Hidden Master: Lessons from Wood

You are truly in for a tree-t with today’s cup! (I know. Corny. I couldn’t resist doing it though…). There is a lot a tree can teach you. This isn’t a cup you want to start and leaf  halfway in. (Again, I had to do it).

That’s knot (alright, that was the last one. Probably) to say that we need to sit in the same spot for most of our lives, though many seem to be quite masterful at that, just look at anybody addicted to beating a Square Enix video game.

Although patience and determination are definite virtues that the tree constantly demonstrates, they are are not the only things.

I’m not going to go all far out on you, but let me give you some background in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).

In TCM there is a concept called Wu Xing (say it with me: “Woo shing”. Good job!). Wu Xing can mean different things, but in this context, it means Five Elements. Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water.

Kinda like the soulful 70’s band, Earth, Wind & Fire, but without the Wind. And the boogie. And the 70’s fashion. Ok, so, not at all like the band.

To TCM practitioners, Wood doesn’t just mean pine trees. It can also mean bamboo or other type of plant life. It stands for strength but also flexibility and sturdy pliability. I’m sure we’ve all heard how strong bamboo is because it has some give to it, because it bends and sways in the face of mighty winds.

There is also the idea that plants in general love sunlight. It’s how they grow. It’s how they live. And, so too should mankind constantly seek that which is good, virtuous, and bright one might say. And that is good and all, but what does that have to do with your average everyday Gichin Funakoshi, you ask?

Not much. That is, if you want to stay exactly as you are for the rest of your life. If improving is something you are interested in doing, then you have to find your “sunlight”.

Someone who is extremely proficient at what they do, a rival who makes you strive for betterment, a trophy you really want to earn, a realization that there is a technique or movement performed in class that you really needed to work at (hint: there is always at least one thing!).

Your “sunlight” is whatever or whoever inspires you or improves you. It is somebody or something that will only bring you up with their presence.

If you are the smartest person in the room, you are in the wrong room.

– unknown

Sunlight helps plants grow. Meditate on that.

But even with sunlight, any plant would topple over and whither away without good root.

I mean this two different ways: mentally and physically.

Mentally

Simply said, why you are doing what you are doing? Taking a second to refocus and remember what your goals are can help you out big time. It can be easy to get distracted and start training for things that you don’t really need.

That’s not to say that you only need to focus on one aspect of Martial Arts forever though. What I mean is, if your goal is to become the top Forms competitor and take home that first place trophy in the tournament next month, well, you better spend more time perfecting that form than you do working on point sparring (unless you were competing in that too).

A bit of focused practice can go a long ways!

What got you to where you are? Send the teacher that set you on your Martial Arts journey an email and thank him. Tell your mom and/or dad thank you for signing you up for karate classes when you were a five year old.

A little respect goes far!

Physically

Let’s do a thought experiment.

You are out spending an evening in the park when you accidentally bump into a guy carrying an ice cream cone, causing him to drop his frozen delicacy. The hot head gets mad (I guess you could say he lost his cool). Things escalate into a fist fight. After a few wild punches, the guy lowers his guard. Seizing the opportunity, you throw your hardest punch.

Now stop!

Take a moment and imagine two different scenarios and tell me which one would result in a more effective punch:

In the first scenario, you throw your punch from a rock solid stance, firm and unmovable.

In the second scenario, you are wearing rollerblades while you throw your punch (I guess it was a nice day to wear rollerblades).

The answer should be obvious. Unless you have mastered the long lost (read: never created) art of fighting while wearing mini-wheels on your feet, the first example is going to be a lot more effective. In the second example, some of the energy is going to end up being used pushing you backwards.

Rooting, like in the first example, is something that is definitely not to be neglected.

If you want to have more effective strikes, be more balanced, and stay on your feet during a fight, then practice rooting yourself to the ground.

That simply means checking your stance and making sure it is structurally correct and stable and then making those micro adjustments to direct energy (from gravity, from a bully pushing you, from a punch that you throw, etc.) downward and into the ground.

Even if your style doesn’t have long, deep stances, you can still practice rooting yourself.

Good body structure is good body structure, irregardless of style.

Stuff like having a relaxed body, keeping your knees bent, not leaning, and keeping your hips tucked under your body are things that just about anybody can implement in their fighting style. And their lifestyle.

A lot of good rooting posture is also just simply good posture in general. It’s all physics and anatomy.

Now that you’ve mostly finished this post, go outside, breath in some fresh air, and look at the various plants and learn a thing or two—or even tree.

Ok.

Officially done with the nature puns.