The Warrior - life lessons

[Risto the Great]

"You Are Tough"

You face challenges. By accepting and working through these challenges, you become even stronger. You don't give into pressure. You don't pretend that everything is great when it isn't. As you learn and build, you aren't afraid to look foolish. You don't lie to yourself or anyone else. You are prepared to do the work and make the sacrifices necessary to self educate, to make enough money, to get and stay fit, to be a responsible person and to live a spiritual life. Your commitment to a high moral code is apparent. You aren't looking for excuses. The odds don't frighten you. You aren't afraid of arguments that are counter to your own. You are accustomed to doing jobs that others won't. When necessary, you can exercise reason, patience and restraint. You accept that life can be unfair. You have doubts and fears but you proceed anyway.

[Risto the Great]

The Teacher and the Student
The Tao of Teaching
by Wen-Ching Wu

Being a teacher is like being a student, for when teachers teach they also learn. To teach is to exchange energy, which is mutually enlightening.
Knowledge is for everyone to share, for it is a privilege and an obligation to have it. Open-mindedness gives us greater growth, for teachers can also learn from students.
Be grateful for each other, for it is through others that we are provided with an opportunity to grow. Give thanks everyday, for being more realized than yesterday.
There is no boundary to learning, for today's learning is a stepping stone for tomorrow's advancement.


It is usually easier for a student to locate a good teacher, than for a teacher to find good students. When they find each other, it is a beneficial and rewarding experience, like finding a mutual treasure. When they meet, it is like when long lost friends find each other. It is a very happy encounter. They appreciate the times they have together. While the teacher guides the student, the teacher also benefits from the new feedback and insights of the student. When a teacher teaches and interacts with students, he or she also continues to learn from their rich and diverse backgrounds

Teachers are in a position of great influence, tremendous power and responsibility. What they say or do has a significant impact on the students' open mind. In martial arts, teachers are more than just someone who provides knowledge and technical information; they are also our mentors, and wise, loyal advisers. They are our trusted friend, our confidant, and the source of our aspiration.

Being a teacher and being a student is like Yin and Yang; without one, the other can't exist. Just as within Yin there is inherent Yang, and within Yang there is inherent Yin, being a teacher is simultaneously being a student which is reflected in the dynamic and mutual balance between the two. Unfortunately, just as there is not a set of instructions for life, there is not a manual on the proper conduct of being a teacher or a student. There are, of course, many moral virtues and stepping stones that are used as a guide for teachers and students to achieve high standards, both physically and spiritually.

Today, many of the once understood and followed martial virtues and ethics have been written down. It is a wonderful reminder of the righteous practice of martial arts. The down side, as Laozi stated in the Tao Te Ching, is when the rules of conduct have to be written down and imposed; tagged with punishments for the offenders, society has already degenerated. These virtues are meant to be inherent within each one of us. It is a disgrace that we need to be reminded. Worse yet, many of these rules are abused and used contrary to the original intent of the virtues. Many have become a means to restrict the development of individuality by the enforcer and used as a way of control.

It is said that the greatest achievement in Chinese martial arts training is to, "develop the will to exert and strive hard without stopping when encountering powerful opposition." This statement also implies that we stand firm in our convictions and act in accordance with our conscience. For the fortunate ones, we have teachers that help us with our goals and determinism.

When we are born, we are like sponges ready to absorb the world. When we have absorbed the world that we once knew, we are faced with a new world to absorb.
We absorb all that we can without discriminating between good or bad, for we know not the difference. Fortunately, there are good mentors that can be our guides.
Thank you to the great teachers for being our mentors and inspiration, for their humility while they teach, and for guiding us while not attempting to change who we are.
Thank you to the teachers whose philosophical differences provide us with a deeper insight into our convictions. As there can't be Yin without the existence of Yang, we would not recognize and appreciate a great teacher without also knowing a not so great teacher.

[Risto the Great]

top 10 lessons from Bruce Lee:

1. Be YOUR best. It’s not about following in someone else’s footsteps or trying to be somebody you’re not. It’s about unleashing your best version of yourself. According to Bruce, “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.”

2. Absorb what is useful. It’s not about blindly adopting patterns and practices. It’s about taking the best of the best and tailoring it. It’s also about throwing away what doesn’t work. Bruce borrowed concepts and techniques from everybody and every art in a relentless pursuit of the best of the best. According to Bruce, “Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own.”

3. Keep an open mind. You have to be willing to throw out what you already know and have a curiosity to explore new paths. If you’re cup is already full, you can’t learn new things. According to Bruce, “First empty your cup.”

4. Aim past your target. Aim past your target, so when you fall short, you still land in the ballpark of success. Bruce Lee was famous for his one-inch punch, but in reality he was aiming past the one-inch. According to Bruce, “Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.”

5. Stay flexible. Be flexible in your approach. Learn from everybody and everything and don’t get locked into a particular style. According to Bruce, “Expose yourself to various conditions and learn.”

6. Focus on growth. Push past your limits. According to Bruce, “There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.”

7. Know yourself. Your blind spots and ignorance can be your biggest weakness. According to Bruce, “After all, all knowledge simply means self-knowledge.”

8. Master your mind and body. It’s not enough just to be smart. It’s not enough just to master your body. Your body and mind support each other. Your body helps turn what you think or dream up into results. According to Bruce, “As you think, so shall you become.”

9. Apply what you know. Life is not about watching from the sidelines. Use what you know and put knowledge into practice. Test yourself. According to Bruce, “Knowing is not enough, we must do. Willing is not enough, we must apply.”

10. Make things happen. When there is no wave, make one. According to Bruce, “To hell with circumstances; I create opportunities.”

[Risto the Great]

"Rejoice in the day"

You got up early. You did your best at work. You exercised your mind and body. You were pleasant to others. You did a good deed. You took time to reflect and plan tomorrow. Take pleasure in your accomplishments. Be proud of yourself. If you keep putting days like this together, there is no telling how far you will go and how many lives you will be able to change in a positive way. Today, you moved one day closer to achieving your goals.

Tonight, celebrate small victories and small joys and small wonders. You did your best. Put your head on the pillow. Live vibrantly. Sleep peacefully.

[Risto the Great]

"Focus on Your Priorities"

You could be doing a million things but you should pick one. What is the most important thing that you want to do today, this week or this year? This is a common denominator among the successful. They are focused on the immediate accomplishment of specific objectives. Separate the important from the urgent and allow time for both. What must you do? What should you do? What would you like to do? If you don't prioritise your day's activities, everything is of equal importance. Whether one thing gets done or doesn't get done may not matter. You want your activities to be important. You can judge their importance by what results they produce. If it doesn't bring a positive result, what's the sense of doing it for? Focus on the priorities that
get you closer to your goals.

[George S.]

pretty sound advice RTG,I'm sure some of the advice can be used by mto members.I like your bruce lee lessons.Happy new year to you & all at MTO 2011.

[Volk]

Nice Risto

[Risto the Great]

Thanks fellas.
Please contribute anything that makes you more positive or more productive here.

[Risto the Great]

"You prioritise"

You figure out what are the most productive things to do and you do them. You do them even if they are difficult. You are results oriented. You are an effective time manager. You seek balance among body, mind and spirit. You don't automatically say "Yes" to everyone and everything. You are focused and you are strong!

[Risto the Great]

"On the power of the fluid"


Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way round or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.
Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend.

[Risto the Great]

Many of these ideas or concepts extend far beyond martial arts.
I used to love quotes like these in my early years of martial arts training. Now I see them as reminders of much more and it is good to be reminded sometimes!

Perhaps all of us can generate some new years resolutions after digesting some of this material.

[Risto the Great]

Bruce Lee quote:

“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”

[Risto the Great]

Bruce Lee quote:

"A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer."

[Risto the Great]

Bruce Lee quote:

“The key to immortality is first living a life worth remembering.”

[Risto the Great]

Bruce Lee quote:

“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”