The Coolest Things I Have Experienced In Martial Arts

"What other's call impossible, other's know as miracle, or skill."

-Alexander Borschel

So, I wanted to make a list of some of the most interesting experiences I have had in Martial Arts; I am not ranking these, merely listing.

1- Getting my black belt at 7. Getting another when I was 16 for another style.

2- My father impaling his competitor (without injury) at his neck, and his shinai going through his opponents helmet.

3- breaking my first cinderblock.

4- Watching a 16 year old (3rd Dan) break 3 inches of concrete.

5- Dropping 4 people at once, and then outside the dojo, fighting off 6 people and escaping the conflict, without hitting anyone once, or getting hurt myself.

6- Extinguishing a candle by punching.

7-Watching someone break a 1" slab of concrete by vibrating it.

8- Using meditation to go to sleep.

9- Punching 8 times in a second.

10- Watching someone do a front axe kick, then drop into a full split without injuring themself.

11- Watching the same (mentally handicapped individual) reach their 3rd dan.

12- And the biggest miracle- training since I was 4 until now, when I am 26. Even with pauses, I have only improved with time.

13- Disarming a master of Aikido and student of O-sensei wielding a sword during a demonstration, using a technique he had not seen before. While everyone else said, 'That's how you cut off your own leg' he said to me at the same time, 'It is good'. Only he and I knew what I did- and that moved me.

14- Watching an elderly woman over the age of 80 from the south, using a naginata, disarming a kendo master in a friendly match. She whooped his ass, so to speak.

15- Seeing someone in Tae Kwon Do do a tornado kick on a lit candle on top of a katana, while standing on a chair. He extinguished the flame, without knocking the candle over.


What are the martial arts events you have personally witnessed that post impressed you?

When Feeling Jaded

There's a certain drum beat when it comes to training. There are times when we train our hearts out, and there are times where we do nothing at all.

It seems the latter is what I have been spending my time doing; it's true I have been busy, but when you love something you make time for it.

And I guess that's the problem- My heart isn't in it, at least right now.

I know there is a time for work, a time for play, and a time for rest.

But this isn't like that, from what I can tell. And it does bother me. I considered myself foremost a martial artist- and if that is something I no longer have a driving passion in, then who am I?

I'm not giving up- I guess I'm just in limbo until I find what will spark the passion again.

Martial arts has been something I turn to when I'm at my lowest. Even if homeless, even if wandering, even if rich- it's something I always have.

And I check my techniques about once a week- everything is as it should be. I can still do everything I have in the past. But there's no growth, and no attempt at it. I just don't see the point.

So I could do 75 kicks on one leg, different kicks, and with power- so I could do 5-6 punches in a second. So I could fight multiple people and do well, in training and in real life.

What's the point? It's not that someone better than me will come along- they already have, and have always been around. Someone is always better, and that's OK.

I'm what you might consider a 'tough guy', mainly because it's something I've sought after to be. I make efforts to be that way, and so I've found myself in some trying, inspiring, and still stupid situations.

Sooner later I have to grow up- life is not an anime.

I've got a lot of scars from getting into fights with objects, people, and even animals. Part of me takes pride of them, a larger part is weary of them. I hope they heal, they're like tattoos of a cruder sort.

You could be the greatest warrior on Earth, and believe me, I consider myself a warrior- honor and strength, all that. You could beat everyone and everything. Be talked about as a legend for ages to come. So what. Memory fades, people move on. People already are- You might run a school, but you will see it close too. Perhaps you will lock the doors a last time, or perhaps you might die and someone else will.

I've seen Masters retire, I've seen schools become ballet studios, then martial art schools again. After 22 years, I suppose I've seen a lot, and done a lot. I've been every rank you can think of, and while never certified, called a master. A world champion told me once he wouldn't want to get hit my one of my roundhouse kicks.

It's flattering, when you want it to be. But somehow with time it expires and grows dull.

I have a few hopes- if I'm ever mugged or in a robbery again, that I can hold my own.

I hope that if I have children I can pass some of my training onto them, but even that which was once a very important ideal to me, no longer really matters. Maybe my son will be gifted at soccer, or math. Or my daughter will be gifted in ways I cannot fathom now at 26.

Who knows what surprises the future holds.

I'm not quitting martial arts- it's been there for me at my lowest. But in a way I'm putting the gi into storage until I can find a great drive to start again.

That's what we do as martial artists- take 5 steps back to take that 1 step forward that wins the match. We are patient. For now I will practice crafts that I believe every martial artist should have- kindness, writing, enjoying life, and helping others to enjoy their own.

And most of all, if martial arts is the art of being human, than finding and enjoying happiness.

I'll post when the urge strikes ^^.

What Amount Of Training Makes A Difference?

"The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit."

-Morihei Ueshiba

"There are two mistakes one makes along the road to truth; Not going all the way, and not starting."

-Buddha

Boy, it's been awhile. I apologize.

I saw someone post on Reddit that practicing martial arts once or twice a week doesn't make a difference, and it had me thinking;

How do you define once or twice a week?

I agree, doing one hour a week will not do much for you physically.

I had a teacher who promulgated that you needed to practice at least three hours a week to see any kind of improvement, even if it might be slow.

And I honestly agree.

When I first started martial arts, for my first ten years that's what I did. I would go to two classes, and sometimes the sparring class on the weekend. But when I started Kendo, We would practice for 2 hours once a week.

Then my father and I joined another class they held on sundays, and our practice became four hours a week.

I saw steady improvement, which then accelerated.

Likewise, when I went to another school to learn another style of Tae Kwon Do, I didn't practice for two 50 minute sessions. I might have had class at 7 at night, but I would be there the moment the dojo opened, and left when it had finally closed.

And that's really when I saw not just improvement in my technique in that new style, but also improvement in who I was.

The more time we diligently invest in our training the more we see results that are worth the time spent.

The only way to do this art is to practice. That's the simple hard fact of it. But what is interesting is how many different ways we can train. Even thinking about how to do a form or technique can lead to improvement. But I suppose the question then you need to ask in however one may define 'training' is this;

'Am I focused'
'Am I seeking improvement.'
'What am I trying to improve'
'Is this enough for me'.

Which sounds simple, but is difficult to determine for each of us.

But a session should be defined by each of us, In the end, no matter how much guidance we receive from a teacher, we ultimately have the reigns of what we do with, and become from what we practice. From what we can tell is helping us. There comes a point as a dojorat that we have to acknowledge we might be overdoing things.

And that will differ from person to person.

But honestly, in my opinion, if you want to see minimal improvement over a period of time, you need around 3 hours. 1 hour won't go anywhere, 2 hours might keep you stable. 3 or more will keep you steadily improving.

What do you guys think?

"You can only fight the way you practice."

-Miyamoto Musashi

Meditation Part 6

"True life happens when little changes occur."

-Leo Tolstoy

"When you are grateful, fear dissapears and abundance appears."

-Tony Robbins

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on meditation, so I figured I would add another- a practice I have been doing quite recently.

Throughout my life I have had a lot of jobs; from dish washer to janitor, to today being a farmer for a little while between the kibbutz I was staying on, and now while WWOOFing.

This is a practice you can do pretty much while doing anything, but when doing something particularly repetitious, it will help the most.

Let's say I am washing dish after dish- with each dish I wash I keep a thought of gratitude in mind. For me it is often, 'I am thankful for this', but for someone religious, perhaps, 'Thank you God', is another way to look at it.

When I plant a seed, or the plant once it is grow, I think, 'I am grateful this will grow', and when I pull a weed, I fervantly think, 'May this help what I am doing'.

Perhaps at first you do not actually believe the very thought you are thinking. But as you think it more and more, the feeling of gratitude you are cultivating will grow. More importantly, you can attune this process to pretty much any mode of thought and attitude you deign. Perhaps it is confidance you would like to build, then think as you work, 'I am confidant this will work' or, 'With every task I do, I become better'.

What a lot of people do not keep in mind is that every thought we have matters- literally every single one. Any thought is a electrochemical passed from not only one neuron to another, but throughout the mind.

As you think something, your brain is re-wiring itself to make these thoughts not only able to be held for longer, but easier to make.

You can do similar exercises to also change how you think. Perhaps like me you had some pretty serious anger issues growing up. Whenever I felt myself starting to become angry over nothing, that rage that would cause me to hit a wall or item, or whatever was around me, I would stop and take note of that emotion. I would think even as a young teenager, 'This isn't me. This isn't who I want to be', and then would seek why I was acting this way- what caused me, what was the impetus. Was there even any at all?

In doing so it allowed me to become conscious of when that situation arose. And eventually whenever it happened I would attempt to think of something positive, and if that did not work, I would do something I know would calm me down- such as martial arts, or writing or reading.

Years later when I suffered from depression, this technique also helped. I don't get rage fits anymore, and I haven't suffered from depression in three years. I am grateful for that, but it took work. You have to start small, like placing the first brick for building any structure. Little by little, you will see what you do come to fruition.

This is the essence of meditation- changing who we are through how our minds work. We are reprogramming ourselves, and that is the wonderful thing about the mind- the more you contemplate and work mentally on something, the more efficient your brain becomes by forming neural connections to make that task easier.

"The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world, and the world at large."

-Confuscious

Sword Of The Stranger - A Story Of Honor

"To believe in something and not to live it, is dishonest."

-Ghandi

Normally I wouldn't write about anime- don't get me wrong, practically every morning I wake up and listen to this audio on repeat as I work out, alongside it others;

To put it simply, yes I am an anime fanatic.

But my love of animation aside, I am writing about the movie Sword Of The Stranger. Fantastic movie; not only for its visuals and the amazingly well done fight scenes, but moreso its story of honor. But I won't go into the plot and risk spoiling it for you.

Here it is in full;

Honor.

It's such an important word to the martial artist, and one largely ignored these days. And even worse, many who claim to have it misunderstand what it is.

Honor is something which can only be seen tangibly in the actions of others. People have died in the past to preserve it, either their own, or another's.

Knighthood, Samurai, aristocracy throughout the ages; all have claimed ownership.

Yet honor is not some kind of systemization of conduct and moral codes to adhere to.

To put it simply honor is keeping true to yourself.

Cultures differ, and throughout the ages what has been honorable to one, such as suicide for a knight, to honorable in another, such as the Samurai. Even in certain religious circles, such as Jainism ritual suicide has been seen as honorable, where the same would be deplorable in western culture.

It's just a fact; what is honorable to one will not be to another.

And while many might agree on certain aspects concerning their beliefs on what they define as honorable, it is not always the case.

So this is why uniform codes, such as Bushido came to exist and be widely held, but it was still and always will be a very personal choice to follow such a code. No different than if you were to compose one for yourself.

Honor, to me, is to do what you believe is right. Whether guided by intuition, emotion, or logic, upholding one's sense of self, their duty in existance to be, is what determines the quality of their honor.

And honor is very complicated. Sometimes doing the right thing isn't honorable in terms of what society would uphold. Justice for example is associated with honor, yet at the same time 'justice' is as grounded in a motive for revenge and compensation as it is to right a wrong. And it is only the latter which is honestly honorable in a sense of rightness for a situation.

Let me give you an example; say somebody came into your home and attacked your family. It is honorable to defend your family and stop them. Some would even say you should kill that person.

Yet let us tweak the situation slightly; your family is evil, doing wrong (this is just a hypothetical to make a point) and this person is attacking them to stop what they are doing. Is it still honorable to defend a group of people who are doing wrong?

Some would say yes, some would say no. It will always depend on the context of the situation, and where you stand perspective-wise concerning it.

To put it succinctly, to carry honor is to carry a sense of what is right. And you are only honorable when you are upholding what you believe to be right.

Honor should be engrained in the martial artist; it is reserved humility, and we practice it everytime we bow or thank our teachers, but also those who are our peers. This is why the school I attended where every black belt was expected to be bowed to, from white belt to other black belts even higher ranked- it was a mark of respect and acknowledgement. It was little wonder then this school instilled great moral character in its students, through a myriad of different methods. This is just one example.

Honor is tantamount to respect, and without respecting what you believe in, and working your hardest, devoting yourself to fulfilling those beliefs in action when the opportunity occurs, one cannot say they are living honorably.

It is not so simple as right or wrong, a system of ethics. Morality and ethics changes from person to person, culture to culture, and even situation to situation.

So those who walk around claiming to have a code of honor but do not follow it do not have honor in my book. If it is a part of your system of belief and honor to not steal, yet you still steal, then you are without honor for you are not being true to yourself. It is a part of my system that if I am training with someone of lesser ability, experience or skill, I will not abuse being better. That I will work with them at their own level.

And of course I cannot always do that; one occasion comes to mind where I was sparring somebody where they just kept going more and more agressively, and if I did not do o as well I would become injured. I ended up having to actually go at my ability and kick them hard enough in the head to stun them to de-escalate. I would not say that was honorable- but it was necessary for me to avoid injury. In that instance I did not follow my code of ethics, and I acted dishonorably in my own eyes.

That is what is more important than conveying honor to others, but ensuring you carry that honor within yourself and feel that, that feeling is deserved.

That is what the story of the Sword Of The Stranger spoke to me, and why Nanashi is a great example of one with honor; we can be cold, but if we enjoy life, even the little things, and never forsake what we believe is right, then we can say with honest truth to ourselves we are living with honor.

It's up to you though to determine those things, and keep yourself in check to follow those principles. That is the meaning of honor- staying true to what you believe is right. It's something you will work on your entire life, but a life with honor is far better lived than one which isn't.

"A true martial artist in my book, is someone who is going to do the right thing and lead by example."

-Duane Lugwig.

"Honor is integrity tied to action."

Make Your Tools

"One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the art of peace (Aikido/Martial Arts). Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train."

-Morihei Ueshiba

"Attachments... are the greatest impediments to spiritual growth."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

So as many of you may know, I have moved from the United States to the small country of Israel. While one of my bags is mostly comprised of martial arts equipment, this is all safety and targets. I could not bring my Kendo armor, and certainly could not any of my nunchuka, shinai, knives, or bokken. Let alone bo staves and the like. All that had to be left behind.

I've practiced Kendo on and off for over a decade now. If I recall correctly, it's going on twelve years, and I have no expectation to stop being in form concerning practicing it.

Today combing through about 200 pieces of wood I finally came across a piece that is about the weight of a shinai (quite light for a bokken) and is the approximate length of a wakizashi.

Now this is not a shinai by any means, but it can become a makeshift bokken. I intend to get some cloth and wrap the hilt in such a way to turn it into a legitimate piece of training equipment. And this is what the heart of my post is speaking about; sometimes you have to make do.

You may not have training weights when you go somewhere new, but you will always have rocks you can till the ground and find, which may be even better and more useful for strength training than what you had.

When you start over somewhere that by no means giving up who you are, and what it is that you do. It just means adjusting. So you don't have a heavy bag; find a tree that can become one. So I don't have a bokken, I will now make one so I can keep practicing.

I didn't have a mirror to watch how I did my techniques, all I could do was look at my shadow in the near-noon sun and see if the Head, Stomach or Wrist cuts I were doing were straight. My shadow became the mirror that so many of us become used to, and take advantage of in our schools.

Not going to lie, its apparently impossible to take a photo of yourself doing a technique while
staying in perfect posture and position. But, this is what I mean when saying use your shadow as a mirror.

But someday your school may close, someday you may move. What, you then give up all that you did and learned?

I certainly can't, so I'm going to make do. You should consider how you can do this if you had to. Resourcefulness is something I take pride in as a martial artist. We always find a means.

"Make do with what you have; it is all you need."

For my blog on my travels in Israel: http://ajourneyinisrael.blogspot.co.il/

One's Character

"If it is still in your mind, it is worth taking the risk."

-Paulo Coehlo

This post is going to be a little different. While it might not seem like it, this story is about struggle, it is about violence. It's about style, and it's about character. And perhaps those last two are what make martial arts the most worthwhile.

I will relate this story as best I can. I tried to look it up for someone who might have written it beautifully. Having been unable to do that, or at all actually, I suppose it's up to me to communicate it instead.

I find it inspiring, I hope you will too.



One day as part of his initiation into a gang a young man, no older than sixteen was part of a robbery that resulted in the death of another person. A young man who had just started college and was working part time.

At the day of his hearing in court he was sentenced to three years in prison in front of the man's monther. Sobbing, as he was taken away in handcuffs, she stood and shouted,

"I WILL kill you for taking my baby! I will KILL you!"

It was three weeks while in prison serving his time when that mother visited him. They would talk, she was always respectful, but always warm. She would bring him food, though when he asked for cigarettes he never got a one from her.

Over time she encouraged him to start reading, to enroll in the prison's education system. To complete his high school diploma.

When he turned 18 she encouraged him to apply for the prison work program- so he could have a job when he got out.

Finally the time came when he was to be released. He was 20, and the woman shocked him by offering him a place to stay with her as long as he worked and continued to strive for an education he could be proud of.

He stayed with her for awhile. Three months became six, and then finally a year. And then two years. He had been working steady in that time, and was saving to enroll into community college. They still spoke everyday.

One day the women called him into her study.

"Do you remember that day in the courtroom?" she asked, her hands hidden from view behind her desk. Her normal smiling demeanor was gone, and a very serious look was drawn across her face.

"Yes," he replied.

"And do you remember how I told you I would kill you?" she asked. 

His eyes widened with the realization,

"Yes." he said, barely audible as a whisper. She looked him up and down,

"Well I have. I have killed you." she responded. 

"What?" he asked, not comprehending.

"I. Killed. You." she repeated, and then paused before continuing.

"That person you were; a thug, someone who murdered my baby. Now, you have a dream, now you work, and help. Who you are now is not who you were then. That person is dead. I killed you." she repeated.

The young man started to cry. She stood from her desk, her hands until then hidden, were empty and open. And she embraced him in a hug, and together they cried.

"I'm sorry," he said, and she nodded, still holding him.

"I know." she answered.



Alchemy isn't real in the medieval sense, or even in the real outside of arranging electrons and protons within an tom, but it is real in taking something awful such as mercury or lead when a person's soul consists of such quality, and changing it into gold or diamonds.

I like to liken it to skipping rocks across water. We all start martial arts as a rough stone that only sinks, and never skims the water to move ahead. With practice and training, and the experience not unlike how water treats a stone smooths it until it can move ahead. That in a way is alchemy, the transmutation of something into another.

As a martial artist it is a good question to ask, could you be as strong as this woman and do as she did?

"The true alchemists do not turn lead into gold, they turn the world into words."

-William H. Gass

"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure."

-Paulo Coehlo

Nen; Ki and Chi

"Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise tones the body."

-Arnold Schwarzenegger

"To truly understand the ancient martial martial ways of Okinawa you must stay here awhile. You must see and feel what is outside of the dojo in order to better know what is inside the dojo. You must know our history and our hearts."

-Shimabukuro Osensei

He can walk on something outside of himself, because of his control within himself.

I've spent a lot of time practicing the external arts; martial arts that channel energy outward. Over twenty years. I have only spent a quarter of my time as a martial artist for the last five to seven years practicing any internal, where you develop and manipulate the energy generated internally. I tend to then use that energy to channel it to augment my abilities externally. Hence my passion for Baguazhang.

By energy I am referring to kinetic energy; the same that occurs when molecules or atoms vibrate and become active. Chi, in my opinion, refers to when the molecules in your body are activated and how you use them within your system. Most do so for healing; an active cell composed of thousands of molecules, when vibrated is imparted to become more active and thus heals faster. Ki is similar, one stimulates the molecular physiology, but then impart it elsewhere. Chi in a sense is when a molecule just vibrates, and how it interacts with itself. Ki is when that same molecule vibrates, and then interacts with another molecule imparting and affecting that molecule. In that sense, Ki is external martial arts, whereas Chi is internal. I am very good at the former, but neither are mutually exclusive in any sense.

The best drill I can summarize the difference and interaction between the two is this; to increase one's energy I know of a silat drill. You extend your leg into a kicking position on a stationary object; one that 'resists'. I.e. you try to break it, and no matter how hard, it will not. Metal is the best form of such an object, but a tree works as well. From the extended position you 'push' off the target.

Once you can do so forcefully, you will find when executing the same strike it will become much more powerful than before the exercise. You are channeling internal energy to thrust off the target, but using external to impact the target with your energy output.

There's no way to actually measure this. I suppose you could hook yourself up to nodes, but what you exhibit would be much different than what I exhibit.

This is why in the argument of speed vs. power, I prioritize technique over both. Technique is what allows a proper punch to channel energy from the ground, and direct it through the body to be expressed outwardly. But the same technique can be expressed inwardly also.

Martial arts is often mistaken as purely destructive, but it can also be restorative. It depends on how you channel the force; do you do so inwardly such as in Taijiquan, or do you outwardly such as with Tae Kwon Do or Karate, or Kempo.

How you choose to cause energy to interact with yourself and others will determine who you are as a martial artist.

This is a rather esoteric conversation. But let me demonstrate in the video below. I can extinguish a flame by blowing on it; creating a forceful wind with my mouth. Or, I can use a proper technique with a punch that channels the internal energy my body generates, and expresses it in a direct line to and through the target.

Some people extinguish a flame by using the sleeves of their shirt. Not unlike a magician. There are many tricks. It is like the one inch punch- it can be a party trick or a very real and practical technique. It all depends on what technique/move you use, and whether it is combat effective. A magicians trick to extinguish a flame is not practical in a fight, whereas what I do here is very practical. At :018 you can even see the smoke from the extinguished flame and its gasses be pushed in the direction I punched from. I can do the same thing with water when in a pool.

It's weird, and complicated, but as a martial artist worth it.

"Soft as cotton on the inside, hard as steel on the outside."

-Taiji quote.

Time To Go Hunting

"The purpose of training is to tighten the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit."

-Morihei Ueshiba

"I'm constantly trying to find other people to better me, to improve. To move outside my comfort zone."

-Frank Mir

I am sure many who are reading this have found themselves in a similar predicament; they are someplace new and for awhile, and want to train, but have no one to do so with.

That's what is currently on my mind; I am in Israel, just outside of Tel Aviv on a kibbutz for a months, and though a major city is just forty minutes away, it may as well be out of reach. The community center in the kibbutz where some martial arts are practiced is currently shut for the summer, so I have to come up with different ways to do so.

Luckily this isn't my first time having to hunt for training partners, and there are some tried and true strategies to find them.

The easiest and ironically at times more difficult way to find a training partner is by talking with others. Find a way to bring up you practice martial arts, and boom, you may have found a training partner. The problems with this method is that it can take time, but also it means that who you may get as a training partner is limited literally by those around you. Sometimes word of mouth gets you that golden person who can help you reach new levels, but I've seen this happen rarely.

Another means is through the internet. There are always forums and hot spots online to meet and coordinate for finding a training partner. I prefer this method most because it allows you to hunt when its best for your schedule, and you can be more selective. You do TKD and want to train with someone who does kyokushin or Muai Thai? This is the route to go.

A way that I have found that works is to start a martial arts club of some kind. The only problem really with this is that if your club has a theme, such as kung fu, or boxing, that is in all likelihood all you are going to get to train with. I prefer mixing it up; I want to spar people from styles I have never even heard of to push myself, so when I assisted founding the NVCC Martial Arts club, it was open to all styles. At any one session we might have a few TKD people, of different styles, to Wing Chun, Silat, Shotokan and more present.

And then there is the long way; find someone who just wants to learn martial arts at all and practice with them until they become a martial artist who can help push you forward. The teacher teaches the student the path, walking ahead, until the student can not only walk with their teaching side by side on the path, but can even run forward, and come back with word of whats ahead.

That's perhaps the greatest way to find a training partner in terms of it having a meaningful and even spiritual context. The only problem is it can take time.

While it is true you can practice by yourself, as Miyamoto wrote in the Book Of Five Rings;

"As one man can defeat ten men, so can one thousand men defeat ten thousand. However, you can become a master of strategy by training alone with a sword, so that you can understand the enemy's stratagems, his strength and resources, and come to appreciate how to apply strategy to beat ten thousand enemies."

-The Fire Book

I prefer to do so with others. They push me harder than I can myself, because I know myself completely. They will think of things I cannot, and use them, and probably succeed until I can come up with my own means to respond and manage their actions.

A training partner is someone who will push to become more than you are. Toward what you can become. Friends can be training partners, but this is usually a bad idea. Your friendship and camaraderie may distract you from actual work which is why you are present together in the first place.

They do not have to better than you. Such a thing is unfeasible. Perhaps they are far faster than you, while at the same time you can kick higher than they can. The point is with their help you can become faster. They can learn to kick higher. It's a mutual exchange. There is no way to find someone who is overall objectively better than you, pragmatically. That's all in a person's judgemental and self-doubting head. And if you go into the relationship of having a training partner thinking they are better, or worse, that you are better, than it will eventually fall apart and you will be without a person to work to become better in the martial arts with.

"The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, 

but on building the new."

-Socrates.


For the blog concerning my adventures in Israel, see: ajourneyinisrael.blogspot.com/

Burning The Wick

"What gives light must endure burning."
-Viktor Frankl

This will be a very short post; a blurb of a blog entry;

One of my favorite things to practice to practice in martial arts is doing a strike and extinguishing a candle flame. I do this mainly with hand techniques, but now and again do so with kicks. Sometimes I do it on the first move (Especially with hand techniques) but sometimes it can take awhile (such as with a kick)

When you do a technique and fail, such as doing a strike and not blowing out the flame with its wind, or the vacuum it can make, you can see very visibly how you are either improving or not. I implore you to try. I've seen novices knock the candle over and spill wax on your carpet; I've been able to extinguish a candle from more than a meter, and I can see where I'm at because of that. If I can do a technique adequately, I am five feet from it and can put it out no matter what I do.

Practice this, and you will see where you are at.

Just Once I'll Use A Photo From A Meme Generator; This One Is Perfect.

The Coin Does Drop

"You win battles by knowing the enemy's timing, and using a timing the enemy does not expect."

-Miramoto Musashi

 

 

Generally speaking people react similarly to things. That's why there are such things as genre as comedy or horror. We are instilled, from birth and culture how to react. But training can also override and empower such reactions.

For example, we are taught in martial arts how not to flinch when something approaches our eyes or groin. We do this so we can ignore an instinctive reactions to close our eyes or shy away- not only because such involuntary movements can cripple us while instinctively protecting those areas, such as by blinding us (closing our eyes) or making us lose a position of defense, but because the lack of control also means we are still programmable. If A happens then B happens, and if B happens C-Z is possible.

We, as martial artists, and in control, do not want to be programmable. When our opponent or enemy can expect us to do a certain thing, they can manipulate and use that thing.

Our goal is to do that. For example, if I punch a straight to their face, I expect them to move either right or left to avoid the blow. Fighting is more than chess, its a kind of physical programming in a certain sense. If they move to the right I throw a roundhouse kick from the right. If they move to the right, after my hand is extended I pump it through a backfist going to the left. If they back up I pursue, and they lose ground and thus position.

If they block I pump the punch hitting over and over until the arm is numb. These are all situational, but if you do the right thing at the right time it works. That's the point of this; a combination works because one strike leads to the opportunity to use another.

If I do a ridge hand and they block is, I will wrap my arm around theirs' to strike them through a back fist. This becomes a knife chop to backfist.

It's not about a specific combination; I can still remember those I've drilled. Front punch- back punch, front kick then back leg front kick. It's about understanding what happens when you do something, and using it to lead to something else.

It's all about how you chain them together.

When you drop a coin you know it falls straight down. When you throw a ball against a wall you know it will bounce and richochete off; but if you can know where the coin will fall and when, you can always catch it. When you can try eventually you can find how the ball will go, and catch it.

Think on it; program your opponent to react as you want, and then win.

"The more complicated and restricted the method, the less the opportunity the expression for one's original sense of freedom."

-Bruce Lee

What Is A Master?

"Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason mastery demands all of a person."

-Albert Einstein

This blog post may be my opus dei as a martial writer. If there is one writing I want to survive me once I am gone, I would gladly include this one.

I will make it as succinct as possible, given the complicated nature of the question itself.

What is a martial master? What is martial mastery? What defines the expert from the novice, the advanced practitioner from the noob, the master from the white belt?

Especially when masters worth honoring would always wear a white belt again.

The subject matter is one I have contemplated and meditated on for years. Perhaps when I was thirteen and first awakened to wanting to try in practicing martial arts, instead of just drifting forward as I had been. Trust me, there is a marked difference between the motivation of someone who merely floats, and someone who swims.

This is a question that I have asked for a while. So much that I have written three different drafts on this very topic before deciding to ignore the previous writings on the matter and just have at it in an airport in Canada.

Frankly the question makes me somewhat nervous, because from what I have found there is no actual general definition of what a master consists of. It differs from practice to practice, from person to person. Thus, my definition will potentially and thus invariably be disagreed with by many who read it. And boy, do I dislike when people hold my views to be erred. The last time that happened I got over 25,000 views thanks to reddit on a vieo I made on youtube.

But, like going to Israel, like standing up to a gun pointed at me square on, I am throwing caution to the wind. I might-maybe-could-probably be wrong, but I Believe in what I am writing, and especially so that the capitalization was deliberate.

So let me illustrate the disparity of definitions toward what defines a 'master' concerning martial arts. If there is such a thing, I honestly ask as a final kind of point to the journey.

A master climber might be the like who scales the unscalable mountain, or boulders the rock without its crags, but every stone, and especially mountain is different, and do they stop what they love in climbing that unbeatable mountain?

No, and a lesser sojourn and path may be what befallen them, no matter how great they were. But they continue to climb and move, because that is what makes them love what they do, and therefore what they love to do is what makes them succeed.

 

-

Daniel-San pay attention or I'll slap you with Koryo.

To start, there is the view that a 'master' is primarily one who has created their own style. In that sense there are very few masters in existence, comparative to the multitude who claim the title. In my opinion, their claim is deserved.

In Tae Kwon Do a martial arts master was somebody who has reached a specific rank, usually 4th dan, but I have seen exceptions. I have seen it more generalized also where a master is anyone who has considerable experience in the art they practice. This definition is very vague, for example, In WTF style Tae Kwon Do a person can reach master- ranking after only ten years potentially. I have been practicing for almost 22 years, and stopped picking up belts after my 5th first dan, at a time when I also had a 3rd dan in Moo Duk Kwan, and two second dans, as well as several underbelt rankings in other styles.

Additionally I have heard one only becomes a master of something after 10,000 hours of practice. Taking in only the last ten years of practicing, for three hours a day (my normal amount is between three and five hours a day) I just bridged 11000 hours. 

And yet, even though I do fall under the definition of master in some elements, I have never, and will ever refer to myself as one. 

This is why I prefer the label Bruce Lee coined for himself; he was, and would always be a master-student.

And that is a fundamental difference, but also a somewhat different topic deserving its own musings upon. 

To me a master is something that is always earned, but can be received as either a gift, or by recognition. The former is when one takes a test and is recognized by their teacher and their school, and receives an appointment following their successful passing of whatever conditions are in place to determine a master. The second is when one does not test, but blossoms on their own independantly into such status. I recall one teacher who we referred to as Master Arthur, even when he was a third dan. When I returned to visit the school many years later I was very happy to learn that this teacher had finally become a fourth dan, because that meant he was officially recognized by his school and system the title he had already deserved years before he ever held the dan ranking he does now.

That's just how it is; we all have met 'masters' who did disservice to the name in either ability or their character, but we also have met a few individuals who it frankly surprised us weren't masters.

Having been called an expert by others, and even a master by some, I can understand where Arthur was coming from when the students he taught referred to him as a master.

Of course we correct people; I am not a master, and in terms of being officially one with a belt in hand, having been given by another teacher, will never happen. I am done with belts, and hardly ever wear one. I received my first black belt when I was seven, and my 3rd dan when I was 13. Since then I have had numerous black belts from other schools and styles, been a head instructor to a handful, and run a school myself- to the point I am jaded with the system. I know I am capable in the arts, I don't need another belt on my rack to prove that fact to anyone other than myself. And my rack has hung belts from dojos to community colleges. There comes a time you have to hang the rack and take it down.

I have had the fortune of starting a wonderful club with people devoted to martial arts, and as of this point am traveling to the middle east not only to teach english, but Martial Arts as well. Hopefully paired together.

And by no means have I stopped practicing, I still do for several hours a day (I kind of have to, if I don't my whole body begins to ache, especially the knees, fingers, and back)

So the journey never ends for me. But when somebody refers to you as a master, when unaware of your actual ranking, whether or not you are a master, that is a point to stop and ask yourself how that title came to be, and whether or not it is deserved in some aspect.

Because to me, a master is someone who is recognized and honored as such. They are the person others turn to for advice in terms of martial arts, and it wont always be people from the same style. They are people who even other masters will speak with respectfully, or as contemporaries, and they are people who plunge into the arts, and are as much the art as they are themselves. And when they are a particularly superior kind of teacher and practitioner, the art they practice is as much affected by them, as they have been made whom they are by it.

I love martial arts, it gives my life meaning, and that's all someone who practices should humble say.

Thieves And Conflict Management

"If conflict sometimes the best tactic is to allow the force to pass by like a wind or like the water running down the river."
-Jin Kwon

"Martial arts is not about fighting; it's about building character."
-Bo Bennett
 



 

 

I have about two days left before I leave the country, and seem to have run into a snag where I live.

It seems somebody in the house I am at thinks because I am leaving I can be preyed upon. In the last four days I have had a variety of things stolen from me, one pretty ballsy while I slept in the form of money. Today it was something I do not even use anymore, a vaporizer e-cig, and at this point I can't tell if its just somebody being petty, or somebody actively trying to hurt me before I leave.

Considering I will receive a large paycheck tomorrow and need to keep that and my identification documents such as my passport and photo I.D. safe, I think I am within my right to protect myself from others. If any of that is taken I could be in dire straits concerning my move to the middle east.

So this poses the question to me of what a martial artist is to do when confronted by a thief or somebody preying on them.

I suppose I could be combative, and I am within my right to be angry, and believe me, I am. But lashing out against everyone, since I do not know who the culprit is, would be completely wrong. Other people are just bystanders in this situation, but unfortunately, when you do not know who is stealing, everyone falls under suspicion. Considering all of them have been relatively kind to me since this occurred, it just goes to show that trusting others should be done with care.

After all, the thief has taken what is mine, and then given me condolences concerning the matter.

I am not one who forgives very easily, either. Especially when the transgressions are still occurring. Maybe down the road when I have put distance between myself and the situation, but when I feel actively threatened, that option is just not readily available.

So I have decided to stay with friends I can actually trust, as opposed to the current people I have spent the last two weeks with. I suppose in a sense it is running, but to me it is more akin when somebody is trying to fight over nothing, and you walk away.

Yes, we are fighters, warriors even when practicing truly, but sometimes it takes the bigger man to not to fight. Ego is not worth causing issues in our own lives.

Let's say I start a fist fight over this, even if I did find out who did it. Ignoring the legal issues which would ensue, how can I claim any kind of sound victory, morally speaking, if I resorted to violence to solve my problems? A martial artist is someone who not only knows law to a degree, but lives a moral existence.

There is no victory in resorting to conflict when no one's life is in danger. Sure my potential new lifestyle is at risk, but that's not the same thing as the very essence of my being at jeopardy.

And what would I attain if I resorted to physicality? I certainly wont get my property back. The money has already been spent, and chances are the other items are irretrievable, and who would want something back someone has literally put their mouth on?

This series of events over the last five days have brought a quote to mind;

"Do not strike others, and do not allow others to strike you. The goal is peace without incident."

-Chojun Miyagi.

By leaving this I am accomplishing this; I can protect myself going forward, as well as remove myself from further situations.

So, I will take what I do still have, and leave. That seems the most sound solution. I risk nothing with that, and as a plus, get to spend my last few days in the United States with people I hold dear, most likely having a great time. Instead of spending it stewing in my own negative energy of anger. I would rather leave the country on good terms, not one that makes me want to turn my back on people.

 

 

 

"Integrity is not old school, it applies today like it ever did."

-Richard Norton

The Wanderers

"Don't think about it (Traveling, the idea of traveling) too much. Don't make pro and con lists. Pro and con lists are nothing but trouble. If you think about it too much, you'll just end up staying home and then someday you'll be telling your grandchildren, "I always wanted to do that" instead of showing them photos of the trips you took and giving them advice on where to go. My family and friends often say to me, "I'm living vicariously through you." Don't ever live vicariously. This is YOUR life. Live."

-Lavinia Spalding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I think of martial artists, I cannot help but remember the culture associated with them.

And one of my favorite aspects concerning martial artists is that of the ronin. Wandering warriors- those without teachers. No matter who or where you are in training, sooner or later you have to follow your path alone. Your teacher cannot always be there. Some of us will not know what that is like until we are old ourselves, some of us got to know the experience before we were even twenty. Sooner or later though, you will find yourself in that situation.

In this modern day and age the world is a pretty accessible place. As far as I can tell I have practiced martial arts in North America and Europe, and soon will be adding the Middle East to that list. I have no intention of stopping there, and Asia is my next stop, planned around the time I turn thirty.

Everywhere I go, I make sure to practice there. If I only do one form or even kick everywhere I go, I have in my heart completed that personal mission.

That's the thing so many overlook; many practice the martial arts, but forget that once you begin to do so, the martial arts slowly becomes a part of you. So everywhere you go is as a martial artist also.

Why forsake that?

Now I usually do far more than just a single kata or practice session. Often I devote many, many hours while there, especially in the mornings. Most of the videos I have made on youtube were made in Hungary, but a fair few were also here stateside.

Everyone travels, and it is unlikely where you are now is where you will always remain unless you choose to do so.

Since announcing my sojourn to Israel, a lot of people have commented that it must be nice to travel. That is a small statement of them saying passive aggressively they would like to.

That's the thing, nothing is stopping one from doing so. Especially if you speak one of the more populous languages in the world. If you speak any English at all, someone somewhere in the world is willing to pay to bring you there to do so. That seems to be what my future holds; traveling and teaching. So if I were to go elsewhere in my life, why would I stop developing myself? And by that I mean stop practicing the arts.

The journey begins with a single step. I challenge any who read this to go somewhere they had only wished and dreamed of going. It's more than possible.

"The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights."

-Muhammed Ali

Go With Life's Flow

"The only thing standing between you and your dream is the will to try, and the belief it is actually possible."

-Joel Brown

 

"You are never too old to set another goal, or dream another dream."

-C.S. Lewis

 

 

Destiny is one of those funny things where you both get to choose to make it, and also stumble into it.

I have been planning and working toward a long trip to Israel; one where I would teach English. My life has not always been the easiest thanks to my own usual creation of unfortunate events.

But for perhaps the first real time in a very long while I actually have a grip on my life; I'm sober, and found out yesterday at noon I have been accepted by MASA, an organization in Israel, to become a teacher of English for Ethiopian-Jews at an absorption center for refugees. These are a marginalized group of people who speak neither Hebrew nor English, and so this will be interesting. I do not speak a lick of their language. Despite that, I know I will get through it and have a very positive experience.

I intend to teach English alongside what I know of martial arts. This allows me to both continue practicing literally thousands of miles from where I call home, as well as make an actual difference. Despite being a sizable population this group of people, on the collegiate level, comprise less than 1% of those attending school, despite comprising more than 15% of the population in Israel.

Had you asked me a year ago where I would be, I would not have said Israel in two weeks from now. It wasn't even a passing thought.

That's how life goes though; how many parents expected to have a child a year before they did? Sometimes life launches tribulous surprises at us, and sometimes those experiences can become some of the greatest of our lives.

It is true it took a long time for this to come together. But sometimes building the most important moments of your life involve that.

And so often we are presented with opportunity we forsake. I am an adventurous person, and have visited many places already. Before I was four I had lived between Germany and Norway, France and the United States. I have been to Mexico, Canada, Austria, Hungary, Spain and England. And now I will soon be in Israel. I know my life is one that will ultimately involve traveling; that is just how it has been.

The difference is now that I know this as just a fact of who I am, what do I choose to do with it? Fight how things will be? Or roll with it. I choose to go with the latter.

And with me I know I will carry a number of things; my love for martial arts, and my love of writing. This is why I am starting a new blog to document my travels in Israel, which for a 'Merican will be very unique.

I have always wanted to perform aid work, and perhaps assist in conflict resolutions. I have always been sure someday I would visit Israel, but before I knew it, that someday is literally in the next two weeks.

This gives me hope; that those faraway places I only hoped I might be able to attend to someday are something I can very seriously not only pursue, but achieve.

Martial artists, as human beings, are dreamers. But while most people are happy to let dreams pass by, when one comes to us that is worth it, we pursue it. And this makes the difference; because without active involvement to make those dreams come true, it is so hard for them to without it.

So, if I can do it, make your faraway hopes become realized also.

All it takes is time and earnest effort.

Sometimes this picture is hilarious.

 

Other times, inspiring.

 

 

"The dream is to keep surprising yourself, nevermind the audience."

-Tom Hiddleston



(For my other blog, which focuses on my upcoming Journey to Israel, see: http://ajourneyinisrael.blogspot.com/2015/06/the-days-before.html)

Quitting Smoking As A Martial Artist

"You must throw away your bad habits to become good."

-Masaaki Hatsumi

 

"When teachers have bad habits, those bad habits can mean the difference between between life and death for their students."

-Masaaki Hatsumi

Well, the time has come for me to stop smoking.

The reason I am writing about this in a martial arts blog is because it has a lot to do with both self-control and perseverance.

I know quitting smoking isn't the most dramatic thing in the world; but it leads to more deaths than most other drugs put together. And terrifyingly, as a heroin addict once put it to me, "I was able to stop using heroine. But I cannot stop smoking."

That alone is enough to give me pause and contemplate the matter.

I'm doing this for a number of reasons; for one its a huge drain on money. Another is I have noticed issues with staying hydrated. But more importantly it seems the right thing to do for frankly moral reasons. That sense of intuition that tells us it is simply the right thing to do, though I cannot put finger on the exact reason it feels this way.

I have been smoking for only about six months, but in the last month or so the habit really went up a notch. I'm only at about a half pack a day, but that's about five times more than I was at three months ago, ten times the amount five months ago, and literally infinitely more than I was imbibing a year ago.

As a martial artist we have to learn how to control impulses and urges that can be self-destructive. If a moral martial artist seeks to not harm others or anything, that certainly includes themselves.

So how will I go about doing this?

Naturally I'll weather the cravings. Even as I write this I am experiencing one. Fortunately I am aware that cravings will pass. And if I do not give in to them, they will grow weaker with time.

I will focus on training. Perhaps every time I have a craving I will do push-ups. Perhaps every time I think of smoking and attempting to, I will do all the forms I know. I will distract myself with developing myself in other areas.

I will cultivate self-discipline.

In a way it is a test, or at least, I choose to see it as such. If I can conquer this, perhaps I can with a degree of certainty say to myself, as little as I may be able to control the world, at least I can control myself.

Is that not a truth martial artists would all like to honestly speak to themselves?

I can do it. It just won't be much fun. But I will still do it with a happiness that I know I can do anything I truly fix my mind to achieving.

 

"Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; Actions lead to habits; Habits decide character; And character fixes our destiny."

-Tyrone Edwards

 

"The journey of a thousand miles, begins with the first step."

-Lao Tzu

Hone Your Reflexes

 

"You must learn many systems because every system has its specialty."

-Leung Kay-chi

"When you believe you can- you can!"

-Maxwell Maltz

 

Reflexes are perhaps one of the most integral elements in martial arts when it comes to conflict management.

A lot of people train to be fast, but do not train how to have fast reflexes.

One of the methods I use, because I work in retail and usually with food, is during the summer time to catch flies.

I've been doing that for a few years, and have gotten pretty good at it. I apologize for the quality of the video, but this is what I am talking about;

 

 

Catching a fly is interesting. They don't have very large brains of course, and are completely instinctual as animals. When something is coming towards them, such as a predator or say, my hand, their brains are wired to instantly calculate the exact angle or direction of flight they need to avoid or escape the encounter. Combined with eyes that allow them to see 360 degrees, this makes it very hard to nab them. The second your hand comes within proximity their brain has already redirected them in the exact path necessary to avoid you.

 

"Using high-resolution, high-speed digital imaging of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) faced with a looming swatter, Dickinson and graduate student Gwyneth Card have determined the secret to a fly's evasive maneuvering. Long before the fly leaps, its tiny brain calculates the location of the impending threat, comes up with an escape plan, and places its legs in an optimal position to hop out of the way in the opposite direction. All of this action takes place within about 100 milliseconds after the fly first spots the swatter..."

 

-http://phys.org/news/2008-08-scientists-flies-hard-swat.html

 

 

 

That's where reflexes come in; you have to beat them at their own game. While the work is done subconsciously, you actively have to figure out where they are going and then grab them at that location at the exact time they will be there.

 

In a way its predicting. And perhaps it may also be luck. I have heard of some people without looking catching a fly.

 

Whether or not I believe they have does nothing to discount that their story may be true. It certainly doesn't seem impossible to me.

 

One must move faster than they can, and react faster than 1/1,000th of a second. I assure you this is possible.

 

"However, the MIT team found that although overall performance declined, subjects continued to perform better than chance as the researchers dropped the image exposure time from 80 milliseconds to 53 milliseconds, then 40 milliseconds, then 27, and finally 13 — the fastest possible rate with the computer monitor being used."

 

-http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/in-the-blink-of-an-eye-0116

 

 

 

When you can catch flies with ease, I have a harder task I challenge others to try; it takes speed to catch a fly. But it takes skill to catch a fly without hurting it.

 

The usefulness of being able to do this is in direct relation to being able to quickly perceive oncoming threats. It's not necessarily the person who is faster that will land the strike the first, but really the one who quickly analyzes the situation and reacts accordingly. They could have all the speed in the world, but if you see it coming, and your strike is already where they are going they will in the end be the one struck instead of you.

 

This is where the argument of evading vs. dodging comes into play, but that is for another article.

 

Now to get some chopsticks and do it with those. Never tried, but that's what we do in martial arts; we clear one level and move on to a deeper one.

 

 

 

 

 

"Man who can catch fly with chopsticks can accomplish anything."

-Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita)

Finding Your Trigger

"There is nothing outside of yourself that can ever enable you to get better, stronger, richer, quicker or smarter. Everything is within. Everything exists. Seek nothing outside yourself."

-Miyamoto Musashi.

 

 

This is an article which will explore a number of different experiences I have had while practicing.

When I normally strike I move at a rate of about five moves per second, usually with handwork. Here is a demonstration of that;

I can actually go faster. But to do that I have to concentrate very hard, and in a way, it takes a kind of concentration that I just can't normally do. I have to think in a certain way, and when I do this it is akin to 'unlocking' something. If we normally think of each strike as a count of 1 then 2 then 3 then 4, the process works to shorten how one thinks- effectively changing it. The 1 then 2 becomes just a count of one representing both strikes, and 3 and 4 become just 2. So the count while engaging goes from 1-4 to just 1-2, even though I am still doing just two strikes.

Our speed is limited foremost not by our body- but rather by our minds. When I strike faster than six in a second, if I do it for say ten seconds, my arms especially become inflamed and red. To put it plainly- one moves to fast that the muscles tear in the arm.

But that doesn't mean it is impossible to move that fast. Like I said, our thinking is what truly limits us, so if you collapse how you think, making your thought process faster, your ability for your body to follow what your mind instructs it to do also becomes faster. All too often martial artists believe it is their bodies inhibiting their ability, when it is really their mind doing so.

Likewise in a similar vein, the difference between a black belt and somebody who isn't is also mental. You can have all the techniques, even be able to do them perfectly, but that does not make a blackbelt. It is a state of mind, and it requires molding. I have only ever seen it achieved through tribulation. I received my 3rd dan around when I was 13 in WTF (Moo Duk Kwan) Tae Kwon Do. I had been practicing nearly ten years. I switched schools around then and it was only there I actually became a black belt. The first time I did a black belt test was to do all the forms, combinations and self-defense. That was enough to qualify me.

To become a black belt in Chung Do Kwan I had to do all that and more; I had to fight 1 on 1 for a minute, then 2 on 1, then 3 on 1, and then 4 on 1.

Actually here is the belt test from when I was fifteen. I know, I know I've posted it before, but it's the example I have of what I am talking about, and some people haven't seen the video;

This process of testing teaches something important; it instills an instinctive drive to endure and survive. In a way it kind of unlocks the animal within a person. You never win such an encounter; that's not the point of it. The point is partly to break your spirit and have you fight through that experience and become a stronger person as a martial artist. A side effect is it makes you stronger as a person overall. It instills confidence and a strong sense of how to persevere.

It reminds me of how someone creates a statue from stone; we do not necessarily build the statue- we break pieces off the crude rock until something considered art is created. Becoming a black belt is a similar process. You have to be broken to become something great.

And I see a vein of commonality between what I have to do to move at a certain heightened speed, and what I have to do to practice as a black belt. When I practice with someone who is an underbelt, I do not treat them as I would another black belt, or how I would expect another black belt to treat me. I have to actively switch my mode of thinking, and even though that is mostly a subconscious process now, it is still there and I recognize it.

That's something that I haven't seen many people address when teaching; to pay attention to how we think when we practice, given to each particular situation.

After all, you would not fight a white belt like you would a black belt. So what is it that makes the difference?

That frankly is for you to decide for yourself, be it stemming from a sense of understanding, pity or honor.

The only thing that is important is to understand what qualifies you to trigger how you approach a situation, so we can become better given each set of circumstances. What is it you as a martial artist do to unlock becoming better?

I'm not really looking for a response; I just think this is something all martial artists need to figure out for themselves.

Otherwise if this never happens you might wear a black belt, but by no means does that mean you actually are a black belt.

And all true black belts to me are warriors. Idealistic, sure, but it's just a fact as I know it.

"A black belt is nothing more than a belt that goes around your waste. Being a black belt is a state of mind and attitude."

-Rick English