Never Give Up - The 3 Stages Of Zen

It's not necessary to be a Buddhist to practice Shaolin. But it is necessary to understand why you practice. Martial Arts is not a sport but an art, and like all art, it changes your internal makeup. If it's not working the mind as hard as the body then your training need to be adjusted.

Martial Arts is not for the feint hearted because it's not an easy skill to master. I started studying when I was thirteen years old and I'm still a beginner. But one thing I understand is that our training goes through three vital stages. They are similar to traffic lights: red, amber, green. But the green is when we are stationery and can sit peacefully with ourselves because we know ourself.

The Three Stages Of Zen Training In Martial Arts

1st Stage: Jian Chi - Never Give Up

You need willpower, belief and knowledge of your goal so you don't give up. Having a goal means we know which direction our training is going and we have something to work towards. This helps us to Never Give up.

2nd Stage: Dong Jing - Balance

This is a special word for martial arts which is difficult to translate. Dong means to move, Jing means to be still. When your martial arts comes to the second stage, it's very important that you don't lose your balance. It is like the two wings of a bird. You need to do Qi Gong and Kung Fu but not only that, when you do Kung Fu you need to have stillness in your movement.

3rd Stage: Ch'an / Zen

The Chinese writing says “Ch’an”, which is the highest of the martial arts. Martial Arts training is there to help you understand yourself, the result is to know yourself and be yourself. This is the final stage of your training. Sometimes it can be tough to accept who you are but in order to find peace with yourself you need to do this.

I designed these T-shirts which I've trailed for myself for three months before making them available on my website. Made from bamboo cotton, they are exceptionally soft and perfect to train. I hope they will inspire you and act as a daily reminder, helping you to train with the correct attitude of mind as well as body.  For more info or to buy click here.

True Freedom: You Already Have Everything You Need

Martial Arts is a way of being in life. It's very difficult in the beginning to make your practice into a habit and even when you've been doing it for many years, there can still be a struggle. But this is good because it shows your practice is constantly challenging you. The key to rising to the challenge is to make a strong commitment to your martial arts practice from the very beginning. This commitment automatically makes you practice, and any thoughts that go against your practice can be more easily dismissed.

In order to gain something you have to give up something. For example, you can't eat chocolate cake every day and lose weight. It's true that a martial artist does not have as much "freedom" as a non-martial artist because so much of your time is taken up with the practice. But what exactly is freedom?

Martial Arts helps us to be. If you can just be then you don't have so much desire for external things. If you can be, the Buddha says, all of your good qualities are already there. You don't need to try to do something to make yourself happy because your happiness will manifest by itself. This to me, is true freedom.

Shifu Yan Lei is a 34th generation fighting disciple form The Shaolin Temple in China, he offers a graded path in Qigong and Kung Fu:
http://www.shifuyanlei.co.uk/dvd_latest_release.html

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