Greetings from cyberspace and welcome to our Spiritual Martial Arts Blog. Our purpose is to share our thoughts and the thoughts of our elder school brothers and sisters about our experiences training in traditional martial arts for fighting skill as well as "spiritual" and meditative purposes.

It is our belief that martial arts offer a unique perspective to approaching the spiritual side within us. We live in a world which is plagued with anger and violence. The martial arts are a way to harness and overcome negative actions and emotions. The Internal martial arts that we practice are the antithesis of violence, they train us to control our own dark side and to protect ourselves from the misguided actions of others.

Spiritual martial arts are martial practices that are combined with training deep awareness and relaxation of the mind and body.  When violent tendencies appear the Inner Dissolving practices from Taoist Meditation can help release the energy which is causing these tendencies to arise.  By fusing our meditative training with our physical work, we are able to find a deeper level of peacefulness in our daily lives.

One of the benefits of using martial arts to address spiritual concerns is that physical training can be a short cut to releasing painful feelings that have been buried deep inside.  When sitting in meditation it may take an hour or two to fully bring up and clear out strong feelings of anger or worry.  Taking that much time may not be a feasible practice session for many people.

However, in the two-person practices of martial arts the added energy of a partner and the potential for increased aggression dials everything up a notch or two. This added intensity increases the speed with which energies are changing inside. It helps one to more quickly confront the fear, anger and ego that we all have within us. We find that much of the physical, mental and emotional stability that we thought we had is not as solid as we had assumed.

Martial arts helps us to realize the weak points in our cultivation.  A mind that is calm when peacefully seated may quickly fall apart when in an emotionally charged situation.  For both fighting skill and meditative training, we want to build a strong, stable connection between mind and body that isn't easily collapsed, regardless of external circumstances. The ability to stay in the moment is key in both meditative and martial practices, as our good friend and mentor Frank Allen of the Wu Tang PCA likes to say, "when are you more in the moment, than when a fist is in your face?"

The first stage of the practicing Spiritual martial arts is to develop a stable, continuous intent.  A mind that is not easily distracted and side tracked.  A sense of being awake inside your body so that you aren't just unconsciously going through the motions of life.  A grounded presence that is calm, aware and alive to what is occurring both within and without our bodies.

Solo practices such as Ba Gua's circle walking or Xing Yi's Santi standing are the easiest modes of practice to begin to develop this mindset.  As you train these essential forms, try to let the inner chatter of your thoughts slow down.  Focus on the breath, and let your attention fill your body, while at the same time being aware of what is going on around you. No more, no less. Keep it simple, return to your breath again and again to help stabilize your mind.

In two-person practice awareness of the gaps and unconscious breaks in one's intention is the first level of training. The standard way to work on this is to stand facing your partner, with both of you in a Santi or Single Palm Posture. You stand or walk facing each other without breaking your gaze on the other person. When you feel the other person's attention break or their intention "gap out" you step forward and attack. As the attacker your goal is to find holes in your opponents defenses and exploit them like a mosquito through a hole in a screen door. As the defender you are trying to stay present to the moment so that you can see your opponent's attack before it comes.  After each attack, stop, return to the beginning and start over.

It doesn't matter whether your attack or defense succeeds, the key to this training is to become more aware of how your mind wanders, and how to keep it firmly centered in the here and now. This is the first step to being able to later direct your mind toward more important goals like opening up the energy of the body or clearing away negative emotions and thoughts.  Those things become more possible as your attention and concentration grow over time and training.

 
Happy Practicing

Isaac & Jess