Martial Arts is a lifestyle not just combat training

[ehsen]

I don't know what you people think about it. But I personally feel most people relate martial arts only to combat training. TO me its a Life Style. I always dream of living in Hawaii, waking up at five o clock in the morning and practice Tai Chi. Awesome isn't it.
I made few rules for myself and always advise other beginners to follow them too. Here are these rules,

No Drinking
No Smoking
No Pizza's, burgers and cold drinks
No Late Night Parties
*No Pornography

* Purity of mind is very important. As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind.

I consider myself a beginner. But the above rules totally changed my life.

 

[Empty Hands]

Despite the opinions of the shaolin, how does purity of mind (assuming avoiding porn makes you pure - an assumption I don't make) make one a better fighter? Indeed, some of the best fighters I have ever seen or heard about are debased and vicious.

This is a common mistake IMO. Combat training is cerebellar pattern conditioning, physical improvement and mental habituation. Romanticising it with visions of white clad monks meditating in the morning sunlight on a mountain top confuses the issue. Evil people can be quite effective fighters, and martial artists.

 

[Cirdan]

*No Pornography

* Purity of mind is very important. As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind.

Man, it is a miracle I can even throw a punch without tripping myself. :uhyeah:

 

[Andrew Green]

No Drinking
No Smoking
No Pizza's, burgers and cold drinks
No Late Night Parties
*No Pornography

While I haven't come across porn at a martial arts event, all of the others have been there in abundance.

So I go with Choki Motobu's thinking:

It is necessary to drink alcohol and pursue other fun human activities. The art (i.e. karate) of someone who is too serious has no "flavour."

And in combat training, military that is as they are actually doing combat training. Well, let's say all 5 are covered, and then covered again, and covered a little extra on Sundays

Besides, purity of mind is a rather subjective concept. A pure mind is one uninfluenced by societal pressures, and one of the biggest drives in humans is the sex drive. So by that reasoning a pure mind is one that is occupied with the pursuit of sex a lot of the time

 

[Blindside]

*No Pornography

* Purity of mind is very important. As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind.

I consider myself a beginner. But the above rules totally changed my life.

Are you celibate? Have you washed away the evil yucky impure thoughts of that girl on the beach in a bikini? Incidentally, taking a look at the top MMA fighters and the girls they hang out with, I'm going to say that the connection between "purity of mind" and being a "good fighter" is weak at best.

 

[Andrew Green]

Well, he may have a point. Tito was on the top, now he is dating Jenna Jameson and can't seem to get back up on top... wait... that came out funny...

 

[Just4Kicks]

My rules are:

No drinking
No smoking
No drugs

Fast foods are fine in MODERATION, like only rarely. Your body is a tool, if you don't look after it then just try and do that spining back hook kick!

I personally have a distaste for pornography which has little to do with martial arts, but I think I would rather not grapple with someone who likes it too much...

 

[Xue Sheng]

I don't know what you people think about it. But I personally feel most people relate martial arts only to combat training. TO me its a Life Style. I always dream of living in Hawaii, waking up at five o clock in the morning and practice Tai Chi. Awesome isn't it.
I made few rules for myself and always advise other beginners to follow them too. Here are these rules,

No Drinking
No Smoking
No Pizza's, burgers and cold drinks
No Late Night Parties
*No Pornography

* Purity of mind is very important. As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind.

I consider myself a beginner. But the above rules totally changed my life.

If this works for you then this is great and the way you should go

Despite the opinions of the shaolin, how does purity of mind (assuming avoiding porn makes you pure - an assumption I don't make) make one a better fighter? Indeed, some of the best fighters I have ever seen or heard about are debased and vicious.

This is a common mistake IMO. Combat training is cerebellar pattern conditioning, physical improvement and mental habituation. Romanticising it with visions of white clad monks meditating in the morning sunlight on a mountain top confuses the issue. Evil people can be quite effective fighters, and martial artists.

This is true there are non-Shaolin that were or are good fighters but when comparing Shaolin Monks to other types of fighters you have to understand there are differences.

Shaolin Monks studies Kung fu for fighting and to keep their bodies strong for long periods of mediation since they were in fact Buddhist monks.

Both combat trained fighters and Shaolin were good fighters but the motivation to fight would be completely different.

Both are good or were good fighters they just had vastly different reasons for fighting.

It all depends on what path you want to take I guess

 

[JBrainard]

I don't know what you people think about it. But I personally feel most people relate martial arts only to combat training. TO me its a Life Style. I always dream of living in Hawaii, waking up at five o clock in the morning and practice Tai Chi. Awesome isn't it.
I made few rules for myself and always advise other beginners to follow them too. Here are these rules,

No Drinking
No Smoking
No Pizza's, burgers and cold drinks
No Late Night Parties
*No Pornography

* Purity of mind is very important. As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind.

I consider myself a beginner. But the above rules totally changed my life.

Here is my take on what you've said: Yes, living in Hawaii, waking up at five o clock in the morning and practicing martial arts every day would be awesome. Now, you are perfectly entitled to your beliefs and I respect them, but you should understand that there should be a clear destinction between martial arts and religious beliefs. As Empty Hand clearly stated, you can be a bad person and a great martial artist at the same time. Also, while I know you are well intentioned, advising beginners to subscribe to your religious beliefs is, in my humble opinion, disrespectful towards the beginners who are trying to find their own path. An individual's spiritual choices and development are very personal in nature and an impressionable MA newbie shouldn't confuse some "martial code" with what form of spirituality really speaks to them as a person.

 

[CoryKS]

You guys naturally gravitated toward the pornography. I'm wondering what our new friend has against ice cubes.

 

[crushing]

That's cool if it works for you. I don't smoke, but do enjoy a good beer now and then, and it goes well with pizza or a burger. Moderation is the key.

This could probably be a whole new thread, but how do you define pornography? Can you even define it without letting those impure thoughts into your mind? Sorry if I messed you up just then.

 

[crushing]

You guys naturally gravitated toward the pornography. I'm wondering what our new friend has against ice cubes.

I'll give you 9 1/2 weeks to figure it out!

 

[tchandler]

Are you being literal? no cold drinks, as in no ice/refridgeration. Or are you talking about cold beer? Not trying to be a smart ****, jus asking for clarification.

 

[CoryKS]

I'll give you 9 1/2 weeks to figure it out!

How could I have forgotten that nugget of cinematic gold?

 

[Yeti]

Well, he may have a point. Tito was on the top, now he is dating Jenna Jameson and can't seem to get back up on top... wait... that came out funny...

LOL! :lol:

 

[Flying Crane]

You guys naturally gravitated toward the pornography. I'm wondering what our new friend has against ice cubes.

Well we've got to prioritize, or course. I mean, I can LIVE without ice cubes...

 

[Empty Hands]

Both combat trained fighters and Shaolin were good fighters but the motivation to fight would be completely different.

Both are good or were good fighters they just had vastly different reasons for fighting.

No doubt. However, the quote from the original poster was "As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind." This quote says nothing about reasons for fighting, only that having a pure mind was necessary in order to be a "good fighter."

Now, maybe the poster or his apocryphal monk meant something different by "good fighter" than we think. Perhaps he meant "a fighter who is virtuous (good)". This could be possible, although a bit tautological and not terribly useful.

 

[Carol]

No doubt. However, the quote from the original poster was "As once a shaolin monk said , If you want to be a good fighter, You must have a pure mind." This quote says nothing about reasons for fighting, only that having a pure mind was necessary in order to be a "good fighter."

Now, maybe the poster or his apocryphal monk meant something different by "good fighter" than we think. Perhaps he meant "a fighter who is virtuous (good)". This could be possible, although a bit tautological and not terribly useful.

You mean I don't have to be ashameed about my ice cube collection?

I had a whole stack of them. But they were always kept out of sight unless I was actually using them. You know...could be kind of embarassing, a friend stops by, they don't want to see ice cubes everywhere about the house.

The funny thing is, I only told a couple of my friends that I have ice cubes, but many of my other friends just assumed I had it. I've had a couple friends even ask flat out about whether I have any.

Ah, well, my secret is out now. :lfao: :lfao: :lfao:

 

[CoryKS]

You mean I don't have to be ashameed about my ice cube collection?

I had a whole stack of them. But they were always kept out of sight unless I was actually using them. You know...could be kind of embarassing, a friend stops by, they don't want to see ice cubes everywhere about the house.

The funny thing is, I only told a couple of my friends that I have ice cubes, but many of my other friends just assumed I had it. I've had a couple friends even ask flat out about whether I have any.

Ah, well, my secret is out now. :lfao: :lfao: :lfao:

Carol, I know exactly how you feel. I go through all that effort to keep them hidden in a dark compartment where no one ever goes, and then I forget and leave one sitting in a glass when company comes over.

 

[JasonASmith]

You mean I don't have to be ashameed about my ice cube collection?

I had a whole stack of them. But they were always kept out of sight unless I was actually using them. You know...could be kind of embarassing, a friend stops by, they don't want to see ice cubes everywhere about the house.

The funny thing is, I only told a couple of my friends that I have ice cubes, but many of my other friends just assumed I had it. I've had a couple friends even ask flat out about whether I have any.

Ah, well, my secret is out now. :lfao: :lfao: :lfao:

Hmmm, Carol...
That's quite an interesting look into your private life...
Now I want to know what you DO with them, in your spare time, you know, when your not suffering from the Silat training...:wink2: