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Flow is smooth continuous movement in time. Flow is artful, disjointed movements are chaotic. In stillness of body one’s body does not outwardly move, but inwardly its processes do, as does its mind. The mind does not cease to flow, as its function is to explore the internal world. The mind’s function is to also explore the external world, to know is to survive and thrive. The mind uses the body and its senses as instruments of exploration.
The body must move in order to know. In dance the body’s movements express the self and help to know oneself. In combat the body moves to avoid deadly or obstructive forces, as in reality we are not truly alone. In love of course, the body serves to adore another, to know another and two personalities or souls become by their movement a merging, a glorious merging to emerge. Supremacy in the art of Dance is Flow.
Dance and Meditation:
- "Choreography to me is not just design only. You can hide in designs, in pattern: the necessity, the probing thing, the constant looking for something is not there. You have to follow that through to the end, and it's the following through to the end that makes the pattern. It's a necessity of action. Dancing is just discovery, discovery, discovery - what it all means. Looking for the truth."
- "You raise your hand and the ball flies to it."
- "I never set out to create a technique. I started out on the floor to find myself, to find what the body could do, and what would give me satisfaction - emotionally, dramatically and bodily."
- "Dancing is very like poetry. It's like poetic lyricism sometimes, it's like the rawness of dramatic poetry, it's like the terror - or it can be like a terrible revelation of meaning. Because when you light on a word it strikes to your heart."
- "There is a contraction and release."
- "The placement of the head is important."
- "A spiral shape can be used to incorporate a sense of fluidity."
Kata and Meditation
The martial arts, in solo Kata or where there is attacker/s and defender, are a form of dance. When the attacker moves towards their victim, they invite the dance of the defender who must blend harmoniously in order to avoid the force of the attack and to counter. In solo forms when a single adept dances, you should be able to perceive the spirit of the attacker who invisibly partners the performer.
To perceive the cycles and rhythms of nature is to know your environment and that includes the rhythms and timings of the attacks of an aggressor. The rhythms of your breathing set the pace of your mind and of your actions.
A student who has no sense of rhythm cannot do well in martial arts. — Grandmaster Mas Oyama (Choi Yeong-eui)
CONTROL
In olden times martial arts practice was necessary, a life and death matter. Awareness of the shortness of life and the daily nearness of death gave an appreciation of the value of life and a sharpness to the senses of all the preciousness of nature and other beings. Attitude changes Being. The aim of martial arts in modern days is not just combat skills but self-control. This can come about by the imposed discipline of the Dojo, and the self-discipline required to continually practice the same movements over and over.
Ballet dancers daily practice basic movements at the bar even when at expert level. When your determination passes through boredom and pain you reach the point of never giving up and then a new awareness of your own power and strength of character dawns on the brain.
Confidence rises. Seeking to control others you first need to learn how to control your own self. Your will needs to be in charge of you and not your flighty emotions steering your ship. You need to be as the commander of your ship, your body, and can issue commands, your body to obey. The mind does tend to drift off and leave its ship abandoned, a barge heading for the rocks. You happen to be the captain and you sometimes may need to know that, especially when distracted by unhealthy desires and unhealthy people.
He who controls others may be powerful, but he who has mastered himself is mightier still. - Laozi (Lao Tzu)
Exercise in control
Sitting or standing: Make a fist and slowly (and not too hard or loud) slam its bottom (a hammer-fist) onto a firm tabletop. Raise your arm again and swing it down but stop just above the tabletop. Repeat practice hits and restraining a hit, vary them. You practice control, over use of force or not use of force. You hit or not hit when YOU decide, not when outside influences decide.
A brown belt must learn, as well as techniques, about the projection of power, so to hit forcefully and thus effectively. A black belt, a teacher, however must learn and be able to control his/her strikes. When teaching a student a strike should be made at a reasonable speed in order for the student to learn proper blocks, deflections or avoiding manoeuvres. An effective defence requires a reality testing, not pretend strikes. However if a student is, for whatever reason, too slow to avoid the blow, the teacher needs to be safely able to dissolve their strike from fast into nothing. This is done by a sudden relaxing of a firm fist as it touches the target to bend the wrist (floppy hand) and dissolve the force into a touch and not a hard driving through the target.
Next Chapter: The Moment
(Image: Male Yogi[Ed] via Google Images)
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Dissecting Society™ welcomes all sorts of comments, as we are strong advocates of freedom of speech; however, we reserve the right to delete Troll Activity; libellous and offensive comments (e.g. racist and anti-Semitic) plus those with excessive foul language. This blog does not view vulgarity as being protected by the right to free speech. Cheers
Damn, that pose in the image is intimidating. I don't think I can ever reach that level of body control! What I liked more about this lesson is the lesson that we can actually control others but with a caveat: we have to control ourselves! What do you mean by it, control our emotions, our behavior, what?
ReplyDeleteYes, the image from Yoga is intimidating, it does though show what is achievable with serious control over your body after much practice. The question then comes as to is it useful or not and when would that be and why? In this case the answer may be ‘In the yoga class’ and ‘Demonstration to yourself of body flexibility and balance’.
DeleteYou do not have to reach the level of others, everyone is different. You are at the level you are now and you are in the process of improving that. Thus you are on your evolution journey and that is fine. So long as you try to improve you are going to a better enhancing of value of your life form. Which is a purpose of life. We find the world as it is and we as we are and we try to improve both. We are the tenders of the garden entrusted with its fate and we decide and work towards what will be. We may be in Winter, but Spring is coming.
If you are out of control internally you can hardly control others. If you wish to influence others’ opinions then they must be able to see the benefit of your opinions that shows on yourself. If you wish to control an opponent in combat then your mind must be its own master and in full command of its body, its extension into the world beyond the mind. If you have self control then you can better control your behaviour and body language which is of interest, even if only subconsciously, to those near you.
The mind is the ultimate interpreter of all around it. Its emotions, powerful swirling energies, like storms, arise from internal struggles and also from external inputs. You do not fear the attacker who hits you by surprise from behind, you fear the attacker who threatens to hit you who is in your vision. You do not fear the snake that you cannot see or know of, you fear the snake that you see and that is attacking. A box arouses no emotions except maybe curiosity, but if you mind thinks it is a bomb then your emotions are triggered. Emotions are chemical reactions that prompt you into action, and if no action is taken then their unused energies stress the body. Frustration is relieved by activity.
So: if a dog is barking at you, you do not know what its words mean and its sounds have little effect (if the dog cannot get to you). But when an aggressor verbally abuses you, the words sent out, which are only vibrations in the air, your mind has to attach meaning (and thus emotion) to them. It is You who decides the value and impact of what is said to you. As horrible words are not physical strikes you can choose to ignore them. The Aggressor of course is hoping that his malicious messages are received and interpreted by a frightened mind, so that dominance is achieved by those words controlling your mind. But it is You who allows, or not, words to take over the command of your mind. Just because you get a message does not mean that you have to prioritise it. A computer receives information but it never worries over it. Edit in your mind whatever is said to you BEFORE it impacts on your whole mind; and especially evaluate it by the early answer to the questions: Who is talking and what is their reliability and intent?
Hey Cheney,
ReplyDeleteYou said "It is You who decides the value and impact of what is said to you."
I agree fully, but what happens when we do not give any value and impact to the words being thrown at us?
Cheers
If you do not assign, or try but cannot assign, any meaning to the words that are sent to you then that message is unclear or not deciphered and can have no impact on your mind. The message itself, although only vibrations in the air, may relate to some piece of reality known only to the sender and might be useful to know, however that will not be are part of your mental reality, the inner mental virtual universe in which you reconstruct all knowledge of the outside world. Such an unaccepted message will not then arouse any clouding emotions in you, which may have been the main intention of the message in the first place, especially an intimidating one. The enemy is then left with only your other senses to intimidate, such as the visual by looming fiercely over you, glaring at you.
DeleteAll animals use posturing in their threat rituals. Whether or not they choose to carry that forward into an actual physical attack is another matter. But if you have chosen not to accept their swearing and demeaning vile WORDS, then their preliminary attack on your mind fails and you can then meet their actual physical attack on your person with the calm mind of a general commanding from a far hill.
It has been said, perhaps by Dorothy Parker, that no one can demean you: unless you first agree with their opinion.
Cheney,
Delete"no one can demean you: unless you first agree with their opinion."
Absolutely!
Cheers
It's difficult to control ourselves but it's not impossible! All it takes a bit of discipline and personal will to get there. It's a shame I haven't willed it yet but I'm working on it! But I have a question: isn't it dangerous to control others, Stephen? With which intent should we do or should we want to do it at all?
ReplyDeleteHi Ana, the human animal is a dominant dominating predator. Wolves, sharks, tigers do not rule the world, we do; and we decimate other predators including other humans. You will find, all your life, that other people will be trying to dominate you, tell you what to do, dominate your vote, your actions, what you wear and buy, dominate your thoughts, political and religious preferences. To counter the intentions of other's you need to learn the same skills used and more. You need to learn how to control your mind (As done in the Cyber-world: by Fire-wall, anti-virus software processes) and, as best you can, control the minds of others (defensively, as you are not malicious). Again, as in the Cyber-world you analyse and sent out agents, hackers to disrupt and manipulate the enemy. Defending only is never a good strategy, just as blocking strikes only will never win a fight. You must attack to stop a determined enemy. Attacks come in two kinds, those that are seen and thus can and be countered, and so will be countered by the watchful opposition; and those that are unseen, stealthy and that being unknown cannot easily be countered. Know your enemy and know yourself as Sun Tzu would say. A surprise attack is always planned and sought by any general.
DeleteIs it moral to try to control the minds and thus actions of others? Yes, when you are benevolent and those others are malicious and would damage you and all that you hold dear. Our bodies are robots, though of water, tissue, bone and nerves instead of metal and wires. And the mind controlling the robot is its computer, and within that are the faulty or correct programs that are activated. Our brain is also a computer and has its own software of programs, programs which can learn (AI) and change. We have moved our evolution on large step forward and are no longer just human bodies and minds. So animal or robot, both are command-centred in a virtual reality. Through that virtual reality actions to change bad code are possible. All bullies normally attack your mind first before laying hands on you, the same with the wars between nations.
Although mind controls are normally subtle and common, such as advertising or the wishes of good friends and family; of schooling; of preaching: they do control much of human behaviour, or seek to. It is difficult be an independent individual and thinker when others do not like that, maybe due to their own insecurities, and especially as nearly everywhere you look nowadays, other groups are ready and willing to kill you based purely on what you chose to think and believe. It is accepted that millions die in political or religious wars, but the processes that command that should be examined. In combat a mind control applied may only last a moment but in that distracted or mentally disrupted moment, the tide of battle turns and the future of existence changes forever. If you look around you, so many humans are linked into their phones, entertainment and computer devices that the science fiction age of being Cyborgs has already stealthily sneaked upon us. Who is in actual control of the linkage, the human mind or the implement in their hand that they cannot tear their mind from, even when crossing a road? Who is the fish; what is the rod and bait used; and who is the ultimate controlling fisherman?
DeleteIt is more dangerous in a fight or contention of any kind to just clash when the enemy attacks on two fronts, mental and physical; but you only choose to counter on a physical level. The stronger on the physical level usually wins, as any aggressor knows, and is often why you are attacked in the first place. A moment of an observed person looking victim-weak is all that an aggressor needs. An aggressor has internal reasons for aggression that have nothing to do with external reasons, though aggressors go to great lengths to find excuses to outwardly justify their actions (that helps to keep others out of the fight and justifies wrongful actions and prevents retribution). Divide et impera: Divide and conquer; divide and rule; as Julius Caesar would say, understand and apply.
Whenever you enter the mind of another, and you do so whenever you communicate with another, what is your intent? Good or Bad? The good should not have to scramble for justifications of their actions. There can be a clear Right and a clear Wrong. A moral uprighteous person is justified by their own existence, can make mistakes, but is not Wrong in the vicious malicious sense that is the criminal mind. Only the Good question their own motives.