Martial Fusion on Black Belt Magazine

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ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT THERE IS MORE THAN ONE WAY

A kind of darkness, some form of contemplation, a deep meditation is needed. An emptiness, a moment of silence as a trigger. A complete acceptance of our condition and purpose will be revealed through training, and training is not just a part of life, training is life itself, a preparation for the beyond.

From the very beginning of my martial arts training at 10 years old, I knew that the martial practice was more than fighting techniques, there was a sense of depth that kept on calling me into a path that I was able to recognize.

“There is more than one way to the top of the mountain”, is an old saying attributed to Lao Tzu, Miyamoto Musashi, Bruce Lee and many others all around the world. We have as many possibilities as the ones we can imagine and beyond. This was, and continuous to be, the essence of Martial Fusion – an open mind, an open heart and unlimited possibilities.

THE MARTIAL FUSION OF AIKIDO AND KICKBOXING

My martial training started with Aikido, but I also simultaneously studied karate and kickboxing as vehicles to explore certain aspects of the martial training that I was not experiencing through Aikido, such as kicking and sparring. And in kickboxing, the same can be said in reverse, such as falling and rolling called ukemi.

It seems like two sides of the same coin, but whatever was holding them together, was the thing I was looking for -- the freedom to move from structure to structure, utilizing the most effective elements available according to the situation in a fluid manner.

Through the years, this flexible attitude made it natural for me to invite and remain open to other practices and disciplines like yoga, meditation, and qigong, expanding my training into a holistic and internal discipline that turned my martial practice into a purification ritual that provides a sense of direction towards the harmonization of body, mind and spirit. This is what Martial Fusion means to me, it is an ongoing process of internal development through the practice, refinement and expression of physical movement and martial arts techniques, igniting deeper levels of understanding, operation and awareness.

There is a lot of discussion about the martial ‘effectiveness’ of Aikido today, especially when compared to other forms of combat martial arts. It seems to me that the focus of comparison is always regarding what you can do to others from the point of reference of control and martial application, or effectiveness of technique and not from what the practice of Aikido actually does to you internally and externally as a life changing discipline. Aikido is not a combat sport designed for fighting and competition, it is a practice of harmonizing energy within yourself, others and the world as develop and taught by O’ Sensei Morihei Ueshiba.

And in order to find harmony, we must become flexible, adaptable, empty, and leave fear, ego and the desire to control others behind. On the other hand, kickboxing, which is the counter element of our training in Martial Fusion, teaches you to dive into simple and direct techniques effective for combat and self-defense without getting too particular with the traditional combat styles of striking and kicking. I think that most young Aikido practitioners today are hungry for a dose of reality in the application of their martial techniques. They want to find out if the techniques they are learning at the dojo truly would work if they had to use them in a real, self-defense situation. I find sparring is a necessary component of training regardless of your martial arts background because it provides a closer representation of a real physical confrontation is like.

For me, there was never a conflict between practicing the two martial arts simultaneously, because I could see how one could complement the other and vice-versa. That’s where Martial Fusion comes from, it is a multi-cultural way of thinking. You want to be able to speak more than one language, become flexible and adaptable by utilizing those elements from the different disciplines that resonate within you and have the most positive effect on your journey.

That is the spirit of Martial Fusion, a high-energy cross-training system that blends Aikido and Kickboxing into a complete training discipline, combining flexibility, strength, endurance, balance, coordination, agility, power breathing and meditation exercises, based on the universal principles of energy, movement and human inner-development.

MUSHIN (No-Mind)

I feel that in order to find harmony, we must first experience ‘the void’. In Aikido, the practice of circular and flowing techniques is an effective vehicle for the internal development. The key is in the void, where only the here and now exists. Through the practice of ukemi we can induce a flowing state of mind by learning how to breathe, roll, fall, adapt, respond, to be present, to be natural, to redirect our body and energy, to overcome fears and finally, to let go. Then, suddenly, Mushin.

Once we start to practice in a flowing manner without attachments or interruptions in our mind and energy flow, in time and naturally, this state of being is transferred to everything else we do. Then everything becomes a meditation. To me, this is the ultimate purpose of martial arts physical training -- meditation and the acceptance and preparation for the moment of transition out of our physical body, death.

“That which takes you away from yourself, is the only thing to be avoided,” is another profound piece of wisdom transmitted by the Buddha, Osho and many other teachers from cultures around the world. Nobody is here to fulfill your destiny. It must be you in the driver’s seat.

The practice of zazen, or a seated meditation, at the beginning and end of every Martial Fusion training is the core structure for all the physical training, breath power, self-alignment and stillness practice to witness our internal movements, thoughts and emotions, allowing them to natural circulate within our system. This is the engine for inner-development.

BREATH POWER: Purification through breathing is the doorway to meditation

Your state of mind is linked to your breathing pattern. Practice conscious breathing.

Have you ever observed your breathing while you were having a strong negative emotion? If you were angry, your breathing was shallow, short and with a disruptive pattern. This is what happens when we are going through negative emotions -- fear, jealousy, envy, it’s like we have no center and we are uprooted from the ground. There is a clear connection between your breathing pattern and state of mind.

At the same time, if you can remember the last time you were going through a positive emotion or feelings like love or compassion towards another person, a situation or yourself, your breath was deep, calm, long and slow with a natural flowing rhythm. Meaning, the breath is mimicking the mind, or perhaps it is the mind that is mimicking the breath.

This is the key principle in Martial Fusion training -- using ‘breath power’ as the key that opens the door. By purifying the mind though the breath, slowing your heart rate down and freeing your system from obstacles and negative energies through the practice of deep breathing exercises (misogi), you can bring yourself to the most optimum and positive state of operation and beyond.

The discipline of Martial Fusion centers on constant training as a way of life. A way to know and refine the machine, our present vehicle of perception, during this process of self-alignment, light manifests as thunder. So think less, feel more, practice daily simplification, let go of possessions you no longer need, practice breath, stillness and meditation. Train to become adaptable and independent and pay attention to what you eat and bring into your system, and always remember that there is more than one way.