Martial Arts – Kris Wilder

February 23, 2021February 23, 2021

The Best Style of Karate to Learn for a Great Life

The best style of karate to learn for a great life. It is not the one that you think it is. The way you are thinking about this endeavor is in styles and tactics. You are thinking about the methods of defending yourself. You are likely thinking about getting in shape. Learning discipline and several other ideas.

Those are the reasons you are asking, “What’s the best style?” No person when shopping for food wants the blemished apple or the wilted vegetable. We want fresh fruits and vegetables. This the same approach you are using in seeking a martial arts school for yourself or your children. “What is the best and how can I access that experience?”

Few people are thinking twice when you or your child announces they are going to move across the country to attend a University. Do the same with martial arts and you are insane, or at least going through a phase.

Listen to how that sounds, “I am going to go to the other coast to go to this University because they have the best program.” Now listen to this phrase. “I’m going to move across the country to this martial art school because they have the best program.” It’s an extraordinary reaction. One version of this you nod in the agreement, the other you shake your head.

The main takeaway with martial arts is that you are going to gain discipline. You are going to gain physical ability. You are going to become more focused mentally. There are sub-sets to those items. Some sub-sets may be losing weight or increased flexibility. The fellowship and social interaction of like-minded people also come into play.

All These Are The Formula of Your Choice Process.

This issue of seeking a martial arts school is now solved. How your martial art is chosen is not what you think it is. Nor what it should be. The answer you didn’t expect, the best karate style to learn for life Is the one that’s closest to your home.

The reason is it’s the one you are going to take part in it’s the one you are going to attend. You choose your martial arts school because it’s convenient. That is not a condescending statement. It is a statement of truth. The farther your school is from where you live the less likely you are to attend. The frequency of attendance drops and frequency of attendance is everything.

The Best Style of Karate to Learn for a Great Life Style is of Little Consequence

It doesn’t make any difference if it’s Kung-Fu Karate, Judo, Jujitsu, or Boxing. It makes no difference what art you are doing. The closer you are to the school the higher likelihood you have of attending. That frequency of attendance is giving you opportunity and advantages

We’ve listed benefits such as discipline, environment, fellowship, weight loss, flexibility. There are likely others on your list that also exist. The way to solve your problem of choosing the best style of karate to learn for a great life is not what is the best style. It is actually which martial art is convenient for you.

One Part Process

Once you’ve established there are 1 or 2 convenient martial art schools in your vicinity then go visit. Go visit regardless of style or system. Decide if it’s a fit. How does the class feel to you? I mean truly how does it feel? It’s not a squishy question, it’s an actual real question.

What’s the vibe you are getting from the class, or the instructor? That feeling, that vibe isn’t going to change that’s the vibe of the school. Is what is happing at the school is resonating with you? If it looks good you needn’t look any further you are where you need to be.

Here’s your actionable item. Find a couple of places that are close to your home. Try to stay within 7 miles of your house. Then get out and visit the clubs, groups, or schools. Find the one that feels good and train there.

Proximity and Positive Experience

When have proximity and a positive experience you are going to train. When you have proximity and positive experience you have chosen the best style of karate to learn for a great life.

The best style of karate to learn for a great life has little to do with how you hold your fist. It is not important the number of animals your system uses as icons or the country of origin. The best style of karate to learn for a great life is the one you will attend regularity. Because like anything in life it is about consistency and commitment.

Here are a few other links you may find of interest.

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KRIS WILDER

Kris Wilder is a martial artist based in Seattle Washington. He has authored many martial art books, including the classic, The Way of Kata. Making no apologies for his obsession of Football he can be found telling any who will listen about the nuances of the Canadian Football League.

November 22, 2020December 25, 2020

It’s in the Doing for a Better Life

It’s in the doing for a better life. That is a phrase that is common and thrown about with ease. But there’s also a deeper aspect to doing. That is making the effort about the steering of one’s life.

A person not only needs to seize their life and their direction but make a concerted effort in the direction of their goal.

People need to make an effort to steer their life towards a virtuous target. A person can set their life towards a non-virtuous goal. In their pursuit of a non-virtuous goal, they may well succeed.

To the reader, this likely sounds hollow.

People who undertake martial arts training are seekers, and the path is internal. The martial arts may appear to be an external act and that is part of it, but it goes further.

Once the mind and heart are linked focusing on a goal the world begins to snap into place. Call that sensation clarity. A martial artist sets about ordering their lives from the inside outward. They make this movement by adopting a curriculum that is tested and has gotten results over time.

There is also the mentorship that takes place. The advanced practitioners reaching back to aid those on the climb and the newest of students reaching upward. This is how the select organize themselves. They find a system, adopt the process, and vest themselves in the process. Like a strong river current, mentorship runs through the entire experience.

Legions of practitioners are living examples of a better life built around a virtuous goal. The quotes regarding the martial arts as a means of self-improvement and self-understanding are numerous. Here are three examples of these ideas in quote form.

3 Martial Arts Journey Quotes

“The warrior learns of the spiritual realm by dwelling on the cutting edge of the sword, standing at the edge of the fire pit, venturing right up to the edge of starvation if necessary. Vibrant and intense living is the warrior’s form of worship.”
― Stephen K. Hayes

“The most difficult part of traditional taekwondo is not learning the first kick or punch. It is not struggling to remember the motions of a poomsae or becoming acquainted with Korean culture.
Rather, it is taking the first step across the threshold of the dojang door. This is where roads diverge, where choices are made that will resonate throughout a lifetime.”
― Doug Cook, Taekwondo: A Path to Excellence

“I can show you the path but I cannot walk it for you.”
― Master Iain Armstrong , Get Your Health Back FAST With Chinese Chi Kung.

The Goal of Self-Improvement

When people on the path of self-betterment, in this case using martial arts as a tool, order their world a wonderful thing happens. These people can help those in their immediate sphere of influence. This is an important role and touches on that mentorship part of who we are.

Martial arts are far more than punching and kicking, but you knew that. You are getting an independent third-party validation. That’s what you just read.

Good on You! It’s in the Doing for a Better Life!

A metaphorical tip of the cap in your direction. An acknowledgment for embarking on a journey. A journey of becoming better, better for yourself, serving your family, and bettering your community.

You are involved in one of the more difficult tasks in life, getting better at being a good person, a virtuous person. You have found a time tested and solid path that will not make your work easier, but it does provide a road map.

The journey continues. It is in the doing. Always has been and always will be.

A couple of links from which to choose if you want more.

Let’s Connect

KRIS WILDER

November 20, 2020December 25, 2020

Goldilocks Rule and Martial Arts

The Goldilocks Rule and martial arts. The Goldilocks rule is about avoiding excess. As a child growing up during the cold war the Olympics were a blood sport. The Olympics were about athletic competition. But the Olympics was also about The United States getting more medals than the Soviet Union.

Olympics were a replacement for actual combat. Instead of the dead, you counted the number of medals and what kind. I’m confident that the members of the Warsaw Pact held that same position.

The Warsaw Pact was a group of countries in Eastern Europe pledging cooperation with one another. The motto of the Warsaw Pact was: “Union of peace and socialism.” The Democratic Republic of Germany (GDR) or East Germany was a member of the Soviet-dominated Warsaw Pact.

Too Much Energy

The East German athletes were unbelievable in their physicality. Their level of Olympic competition was extraordinary.

The GDR female swimmers had profound physical attributes bordering on male. These female swimmers had broad shoulders powerful arms, an ambient muscle mass unknown for women before this time. It was revealed in later years that the GDR’s women’s swim team was using anabolic steroids to boost their physicality.

The risks to the misuse of anabolic steroids are now known. Not just a change in irritability or increased aggression. but hair loss, liver disease, and heart disease.

Putting too much energy into the system for an extended period is dangerous to the system. A violation of the Goldilocks Rule. The GDR athletes, in the calling of service to the country, were willing to overdrive their bodies.

Not Enough Energy

Not getting enough energy into a system results in the organization falling apart. Starvation is an example. Fewer calories are taken into the body than needed for survival.

Over time the body begins to cannibalize its resources and the body is no longer able to function. Again, an example of the Goldilocks Rule being disregarded.

Extremes And Trade-Offs

No matter what the extreme, there are tradeoffs. The merits of the moment at hand, versus the long term, can be argued, but, there is a price you will be paying. The extremes, in either case, are bad. This applies to the Goldilocks rule and martial arts.

Strike a balance in your journey. Heed the warnings of steroid misuse and anorexia. These two examples are examples of choices. They are not the result of forces out of our control. An example would be famine. Famine is out of our control anorexia is not.

The Goldilocks Rule provides a tried and true example of why the old martial arts masters can still perform at a high level. These martial artists adopted the middle path.

The Goldilocks Rule is based on the fable of Goldilocks and The Three Bears. The moral of the story is, not too hot not to cold, just right. Venus is too close to the sun and as a result, is a boiling mess, Mars, too far away, too cold. Earth is just right for us to survive.

The Goldilocks Rule and Martial Arts

We live in this Goldilocks zone and we should approach the martial arts journey in the same way. Don’t drive the system too hard, too fast, because you will burn out. Don’t be too soft either because you will waste away.

Choose the middle path, seek balance. You will become imbalanced when necessary, but once that force is removed seek the balance and live a long and more importantly healthy life through the martial arts.

A few related articles you may want to explore

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KRIS WILDER

November 16, 2020December 25, 2020

The Big 3 Martial Arts Rituals

The big 3 Martial Arts rituals are made for Martial Arts Practitioners. But, with some adjustments, you can see how these three principles can be used in other places in life. This is not about specific ways to solve a problem it is about three ways to see behaviors.

These three things are being taken away from you. Three items that are a need within human existence.

The need for adornment, ritual, and art.

Adornment

Human beings have adorned themselves as far back as modern man can trace human existence. Neanderthals created adornment. Neanderthals, who existed some 40,000 years ago felt the need to decorate themselves.

Martial Arts has adornment. We need to add elements, a belt or a patch, the design is to signal the participants, to say, “This is a different experience.” This is different than the one that they engage in the majority of the time. And for us, the Martial Artist, this is a deep aspect of the ritual.

Ritual

Rhythm and ritual are soothing to a child. Ask parents and they can tell you about disruption. An interruption in a child’s ritual will result in disruptive behavior.

Adults are not too far removed from this behavior and it can be observed if one turns their vision to see. Often the moments are simple. It may sound like, “This is not how I take my coffee.” “This seems to be an odd way to prepare, insert a food here.”

The idea of a tour bus for a musical group is to bring a facsimile of home with them, a home away from home. Ritual is important.

Rituals are always creating a comfort level. Comfort reduces stress. No biological life is designed for a consistent state of alert or stress. Most life is calculated for rest. Being in a state of agitation is the opposite of rest. Rituals build assurances into the day that allows for a lower ambient state of alertness.

Yes, an anathema to the martial artist we train to, “Always be aware.” A wild state of watchfulness is not a good way to live. The majority of us don’t live in a world of Hypervigilance, we live in ritual.

Art

Art takes on many arrangements. In its simplest form, art is a way artist show control. An understanding of the environment. Without art we are naked. Naked to the fact we have little control over the elements and the acts of nature.

Exchanging blows with each other. Challenging each other. Working on the bag. Every one of these acts plus others you can list. All these are part of the art, the martial arts.

At its very best art fails to capture the true nature of the subject. Art at best gives a version of the truth seen through the artist’s eyes. Art is art. And art is necessary.

Ornamentation, pattern, and expression are other words to help shape the Big 3 Martial Arts Rituals.

Martial arts provide a direct answer to these three basic needs. Adornment, ritual, and art. And now it is up to us to seize these back from the times in which we live.

Here is a 13 minute, History of Ideas – Rituals explainer video from, The School of Life.

Want more? Here are a few other post you may find of interest.

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KRIS WILDER