We live two lives. The one before we know our mortality and the one which follows the understanding we are but leaves in the wind. Merits are held by both and none is better than the other.
The martial world is thus divided too. There are martial arts that come to win, harm, maim and gain superiority and those we deal with life and death. I am partial to the later and for many reasons.
To win is a story we tell ourselves and others. We bested one or more and proved momentary superiority. How nice.
To live and to be willing to take a life to defend the living and your way of live involves a more binary a choice. A nature type of choice. A father will give his life without second though for his child, a teacher will devote himself to his students and a boy will fight a losing battle in the vanguard, without hope yet with purpose.
The movements of a stick fight and a sword fight have many similarities yet start differences. To learn the sword is to learn the stick as well but the other way does not flow.
Why do I write Death and life and not life and death? It is death that gives life in the battle field. We exist in a gray world. Many would sell their souls and their loved ones for momentary crumbs. Yet, the choice is ever present in each and every step to become more than who we are. To stand for something whose value lies deep like the roots of a tree.
Breathe without pause yet without haste,
Move in a dance but without outside rhythm.
keep your heart free from following thoughts and feelings in its tempo
Hear what is said and see what transpires by abandoning the anchor of knowledge for knowing
Respect life. Even one’s own
That is all.
The Martial Art of Walking 