How Can You Call Yourself a Master? (Part Two)
In part one we discussed that a person has to know something, and not just in the general monkey see monkey do sense of the current legion of so called masters. This article has to do with the second and even more important missing ingredient upon the part of todays masters. This article has to do with the amount of knowledge a master must have to be a Master.
Yes, a fellow can study an art and say he has mastered that art. He can get so good at karate, for instance, that nobody can beat him. That, however, doesn’t make him a master.
To be able to destroy somebody using a particular art is very limited. Destruction, you see, is very short sighted. While there is an art to destruction, the true art is in control.
How do you control somebody who is trying to attack you? You must learn more than one art, and this means you must learn both the arts that result in destruction, and the arts which espouse control. You’ve got to learn the difference between force and flow, which is another way of saying you must be able to bash something, or control it.
Destroy something and it is no longer around to bother you, but this has another side to it. This means that you have no more authority or power over whatever it is you destroyed. True mastery is a perpetuating state whereby you can sustain your power and authority over your subject even into the future, no matter what.
In the first article I said you had to know something about the technology of something. In this article I am telling you have to know the technology of everything, and one other thing. I am telling you that you must have power and authority even over those unreasoning and strange things called people.
Having power and authority over not just things, or an art and all its moves is not enough. You must have power and authority over people. You must not just know the moves, you must be able to apply them, selectively, your choice, at any time and any place over any person.
Now, having defined a master, consider those individuals who lay claim to being a master. Can they just destroy and hurt people, and especially those who subject themselves to their teachings? Or have they studied and can apply a wide range of arts, the techniques of their choice, to anybody at any time?
Al Case has studied martial arts 4O+ years. He began writing articles in’89, and had his own column in Inside Karate. He is the originator of Matrixing Technology, which you can find out about in a free ebook offered at Monster Martial Arts.
Tags: aikido master, karate master, krav maga master, kung fu master, martial arts master, mma master, ninjitsu master, Self Defense, shaolin, ufc master, wudanPosted in
