Hello everyone, I've been off reddit for quite a while exploring more out of life and keeping my self fairly distant from posting in general. During my field exploration somewhat down the road I decided I wanted to take up martial arts again. I've been participating for years in a diamond Tae Kwon Do school in my vicinity, at which we spend time practicing street fight techniques and self-defense, and most important the "Do" aspect of Tae Kwon Do. The philosophy. In my school, we don't teach it as a combat sport, we utilize the "Street fight" elements of international Tae Kwon Do and the balance inside.

It's extremely important to mention that in 3 weeks training time I became very fast, faster than I have ever been, my body can respond to combat situations and my mind can adapt to them in an instant as people who saw me compete say and last but not least I feel healthier, physically and mentally. In combination with meditation and yoga practices, I'm reaching a higher state very often. I used to get high by smoking weed, nowadays I get the rush from kicking punching and screaming it all out in the Dojang. The mind finally connected with the body. A thing years of weight training wouldn't get this accurately on point for me. The older I get, I realise that women and pussy or sweet things like large amounts of money isn't what I should be chasing. First comes the need to be free from inside, and then starts the process of obtaining things to fulfill other needs, (Judging by the fact that I've managed to increase my income to the point I am independent not worrying if I can go on vacations or eat food daily, of course) but the most important thing is inside balance. My confidence skyrocketed since the beginning of my journey. This intensified as I utilized certain Yoga techniques to move my solar plexus, the Manipuraka. According to hindu culture this allows for more heighted jumps, stronger and faster strikes, and last but not least it's the source that confidence flows from to the rest of the body and the mind.

The key point contributing to all of this though is the "Do". At the end of the day, you should prefer eastern martial arts because they have a whole philosophy of life to unravel and help you get your frame and shit together, unlike most MMA/Kickboxing/etc. schools who take you to fight competitively once you start training. This is WRONG, in a sense you're getting prepared to get your ass kicked instantly when you get in the ring the first day you sign up at the school, and usually you'll get a false sense of confidence. Especially if you're surrounder by noobs. The other day I was at the dojang, and I got a mule kick in the solar plexus by my master, because I tried to prove him this specific kick and it's landing stance is "Innefective" or "incorrect" Guy took my breath away for it and I stood there in pain for 2 minutes, his kick was fairly weak as he didn't use all his strength, and reasonably so he wasn't trying to kill me. Later on he took the time to explain to me how all these MMA fighters can get knocked out by a master of Tae Kwon Do in a matter of seconds or minutes and this time I believed him. Don't get me wrong on this, MMA and Kickboxing etc. can be marvellous if you have a good master who's more into it as a whole and not just as a combat thing/sport or teaching his students to strike relentlessly. We took the time to discuss more stuff, I told him what I think about styles and how they're restrictive at least, and how one should just let nature do the work in combat instead of "thinking ahead" He was fairly surprised when I told him I got all this from one guy (Bruce Lee) who I'll be talking about further down the post..

And now we're at the second part of my post, about Jeet Kune Do and the man behind this amazing practical and easily appliable philosophy. I happen to train this alone when I'm off the Dojang, at home or anywhere out in nature when I meditate. First of all, the person who motivated me to pick up my lazy ass and sign up for martial arts again, to drop the excuses and finally have a spine, was Bruce Lee, with his JKD philosophy that also applies to any type of martial arts. Yes you heard me right, Bruce Lee. Now Bruce to me is the perfect example of what a determined man can achieve in so little time.. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying you should be as good Bruce Lee or Jean Claude Van Damme or Donnie Yen or Yuri Boyka and anyone for that matter etc. As Bruce said "A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." What this means is that if you're trying to reach Lee or anyone remarkable you will soon be better than what you would be if you just tried to become "a good martial artist in general". He has also presented his philosophy about "Being like water", that every Kung Fu man is trying to do. To reach a state of formlessness, to be flexible and not rigid, because in life you come up with a bunch of different situations daily, which require different approaches. It's a sad thing that in today's generation people forget about such strong and successful mentalities, and personalities.

Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. You put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put it into a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend." “Be like water” means that you should be formless. A lot of fellas get confused here. No need to. When Lee says to be "formless", he means that people shouldn't allow themselves to be trapped in a certain mindset. Instead, a person should be able to adapt to certain situations, grow, and change; that's how one can adopt the qualities of water. His eclectic philosophy often mirrored his fighting beliefs, though he was quick to claim that his martial arts were solely a metaphor for such teachings. He believed that any knowledge ultimately led to self-knowledge, and said that his chosen method of self-expression was martial arts. His influences include Taoism, Jiddu Krishnamurti, and Buddhism. Lee stated his concept does not add more and more things on top of each other to form a system (JKD), but rather selects the best thereof. The metaphor Lee borrowed from Chan Buddhism was of constantly filling a cup with water, and then emptying it, used for describing Lee's philosophy of "casting off what is useless". In the same way you can cast out whatever and whoever is useless or dragging you down in life. Be elusive. Chicks love dudes who are hard to get, provided you look good and have your shit together. Furthermore, Lee considered traditional form-based martial arts, that placed emphasis on pre-arranged patterns, forms and techniques to be restrictive and at worst, ineffective in dealing with chaotic self-defense situations. Lee believed that real combat was alive and dynamic). "The extraordinary part of JKD lies in its simplicity. Every movement in Jeet Kune Do is being so of itself. There is nothing artificial about it. I always believe that the easy way is the right way*. Jeet Kune Do is simply the direct expression of one's feelings with the minimum of movements and energy. The closer to the true way of Kung Fu, the less wastage of expression there is. Finally, a Jeet Kune Do man who says Jeet Kune Do is exclusively Jeet Kune Do is simply not with it. He is still hung up on his self-closing resistance, in this case, anchored down to a reactionary pattern, and naturally is still bound by another modified pattern and can move within its limits. He has not digested the simple fact that* truth exists outside all molds; pattern and awareness is never exclusive. Again let me remind you Jeet Kune Do is just a name used, a boat to get one across, and once across it is to be discarded and not to be carried on one's back. " This will also help you avoid seeing things in here through a black and white lens. 1.5 month of implementing his advice and I feel powerful, I feel like I have learnt to develop insight and like I can put a hell of a fight before I go down. Before all this, I had become soft and lazy, I had allowed fear of the uncertain and fear of not being able to protect my-self to creep inside.

Now I could go on and on and offer more knowledge and experience on the subject, but I'm going to close this chapter here for now until I've organised my thoughts more and I pick up more during my journey, this will happen in time and not all at once, Id' like to be certain of specific things I post before I post them so see you in the next post sometime soon.

TL;DR Pick a martial art and pick it wisely, train, smash your fear and then meditate. Find the reason why you started, then adapt to the philosophy the art you picked, explore it, keep an open mind, strive to be flexible, formless, like water. Bruce Lee is an example of what a man can achieve in such a short period of time if he wants to. He studied philosophy and had a drive which ultimately made him an intelligent human being. He's also an example of how flexible one can be, instead of being rigid and falling into a stuck up mindset. Focus on the philosophical qualities of martial arts too. Expose yourself to uncertainty, empty your mind through meditation. Do not believe in styles or ways. Be water.