7 ms·

The myth of Shaolin temple just reminds me of how my values have changed. As a kid, my dream come true would have been to have been locked away doing nothing b

The myth of Shaolin temple just reminds me of how my values have changed. As a kid, my dream come true would have been to have been locked away doing nothing but martial arts training for years till I emerged a fighting machine who could win any fight. As I grew up, I realize what a total waste of time and life that would have been. Far better to learn to read and write, or even dance (college I guess). Those skills make me far happier. Yet, as a kid, it felt awful to have to go to school rather than spend my time in Shao Lin.

tdb7893 8y ago
Haha I had the opposite experience. Growing up I always liked math, science, and programming but more and more I wish I could just spend all my time doing martial arts.
- dorchadas 8y ago
  Same. The older I get the more I wish I could just spend my time learning to control my body and doing martial arts and such. It'd be so much more fun.
  - agumonkey 8y ago
    I still hold a bit of the childish passion in even at forty. I just like moving a lot and doing things minimalistically (is that a term ?). Monk life is neat IMO to an extent.
    - dorchadas 8y ago
      It's weird, as I'd absolutely love to live as a monk full time. The training, the studying, everything about it. Like, if I ever reach financial independence and don't get married/have kids...that's definitely what I'm going to be aiming for.
  - rv-de 8y ago
    The question is why martial arts for learning to control your body?
    - dorchadas 8y ago
      Not just martial arts, really. Dance would work too. That's just one romanticized aspect of the martial arts for me.
- Nokinside 8y ago
  But now you can beat anyone. I'm sure it has some value.
- rexpop 8y ago
  This is not the opposite of their experience; this is identical to their experience.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
bayindirh 8y ago
Martial arts are not always about fighting. It also has a lot of with body control, emotional control, focus and being calm. You don't need to practice heavy, fight oriented figures to practice martial arts too. I'm a Zen practitioner for ~4 years, and my master is also started to mix qigong into the practices. I also dance (tango), and there's awful lot in common with qigong about body control, movement and balance. There's an old proverb: "A good dancer is a good fighter, and a good fighter is a good dancer."
- agumonkey 8y ago
  Am a drummer, sort of, the rhythm part makes my arm extremely fast and efficient; yet at the same time music most often requires you to be in a calm-like state to stay on the groove/music. If I was a physicist I'd say both are experiment teachings about time and space. It's also striking how it teaches you complex limb chains efficiency, that's the only way to only use the minimal amount of energy per effort. It's all intertwined.
  - bayindirh 8y ago
    I know that kind of concentration, or zoning out to be precise. Alertly listening your internal metronome and rest of the band/orchestra and being calm enough to trust your body and instincts at the same time. That's a tall order. I've also played double bass in a symphony orchestra, I know the stress and thrill that creates :D . While we were chatting with our master, art and martial arts came into subject. It turns out that practitioners also practiced classic arts (music, painting, dancing, drawing, calligraphy, etc.) during their training. It's considered a catalyst and an essential part of the training, because it promotes calm, focusing and fine work. It also balances the more outward/powerful side of the energy. As a developer, I consider coding as an art. Writing code with the same concentration and calmness both accelerates the development of the code and really settles some of the dust which practice inevitably stirs up. Really, everything is much more connected than it seems. Please don't give up drumming.
    - agumonkey 8y ago

tdb7893 8y ago

Haha I had the opposite experience. Growing up I always liked math, science, and programming but more and more I wish I could just spend all my time doing martial arts.

dorchadas 8y ago
Same. The older I get the more I wish I could just spend my time learning to control my body and doing martial arts and such. It'd be so much more fun.
- agumonkey 8y ago
  I still hold a bit of the childish passion in even at forty. I just like moving a lot and doing things minimalistically (is that a term ?). Monk life is neat IMO to an extent.
  - dorchadas 8y ago
    It's weird, as I'd absolutely love to live as a monk full time. The training, the studying, everything about it. Like, if I ever reach financial independence and don't get married/have kids...that's definitely what I'm going to be aiming for.
- rv-de 8y ago
  The question is why martial arts for learning to control your body?
  - dorchadas 8y ago
    Not just martial arts, really. Dance would work too. That's just one romanticized aspect of the martial arts for me.
Nokinside 8y ago
But now you can beat anyone. I'm sure it has some value.
rexpop 8y ago
This is not the opposite of their experience; this is identical to their experience.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

bayindirh 8y ago

Martial arts are not always about fighting. It also has a lot of with body control, emotional control, focus and being calm. You don't need to practice heavy, fight oriented figures to practice martial arts too. I'm a Zen practitioner for ~4 years, and my master is also started to mix qigong into the practices. I also dance (tango), and there's awful lot in common with qigong about body control, movement and balance. There's an old proverb: "A good dancer is a good fighter, and a good fighter is a good dancer."

agumonkey 8y ago
Am a drummer, sort of, the rhythm part makes my arm extremely fast and efficient; yet at the same time music most often requires you to be in a calm-like state to stay on the groove/music. If I was a physicist I'd say both are experiment teachings about time and space. It's also striking how it teaches you complex limb chains efficiency, that's the only way to only use the minimal amount of energy per effort. It's all intertwined.
- bayindirh 8y ago
  I know that kind of concentration, or zoning out to be precise. Alertly listening your internal metronome and rest of the band/orchestra and being calm enough to trust your body and instincts at the same time. That's a tall order. I've also played double bass in a symphony orchestra, I know the stress and thrill that creates :D . While we were chatting with our master, art and martial arts came into subject. It turns out that practitioners also practiced classic arts (music, painting, dancing, drawing, calligraphy, etc.) during their training. It's considered a catalyst and an essential part of the training, because it promotes calm, focusing and fine work. It also balances the more outward/powerful side of the energy. As a developer, I consider coding as an art. Writing code with the same concentration and calmness both accelerates the development of the code and really settles some of the dust which practice inevitably stirs up. Really, everything is much more connected than it seems. Please don't give up drumming.
  - agumonkey 8y ago