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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darius101" data-source="post: 687587" data-attributes="member: 9466">Another reason to trainI had forgotten the true reason why I started in Martial Arts...This thread has remminded me. I hope i can articulate it properly for you all....I wanted inner peace. I liked the idea of the martial arts for the philosphy's of Zanshin and the idea of No Mind. I learnd to play golf from my Grandfather and a friend asked me a simple unassuming question: What do you think about when you swing a golf club? I thought about it and had no answer. I had never thought about it before. The next time I went golfing I paid attention and found I didn't think of anything..I just did it. This facinated me. I talked to friends and had a friend that was a martial artist and that got me started down a long road to learning Heijo Shin (peace of mind).  Martial kanji is formed with two characters Tomeru and Hoku these characters by themselves mean "prevent" "conflict". The term Martial Art, from an early time, has ment The Art of Conflict Prevention. The full name is actually Bujutsu in Japenese and is not a waste of time at all. It is an art designed through trial and errror like any other. It is the study of the Human Body in movement. It is also the study of the human mind from an Eastern point of view. I can only illustrate the ideals of peace of mind through an easy to follow story told to me by my teacher: Musashi was in the mountains perfecting his mind through meditation with a priest friend of his. They were seated by a small stream and there was a waterfall. As they sat there Musashi was alerted to a prescense nearby. Without disturbing his serenity he allowed his gaze to fall upon this prescense. It was a Viper and it was crawling towards his friend. Knowing that any movement would cause the viper to attack, he carefully controlled his spirit, and just watched. The Viper crawled across his friends thigh, his friend merely smiled. Musashi was amazed at the snakes acceptance of his friend as a natual part of the surroundings. After the snake slithered across the priest it continued towards Musashi. But, several feet away,  the snake sensed Musashi's prescense and recoiled, ready to attack. Musashi still sat calmly and did not react at all. Even though he didn't move and remained still the snake still felt his power, skill. The snake scurried away into the brush as if frightened. Most men would have been proud to have this intimidating Aura, but Musashi only felt shame. He realized his own shortcommings.What troubles you? his friend asked. All my life I have trained to develop  skills so that no man would ever dare attack me. and now that i have achieved that goal, all living things instinctivly fear me. You saw the snake flee from me. "I saw it," the priest said, " since it did not dare attack you, you defeated it without striking a blow. And because of your great skill both you and the snake still live. Why does that sadden you?" "Because I am so strong that no one can ever get close to me. I can never know true peace." Musashi pointed " Not like you. You did not fear the snake, nor the snake fear you. Your spirit is so calm, so natural that the snake treated you no different from it's surroundings. People can accept you that way too". His priest friend only smiled because he knew how important a discovery this was for his friend. Musashi spent the rest of his life perfecting this Heijoshin. Remember there is always room for more knowledge, greater compassion, stronger love, and a higher level of character development. Among other things this seems to be a stumbling block for many westerners. People have been culterally accostomed to a 'quick-fix' approach to nearly everything. Not everything has a quick-fix as this post illustrates. Heijoshin demands a lifestyle change:  a life of disiplne, effort, sacrifice, and commitment. Such a commitment sets a martial artist apart from most people in a confused and unhappy society. Lannon has said Education is important, I hope I have adequatly illustrated what eduation means on a much deeper level. Perhaps this great quote from an old master says it all:       Thank you guys for reminding me why I am who I am. ---Darius----P.S. Lannon there is no need for you insult me or my art or even someones beliefs. You are still young and for that I understand. May you learn life's lessons in a mannor befitting your beliefs. Exercitatio Optimus est Magister.....</blockquote>

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