would be to your disadvantage. The bigger issue here is being able to distinguish what is within your control and what is not, and knowing how to apply this knowledge. Epictetus, the Stoic philosopher says it better than I can: "Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: some things are within our control, and some things are not. It is only after you have faced up to this fundamental rule and have learned to distinguish between what you can and can’t control that inner tranquility and outer effectiveness become possible." "Freedom is the only worthy goal in life. It is won by disregarding things that lie beyond our control. We cannot have a light heart if our minds are a woeful cauldron of fear and ambition." "Do you wish to be invincible? Then don’t enter into combat with what you have no real control over." A lot of you have questioned me about the specifics of the basic stances. So, I made you a page. Go there now. See you all next week. Art and Soul, [History]
[Arts & Styles] [Class
Times]
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