Unplug and Reconnect.

 

With each passing moment the realization comes that Social Media is killing society, not just society, but our small Community. 

Rife with Ego, rife with marketing according to some big trend, regardless of what is practiced, it is all about getting noticed, all about 'me.'

This is the 'Selfie Generation' and it is no less prevalent in the Martial Arts Community where people seek such attention in order to promote themselves and their brand. 

So much ego, yet still these are skilled individuals with much to teach, but can one truly take them seriously? 

Going back and forth with the idea of just shutting down all of my Social Media accounts and really unplugging from the rat race, as it has become, to refocus, to center and reconnect. 

This will naturally cut me off from some things that are only available to me via Social Media, but that is okay, I have everything I need right here, right now. 

Social Media is poison, it seeps into our hearts and minds, our thoughts, our emotions, our opinions, these are no longer our own and, much of the time, it seeks to make us feel like we are less than we are, especially in light of advertising and content. 

We are not lacking, we just need to unplug and reconnect with our true selves in the moment, away from the screens, the keyboards, at least for the majority of the time, when such a thing is possible. 

Who are you? What are you doing? Do you have your own dreams and goals? Is what you are doing furthering you towards said dreams and goals? 

Are your thoughts your own? Are your feelings and opinions your own? Are you self-sufficient? Are you spending as much time training as you feel you should? 

Maybe you are, maybe you aren't, but can you truly be sure if you do not truly know who you are?

Unplug.

Stoic Karate - No Styles, no Rigidity.

 

What a nice day for yard work and Training outside! Taught lessons of body mechanics with a rake and broom for my son and daughter without anything particular in mind, then broke out three Jo and taught them a little bit of Jo basics which, naturally, translate to SOME sword basics. 

So caught up in the media sometimes that we all forget to enjoy the little things by stepping away, getting out, getting dirty, sweaty, and wearing ourselves down. 

We also tend to take ourselves a little too seriously a majority of the time and THAT is when stress gets us. 

In the community it is about style, about lineage, about whatever, we forget to step away from all of that and just train, enjoy training, realizing that we don't need to be so proper or 'Traditional' and rigid in what we are doing.

There are no styles, there is only the way.

This is the way.