Authentic Arts

There are a five stages of development we pass through on our Martial Journey. Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Role Model and finally Perfection. The key is to aim for the next step up the ladder, ie if you are a beginner aim to be intermediate, if intermediate aim to be advanced, advanced strive to be a role model. If through your efforts you find yourself becoming a role model then the next progression would be perfection. Perfection, however, is only something that you can hope and aspire to without actually achieving. It's more that perfection arises from the act of striving. In this way of thinking, it means you can be a perfect beginner, intermediate or advanced practitioner. You still with me?

It also implies that you can be a perfect role model, despite our human frailties and fallibility. No human is perfect, so how do we circumvent this painful truth? Well I have put my mind to it and the closest thing that we can be to perfect, is to be authentic. Authentic with our hopes, our hearts, our aspirations and the way in which we express them. When it comes to authenticity within martial arts it is quite clear to note the ones that are, and the ones that are not. The word "Martial" stems from the God of War so infers anything warlike. Therefore I put it to you plainly that if you do not get bruised, battered or break a few minor bones then you are not participating authentically. Every measure is taken to provide safe practise by most legitimate teachers and instructors but bumps and bruises are inevitable. Like the fight club analogy how much can you truly know about yourself (and by extension your art) if you don't have scars?

And in life too we carry our scars, sometimes unseen but still there. They do not show weakness, they in fact show the strength of experience. Experience comes from long term practise, and long term practise implies you have passed through at least two stages of development perhaps more, beginner, intermediate and advanced.

You can be more, much more than any of these. Perfection is the thread that runs through them all and perfection, in my mind at least, equates to authenticity. Don't fool yourself or worse fool others around you. Express your short comings truthfully, honestly there is nothing more perfect. To be authentic, is to be a role model for all humanity. There is no other way.