543. Study, but What to Study ?

All of your life, study Life, Love, Philosophy, Politics, Martial Arts, and Business. Keep abreast of Technology. After that, you should study what you please.

441. Your Relationship to Sport

Keep playing your sports for they are good for you. Stick with them as long as you can but if you do tire of one, replace it by taking up another. It is said that with your Pukulan Cimande Pusaka, Silat Martial Art you will only reach your peak in your 50s and can continue to train on into your 70s 80s and 90s. In particular, keep up your golf. It is a game you can keep playing well into old age. Famously too, a lot of real business (M.D. to M.D.) gets done on the Golf Course. Sport is good for helping you to build your network both of friends and business acquaintances.

Mark Mc Cormack always observes the character of the person as a golfer and deduces his character in business before deciding to do business with them. It is a game that brings out the best and the worst in people.

Rugby, Soccer, Hockey and other team sports will teach you the virtue of co-operation. Natural Horsemanship will teach you how to control your energies.

427. Train with all your heart, 30% Rule

Remember that when training in the Martial Arts, it will be a lot tougher on the street. You will only be able to deploy about 30% of your skill and strength when you are under real pressure. For that reason, when you are training put all of your mind body and heart into it. That way you will have more to use in your 30%. The more you sweat, the less you will bleed.

409. The Life of a Highwayman

In Post No. 408 the advice was to secure at least one academic qualification. Always bear in mind a piece of wisdom from the Jewish tradition that goes like this : "The man who fails to give his son a trade is preparing him for the life of a highwayman." This means that you should give your son all the education and training needed so that he can make a decent living honestly and with integrity. In your case, you are studying horsemanship, matrial arts, drama, typing and rugby. These are all disciplines that can provide you with a good living if you teach them once you have become proficient in them. You should do the same for your sons and daughters.

405. Symbols of Attainment

Whenever you achieve something or accede to power in some way, create a symbol to represent this fact. Symbols speak to the unconscious mind and are more powerful than words. When symbols are awarded to you such as gradings in the Martial Arts, belts, guruships, diplomas, degrees movie parts etc., consciously make time to go into your private place, your ashram or poustinia and contemplate these symbols, make this contemplation part of your daily ritual.

403. Act Swiftly, Act Decisively

Always act swiftly and decisively. Do not dither. In Martial Arts, when threatened, you have to decide whether to fight or surrender. If you decide to fight, know the sequence of moves you will make and commit 110% to them and see it through to the end. Adopt this philosophy in life and act decisively and swiftly once you have made your mind up.

334. There is No Excuse for Failure

In training and in games, sports etc., "failure" is permitted as it is a necessary part of the learning process, even in the Martial Arts. For the Samurai, however, the first law of survival is that if you are caught unawares, betrayed unawares, or killed unawares, you have failed in your duty to yourself and to your family. For this type of failure, there is no excuse.

301. Training in the Martial Arts

When you train in a martial art, you will be on average, 30% faster than an untrained combatant. No matter how much bigger, hairier, uglier or smellier than you your opponent is, all that he has is a pair of arms and a pair of legs that are no different from your own. There is a limited number of ways these can be used against you. When you contact them, remember that and stick to them and destroy them rapidly.

There are 3 aspects of training in the Martial Arts. You should strive to develop each aspect evenly. These are 1. Strength. 2. Skill (Technique). and 3. Speed. If you have any 2 of these aspects you will beat an opponent who has only the other one. e.g. speed + skill will always overcome strength on its own.

276. Work on Yourself First.

Whatever you do or achieve, your success comes from within. Work, therefore on yourself first. You have just achieved your second Martial Arts Blue Belt. You did well on the night of your grading but the real work was done in class and at training. This was the work on yourself, learning the technique, doing the pad-work, practicing for speed and fluidity, doing the press-ups and sit ups to give you the strength and flexibility to be competent. This is work on yourself.

191. The Law of Cause and Effect

The most fundamental law there is is the Law of Cause and Effect. Sir Isaac Newton described it in his Second Law of Motion when he said that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. The Laws of Karma work the same way. Karma is sometimes instant as when you are training in the Martial Arts - Theow a punch and your training partner throws you ! More usually, though Karma takes longer to work out. It may be days,weeks, years or even whole lifetimes before the effects of your actions come back to you but they do come back.

The technical description of this law in action is that the action done here and now enters your kryamaan, your future sanskara. When you are born you come into the world with this sanskara which is made up of sanchit - everything you need for the lifetime and prarabda - the circumstances into which you ar born which are best suited for the working out of your sanskara. The sanchit interacts with the prarabda and produces each event that befalls you. This is all utterly mechanical and in the absence of your conscious decisions would just play out mechanically. You have the ability to choose your response to any and all situations. By acting to simply meet the need, you will eliminate your past sanskara and prevent the creation of future sanskara, thus freeing yourself from the cycle of birth and death.

162. Survival

"Survival is important because to survive is the ability to start again." - Winston Churchill
While it is important to survive, don't settle for mere survival. Work on designing your life, not simply making a living. Basic study of the Martial Arts will enable you to survive but dedicated study will make you a warrior.

59. Discipline and Responsibility.

As you grow, you are learning to become more and more disciplined. Ultimately, all your discipline comes from within. You will learn to take care of yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and materially. This involves the practices of good hygiene, meditation, martial arts, exercise, diet, study, investing and saving. Disciplines like these can be fun, rewarding and exhilirating. They help to give you control over your life. Acquiring these disciplines and embodying them is about taking responsibility for your own life.

55. Choosing Peace

All participation in rows and fights is a choice. When you find yourself in a row you should remember this. You then have the choice to simply stop. Remember to stay rational. It will be very difficult for the opposition to row with you although it may infuriate them to the point of offering you violence. Good humour will often diffuse the situation. Keep training in your Martial Art just in case good humour doesn't work. Practice remaining calm and composed. Remember that the behaviour of others belongs to them and cannot upset you unless you allow it to.

51. How to be Treated Right

You are treated in life exactly the way you teach people to treat you.For this reason, if you don't like the way people treat you, you must stop blaming others, look inwards and ask yourself "How have I taught them to treat me this way ?" You must then resolve to stop sending out the signals that lead people to treat you this way. The reason we study body language and other tools of psychology like NLP is to gain insight into the subtle cues we are sending out to people as well as learning to read their body language. It can often be simpler than that. The language we use and the ideas we hold and express can upset people too. If you use gentlemanly language with thugs they will mistake your good manners for weakness and so try to take advantage of you because this is how the criminal mind works. The reason we study the Martial Arts is that you will be able to make it stick if you are forced into a physical fight. In the street, your M.A. should only be used as a last resort and make sure you do not get caught ! Behaviour is a better teacher than words. Once you teach someone by your behaviour that you will not tolerate abuse, you will see it subside, but if you continue to talk endlessly about it, you will keep the old conflicts alive. By putting the matter up for debate, you run the risk of losing the argument even though you are in the right. This puts you in a worse position than before because you are teaching the opposition that they can get away with their bad behaviour and avoid their responsibility to treat you justly by talking their way out of it.

The best way to be assertive in these matters is to state calmly, loudly and clearly that you are not prepared to tolerate their behaviour and that it is unacceptable. Furthermore, if they persist in it you will leave. Then if they do persist, leave. Leave the room, building, street or whatever place the incident happened. It is very important that you take time to create for yourself a list of values and expectations of how people should behave towards you. You should write out your own personal Bill of Rights but remember that the treatment you demand from others is the treatment you should give to others.

Following on from your personal Bill of Rights, you can compose your own set of Terms and Conditions, the rules you will follow when engaging with the world. It will list what actions you take when confronted by various situations. These two things will help you to achieve and maintain clarity in the face of confusion.

20. Power

In all areas of life, it is important that you become as powerful as you can. Martial Arts teach the code of the warrior and how to be a powerful fighter. The changes that you receive from the Way of the Warrior teach you what it feels like at a gut level to be powerful. This is an aspect of "The Zone". Find this space and find yourself in it. Personal Power is important if you are to achieve the things you want in life. It is granted freely by Life if you put in the work needed to achieve it but it would be a grave mistake to ever think that your personal power was yours to use as you pleased. That is an idea of the Ego. In truth, you belong to the Power and are an instrument of its intention. Power is physical, mental, emotional, artistic and financial. You need to learn and cultivate all aspects of your power.

3.There is no Wealth but Life Itself

All the wealth in the world is no good if you are ill or dead. You should have a disciplined approach to all your monetary affairs and always work to maximise your wealth. This MUST be combined with a healthy mind in a sound body. You should read a little philosophy or scripture every day to keep your mind clear and exercise every day to keep your body healthy. Walk, Swim and train in your Martial Arts. The Martial Arts will help you to protect your body from injury. Meditate, eat well, exercise properly and get proper sleep. These will keep you healthy throughout your life so that you can enjoy the wealth that you earn.