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Martial arts: the perfect mental attitude

The mistake that causes certain defeat

Once a great master said something like:

“Never respond to a provocateur with another provocation, even if he deserves it. Do not let his weakness becomes your weakness”.

What does this mean?

It means that answering instinctively and specularly to a hostile behavior with a more or less proportional reaction is equivalent to:

Give body and substance to the damage we suffered
Confirm that who is attacking us is in condition to trigger a reaction inside our mind (in other words to control it)

Note – This article has been asked by one of our Core Course practitioners on Patreon (see how to attend our home study classes here Learn Kung Fu online: a beginner-to-expert course).

Each time we react losing our cool means:

That we have been subdued, tamed
That we have been caught unprepared
That who attacked us has achieved his / her goal

The only way to become invincible

Imperturbability: the highest martial level

The perfect martial arts practitioner, in front of any kind of hostile interaction, must become able to manage the contrast:

Without being moved by emotions or primordial instincts
As if he / she were air, water, earth or fire
As if he / she were facing air, water, earth or fire

A note by Master Kongling – As devastating as a force of nature may be, no sane person thinks of taking revenge on the wind and this is exactly how we must aim to behave with our “adversaries”; but let’s make a further step forward: has the tree ever raged for being struck by lightning? The rock split by erosion? Would that make sense? Would it change anything? In the same way, it should not make sense for us to let ourselves be carried away by the tyranny of instinct (it is only a sign of weakness).

The will to not react to aggressions gives us immediate victory and destroys the effectiveness of the harm (physical or verbal) that our aggressor was contemplating to impose (it takes off its sense).

A note by Master Kongling – Substantially, what we are trying to explain is that in front of a wise warrior, as fists of a newborn against an impenetrable armor, the words and gestures of fools fall in nothing (he / she does not need to prove anything to them).

Become the absolute zero

The only real enemy is inside us: ourselves, our interpretation of the happenings of the world around us.

The point is that weakness always lies in who feels the need to cause damage: the attack itself is evidence of inferiority, a search for something, a need to be filled (in short, a relevant lack in relation to the “victim”).

The mind that understands its own limits and those of others, comes into mingling with the entire universe and reaches a status against which every hostile activity is in vain.

Who attacks us can only succumb in front of a similar mental attitude that (only if real) will be totally outside of his / her understanding; his / her entire system of values would be shaken from the depth.

The highest wisdom of a warrior, whose practice is concrete proof of greatness

As a dagger thrown senselessly against a bottomless abyss, the perfect warrior can endure any type of attack but none of these will bring the expected result by the attacker: he / she will be disarmed without the need for any gesture.

Let’s ask ourselves some questions:

How much can be humiliating to try to beat a person who (really) does not suffer and does not react in any way?
How is it possible to rob someone who feels that he / she possesses nothing (read Nothing belongs to us)?
How can someone cause physical harm to those who do not find a distinction between (what appears to be) his / her body and the ground?
How can be threatened with death a person who feels to be part of the immortal life transformation cycle?
How can someone subtract love from who loves everyone without distinction in the same way?
How can be deceived, corrupted or limited in happiness a person who does not have desires?
…

A note by Master Kongling – I know, These thoughts are extreme (and hard even only to accept) but even if only 1% of their meaning has pervaded our minds, we have already begun to become invincible and to change the world. Many battles, physical or mental as they are, can be effectively won before they begin. This is the kind of attitude that we must aim for.

Final notes

A few conclusive thoughts:

It is easy to think that such kind of imperturbability is not practical at all (for example, in a real self-defense context) but if our life (and / or the one of those who are with us) is concretely at risk, well, the goal is not automatically to ignore the actions of who is threatening us (eg. ignore that he / she is killing someone); the idea is to mentally exclude their meaning (to be, on one side, less controllable and on the other, to obtain more efficient reactions, if necessary; read also The 6DKF’s diagram about the use of violence)
It is important to understand that the imperturbability we are talking about must not be taken as a total interruption of our feelings in relation to reality, that would be stupid and terrible, it would simply create a monster (many serial killers act this way); we only want to exploit the immense power of this vision to transfer everything that we do not want that instinct controls under the vigilance of our rationality (nothing more nothing less and it remains something incredible)
How does one achieve such a superior mental state? Simple, by starting from facing what involves our instinct less intensely to gradually move to what we have difficulties to control; let’s not delude ourselves to be able to impose such a difficult attitude in a critical fight or flight situation without any previous preparation
In conclusion, it must be stressed that the power of imperturbability is functional only if real, it is not a matter of convincing our opponent but ourselves
…

In-depth video courses

Mind self-control hacks – A path to build a more effective mental management
How to build strong self-discipline – How to develop the only skill that gives access to all the other

In-depth articles

The 3 winning mindsets of a fighter – How to bring the imperturbability principle into a combat context
Violence and martial arts: the difference – Are martial arts violent? When and why

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

Have you ever felt imperturbable?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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