BECOMING A MASTER

What makes a master? Who is and who is not a master? What qualifications does it take to be a master? For everyone you ask, you can get a different answer. In the martial arts, what do you strive for? Is it to "master" a system? A system is man-made. What do you get out of mastering something that is man-made? Now mastering your body mechanics should be your goal. By mastering a "system", your own limits are set by the limits of a system. However, by mastering your body mechanics, your limits are not set. By not setting your limits, you continue to grow. By growing, you continue to grow and improve. I know this is my goal. Now don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with learning or even teaching a system. I teach sub-systems to beginners to teach the basics to them. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a "master" of a "system". This just means that you are very good at that system. What I am talking about here is setting personal goals. Systems are good because it is a base for which to teach from and set marks on what you have learned so far. Taking the use principles and concepts, your only limit is your mind, which, you must admit, can be limited. That is why you should look around at other systems or styles. Not to learn their way, just to give you an idea on how to push yourself further. Remember, you are not discovering anything, just uncovering what has always been. Even when facing off in a full contact sparring match using a fencing mask, and congratulating yourself for pulling off a move that you just did, and you never saw anyone do before. Thousands and thousands of warriors have been in the same predicament to find out what is effective in combat. In other words, been there, done that. Someone has already thought of it.

Here is a little story:
A man was once walking along a trail and came upon a beautiful flower growing. He had never seen such a beautiful flower in his life. He pulled the flower up and rushed home to lock it up so that he would never lose this beauty. This flower was an inspiration to this man, as he had been going through hard times lately. With finding this beautiful thing, he wrote songs about it. He told stories about it, drew pictures, and painted paintings about it-if the man lived in this day and age, he would probably have a web site about it, too!;). After some time, he had captured the interest and curiosity of some followers. After some years of listening to this man tell of the beauty and joy that he had experienced, they wanted to capture that same feeling. Now some had thought that because they had heard his songs, read his stories, and saw his pictures and paintings, that they too had captured the beauty. They now began to write stories, sing songs, paint paintings, and draw drawings of this beautiful feeling that the flower inspired. These individuals now began to have followers. Eventually, these followers will continue on just as it had begun. Some will stay and others will think that they have captured the feeling. Now back to the man who originally found this flower. After seeing his followers gain this false sense of the "beauty", he decides to show his flower. He takes the box, and unlocks it. As he opens it up, to his surprise he found a small shriveled up, dry stump.

The point that I am trying to get across is that sometimes you can capture something and must return to the source, just as the man couldn't capture the flower, he should have let it grow so that he could take people to the source of the beauty so that they may experience it themselves. How does this translate into becoming a master or ranking in systems/styles? A man made sub-system/style can not capture the beauty of the body mechanics. All the techniques in the world will not give you the proper body mechanics, but the proper body mechanics will give you all the techniques in the world. So in aiming to become this level or that level, it is alright, just don't forget what your goals are. Are they to become a master of a system or is it to become a master of your body mechanics?

Chad W. Getz

Members of

The British National Martial Arts Association

Combat Sports Worldwide

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Last modified: October 24, 2001