The Journey to True Self

jpg-EarthHands372x340At the same time as the internal Self begins its collective organization of knowledgeable principles, the Five Senses along with the emotions, have begun to establish elementary relationships and connections with both the material elements and how the senses perceive them. The Self becomes aware of Self and the physical world by way of interaction of senses. This interaction causes stimuli of the emotional intelligence, creating a reciprocal effect with powerful psychological influences and imprinting on the perceptions and sensory cortex. This establishes a foundation of the development of schema, which will become self-perpetrating within one’s self, if patterns, exposures, and habits remain.
So true is the description : “creatures of habit.” The early self is attracted to the pursuit of self gratification. Inspired by pleasure principles and curiosity, this early influence that the emotions have on Self can evolve into an internal emotional struggle for self-awareness, expression, and self-identity. This is the stage of consciousness expanding, of heightening of perception and awareness. Self proceeds to search for True Self, and emotional balance over negative influence and distorted sensory retrieval. Perception, one of the traits of the senses, allows the Self to mentally capture an image and imprint that image within the mind, giving the Self the ability to experience it. We dwell within an ocean of sensory and emotional stimulation. The Self operates as a combined conscious/sub-conscious receiver of data. It’s the interpretation of this coded data, and the emotional relationship and the degree of sensory sensibility that shape us into the Self we become. Self is always going through different degrees of metamorphosis. The Five Senses, or Five Perceptions, of hearing, smelling, seeing, tasting, and touching, along with the primary emotions of Love, Joy, Anger, Sadness, and Fear, resonate within our body’s energies at extremely deep degrees of acceptance. As they clash and merge into a synthesis of expressions of Self, the Self will become what Self chooses and attracts.
The journey to True Self is filled with successes and failures. The Self aspires to acquire knowledge and experience, and to store away such knowledge and experience to use as a compass to guide an individual through life. True Self is your mental image of Self, and resides in conscious awareness of Self.

Save

Hesitation, the Quick Freeze

Hesitation interferes with the Universal Law of Action/Reaction (“For every action there is an equal and hesitateopposite reaction” … Sir Isaac Newton). Hesitation separates the desired, conscious and calculated response from the equation, by hijacking the thought process and causing a multitude of breakdowns, first attacking the mind, and then the body. Hesitation, the quick freeze, stops all thought processes and opens the door of fear, allowing self-doubt and further hesitation to manifest. Hesitation strikes the body like lightening, turning it on itself. The heart begins to beat off rhythm, as the lungs squeeze, grasping for air. Vision is blurred and unsure. The mind becomes its own worst enemy, as it allows fear and doubt to creep in. Fear gives birth to doubt, doubt leads to hesitation, …and failure. Once hesitation enters your mind, it brings the seeds of doom with it, which is why in strategy, my rule is Know myself and strengthen my weaknesses. …Know not myself, and destruction is mine for certain.” Destruction cannot exist where there is a strong foundation of preparation. No matter how long a person may have been doing a thing, if there is hesitation, then there is also a high possibility of failure. Hesitation can paralyze the whole creative process and to be in combat, you need to be in the moment. The scattered mind that is left behind after hesitation strikes, is in a weakened state of fear and doubt.

Hesitation, the mind-killer, can turn your own strengths into weaknesses. Hesitation can strike slowly or extremely quickly. It matters not, since the seeds of hesitation are born within. The external influences that we allow to access our minds can have positive or negative impacts on our view of all things. In other words, the mental preparation for combat begins way before that first blow of the physical engagement itself. Strategic conceptualization begins silently, hiding within the conscious and subconscious minds of the individual. There are a numerous amount of obstacles that need to be prepared for. Just as water can penetrate a rock, hesitation can and will do the same to a fighter’s will, focus, mental state and ability. Slowly and steadily, they are chipped away from the core until defeat arrives. Hesitation is like quicksand, slowly absorbing all the fight until you succumb. It matters not about your physical abilities, your level of attainment, or your physical strength. When hesitation strikes deep within, the roots of your mind turn inward on themselves. Hesitation is a form of stress, and like all stress, it places a powerful impact on the body and mind. Examples are headaches, heart palpitations, high blood pressure, and emotional destabilization leading to anger, anxiety, and depression. The chemical imbalances can develop into a dangerous poison that will lead to destruction. In combat, perception is all you really have. The clearer the perception, the more accurate are your decisions. A martial artist must be flexible and able to make agile mental and physical adjustments, understand the power of mastery over tenants of fear, and be able to recognize the traits of it.

Through knowing where your fear lies, filtering your experiences and renewing with positive new perceptions, you can contain or eliminate fear. So, through a careful selective process, fear, doubt and hesitation can be defeated. The tools lie within each individual and can only be discovered after gathering total knowledge of your physical and emotional intellectual aptitudes. We are an experiential combination of the things we feel and believe, and these have a strong impact us. Both positive and negative intellectual and emotional influences impact our total connection, and knowledge of how we see ourselves and our world. Attempt to become aware of the forces that resonate in the internal and external environment. A great martial artist must live inside out and outside in. This means that a great martial artist is connected inside outwardly from his soul to the external environment, sensing all life forms and energies that he is exposed to. The great martial artist must also to be able to respect the energetic expressions of the possibility from outside elements while seeking balance and nourishing his spirit. The causes of hesitation reflect upon many habits and distorted beliefs that have now attached to conscious and subconscious thoughts. This influences perception and actions and reactions. Hesitation in combat is a fatal form of self-destruction. It allows for imperfection to dominate years of striving for perfection, while derailing the brain’s harmonious distribution of energy, causing a mental meltdown.

Fear

understanding-fearThe obstacles to martial art’s excellence lie within each of us. One of these obstacles is FEAR. Fear is real. Yet, fear is unique because in actuality, fear is an illusion and a misunderstood reflection of an individual’s perception, experience, and lack of knowledge. For a martial artist, it is extremely detrimental. Fear has the capacity to choke out all creative expression, and can create doubt in the heart of every man. It can cause individuals to shake with the sheer thought of a thing. Fear expresses itself in many different locations throughout the body, and a martial artist must be aware of where fear resides. Fear expresses in the external body by freezing motion and instilling hesitation, locking down movement, creating rigidity in the muscles. Next, it can reside in the organs, creating extra stress, and it has the capacity to steal away the courage that resides in the heart, and causing anxiety and heart palpitations. Stress can also cause serious damage to organs and body cells. Very importantly, fear can attack one’s mind, scattering thoughts, and leaving doubt and worry to enter. Thus, it gives the martial artist an altered reality or perception of what he is actually facing. This allows it to steal opportunity, and hinder growth and development.

So, a martial artist, should not give in to fear and indulge in fearful thoughts, but to master fear, and utilize it to his benefit. For a martial artist to dedicate his time trying to eliminate fear would be a life-long endeavor, for we are bombarded with illusions or perceptions that induce fear. Time is better spent trying to understand the mechanisms that stimulate fear and those connections that extend inwardly to himself from the physical world. We have ways to do this. Fear in the body can be released through relaxation techniques. Fear in the heart can be released through deep breathing exercises and Qi regenerating exercises. Fear in the mind can be relieved through meditation, visualization and self-analysis, and focused intentional thought. Remember, fear’s effect is to keep you from accomplishing a thing, and your job is to forge your way through fear, coming out on the other side more determined and stronger than before.

“Perception is a relative dimension of the understanding of an individual’s abilities, to sift through the muck and mire, of the dominating influences that have their impact on the thought processes in each individual’s life.” ………Sifu Saleem