We all have different reasons to practice martial arts and meditation. These reasons change as we grow in our practice. One of the best things I’ve heard on the subject is that people start practicing for good reasons, keep practicing for great reasons, and if they quit it’s usually for dumb reasons. We should all [...]
As Buddha said, life is suffering. This does not mean that suffering cannot be avoided or overcome, but rather that to suffer is our default experience of life. It comes very naturally for us. We must work to overcome it, and this is one of the opportunities our practice of martial arts and meditation gives [...]
Simone Biles, Gregory Bull, Associated Press Simone Biles and her mental strength made news with her recent withdrawal from competition at the Olympics. Many were disappointed, not only because as fans they wouldn’t get to see her perform but also because of what it meant for team USA’s gold medal prospects. Many others [...]
A kiai used in martial arts is a loud vocal expression. This week’s question is, “Do kiais embarrass or liberate you?” Kiai is a Japanese term that means “spirit yell” and is comprised of the symbols for ki which means spirit or life force energy (similar to chi in Chinese) and ai which means to [...]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3lQSxNdr3c Choosing can lead to certainty. In Karate Kid, Miyagi Sensei drew the comparison between Daniel’s choice to practice martial arts and walking down the road: “Walk left side, safe. Walk right side, safe. Walk middle, sooner or later, get squish just like grape.” Choosing or waffling We live in balance between extremes. [...]
This week’s internal challenge is to recognize when you wish something were going faster, then pause and be patient. Patience is something we all struggle with from time to time. This simple exercise will help us keep it at the front of our minds and cultivate patience. Traffic as a teacher Years ago I recognized [...]
Over the last few months, I’ve been growing up. At least, "grown up" things have been happening in my life. Two were of my own volition: getting married and buying a house. The third was seeing my mom pass away. The first two have seemed almost like I’m playing pretend at times, like my life [...]
I’ve been writing and speaking about how to best deal with challenge and hardship in life for about 20 years now, and I have a confession to make: I don’t think that I’ve had to truly deal with hardship in my own life. If you’ve known me for any length of time this probably comes [...]
I asked Sifu a question the other day about how not to feel guilty about not always doing the Challenges of the Week, forgetting how to be powerful in this situation. I have a lot of things I'm working on for my goals for the year (key phrase “working on”). I’m not 100% successful at [...]
We are not usually invited to make unreasonable goals. When we learn the process of setting goals and achieving them, we become unimaginably powerful. While we can and should be setting goals throughout the year, this is a great time to revisit the topic. Learning to achieve goals is like any other skill. We start [...]
