Communication is sometimes difficult. It is even more so when it comes in written form and we are deprived of the tone and non-verbal communication (body-language) that forms the highest percentage of our understanding when we are talking face to face with someone. In order to make this blog as useful to you as possible, I am going to share a little of my approach in order to provide context with which you can, hopefully, understand my writings a little more clearly.
I approach my training holistically.
Holistic:
(adjective)
relating to the whole of something or to the total system instead of just to its parts – Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press
I view every part of my life as an interconnected, interdependent, part of a complex system and each element affects the others as changes are made. Because of this viewpoint, all of my training and study are related.
My interests, career, and experiences in my life have led me to this lens through which I explore and shape my understanding and skills. One of my long-term interests is in all of the aspects (and there are a surprising number of seemingly unrelated “rabbit trails” involved!) of self – protection. Other areas of interest I have pursued include a study of philosophy, world views, and various other academic studies dealing with complexity, chaos theory, systems theory, psychology, the study of expertise and performance, etc.
As human beings, one of the ways we communicate effectively is with the use of analogy, metaphor… stories.
To help understand my approach, I would like to use the analogy of any number of historical warrior cultures. In the west, you can think of the ideal of the knights of the Middle Ages. In the east, you can look at the Samurai or Ninja traditions of Japan, and the Taoist or Buddhist warrior monk traditions in China. Using these as a model to understand what I am saying, don’t get caught up in specific details of whichever of these traditions you are most familiar with or drawn to. I am not claiming to follow any one of these paths specifically. It is the overall foundational principles that will help here.
Each of these traditions valued development as a whole person. Physical and martial skills were trained. Intelligence and mental development were equally pursued as well as spiritual, artistic, creative, and moral aspects of someone’s life. All of these examples had an ethical code of conduct and, though the terms differ from tradition to tradition, you will notice that the overall themes are consistent.
It is in this way that I approach my training. Every moment of my day has potential for my development in some way if I remain open to the lessons life is offering me. There is no “arriving” or reaching a final destination in my training. It is a lifelong pursuit of growth physically, mentally, and morally (See blog post on “3 Spheres”). Simply put, I am a lifelong student. I enjoy the process. To some, realization that you would never “reach the goal” could be discouraging. There are not enough years of life for me to learn all of the things I am interested in. To me, that is the point. Boredom is a choice.
On the website, and throughout this blog, I have organized the information into sub-categories. Remember as you read these articles that these distinctions are artificial. Their purpose is to help people find the articles most interesting to them at that time, but they are all interrelated in some way. A change in any one aspect of the system will affect all the other areas of the system. I have gained understanding and insight into my world view and philosophical studies through my conditioning and martial arts practice. Similarly, my academic studies have shaped the way I think, act, and understand the other areas of my practice.
From my website, here are the categories I use:
- Awareness
- Breathing / Meditation Practices
- Breathing / Focus / State Management
- Mental Tool Development
- Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)
- Unarmed Skills and Contact Force Multipliers
- Unarmed
- Piercing / Edged Force Multipliers
- Impact Force Multipliers
- Flexible Force Multipliers
- Chemical / Electroshock Force Multipliers
- Environmental / Improvised Force Multipliers
- Ballistic Force Multipliers (Firearms / Thrown – Projected Tools)
- Conditioning (Attribute Development / Exposure Training)
- Strategy (Strategic Studies)
- Worldview / Philosophy
- Communication (Verbal / Non-Verbal)
- Mental Disciplines / Study (Sciences, History, etc.)
- Miscellaneous
These categories or format may evolve as we go along. Nothing is set in stone and I am always trying to “build a better mousetrap”. Everything I present here is to the best of my understanding at that time. If you like the popular, simple (marketing driven) “the 5 best hacks to…” kinds of articles, you will want to look somewhere else. Here you will see what insights I have, and my explorations and experiments. I will encourage you to think for yourself and to ask your own questions. Yes, this means I don’t want you to take anything I say at face value. Test it. Form your own opinions. Find your own strength and creativity!