1. TALK TOUGH. When most people talk, they listen mostly to themselves. Saying “I am gonna put a hole in you as big as the hole in the ozone layer” Is going to antagonize the environment and lower your awareness levels.
2. OWN THE PLACE. There is movement and there is movement with no reason. Moving so you keep looking around is one thing and flailing your arms around without looking is just making it harder for that guy with a knife not to cut or stab you somehow. (It can be a girl too, I don’t discriminate)
3. FOCUS ON YOUR TARGET. This one seems counter intuitive but it isn’t. Anytime your focus is not on your own movement and intention, you are controlled by someone outside of yourself. Just try to hit someone in the chest as they evade and you will see how your movement becomes erratic and tense. Next time try to move your fist through his chest and see the difference in movement.
4. FINISH THAT GUY. Sure, in the movies people wait for that dramatic moment to pass when you pound your frustration into the guy who took your girlfriend to the dance instead of you. In reality very few people wait for you to finish that guy off. …
5. FOCUS ON TECHNIQUE. Technique makes you efficient and affective in performing a task. You learn to move in ways you did not think of and do things you did not think were possible. The down side of this is that technique is only as good as the quality of you most basic movement. Work on that and technique will present itself to you. Quality of self knowledge over Quality of repetition.
6. BE STRONG. Strength is good to have. I carry things from here to there when it is needed and sometime it can be applied against better movement. When the movement is free, it requires the least amount of energy production and you can go on and on. another pointy point is that you cannot mask yourself with force when dealing with sharp objects.
7. BE REALLY GOOD AT ONE THING. Everyone has a favorite technique. Everyone has a hammer at one time or another. Trying to use what you are good at will shift your perspective to seeing it as favorable for that technique. Nature is not giving second chances. You carry on from where you are.
8. ACT HUMBLE. Doesn’t everyone tell you to be humble ? Isn’t it good to follow a teacher ? I say no. Be yourself and be aware of yourself. The more you act outside of your true self, the less you live and the easier you will be fell. Just be yourself.
9. RELAX. Sure, Everyone tells you to be loose and relaxed. Don’t let things get to you. I say, No. We change the level of activation of our muscles and nervous system according to the situation or to how we see the situation. Don’t relax. Use the right amount of tension and no more and no less.
10. FLOW. Rivers of electronic inc have flooded the space between our ears about flow. You go with the attack and not against it. You work within his beat and so on. The more you try to match someone else’s movement, the more you are out of sync with yourself. Move so you are comfortable. Think of your big picture and perhaps to others it may seem like you are going with the waters when you are walking your path whole.
Keep safe,
Sharon.
The Martial Art of Walking 