Invisible Master Martial Atrs ConceptHOME | PHILOSOPHY | TESTIMONIALS | DEFENCE | INSTRUCTORS IS THERE AN There are many great names in the martial arts. We can all think of highly skilled and effective teachers and tournament fighters, both living and dead. Amongst them may be the name of the head of the system we practice ourselves. However, there is another category of achievers who might be described as the greatest of the great. Of recent memory, for example, are Bruce Lee of Jeet Kune Do and film fame and Masutatsu Oyama. founder of the tough Kyokushin karate style. Prior to them, but still in the modern history of the arts, there are outstanding figures such as Morihei Uyeshiba, creator of Aikido, Jigoro Kano who developed Judo and Gichin Funakoshi who devised the system of Shotokan Karate. When we look further back in history we must include such greats as Mg Mui, the Buddhist nun, credited with the founding of Wing Chun and Chang San Feng credited with the formulation of Tai Chi. And how can one measure the greatness of Miyamoto Musashi, the legendary swordsman of Japan. Never beaten in numerous duels to the death, he was a towering figure who eventually was able to beat his opponents' steel sword with one of wood. Even today, people in all areas of life find inspiration from his Book of Five Rings. These names are examples that come readily to mind. Readers who are well versed in the history of martial arts will be able to add others. If the name of your favorite 'Great' is missing it is only because there are limits to space in an article such as this. There are now millions of people practising martial arts all over the world. There are probably more students of martial arts than ever existed at one time in the past. So why aren’t there more Great Masters such as the examples given? Having the title of Master is not the same thing as being one of the great names. Anyone who has had a long association with martial arts will have noticed how much more freely the title of 'Master' is handed out or claimed for oneself. We may have a master of a technique. For example, someone whose spinning back kick is faster and more powerful than anyone else's. We have a master of a system, someone of outstanding all-round skill in a particular style. We can have the title of Master given to someone who has modified elements of some existing styles into some system of his own. Here the word Master really means 'Head' of a style. And, of course, we have the occasional individual who has given himself the title sometimes with little justification. What is the 'X Factor' that distinguishes the true Master from the rest, no matter how skilful they are? In a word, it is creativity. Notice how we use the words 'martial arts' as an umbrella term and not martial systems or martial schools. The jewel at the centre of any art is creativity. It is the most basic principle of all other forms of art, such as literature, painting, musical composition, etc, that people who deserve the title of 'Master' do not copy each other. A Master of these arts has a unique style by which his work can be recognised even if his name is not on it. When artists copy someone else's style they may be judged as 'skilful' or 'clever', but they are not honored with the title or reputation of Master. Masters are innovators, pioneers, discoverers, inventors, etc. They may have copied others in their early days in order to learn specific techniques or the basics of an art. However, there is no confusion in their mind between copying a technique and being original, i.e. creative. Like the great martial artists whose names appear above, these people may begin by practicing someone else's style but it is for the purpose of transcending it at a later time. Creative people will have to put up with being pulled into line by their teachers who see their own job as one of making sure the student does it the 'correct' way. Unless the teacher is exceptional he is unlikely to teach the student things "outside" his own system. If you have a teacher who says something like, "In our style we do it this way, but I think the way they handle this situation in style X is more effective, so try it that way and choose whichever works best for you.", then learn all you can from him. He is exceptional. In the real world there is no such thing as a system. There is a 'flow' in nature that is totally creative. In each instant of time nature is reworking itself, extending itself, changing itself, evolving and diversifying with the new continually modifying or replacing the old. This is also true of great art and great science and technologies. Teachers of martial systems need not be concerned about the unorthodox but should learn from it and aspire to be unorthodox themselves. That way they will edge towards being a master in more than name only. What is the 'X factor' that distinguishes the truly great from the skilful? It is the creative flow emerging from within oneself. The X factor is creativity, originality, experimentation, throwing off the expected and replacing it with innovation. The 'X Factor' is also the Invisible Master, the inner source of creativity that resides in every one of us. It is the power that we all have that allows us to express our true potential in any sphere of life in our own unique way. The great majority of us never externalise any more than a small percentage of its great power. There is no shortage of martial art practitioners of great skill and achievement. Regular readers of Blitz will easily name a large number of them. But how many demonstrate the creative originality of the examples given above? The Invisible Master within each of us goes beyond mere skill. Most people who practice diligently over many long hours, months and years will develop high levels of skill. Bruce Lee did so. But he also went further. He just as diligently researched, experimented, thought about what was happening and why, tested and originated his art and its philosophy, drawing from the best of the past and upon his own inner resources to transform himself and his art to the point where the title Master was truly earned and deserved. Remember, true Masters are originators and leave their stamp of originality upon a style and philosophy of their art. Most of us have sensed these attributes within ourselves at some time, but have not taken it to the next stage and made a conscious effort to release our own creative power. It takes courage to be original. Even in the face of self doubt and ridicule from others those who will one day be great persist in their search and self expression. The great Masters all found a way of opening the inner door to their creative centre. That place is the source of all true power. The most important thing to realise about the Invisible Master is that it is alive and exists within you just as it did within the achievers we have named. It is a living energy that is stirred awake by our desires and ambitions and once understood can be used to fuel our lives in whatever direction we choose to go. Once it is tapped into and expressed there is no limit to your potential. Is there a way we can consciously choose to tap into this resource and express it both in our martial art and personal lives? Part of he answer lies within your martial arts training, hopefully your teacher has spent his training years developing his character as well as his fighting abilities, traditionally martial arts masters were regarded as being highly enlightened people within the community, and the martial arts systems that they taught incorporated religious studies as well as the traditional martial arts lessons that were necessary to develop the student as a whole. They strove to develop their students’ strength of character and spiritual maturity to know when it was necessary to use martial arts skills and when not to. There are numerous ancient stories of teachers who set their pupils free to go elsewhere to seek higher level skills or develop themselves further in isolation from others once they had absorbed all the teacher could pass on. The role of inner creativity can be nurtured by an insightful teacher right from the early days of training. The philosophy of the Invisible Master is a central part of training within the Wu Xing Dao Kung Fu system in Sydney NSW. Marko Vesse, Master Instructor, and developer of the system realised early on that for students to reach their highest potential both physically and spiritually, a method of training had to be devised in which the necessary components were integrated to assist the student find and utilise the source of inner power. Having entered that field of internal communication they had to be guided to find their own key to the creative expression of what they discovered. In other words to find their own Invisible Master In order to do this a basic groundwork had to be constructed that would provide the tools for later use in new and creative ways. Mind, Muscle, Pressure, Blood and Energy systems all need to be trained in a synergistic way, one that would enable all of the systems to feed off and be fed by the others. This method of training enables the practitioner to acquire a deeper insight into themselves and how their body functions on all levels. Just like the Great Masters before them their newfound insight begins to heighten their inner sensitivity and awareness which then leads them to the source of their own internal power. Next, the roles of guide and coach have to be included to help the student understand the difference between random movements and creative expression. Not all creative acts have the same value. The outcomes have to be tested to see if they are truly valuable or merely a by-product of wishful thinking. In addition, the teacher has to be able to recognise potential early on so that it can be nurtured into mature expression. The Invisible Master Concept of training developed by Marko Vesse is a living example of the sort of creativity that this article has been presenting. At this point the writer would like to make clear that Marko does not consider himself to be in the august company of the great figures of martial arts mentioned earlier. Anyone who trains with Marko or knows him on a personal level will attest to the generosity, openness and lack of vanity or ego that exists side by side with his phenomenal martial arts skills. He is a living example of one who is caught up in the creative process itself. He would be the first to state he has a long way to go before he is satisfied. But his achievements with his students speak for themselves. Almost universally, they surpass their previous levels of skill very rapidly and quickly enter into the spirit of creative self discovery and self expression described here. Can you release your own Invisible Master without having to study with Marko? He would be the first to say you can if you work hard and emulate the way of the great and original Masters of the Arts. His students would tell you it is a lot easier if you have his assistance. |
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