Monday, September 1, 2008

Martial Wisdom (part 2)


I have include in here the many martial wisdom (quotes and saying) that I have collected throughout the years in my martial art training. I wish to impart these very same wisdom to those who are willling to open one's mind. Read to your hearts content.


- An instructor's first task is to help the beginner to dream. By believing in the dreamer, he helps him to realize his dream. Then the dream can be made real. (Mon Rivera)


- A positive mental attitude is about what you want, rather than on what you don't want. (Jose Silva)


- Give credit to where it is due. Even the enemy.


- If we realize the spirit, then our movements will naturally be light and nimble. The postures are no more than full and empty, opening and closing. What we mean by opening is not limited to just the hands or feet, but we must have the idea of opening in the mind as well. What we mean by closing, too, is not limited to just the hands or feet, but we must also have the idea of closing in the mind.


- If the weight of the whole body rests on the right leg, then the right leg is full and the left leg is empty. If the weight of the whole body rests on the left leg, then the left leg is full and the right leg is empty. Only after distinguishing full and empty will our turning movements be light, nimble and effortless. If we are not able to make this distinction, then our steps will be heavy and stiff. Our stance will be unsteady and will be easily pulled off balance.


- A tactician fighter will have a lot more tools at his disposal because he sees the overall given condition. He can therefore be proactive rather than simply reactive, which is the true mark of mastery of both military and martial arts. (Abyz D. Carreon)


- Restriction retards thought, restriction of thought is void of self, without self there is no "I". (Dennis M. Blue)


- Survival by whatever means is necessary to assure that you live and they do not. If you do not have the heart for that then you must at least be able to neutralize the situation. (Dennis M. Blue)


- Totality always works better than partiality. (Perry Gil S. Mallari)


- Animals use their front paws to control their gait. The pattern in the forelimbs generates patterns in the hind limbs. It's the same with people. When their strong enough, something goes awry in their legs. (E. C. Frederick, Physiologist)


- Out of suffering emerge the strongest souls.


- What you resist, persist.


- A close second is not a desirable place to finish in a battle to the death.


- The surest trap is the one you set in the path of a man running to avoid a trip.


- Wisdom is always useful. If he paid attention to the coming and going of the sun, the worm wouldn't be eaten by the bird.


- To destroy suggests a certain degree of brutality on the part of the practitioner, it is actually describing a state of determined effort in combat.... Once the situation is determined to be potentially dangerous to others or to oneself then the principle of destroy must be applied.


- Take advantage of any "weakness", that is the lax side or unfocused attention of his opponent's defense, then initiate a strike from an unexpected direction to an unexpected target. This principle takes full advantage of an opponent's sloppy defense in order to launch an attack that not only confuses the aggressor but overcomes him as well.


- There are two methods of intercept, one is soft the other is hard. Hard interception involves a strike that breaks the adversary's defenses just before he launches an attack. A soft interception applies pressure in the same direction of the attack. Thus when an opponent rushes forward, blocks and grabs can be utilized, but when he retreats the stylist follows through putting pressure on the opponent again and again.

- Common people breathe at the throat; a true person breathes from the heels.

- Evil is all men's lot, but yet we must keep courage. (Homer, Achilles, Troy)

- A wise man treats all strangers with respect for he could be facing the face of an enemy.

- I belong to the warrior,
who have joined
the old ways with the new. (Haiku)

- The lay of the land may tilt the battle but heaven decides who will win.

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