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“Don't think. FEEL. It's like a finger pointing at the moon.
Do not concentrate on the finger or you will miss all of the heavenly glory!” – Bruce Lee
This week I have been on TVNZ breakfast as well as interviewed on national radio with regards to an incident last year whilst working as an IT analyst at Rotorua Hospital where I was fired for taking one blank DVD to record some martial arts footage which I was using to facilitate the training of the hospital security staff in self defence. I am glad that the case has generated national attention as I think it sets a scary precedence where employers can fire someone for taking a low value item like stationery.
Working with schools whilst running my self-defence programme I was looking at the Maori weaving patterns adorning the reception walls. Noho Taniwha, the teeth of Taniwha; to the European perception they look a bit like the teeth of a dragon. Taniwha have been sighted by some Maori and even some pakeha; it seems that the metaphysical nature of the Maori culture is able to awaken the spirituality that the European has conditioned to ignore over the ages.
Sometimes people tell me that I am a person of contradiction being a martial artist and self defence instructor as well as an IT professional. I don’t see the big contrast as to me both martial arts and IT are two areas which reward individual drive, learning and commitment and both provide abstract concepts as solutions to real-life problems. Just as I challenge myself and grow as a martial artist I am also constantly updating my IT professional certifications and knowledge as new products and operating systems are released. This is what excites me about both martial arts and the IT field; the fact that to succeed you have to be committed to being a life-time learner.
“It is not because things are difficult that we dare not. It is because we do not dare that they are difficult.” – Seneca
It is important to identify the purpose of the training in the martial arts in order to ascertain what really drives and motivates us to train. It is not really the antagonism of combat or the sweat of the training routine rather it is about the emotions that the practice of martial arts elicits. To delve into the Zen philosophical purpose of why we train we have to look at the factors that drive us emotionally on our journey. It could be the feeling of security, health and wellbeing, personal growth and development, comradeship or maybe status or recognition; it all varies from one individual to the other.
After a crazy weekend at the movement Jam in Auckland, I am painstakingly putting together the very first ever episode of my hitch hiking documentary. Three days of running, leaping, vaulting and flipping around Auckland (ok ok I was behind the camera mostly) with guys from all over the country has been a great way to get to know not just the style but the people who practise it. Anyone can get a wikipidia definition of a style but only by meeting the people can you truly get a sense of what it is about (because the people who practise make the style).
