Emergent Properties

I have always had a hard time communicating the energetics of Martial training to many of my friends who are Energy Workers and Earth Mysteries Students and I came up with this; perhaps it will be useful to you.

In the course of learning to read people's "intentions" in a Martial scenario we practice with our peers who are studying this same body of knowledge. When practicing with a generous and helpful partner one lets down their barriers and can blend and harmonize with the incoming energy and return the volley. As the ability to have more extended exchanges emerges one finds that this is an intimate conversation not an argument. There can be some of the most meaningful dialogues that we can have in which we find ourselves, discover and reveal truths and find how much of real importance we have to share with others. Before we can have this conversation we have to develop a common vocabulary in a symbolic language that uses the Mind Body interface not the syntax of transformational grammar. Very Metaphysical indeed to understand and communicate with this Archetypal library of symbols that which is ineffable in words. It is both healing and transformational.

Punching and kicking indeed!

Another of the Emergent Properties we encounter on this Path is that while one is learning Martial Arts or coming up in a given school or system there is the emergence of a group dynamic. As the relationships develop within this group it becomes evident that this is important not only to the process of learning the Art but also to our evolution as human beings. In New Age parlance this is a Soul Group, a group brought together beyond Space and Time to share evolutionary and Karmic exchanges.

Back to Punching and kicking; are we developing real Martial abilities? – If you mean by that a complex combination of skills and knowledge then we are of course zeroing in on it. If you mean by that the ability to fight effectively we are still miles away from being able to effortlessly control an attacker at full strength and speed at combat realities by this method. That is why we work both ends toward the middle and at the other end of the spectrum we study moves and techniques. But beware! Scuffling obscures energy work so if you really want to get the energy part then you have to dare to suck. Let down your defenses, let the other guy get you, make you flinch, hit you, throw you and for now you just take the ride. That is how you will learn. You can of course not look so bad if you use force, intercept the attacks, force your techniques and try to win but… it is highly unlikely that you will enter the Promised Land by that method so invest in loss. Desire to become one with the incoming energy, to accept it, receive it, welcome it and not “block it out”.

Sometimes I feel that this state we enter is more akin to Shamanism than Martial Arts. The components of Shamanism are:

1) The creation of Altered Space
2) The ability to bring others into that space
3) The ability to perceive, work with and transmute Energy in that space
4) The ability to bring back Knowledge or Skills from that space

There are many mind techniques like NLP, Hypnosis, Lenair and the like that are tools to explore the Semiotics of human communication and the dynamics of behavior. Perhaps by Hypnosis or Mutual Hypnosis one can be aided in entering the expanded state necessary to do this work. Perhaps we should employ Sacramental Plant substances. The practice of Shamanism that does not involve movement brings us closer to our goal but does not bridge the gap of being able to translate this ability into Psycho-Neural flow of movement and control. We are still left with the Mind Body Bridge and how to enter the Flow to have effortless control of ourselves and others. We will have to invent and discover some exercises to begin bridging this gap. In the meantime we have our Daily Practice, our Group and this Altered Space which seems to be the very source of these Emergent Properties.