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