Health and Longevity and Physical Sub-ascetics

Our physicality is the intermediary between our will and our fulfillment.

Of course, it stands to reason that some people have their maximum point of fulfillment at the end of a Heaven Path that is primarily mental, such as the truly great philosophers and theoreticians, but for the vast majority of us, we will need our bodies to be in a good state of repair to achieve even a small portion of our potential fulfillment.

For this reason, we must consider the care of our bodies in order to plot a course that will allow the maximum amount of time as viable physical entities for us to work toward our fulfillment without having too much of that time in ensuring that maximization.

Beyond that, we must also consider all the other means besides failing to maintain ourselves that may result in premature loss of physicality.

Besides disease, we face such things as accidents and, of course, violence.

There are a very large number of people that spend a lot of time in daily exercise to maintain good health. This is admirable, but so much exercise serves only the purpose of keeping the body active, and possibly enhancing ones desirability.

Most exercise routines do very little towards protecting you from either accidents or violence.

One can enhance ones survivability from both accidents and violence by spending your exercise time in the study of a martial art. This is so because, on the one hand, virtually all martial arts systems will expose you to the strategy and tactics of personal violence, and on the other hand, practice of most martial arts systems will tend to condition your body and mind to work together without the slow decision-making process that so often gets in the way when confronted by the unexpected.

There are many martial arts systems and schools out there, and unfortunately, many of them are less than reputable.

As an aside, I should probably point out that my chosen profession for the last two decades or so involves frequent violence that comes in the form of a variety of people suddenly deciding to do harm to me, but I am not allowed, for several excellent reasons, to harm them back. That is to say, I have to confront the violence but when I’m done, those I have confronted should be gift-wrapped, but be none the worse for wear.

For my physical sub-ascetics, I advocate a single martial art. It is not the first one I’ve practiced, but it will be the last. As an exercise system, it is beneficial in so many ways and at so many levels that, for me, there is no other martial art.

The martial art is Yang-style Tai Chi Chuan.

Get sum!