I started my day a bit late as I was a bit tired from yesterday’s workout and I also slept late because I was reading a very interesting book about energy.
Nonetheless, I was able to practice Yoga and enjoyed it as well.
And surprisingly, even when I still haven’t eaten the entire day and am just living with water and Bulletproof coffee I don’t feel hungry. (My fasting started last 12pm and will end at 6pm today)
I also have a lot of energy too.
Anyway, going back to what I was reading last night.
You see, in my journey in the world of martial arts you will come across some really interesting things.
There are martial arts that are just plain make believe, like for example, my good friend, coach Pat told me that he encountered a guy who joined a knife fighting tournament.
The guy said he can hold a knife in 24 ways.
And then the guy proceeded to show him how he holds the knife.
Needless to say my friend wasn’t impressed, and the guy who taught this “strange art” failed miserably to win the tournament.
Still, this guy has a lot of students and followers.
Oh my goodness…
So you see in the world of martial arts there are people who will proclaim that they are really good (like the one who said he beat Bruce Lee but can’t show any documentation and whose students were wiped out in the last URCC tournament)
But at the end of the day the proving ground is and will always be the mats.
But there’s this certain man that I was very interested in, and his name was Wang Xiang Zhai.
He was an internal martial arts master and his name was known throughout China, in fact he faced a lot of tough challenges back in the day.
He was so confident of his martial art that he faced a lot of challenges and apparently won all of them.
I thought that I would doubt this part, but being that China is the main melting pot of martial arts in the entire world earlier than most civilizations with hundreds if not thousands of styles created.
It is natural to assume that anyone who would state that the martial arts he practice is formidable, would naturally have a line outside of his school waiting to test it.
Also, this was China, home to millions of people today and yesterday, so to be considered the cream of the crop would mean like being recognized as the Michael Jordan of martial arts.
This was also way back before the Gracie challenge became well known in Brazil.
But what really interests me about this extraordinary human being was how he harnessed internal energy or what other martial artists know as Chi/Qi.
If you ask me why I am not an atheist, this is because there really are some things that science can’t explain and are on the fringes of the paranormal.
Master Wang practices Yi’quan and the book I was reading was about it.
Also, I am lucky because I found a teacher in the country who teaches the art.
I will update you on the developments when it comes to this, but my teacher said that Yoga is one of the practices to enhance internal energy. (Why am I not surprised?)
So before I end this post I just want to say that this day is very important because of the imposition of Martial Law by Ferdinand Marcos.
This day was one of the reasons why the Philippines is still poor.
Yes, you read that correctly. And if you want to know more about it, feel free to visit The Martial Law Chronicles Project website for factual information about Martial Law.
I am ending this post with a really insightful poem written by the Brazilian writer Martha Medeiros.
You Start Dying Slowly
You start dying slowly
If you do not travel,
If you do not read,
If you do not listen to the sounds of life,
If you do not appreciate yourself.
You start dying slowly
When you kill your self-esteem;
When you do not let others help you.
You start dying slowly
If you become a slave of your habits,
Walking everyday on the same paths…
If you do not change your routine,
If you do not wear different colours
Or you do not speak to those you don’t know.
You start dying slowly
If you avoid to feel passion
And their turbulent emotions;
Those which make your eyes glisten
And your heart beat fast.
You start dying slowly
If you do not change your life when you are not satisfied with your job, or with your love,
If you do not risk what is safe for the uncertain,
If you do not go after a dream,
If you do not allow yourself,
At least once in your lifetime,
To run away from sensible advice…