Be Yourself

Friday Knight News

"To thine own self be true..." William Shakespeare 

Attitudes and putting on airs (acting in a way that is contrary to your nature), such as false bravado does little to hide your fear. Any seasoned person can usually see past this smoke screens. The importance of being earnest is often over looked in martial art training. By being earnest I mean to be yourself, even though you may not feel like all that much, I know I often feel this way. But you are better than you feel, we often diminish ourselves unfairly. So remember you are at least on the path to greatness, at least if you are trying to improve. As a side note I would be tickled pink if you let me know what you thought of my blogs by clicking on one of the three reaction boxes at the end of the post. It doesn't cost a cent and it rates the blog as being either funny, interesting or cool. No reaction makes me feel like I failed again but I will keep on trying.

Some people act mean and talk trash to work themselves up when a fight is brewing. I believe this is detrimental to your overall performance in a conflict. It also hurts when people, especially professionals, are sizing you up. When a professional assesses you all the false bravado sounds off as purely false, fake, and phony. Instead, be yourself and be relaxed. A man who can be calm can be a dangerous person to contend against. It also makes your intentions harder to read as it takes time to get into, and out of a mindset even more so than it takes to get into a proper fighting stance. So, in my mind, the above quote by Bill Shakespeare might refer to not acting in a way that is detrimental to your circumstances.



For years my sensei told me of a gentleman that showed up to his classes that he only knew about from reputation. The man had impressive credentials not because of what was on paper but because of the lack of them. He went around with an entourage all bearing weapons that would make the ATF cringe. I understand that once while he was practicing three or four groups of the alphabet soup group showed up in force. This was long before 9/11 had happened by the way, but explosions and rapid fire automatic weapons can have that effect. They all left hat in hand as he did have some papers after all, you just had to have the right authority or clearance to get to see them.

I like the message of the band, Yes - Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Official Music Video), it has kept my spirits up at times when I was living on the ragged edge. 

The first time I meet this man, (who was a true student of hoplology), was after a demo that my sensei had me act as the subject. Sensei had invited the entire groups to go all out attacking me, after the first few men had given up the majority decided to decline his invitation. He told the assembled group not to feel bad because of the performance as I was an oddity of nature. This act in some way had removed the gentleman's predisposed nature of being cautious and guarded about new acquaintances. It was quite possible due to the years my sensei had taken to get into this man's inner circle.

Whatever the cause the gentleman made an introduction to me after our first encounter. I had made a visibly good impression on him when I recognized his nationality by his physical attributes and name. As we spoke I gained further bonus points because I had recognized his regional accent and had asked if he was from Thermopylae. I had recognized his accent because of a Greek chef that I knew. I had future impressed him because I knew of the Battle of Thermopylae and this was long before the movie 300 had come out.

This gentleman was also known for his personal skills and experience with dispatching evil doers aka bad guys with his hand-to-hand combat skills, most notably with the blade. He was always relaxed and causal during classes and training and very informative about how, when, and where to place a blade in the event it was needed. He took me under his wing and gave me tutelage borne that was far removed from political correctness and the niceties of society but earned in blood. His observations and advice to me were dealing with more the mental aspects of dealing with conflict. He empathized that a prepared mind was just as important as or even more important than a prepared body. So, whatever skills or abilities you have, do your best and be yourself. You never know when a real hopologist might grace you with his experience.

"Know thyself." Socrates

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