How Does A Martial Artist Balance The Body, Mind, And Spirit?
For some martial artists, harmony of the 3 is the end goal. So how does one acquire the Z-Goal for their life? What is a “Z-Goal”? It is the ultimate end of what you are trying to accomplish or seek in life. Like the alphabet that starts with A and ends with Z, you start in life with short term goals, accomplishing many goals throughout your life, and hopefully have a Z-Goal for where you will end up eventually in the long term. “Man’s got to know his limitations!” – Dirty Harry
What you leave behind you always have to go back and get in order to have balance. You must understand yourself before you can understand others. The easiest example of this point to help you understand, is look at all the people you know that have let themselves go physically. They have trouble walking up a flight of stairs, get tired from very little effort, usually are taking many medications and experiencing many health problems. They have left their physical growth and well being behind. They will have to struggle to get their health back, if they even can. This can happen in the other 2 areas, mentally and spiritually, as well.
“Accept everything about yourself-I mean everything, you are you and that is the beginning and the end-no apologies, no regrets.” – Henry Kissinger So how does a martial artist balance the body, mind, and spirit? How does anyone reach or acquire their ultimate goal in their life?
The formula is (Persistence, Persistence, Persistence) multiplied by (Discipline)
Persistence through discipline requires sacrifice, hard work, and usually giving something up in order to obtain the ultimate goal or Z-Goal you are seeking. Like the balance of the Ying and Yang, this requires putting less value on things that you have to give up for things that you want to acquire in your life.
In order to secure the proper path to any goal in life, how would one minimize the sacrifice of the things in life that are needed and important? Can you eliminate the wants that you really should give up anyway, things that would hinder your growth?
Answer this; what is the difference between instant gratification vs. delayed gratification? Could that not be something to think about?
What is the best, most effective way to get to the Z-Goal while minimizing or ideally, eliminating those things that have to be given up to obtain the goal? Some of those things that you will be giving up are things that you should give up anyway, for example, lying on the couch, eating junk food, or just wasting time. Remember that one must keep a balance with the things that are important, such as being with the family, recharging the batteries, learning something new, keeping up with a personal interest, playing a musical instrument, community service, or helping people in general. What it boils down to is that you need to eliminate some of these things and not others, but you must know how to moderate and control them so they don’t hinder your journey in acquiring your Z–goal.
In my humble opinion, a flesh and blood teacher is the best way to learn something physical, for example some martial arts techniques. To continue to grow mentally and spiritually in life in general and to obtain your Z-Goal, books are the best way to self-educate because books are the least manipulated media.
Read books!!!
Here is why. Nowadays videos are all the rage. I like videos too, but a written article that is read is much more powerful. The reason why the written word is much more powerful is because anybody can sit back and passively watch a short video. The difference is that when somebody takes 3 to 5 minutes to read and consume a 400 word article, in doing so they have to actively engage their brain and the information makes a deeper impression.
Ultimately you will acquire your Z-Goal faster, will replace bad habits with good ones, and you will be happier and more whole which will directly impact every other area of your life including those things that you spent less time doing in order to reach that goal. Education is the catalyst for better understanding which leads to a less stressful life because the more information you acquire through reading books and other media, the better you can apply the wisdom you have gained proportionally to your everyday experiences.
Don’t make the same mistake everyone else does. Follow your own path.
You might now be asking yourself, Balance The Body, Mind, And Spirit?
Are you ready for the BLOCK System?
If you like this article, please Like or Share it!
The best fight is the one where both or all parties can walk away and still save face