So, after watching some anime (about fighting) it gave me pause from my usual routine and I dusted off all the old videos, books, and material I’ve collected over some 21 years of martial arts research. Now, lest it be misunderstood, I would like to remind my readers that martial arts and the pursuit of the Ultimate Fist (or blade haha) has been the focus of my life since I’ve been old enough to consciously choose my path in life. The material I’ve collected, and recollected, is enormous. And yet, I look over it, after some time away from it…. with utter disgust.
I watch video after video and shake my head. These movements aren’t natural… they are fixed, forced, and faked. There is no power generated and no focus. They are individuals just going through the motions, then taking bows at the end to the sound of applause. Applause? Were we watching the same performance? You saw “a master”. I saw a pretender. Someone playing at karate. Someone playing at gungfu. A “master” so old and venerated that his half-ass performance is suddenly beyond reproach?
Tonight the subject of teaching came up. People were talking about why they had no students. Most of them hid behind false modesty… “Oh, I had students, but they realized that I knew nothing”. My response? “I know many things… but what I do NOT know is a student who will stick to the training. The next generation is soft. That’s why I don’t teach”. Students these days are just like masters… complacent. Lacking.
Blah….. do my words only reflect what I dislike about my own training? What do my own performances look like? I really ought to have someone record them just to compare.
I feel myself slipping away the more I chase swords and armor. It’s a pleasant fantasy to slip into… that if I buy these things I will have a group of people with which to fight. It’s all delusion of course. And yet I’ll likely still get the suit. Simply because I want that fantasy. Something to slip into when everything else comes to such profound disappointment.
Pshh…. I refuse to submit to some group of faker’s pretend credentials. Let’s pause for a moment and really consider what we’re talking about…
JEDI FUCKING KNIGHTS.
And these days, all that’s required is some posts? A report? An essay? Are you kidding me? Did these people watch the same movie as me or did they have some special version that I wasn’t privy to? This newer group of people have shat on the name of Jedi with their ranks like Jedi Archbishop, Jedi Pope, Jedi Cardinal and their mediocre, garbage standards and complete and utter lack of purpose and training.
The purpose is the very thing that defines the training, not the other way around. If the only purpose of a “jedi knight” these days is to sit behind a computer and make some lofty posts, then of course essays and chat interviews will be sufficient. But if the goal is something -real- and something tangible, then it goes without saying that this new generation of “training” is so woefully inadequate as to defy comprehension.
Just wrote it on a different board. The same idea applies to Jedi, Paladins, and Martial Artists alike. It applies to ANY path in life.
Purpose, goddammit!! What is it anymore??
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