-Rory Macdonald.
"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work,
but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea."
-Antoine de Saint Exupery.
In everything we practice there is a fundamental question we should ask ourselves, whether consciously or unconsciously; why is it I do this?
I've always said Nihilism was half-baked existentialism. Innately nothing honestly has meaning, which I find wonderful. Because that means the meaning it could have from what we ascribe it could be infinite potentially.
So why do you practice martial arts?
For me it's a journey of self- and other- discovery. Self-defense. An opportunity to grow. Part of me has felt that this is what I am here to do; find a way to further martial arts. One way is through this blog, but there are many, many other means.
What does it mean to be great?
I surely won't provide an answer to that, even my own. But this is a question we should pursue, inasmuch asking the question it provides a means or answer in its own right. It begs another iteration of that question; how do I become a great martial artist.
There are many ways, and respect is among the least of those to justify it.
We live a warrior code, whether defined or not, and it is in everything we do. When we sweep, we practice Bo-form, if you choose to see it that way. That's why I love that seen in the new Karate Kid movie; it matters.
I implore those who read this to find their way to that goal; not to be great in other's eyes, but in their own. That is enough for me to die with peace, knowing I have satisfied myself in my own right.
It will always be the simple things in life which will lead us to that complex goal;
But while success and failure depends on conditions, the mind neither waxes nor wanes"
-Bodhidharma
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