A Warrior's Thougts on the Martial Arts

So it's been a while (again). There's just a lot going on right now. I'm right about to finish my university training, just took my black belt exams, nearly completed my paper on proper warm-up... Still, all of this will be dealt with in later (significantly delayed) posts. Today, it's all about completing my [Reflections series] . So, without further ado, get ready for (III / III) Energy Efficiency The Chinese government seems to be determined to educate its people when it comes to environmental protection and energy saving. Now that's a good thing, if you ask me. However, just like in all things (especially when they're linked to communism), there's that nagging discrepancy between theory and practice... Of course, I do realize that the major issue in China is probably the heavy industry. Still, covering that topic here would be beating a dead horse. Instead, I will look at the whole issue from another point of view. My analysis will focus on the sm...

This is the first of three considerations that crossed my mind when [travelling through China] . The others will follow shortly... (I/III) Paralysis by Analysis - or: How to use a map Obviously, most of the time Sabine and I had no idea how to get from point A to point B - especially when we were travelling on foot. Luckily, we had maps for most cities, so eventually, we reached every destination we wanted to see... still, I realized that exploring a foreign country (or city, for that matter) by help of a map is a very useful analogy for how he approach many things in our everyday lives. Consider the following scenario: you're in a foreign city and try to find a certain street or alley. All street signs are descript in a foreign language, i.e. pretty much useless for your needs. Houses are not numbered. After some time, you reach a crossroads with a street sign you can actually identify (either because it's a main road an hence labelled in western characters or because ...

This one should probably be filed as “thoughts on attitude”, but then again, it’s a rather philosophical point, isn’t it? Guess we could call it “applied philosophy”,… but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let me explain. A couple of days ago, I was discussing some of my thoughts with [Ronny] . Our little talks tend to frustrate me, mostly because I often leave with more questions than I initially had when I thought of an answer… Ronny just has the ability of asking the right questions. Right, of course, usually means “devastating”. Whenever I think I‘ve figured something out, there tends to be that one nasty little detail I haven’t considered. Discovering such flaws is essential – for one, it might turn out that the whole solution is just plain wrong. They say that “the devil lies in the details”. Hence, a single detail might contradict an otherwise sound theory. Even if it doesn’t – this brings me to point number two –, the knowledge that all details are covered offers a certain degree ...

There's this book that has had a great influence on my understanding of the martial arts: "Samurai Geist" , by Thomas Preston . Basically the book has an old samurai elaborate on the concept of bushido and the way of the sword. Excellent reading, definately a must for any serious martial artist (not necessarily for combat athletes, although II believe anyone can benefit from that book. What intrigued me most was something like this: "Many beginners make the mistake of believing the martial arts will teach them how to fight well and defend themselves. This is not true - rather, it teaches one how to die well." Now it's been years since I read the book (probably should read it again soon) and it was written in german, so the above is a rough translation from what I remember. Still, I think you get the idea. I even remember posting about this before, but I just can't find the post at the moment. Those lines have intrigued me so much that I've bee...