State of Being - Part 2

There is a significant difference between earning a black belt and being a black belt. An individual can earn the rank, but no longer be one. Not that the rank is stripped, however can you call yourself a weightlifter if you quit lifting weights? No. You would say you were a weight lifter. Doesn’t change the fact that you did earn the rank, but living and maintaining it is not a given.

There is a difference in your state of being when you’re living the rank. You can’t live the lifestyle without a degree of connectivity to your surroundings. You empathize with your world, the people and the earth. You have to. Kung Fu is all about connection to the ground and understanding your opponent. But that does not stay on the mats; you take it with you everywhere. You understand your impact on the people you interact with and the earth you walk on. Or simply put, you understand that you have an impact.

You live in a state of readiness. Not that you’re expecting an attack at any moment, however you strive to always be fully engaged with your surroundings. This is not a perpetual tension, but engagement. Just as you throw a punch or kick, you cannot do these things if you are perpetually tense. Or, more accurately, you cannot do these things efficiently and effectively if you are perpetually tense. You need to be relaxed in order to react quickly, to fire your muscles as needed. However, you are always engaged, therefore have the ability to react. Aware. Engagement without tension. In your body in and in your mind.

Where am I? What am I doing?

Therefore you strive to live with peace. You cannot live without being tense when living with strain, stress and anxiety. Your mental state affects everything and everyone in your life. It affects your training, your ability to learn, to teach and to practice. Practicing peace is practicing Kung Fu.

Khona Rybak