Sunday, October 07, 2007

Waking up!

So often in our daily lives we can find ourselves trying to do twenty things at once – in essence, this means that we spend most of our lives with attention somewhere other than with what we are doing – in this situation we can come to feel empty and numb.

Within our Hapkido training, discipline and etiquette are tools intended to help the student wake up!

Discipline though is not simple bowing and saying “Yes Sir”.

Discipline means, now is the time to study Hapkido. So we study Hapkido with all our being – when sitting we watch, when kicking we kick – focusing always on the present moment.

That’s why the instructor will chastise them if she sees a student chatting in the middle of class about going to the pub or complaining that they have a tummy ache.

Always practicing this way is equivalent to 10yrs of training.

So let’s not be controlled by our circumstances; our fears and insecurities are so often based on unrelated past experiences not on present conditions. Let’s wake up; let’s keep trying to understand our own minds. Let us practice Hapkido with all of our being – now is the time.