Spirit as opposed to matter

[cj01]

A black belt is only the beginning of martial knowledge just as death is only the beginning of the fight. Long live your spirit.

[ronin6]

A black belt is only the beginning of martial knowledge just as death is only the beginning of the fight. Long live your spirit.

When I started in Aikido 17 years ago (That made me feel old) my instructor told me that you are only trying the art and that when you get to black / yudansha you are doing the art. I always thought of that and keep it in my head as I make my Kenpo journey.

[Brother John]

A black belt is only the beginning of martial knowledge just as death is only the beginning of the fight. Long live your spirit.

Not sure what you mean by "death is only the beginning of the fight."
Could you clear that up for me??

Thanks
Your Brother
John

[cj01]

I would like to explain this in more detail however, I do not have the words in the right order yet in my brain.
I can tell you that almost every religion has a theory similar to this in practice today. I just have not gotten my mind around it yet. I will meditate some and see if I can better explain later.

[Celtic_Crippler]

Yeah....that's over my head. Unless it's like Obi-Wan Kenobi...you know, like when Darth Vader "killed" him. He didn't really "kill" him but made him stronger because Ben Kenobi became one with the force. LOL.

In all seriousnous though, I think too many people view the coveted black belt as a final destination in our Western culture. IMHO, that attitude is very limiting and stifles future growth.

[John M. La Tourrette]

A black belt is only the beginning of martial knowledge .

You must be talking about Elvis who got his black belt in 6 weeks.

But you are NOT talking about the black belts on Kenpo Talk, many of them taking 7 to 10 years of physical, mental and emotional training to achieve that skill level.

I disagree with your entire post, and all 3 of your premises.


Dr. John M. La Tourrette

[John M. La Tourrette]

death is only the beginning of the fight. .

Well,

When one does NOT define their terms, then they can just about say anything and NOT be held accountable for what they've said.

Your isomorphic metaphor about a black belt and death being the same is inconclusive and probably irroneous unless you have much more to go with it, to reframe the normal meanings on those 3 words into that construct.

I agree totally with Mr. Haag.

Define what a black belt is.

Define what you mean by death.

Define what you mean by "fight".

Then there is the possibility of a conversation that might be meaningful, or not.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

[John M. La Tourrette]

In all seriousnous though, I think too many people view the coveted black belt as a final destination in our Western culture. IMHO, that attitude is very limiting and stifles future growth.

No.

That statement is ONLY in where you and I and many of the neat yudancha on this list are at.

WE ARE THE MINORITY!

In fact a black belt goal, for most people is just way out of reach.

They need goals that match THEIR CRITERIA for time and acquisition of those goal orientated Kenpo Karate skills.

Beginner's are beginner's and need beginner's goals, which is normally about 50% above where they are now at as a beginner.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

[Dianhsuhe]

Ah there are SOO many 9 year old that outrank me....hard to be as concerned with rank as I am with knowledge-

I do not think Black-Belt is the beginning of knowledge, it is a helpful marker along the way though

[John M. La Tourrette]

Ah there are SOO many 9 year old that outrank me....hard to be as concerned with rank as I am with knowledge-

This was a joke, right?

No 9 year old can have the wisdom of a thinking adult that has learned through envirnoment, education and experience.

Well, if the stories are correct, maybe Jesus could, but again he was supposed to have conscious access to all of his previous lifetimes (Edgar Cayce's Story of Jesus) and he did have several of the top world class instructors from the Essens giving him private trainings all day long as he was growing up.

Sort of like the War Lord, that was taught privately by Aristotle, and ruled the entire world at the age of 21.

So comparing a normal 3rd grader in grade school, with 60 pounds of mass with a 211 pound adult is NOT viable.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

[cj01]

O.K. since this guy seems to be more intrested in discrediting me than adding any valuble form of conversation or at least an objective opinion to a beginner in this area, I will throw you one bone and will not reply to any more of his post. If anyone else has anything to add I would be more than glad to respond.

Take martyrdom for instance a-hole.

[John M. La Tourrette]

O.K. since this guy seems to be more intrested in discrediting me than adding any valuble form of conversation or at least an objective opinion to a beginner in this area, I will throw you one bone and will not reply to any more of his post. If anyone else has anything to add I would be more than glad to respond.

Take martyrdom for instance a-hole.

Sorry fella,

No PERSON needs to discredit you, since you've done the entire job on your own.

All I did was ask simple questions, and what I actually expected "hopefully" was a simple clear answer, besides being called an a-hole.

You've proven to me that my expectations of you were clearly MUCH TOO HIGH.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

[cj01]

I see that you had nothing to add to the martyrdom bone. lol I smell Chicken.

[Dianhsuhe]

Dr. LT: I was being half serious. I am a Nidan and I see MANY kids who technically outrank me, so that is what I was referring to.

[cj01]

My humblest apologies...... please refer to my "Matter vs after life apology"

[amylong]

A black belt is only the beginning of martial knowledge just as death is only the beginning of the fight. Long live your spirit.

I don't understand that death is the beginning of the fight. I don't think of life as being a fight, so I'd hate to think I'm going to die and get into a struggle in the afterlife. lol.

I think the life and death are both just steps along the journey. Death isn't the end or the beginning. It just is part of the trip.

A milestone, perhaps, just as being a black belt is. Being a black belt means you've come a certain amount of the way.

--Amy

[cj01]

You are going to lose this fight and you **** well know it too.

[amylong]

You are going to lose this fight and you **** well know it too.

Again, are you talking to me? I'm not in a fight. I'm trying to have a discussion. If you're talking to someone in particular, it would be helpful if you quoted the post you are responding to. Thanks.

--Amy

[cj01]

This was a GREAT mental polar bear. I woke up and within 1 minute threw myself into this forum. There is nothing like a good mental sharpening early in the morning.
I do in all actually thank you for your opposition which gave me this great edge for the day.
cj01

[execkenpo]

In all seriousnous though, I think too many people view the coveted black belt as a final destination in our Western culture. IMHO, that attitude is very limiting and stifles future growth.

I have to agree with you on this; too many people see BB as the end of the journey. To me, when I finally attained my BB I saw that as the beginning of my true learning.