The Spirit

 Often times in society dealing with everyday stress, causes us to develop defense mechanisms. These mechanisms come in all forms and are necessary to make sure we don't lose composure and lash out a those around us. Which is one of the biggest responsibilities of a martial artist.

Keeping a work out routine and allowing yourself to clear your mind is a paramount skill to create. However even the strongest of us can create mechanisms that, although prevent us from opening the emotional flood gates on someone, can also be self destructive. Recently I have made the mistake of displacing my spiritual or emotional body from my physical body, which destroys your mental balance.

This can cause depression, detachment from others and make you more easily distracted. So in a martial sense, no matter what you have planned for the day and no matter what your stressors are, these two parts of yourself (emotional and physical) are meant to balance each other. To allow one or the other to wain will decrease your power and your ability to adapt to any new issues that might arise. Without control over your spiritual, or in a more terrestrial sense, your emotional body you are weak.

Remember that we all get upset and want to drag someone outside and thrash them every now and again. And this is natural, but to stifle your natural feelings completely only makes them stronger. Instead embrace your feelings, as long as you can maintain your composure and not act on these feelings you will be stronger for it. The peaks and valleys of emotion are an important part of life and without them life becomes robotic and dull.