Protection from the greatest threat to your life.
People often ask about self-defence in terms of being physically attacked. They don’t always get that Kung Fu should be a lifestyle, a process of personal development, emotional maturity and spiritual growth. If it were just a way of fighting off a violent attack it would be a much simpler thing. Although that alone is far more complex than most people initially presume. Learning a few fighting skills within the context of a lesson is one thing. Being able to use those skills within the context of a real-life attack is quite another. That is the first distinction of a good instructor; that they train you in the emotional control necessary for real life application of the art. But a complete Kung Fu teacher (Sifu) is also a life coach. They help you to develop a personal philosophy that enables you to live life to the full and to grow into the person you both have the potential for and who you wish to become. Life’s battles are hard and often the most dangerous conflicts will happen within your own mind. Teaching you to deal with a stranger violently attacking you is actually just the structure for a vastly wider and more holistic curriculum. For a start, you are much, much more likely to be attacked by someone you know, than by a stranger; a family member or most likely your partner or spouse. But the person most likely to try to kill you, by a long way, is YOU. Suicide is a far greater risk to your personal safety than violent crime or domestic abuse. People don’t kill themselves because they want to be dead, they do it because they can no long tolerate their life. If you want your life to a different experience, you have to first become a different person, with different thoughts, perceptions and attitudes. You are able to be a happy and content person. I would argue that inner peace and joy are natural to you, the you that you would be if outside influences had not barged you off course along the way. We shall be looking at the theory, strategy and practical methods enabling you to grow into the person you wish to become, discovering the real you along the way. That is not just the theme of many of these blogs but is also a major aspect of the whole Kung Fu Living program.
