Martial Arts…

I first saw a Chinese move when I was in my preteens. And I watched that movie only because I could not find tickets for other movie. And it arrested my senses to the point of no return.

From then I become a fan of martial arts. Its so fascinating to watch bad people drop like ripe grapes off their bunches of gangs as hero kick ass them. And Bruce Lee inspired highest level of attraction within me and in a way his movies kind of developed an unknown phobia within me. That I need to be prepared for some kind of eventuality where I shall be attacked by bad people and I must be able to defend myself.

And the youthful exuberance in imitating what my super heroes did on screen became second nature. Not that I wantonly involved in skirmishes that resulted in fist fights. But surely we used to search for places where new constructions took place and where bricks used to be stocked in the open ground. Me and my brat pals used to go at that place late night when the guard is not around and try to prove each other how great we are in breaking bricks. Usually our tirade ended either in running away when the guard returned or we used to dump our own adventure when we realize that our palms could not take that abuse anymore.

Later came Jackie Chan whose hilarious moves coupled with deadly agility made me gape my mouth. I became a die hard fan of Jackie Chan and never used to miss a single movie. It is amazing to see his flexibility and moves that perhaps could not even be imagined by anyone.

Slowly I started discovering the other side of martial arts. It is to understand the power within and how to harness it. I thought it’s foolish to talk about love and peace when you have the power to contain and control. I was baffled by this aspect that’s emphasized in martial arts. Further more I could not believe the powers the grand masters who could use elements as their tools to repel evil.

I started searching more and more about martial arts. And my interest in watching the movies took a new dimension. Now I do not watch martial art movies for their quench my inner sadism to see someone hurt, but to see the superb co-ordination between mind and body.

Even this concept of mind and body co-ordination took a long time for me to understand. I know that mind send signals to body and body responds. Then what’s this coordination as if these two are separate entities???

I found lost of answers in Jet Lee Movies. He is an amazing artist. I am not referring to his acting skills but I am talking about his total devotion towards mastering not only martial arts but also making people realize the wisdom in understanding the power of martial arts. I could watch his movie in eternity and still may not get bored. And my further investigations on him as a martial artist and more… as a person fascinated me. He is an amazing personality.

One day I was watching a martial arts movie and one of my friend commented in a sneering way that they fight perpetually and they can not land a single blow on each other. I tried to tell him that look at the movement coordination but not the violent consequences there of. He was still skeptic and it was harder for me to make him understand what mind body coordination is.

Suddenly I found an example that’s so common in our lives and a tailor made example to understand mind body coordination. It’s riding a bicycle. As long as you are new to it looks and feels like a Herculean task. You can’t even stay vertical on two tires for a second as body know not how to balance its self first. The mind offers its own pattern of signals to keep the body stable and intact and yet… it takes considerable time to master it. But once we master the same we are not even aware of any forces that might try to drag us down, or obstacles that would definitely make us fall. I tried telling him about this quintessential experience in understanding mind body coordination.

He made me smile by saying that if bicycling is an art that makes you master mind and body coordination why learn martial arts??? Is it not enough that we learnt mastering the art of riding a bicycle?? I then asked him if he could skate on roller blades. He gaped at me and said no. then I shrugged and asked him to see the fallacy in his thinking.

It is noticeable this way that mind body coordination is not an easy thing as it seems. We can learn to ride bicycle but that gives us not an ability to roller skate immediately afterwards.

Now I see martial arts with a new reverence. They are to be made mandatory for every person the way they made it in China. And the perils in mastering the art make one a sage rather than an invincible warrior.

Another observation I wish to point out is the variation of different styles.

In each movie that is specialized to promote some specific form of martial art made my head swim between choices. Some times snake style looked lethal and then tiger style looked superb. Then hundreds of other styles that are discovered and perfected with keen insight.

The fascinating answer lies in a person’s physical structure. A specific body structure necessitates a person to choose a particular style that could be imbibed easily. And the interaction between various styles is an education elevated.

Today I am an ardent fan of Tai Chi. And most interestingly a sport mastered by Sebastian Focun – Parkour (I hope I am right in assigning the credit to him). For those who watched Sebastian Focun in latest James Bond flick Casino Royale.

I am shameless to confess that I just gape at the performances and performers of tai Chi and Parkour but try nothing to learn an iota…

Here I am …a quintessential couch potato and arm chair philosopher…