Leshiye

Growing up in the city was hard for me. I was always taller and more awkward... martial arts taught me to know my body and its limits even as I grew at an alarming rate. I fought almost every week from the age of 6 to 15 when school was in session.... either at school or directly there-after. It was kind of a sink or swim atmosphere. Real live fights are pointless unless there is a real serious threat. The goal is always the same.... to preserve what you can. To include the opponant in this philosophy of the path of least destruction. Flight is better than intimidation. Intimidation is better than striking. Striking is better than scaring. Scaring is better than maiming. Maiming is better than crippling. Crippling is better than killing. Killing is better than nothing at all... its the worst thing ever. I have learned that violence occurs when desire exceeds logic and rational thought. The normal person is easily pushed across this line when its personal. Fear is the engine driving this mechanism. Fear of loss. I have been in no serious physical engagements outside of arranged education. They never got serious because I was lucky enough to be able to run away.... fast. I understand the interest in how a learned martial skill might fair in a real world setting. But I think perhaps if you have ever been in a real live engagement, you would know all you would ever need to know about it. It's terrifying... you are fighting for your life and nothing less. If you can remain calm and focus... perhaps your training will manifest itself if you were consumate enough. Decisions are made instantly and without repeal... every instant is a final judgement. You can never ever take anything back once it has become the past. Terrifying... Im a very large man now. If there were no other alternative... I would rather suffer a beating from a lesser man than risk seriously injuring them or possibly killing them.

I shall try to be brief here as i speak on what I know of Musashi's emptiness. A friend of mine described it best to me as he tried to convey to me the act of expressing a movement without thinking about it. "A glass is a glass if it has water in it or not. So you are a glass. As you are here in Nature, you are filled. A glass that is filled cannot be filled anymore." This suggests that one must empty the self of that which was learned when facing a task. There can be no presuppositions, no plan... merely that which is being poured into your senses, filling you. That which you have learned is now part of the glass... part of you, it supports you and helps to bear what is now pouring in. In short, there can be no doubt... only reception and result. The mechanism is all you. Your training, your physical abillity, your soul... all of this shapes your expression. Expression is shaped by that which fills you. Regards...

Very intersting thread... MMA practitioners are most attractive to me because they seem to allow themselves the lattitude to incorporate that which seems best to fit their personal style and strength. As in life, each of us makes decisions based upon our experiences and so it follows in all of matial arts. I feel that it is dangerous to categorize too narrowly... to place the mind in some sort of mental martial arts grocery store where you pick out your sustenance based solely on brand names. Food is food... if you like the way it tastes, then eat it. Keeping your focus on the goal is hard.... not just some times, but at all times there are things that seek your attention... things you desire and seek to understand. This can detract from the goal when you are mislead... but how will you know unless you take a bite first? I love the states of paradox in which life enjoys setting upon all of us. The best I have been able to figure from my life in regards to what form or style I will sample and incorporate into my fighting philosophy is that I must first experience it, then it will become as apparent to me as if I have tasted the sweetest fruit or the most rancid meat. It works for me. Pardon the rambling.... but this is what this thread made me want to say.

I liked this site for a while now and so I decided to register and join the discussions. Much respect to those who teach and seek here. I am 37 years old and have practiced Tae Kwon Do, Jujitsu, Kendo and have considerable experience with real-wold / person-to-person fighting. I have not been in a real live fight for a few years now and have taken to developing my philosophy of the things which nature has filled me with. I am glad to be here and hope to learn as much as I can from you all.