Peak 3rd density sword arts from ancient Europe

[STAR-ONE]

Ah martial arts enthusiasts, it's nice to see that we share the same passions! I always dreamed of going 1 year for training in a Shaolin temple, what an experience it must be.

I trained with some Shaolin monks. They were indeed focused and extremely disciplined. You can see videos (I refer to some old videos rather than recent ones on the Internet, but maybe you can find good recent stuff), and follow some of their basic exercises such as hanging upside down and transferring water from one container to another using a small cup. They also did things like dragging bricks with a rope tied to their scrotums, and punching into barrels of sand, and being hit in fragile spots such as throat and genitals with a board. Pretty extreme. But martial arts training goes to any level you want it to—it comes from within—whether you are training at Shaolin or with a local teacher in the states or wherever.

If you find a good martial arts teacher, they will teach the esoteric side, no matter what the specific discipline. For example, my first teacher's discipline was Kajukenbo, a tough, street-fight-style, Hawaiian art, but he also taught that if you learn to hurt you also need to learn to heal—things like that. My second teacher was the one to take me into the internal side very much rooted in traditional Chinese arts.

So why not find a teacher? I came across my first teacher by chance seemingly, but it was meant to be. It began a years-long journey with him and he was like a father to me. My second teacher was the same, and I will always love them both and be deeply grateful for everything they passed on to me. 

The thing about martial arts is that it has the potential to awaken a person to the connection between mind, body, and spirit, and the training hones this connection. In addition, it's just fun—hard, but definitely fun.

Interesting, indeed the martial arts lead to a discipline of the body and the mind which is really very instructive on many levels.

I would like in the manner of JCVD in Bloodsport or Kickboxer to have a master in a personal capacity (I am not comfortable learning with others), I prefer to be alone and in this way the learning is better and goes more at the end of the day.