242. Genchitaofu Baguazhang’s Living Tao - 艮氣道福八卦掌の活道
Every now and then, I like to read up on the baguazhang masters and learn about their adventures and exploits. It still amazes me just how far removed we are now from those days of yore, in terms of place and time moving on. But even so, some things never change like those who live by the sword still die by the sword. Martial artists who strictly adhere to the principle that martial arts is solely for fighting, still tend to die an early death. While those martial artists who use their art to find meaning in the way live long fruitful lives and get to die in their beds; without undue complications. While all of this may be easy to understand and easy to reject as just the ramblings of a crazy nut, the truth of actually walking the martial arts path is hard to walk and difficult to comprehend. Because with each step taken we change our very being in profound subtle ways. And that is why so many martial artists, while starting off strong, quit after a while. Jump back in after a few years. Go hard out. And then quit again. And then repeat it again and again. At times we may get distracted by other things but the truth is: We are just not ready to let go of who we were and embrace our new self. This is the internal answer. The external answer is that our new self is out of alignment with our environment however which way we measure it. And so we need some time and space to move where and when we can express ourselves the fullest. While this may appear, from my words, easy to do, reality is far more painful because the forces trying to hold us back are the exact same forces trying to push us out. And to make matters worse, when the pushing and pulling are in balance, it can be almost impossible to find that certain something that will tip the scale… Being a “Living Tao” (活道) means that I inevitably end up on a daily basis (unless I go hide in my turtle shell) helping others to find their own tipping stone so that they know which path to take. Thankfully most of the time it is about getting them to remember what it was in the first place that got them on the path, and removing the external distractions clouding their thoughts. And that is one of the things I love about the internal martial art of baguazhang. It does not matter how lost I get while walking the Tao, the Tao always comes full circle and I get to start over. No mysteries. No enigmas. I am just physically and consciously aware of the process. I am a part of the Tao and the way exists because the wayfarer moves along the way.