Mainly Void Thoughts

Been a while since last I posted! To be honest, I don’t have a specific topic in mind. More that I just wanted to say that I’m feeling great today! Had a fantastic training session last night and now enjoy the usual soreness, which is all good. Being on the mats just makes me feel alive, happy and full of energy.

I have been up to my eye balls with things to do, and something that I really wanted to get through just hasn’t had the opportunity to be raised above the “must do’s” in the last couple of weeks. I’m really looking forward to finally have a few moments (in between everything else) where I can focus on those. I have lots of things I want to do for my clinic that I am trying to plan out and get organised. More training opportunities coming up, lots of things happening at the day job and in general just keeping really busy. Hopefully I can get a couple of hours to spend with my girlfriend too, one of these days!

But, as the headline says, it’s Friday! So today I am throwing out my task list (once I get out of work anyway) and we’ll be going to a good friends 40th birthday this evening. Really looking forward to it, as I’ve been way too busy to keep up with friends for some time now and there will be a number of great people there tonight. Really looking forward to seeing them all again. A lot of them live around the corner from us, so I’ve been feeling bad about not having had a chance to see them for so long. Seriously, they are within walking distance. So, tonight I’ll have a chance to make amends and have a blast.

Task list, screw you. I’m having fun tonight, no matter what you think I should do.

Gavin, Happy Birthday buddy!

First time I’m writing a book review, so I’ll start off with a caveat actually. Similar to the one the author gives himself, funnily enough!

When it comes to your own security or the security of those you hold dear, do not take any advise at face value. Make sure it actually works when you do need to use it. Everything that is written or that you see is not necessarily true. Just because it is in a book or on TV doesn’t mean it is half as good as they make it out to be. Don’t hazard your own or others lives on something you haven’t tested!

Having said that, I find this book to give a very interesting insight into the minds and behaviours of various types of personas that may want to try to take your worldly possessions (or life) off your hands.

Here we have a book written by Sgt. Rory Miller, a guy who has worked, and still is, in high security prisons as a security guard. His resume is impressive, but it is already in the book so if you’re curious, read the book. Let’s just say, I personally think he has the qualifications to speak on the subject.

There is a big discrepancy to what is taught in a regular dojo versus what you may encounter outside the dojo. Firstly, in the dojo, you are training with your mates. They usually won’t try to hurt you, at least not too badly. Even if they do swing a sharp blade at you, their behaviour is slightly different to how they would swing at someone unknown to them, who they do mean to harm. It would be highly unusual if they actually tried to do you physical harm in the dojo. This difference is what underpins the entire book and goes through, in high detail why this is, what you will found “on the outside” and what you really need to consider when you run into the really nasty people who have zero regard for your (and others) life.

Believe what you will about your fellow man, but do remember, you are quite possibly entirely wrong when you place any assumptions on how someone will behave when faced with a life threatening situation. Including your own self. There is no substitute for experiencing a situation where your life depends on your immediate, accurate and correct response. Not even training in a dojo where you’ll have a whole bunch of others (usually friends) who attack you.

This is highlighted very much throughout the book, and one assumption after another is torn to shreds. I especially find the chapter on predators a big eye opener. I mean, you try to think the best of people, but there is some seriously screwed up people out there too. It reminded me why I do train, and it will make me train both slightly differently as well as harder.

In any case, if you do train in a dojo and you have never really been in a fight on the streets, then you should really read this book. If you train for competition and think you can stand on your own two feet in a fight, you should really read this. There is nothing like deceiving yourself into believing you can take on anyone, anytime, anywhere. Reality is, you may not even see them coming.

So, read this, as it definitely has opened my eyes. It has given me some ideas and has certainly changed my training.

You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/Meditations-Violence-Comparison-Martial-Training/dp/1594391181/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1292788459&sr=1-1

One thing that people usually forget is that everything you have learnt and will learn in life can be applied not just to the subject matter in which is was learnt, but in any other subject matter you encounter in life. You can learn something about cars and use that same principle in lots of other areas too, if you just listen to the lesson and grasp the principle behind it.

As you probably know, I train in a Martial Art. How can principles learnt while fighting someone be applied to anything else in life? It’s quite simple really. All you really need is a little bit of imagination. I will here touch on three completely different subject areas, but I will take one principle and apply it appropriately to each area. Let’s pick a lesson from Martial Arts, then apply some imagination and then I’ll let you use your own imagination as we take that same lesson into something every human thinks about, sex.

Yes, you read that right! I’m sure you’re now thinking that this will end up being some sado-masocisthic blog post, right? Not at all. Quite on the contrary actually! The subject areas could really be anything, but this may show you some contrasts and commonalities and how your own imagination can transform your life.

When you start training in a Martial Art, you’ll be shown basics and you’ll likely be told that the basics are the most important techniques you’ll learn. Practice your basics and higher level techniques will then also become better. I can tell, your imagination is already skipping forward. So, hang in there and we’ll get to that in a moment.

So, let’s use our imagination a bit and consider the above fact. If you really think of it, the above statement holds true in anything you want to get better in. It could be some topic at work, some sport you train or compete in, even cooking. Take each component in whatever subject matter you wish and you will see that if you can get the basics right and improve your skills the end result will also be so much better, right?

Take this into the context of being with your partner then. Remember your first kiss? It was probably shit if you think of it objectively. But through the years, hopefully, you get more chances to practice that technique and eventually your skills in kissing someone improves. Should you stop trying to get better? Nah, why should you? That’s no fun right?

Next thing that your Martial Arts instructor will probably tell you a lot is to slow it down. This is so you can more easily see, feel and understand what the technique itself has to teach you. You’ll find openings in yourself where you are vulnerable, openings in your opponent where you can strike, weird or interesting angles that changes what opportunities you have or not have. It’ll show you at what points you’re doing something right, but more importantly where you are doing something wrong.

Using your imagination next, let’s consider something that a lot of people do. At a certain age you can start driving a car. You’ll be driving in lots of different road conditions and weather conditions. On a dry road it is very easy to keep high speeds and still be in control. Driving fast is not necessarily a mark on you being a good driver. As adverse weather rolls in controlling the car safely becomes harder as it may lose traction a lot sooner and easier. Roads that has water on them are not as safe as a dry road. Roads with icy spots are yet again not as safe as a wet road. Roads with thick ice and a bit of snow on top is less safe again. The key then to drive safely is not to be driving fast, but to drive at a speed where you can safely control your vehicle. Look at Ireland recently. Slow down and you’ll much sooner notice when the road becomes unsafe or when the car is starting to lose traction. If you slow down, you can then control the car and take yourself out of a potentially lethal situation. Driving fast will more than likely get you injured or killed.

Now, if we take this into the realm of sex, I’m sure you can already see direct correlations here. Lads, how many times have you had a woman tell you to slow it down and not just jump in there? Again, slowing things down will make it much easier for you to figure out what makes your partner tick, sigh, squirm and enjoy what you’re doing.

Everyone that starts in a Martial Art will at some stage be told to relax. In the dojo you will find someone that is very rigid and really goes at it with lots of force and strength. Also known as “being martial”. Doing this will probably hold you back eventually and eventually you’ll not progress and get any better at what you do. Your techniques may look good, but you may find yourself getting beaten when ending up sparring or worst case on the streets in a real fight.

Let’s consider a punch, aimed at your belly. Your natural reaction is to tense up as you receive the punch and more than likely you’ll get winded. All because you’re tensing up, you lock up your entire body. Once the air rushes out of your lungs, that fight is over. If you instead relax your abdomen a bit you can absorb a lot of the force and thereby not get winded. As you haven’t locked up your body you can also move out of the way to a much safer position, leading to you staying in the fight or surviving a potentially lethal situation.

Again, taking this into the context of sex, what can you learn here? Well, if you tense up you’re also losing control of your body in this situation as well! It becomes harder to breathe for example. If you relax, you could enjoy the moment for longer and thereby have more stamina and definitely a much nicer experience.

Another thing that is said to us in the dojo is that soke never does the same technique twice. Soke is the japanese word for Grand Master. He is the person who decides what direction the Martial Art is taking and so on. He is therefore a very important person in any Martial Art. But why doesn’t he do the same technique twice? Well, no two situations are the same. Not even if you practice the same technique over and over again. Each time a strike or kick is making its way towards you, there will always be slight differences. Learning to use those differences to ones advantage is a key factor. If you end up on the street in a fight and you expect your opponent to behave in some specific pattern, you’ll end up on the ground bleeding. No person reacts exactly the same as any other person. Not even if the same thing happens twice in a row as they have learnt something from the first time it happened to them.

Let’s consider something that Einstein once said: “The height of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome.” He mean this in the context of science and expecting different test results from the same tests. Science is very absolute in this regard, but so is expectations, which is a very relative term. In order for you to get a different test result, you have to change the test in some way. Could be simply slightly different mix of ingredients or perhaps adding or removing some component. What is important to understand here is that the second time you do the same thing, the result is already known and can be expected to be just what it was the first time. You should expect this, because others will expect this as well. Something needs to change for it to be different.

Again, this also holds true when it comes to sex. Keep on doing the same thing over and over again become boring. Really boring. Eventually you may even have a schedule when you’ll have sex. Does this sound like fun? Does this sound like something you’ll want to have for the rest of your life? Nah, not only change what you do, but when, how and where. You’ll have lots more fun that way, right?

So, to those of you training in Martial Arts, what other lessons and principles can you apply to your daily life that you learn in the dojo? What lessons from your every day life can you apply to Martial Arts?

Those of you not training Martial Arts, what lessons have you learnt at work that you can use at home?

To all of you, remember this, your imagination is the most powerful force you have at your disposal. You can imagine anything you want and if you work towards that imagined goal, eventually you’ll get there, and as I showed above, there might be some fun along the way too!

Never forget, everything you have learnt so far you can use any way you see fit. All you need to do is being open to new ideas. Both your own and others.

Hopefully this learnt you something, but more importantly I hope this may open new doors in your life and shine a light on that something you want to have improved and given you some ideas on what you can do to get it resolved.

You want to be successful in what you do? You want to “be the best”? You want to have all your dreams come true? Most people tend to answer yes to these questions.

Are you willing to do what it takes to achieve those goals? Are you willing to put in the effort required to get there? Again, most people say yes here too. Only one problem, people generally do not realise the effort they may have to go through and how hard that road might become.

If you take a look at those that are really successful in what they do, no matter what it is they do, you’ll find a few select things they all have in common. First and foremost is the fact that they just never quit, never give up, no matter what they are faced with. They get knocked on the head and fall down, they’ll be right up on their feet again, getting back in there again, again and again.

I’ve heard a couple of quotes which fit very well in here, and I’ll also add a video, which actually is the reason I’m posting this in the first place. Take these quotes and remember them, saying them to yourself when you’re starting to falter. Because you will falter. We all do at some stage.

“There is no failure, only feedback.” – Milton H Erickson

“It’s not how many time you fall down, it’s how many times you get back up again.” – Unknown, references appreciated!
“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~Japanese Proverb

“We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender [...]” – Winston Churchill [Full speech]

“Do it with a smile!” – Sensei (you know who you are, Domo arigato)

Now, here’s the video.

I’ve always found it fun to watch how people behave, trying to guess their next move, deciphering a glance, nod, smile or hunched posture.

Even more so these days. It’s quite amazing what you can see just by judging someones body language. How they look at someone, position of their hands, tilting of the head, how they smile. Is it a friendly smile? Doubtful look? Protective posture or open and inviting?

There are so many cues and clues, even if you observe someone at afar. The way someone dresses says a lot, but their movements says so much more. I especially find eyes giving away much more about what someone really thinks than any other body part. But, to get the full picture you really need to be in a position where you can observe the full body of who you’re curious about.

Are they lying or holding back something? What exactly makes me believe that? Shoulders tense? Eyes not focused on who they speak with? Fidgetting? Is it nervousness? Shyness? Purely trying to evade the subject?

You often don’t need to hear the conversation even. That is why “action speaks louder than words”. Your body has already acted and spoken. Probably before you even formulated what you wanted to say. This is especially true if someone is very attracted to whoever they have their attention on or in a violent situation where someone is about to attack another individual.

Awareness of your surroundings are very important. Consider when you’re in a meeting for example. You’re all of a sudden acutely aware of how others hold themselves, if you’re in the meeting with something to gain or lose at least. If it is a meeting where you are likely to be bored of your skull, that is also quite noticeable, even if you don’t think so. Pay attention, your boredom may be noted by someone senior. Pay attention, the others around the table may reveal some vital clue which may give you an advantage in a sales pitch.

It is also a superb way to make sure you can stay out of harms way. Ever walked into a room and things just didn’t feel right? Did you stay or did you leave? Ever noticed someone looking suspicious while you were walking down the street? How did they behave and what made you think they are suspicious?

Alex Meehan has an excellent post where he gives his advice on what beginners in Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu could pick up as initial reading material. He also gives some background on how Martial Arts teachings have been handed down through the years. He also digs into why reading a book on various techniques just won’t give you the same understanding of the teachings.

It’s an excellent read that I highly recommend.

Ouch, that seems a tad morbid perhaps but let me explain why I’d write about such a topic. Over the last couple of weeks I’ve essentially been knocked out, having been in hospital for most of this time undergoing surgery, twice. Not really my idea of how to enjoy some time off work.

During these couple of weeks I’ve been almost constantly in pain and it has made me realise some of the qualities pain has and the difference between a short lasting stab of pain versus something that just doesn’t go away, no matter how good drugs the hostpial has. These qualities hold some interest to me though as a Martial Artist but also as a fellow human being. It is now much more easy for me to understand people who live with pain in their everyday life and how it affects them.

For example, pain can completely debilitate you. It can in some cases even paralyze you. Ever had that sharp pang when you try to reach down to the ground because you wanted to pick something up you dropped? That pang which makes you suddenly freeze right where you are, not daring to move the slightest as then this pain may return, or if it is still there, get worse?

So, what else did I realise?

Pain can:

1. paralyze an individual. Both partially and fully.
2. prevent certain movement, essentially making the receiver crippled.
3. warn the receiver that if they don’t move out of harms way, this thing is gonna get a heck of a load worse.
4. wear out the energy of the receiver.
5. infuriate and anger.
6. blind the receiver, either by simply closing the eyelids due to a sharp pang or temporarily actually loosing sight for a brief moment as the brain shuts down any neural input in order to cope and survive the current situation.

Some of the above are fairly straightforward, I hope. I’m now hearing a lot of readers thinking that all of those are bad, apart from the third one. Well, that is your call to make really. To be quite honest, all of the above are useful to consider if you do train any Martial Arts, as all of them can be used if you do get attacked. None of these are actually only “bad”. Think of the last item. If your brain decides to shut down your eye sight, you have probably just had a major trauma. The body does things like this in order to protect itself, simply shutting down things it cannot currently deal with, because there are more important things to handle. Your brain doesn’t want to be bogged down with input once it realises it needs to put its full attention to one part of your body. Makes sense really, doesn’t it.

Another aspect of being in constant pain is the sleep deprivation that goes along with it. Most I’ve slept in one go is 5 hours and that was just the once. Mostly I’ve slept 3-4 hours at a time and then having to battle myself to get back to sleep. Constantly tired and hungry is not fun. But being in constant pain is a lot worse.

If I look at the above list, considering each item, as a Martial Artist it is quite different from how Joe Boggs would consider them. As a Martial Artist all of those are good things, as long as you’re not on the receiving end. Imagine for a moment you do end up in a fight. Causing pain in your opponent is then something that is beneficial to your own survival. If you’re a Martial Artist I think you should consider each point carefully and see how you can make them work in your own training.

What I’ve experienced over the last couple of weeks is not something I wish upon anyone, but I am positive as I write this, there is right now someone else going through the exact same ordeal, somewhere. Which is quite unfortunate, as in truth it could have been prevented. But that is what you get for being a stubborn silly bugger not wanting to accept help from those that can give it to you.

Studying Martial Arts has led me to start looking at a lot of other things as well. There’s a whole batch of things I’m revisiting, new things I’m finding (which aren’t that new really, but rather a few thousand years old), and new ways to look at things. A heck of a lot of things to be honest.

As time permits I try to learn some Japanese. Why? Well, there’s quite a lot of details that dissapear when something is translated to another language. Lots of the interesting things I’m uncovering has their basis in either Japanese culture or Chinese culture. However, learning Chinese is quite a daunting task if you consider the various dialects and major difference between them.

I also study Sun Tzu and the Art of War. Rather, to be more precise, Sun Wu. If you didn’t realise what I just said, I’d suggest that you should really study it. There is a nice 3 volume set which contains 12 books. Translated works of Thomas Cleary : On Strategy and Counsel. It is probably the most amazing set of books I have read, especially considering the original authors have been dead for between one and two thousand years. At least, that’s the assigned time line. Massive amounts of these teachings span even further back in time. Then, once those volumes are completed, I’d recommend reading them again, to better understand it all. Basis for the Art of War is not only how to manage troops and outsmart your opponent, but how you can lead your own life, the life of others and even whole communities, cities or indeed even countries. Much of those teachings are interlinked with the I Ching and the Tao Te Ching.

On a completely different front, which isn’t that different, I’ve also taken up a course in Hypnotherapy. Which is a really powerful way to help people to reach their goals. Extremely useful for those who needs help feeling motivated, have fears or anxieties, want help to lose weight or just about any such thing. No, it’s not a replacement thing for your ordinary doctor. Doctors are great at stitching people together when then have hurt themselves. However, despite lots of studies and research, we humans still do not know a heck of a lot about how our brains work. You know, this little part of the body which also keeps our mental state, our memories, feelings and so on. This is still very much a “magical mystery” to the Western medicine and therefore not very commonly used or trusted, by those doctors anyway. However, “alternative medicine” which also includes Hypnotherapy includes quite a broad range of ways to treat people. Some good, some not so good. I’m now going of on a complete tangent here though. What I wanted to really say though was, by starting to study Martial Arts (note: not Martial Sports) I am learning lots about myself along the way. And yes, the Hypnotherapy is actually linked quite nicely together into my Martial Arts training/studying too …

I’ve always been very interested in Japanese swords, in all their variants. There’s quite a few different types of swords and knifes, but the most well known is the Katana. Now, if you do decide you want one of these and you travel to Japan to buy one, there is only one way for you to get it out of the country. That is to display to the authorities you know how to care for the sword. I do mean just that, not how to use it. Those are two widely different things. Swigning a sword around is not the same as making sure it will last for a long time.

Here’s is then how you examine the sword, check for potential problems, and being Japanese, yes there is a ritual to follow, precisely.

A Soke from a Ryu called Meifu Shinkage Ryu shows what they do … The bigger you expand the view, the bigger the effect …