SHOVE IT MATE.

 Before we can do “our thing” we must accept “this thing”.

This post is essentially working from where I left off in last week’s post, about the wisdom of ‘stepping back’ as opposed to the perceived advice of the Kuen Kuit which is the opposite.

To anyone reading this in Sydney N.S.W. If you fancy checking us out, to get a handle on exactly what we are going on about, the best time to do it is now, call me.

You guys have heard me say many times that Wing Chun is back to front.

That we are not trying to learn the things we practice in training.

Rather we are trying to learn a method or methods of how to achieve the results of this practice.

From this perspective, all Martial Arts are the same.

All Martial Arts are a way of retelling  the parable of  “The finger pointing at the Moon”

As “out there” as this might sound, when ”it” hits the fan, the last thing we need, and the last thing we should reach for, is our Kung Fu skill.

But we will reach for it, sooner or later.

The most important thing to bed down first is self-control, or at least an understanding of the things that cannot be controlled.

This is as much a management thing as it is a frontline worker thing, and as such we need good management skills more than we need Kung Fu skills.

And the most important thing to manage is preparation.

It may sound like crazy talk to say we must be prepared for this unknown and potentially unknowable happening.

But we can be.

 By being the best version of ourselves before the shit happens.

Enough sleep, enough hydration, decent nutrition and the minimum of stress from any outside source.

However, dealing with “IT” when and where “IT” happens comes down to “emotional self-regulation”.

Learning to manage our ego, our self-talk and emotional responses to counter the negative effects of being in the middle of this thing we would much rather not be in at all.

Anger, anxiety, fear, and even panic will pass within a few short moments if we can get control of our breathing and score a little bit of time and space.

This can often be achieved with something as simple as an apology.

There is no need to mean this apology, but it will buy us time.

And time breeds space.

A quick caveat regarding space.

Space is being in touch or out of touch, if the Bad Guy can reach us with an extended leg, we are too close, if the Bad Guy cannot touch with a folded arm, we are too far away.

The point of practicing our FORMS is to create a calm, balanced and objective state of mind that we can readily assume whenever we find ourselfvesunder pressure. 

When we suddenly realise that here “IT” is.

Now is the time.

 Confusion will be natural, chances are high that we will not know why this is happening.

 Before we can do “our thing” we must accept “this thing”.

We must accept the uncertainty of the situation.

Only then can we make things happen.

It is only now that we can hold any hope of our training kicking in.

That is the Ace up our sleeve.

Our training kicking in.

The first fight we need to win is against our negative self.

After we win that fight the ‘Bad Guy’ will be a push-over.

Often literally.

A violent shove and a loud yell can turn the largest of foes into a Bunny Rabbit.

Knock ‘em down, stick ‘em in the pot. 

Not literally, of course, this is a Poetic license.

THE “D” MAN.