This week, a quote from Star Wars
Published: Tue, 10/21/14
I have never been a massive Star Wars fan. I saw the first film
pretty much by accident. It ran at the multiplex for several weeks
and I hadn't bothered to see it. Then I went to see something
else with a friend but we could not get tickets so saw Star Wars as
a second choice. It was fun but they do take themselves too
seriously, I still think the best George Lucas film was American
Graffiti which he made a couple of years before and gave Harrison
Ford pretty much his first screen part as the driver of a rather
nice 55 Chevy hot rod (which he crashes during a drag race).
However my friend and long time student Lynne likes to quote this
line from the Empire Strikes Back (the second film? sorry life is
too short too look it up). So I used it a this week's quote
outside the Stav Centre.
"No,
Try not.
Do or do not, there is no try"
Yoda, Star Wars
Martial Arts training is about learning how to deal with situations
where just trying is not enough. If confronted with a situation
when self-defence is necessary you must take decisive action, the
consequences of which you will have to live with. Taking no action
is a choice as much as striking out. There is no trying, only
action or inaction. Good martial arts training will equip you to
make that choice and take responsibility for your actions.
Even in training you either use your body effectively or you do
not. When training with a weapon you either handle it safely and
confidently or you are a danger to yourself and those around you.
Yes, you can try out a class to see if you think you can cope with
training. But once you have started on the path of martial
training you are either moving forward or you are wasting your time
and energy. Anyone can learn martial arts, we are all working to
fulfill our potential and your potential varies from person to
person, so competition is irrelevant. Once you are training you
have made the choice to do and move forward with your life. After
that there is either doing or not doing.
The clip is here on youtube if you have never seen Star Wars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ4yd2W50No
regards
Graham
PS In contradiction to the above I am trying a slightly different
approach to Saturday training. Interest in full day courses seems
to have dropped off, so I will be doing short sessions on Saturdays
in Crewkerne starting on the 1st of November and again on the 29th
of November. These will be focused on Close Quarter Combat
training for self-defence. There is also training scheduled for
the 15th of November in Salisbury. Instead of the full day this
will be limited to 3 hours, probably 10am to 1pm and will
concentrate on self-defence using Stav principles. More on this
soon and a link when I have updated the web page.