By Gavin King, 2nd Dan Go So Kempo

Water, as an element, has long been an inspiration for countless generations of Martial Artists and Philosophers alike in their pursuit for the ultimate truth. It is unyielding in its desire to flow forever forwards. Although unyielding, it is always submissive. Though submissive it has perseverance and dogged determination that carves its way through anything it meets, gradually wearing down even the hardest rock. It is these characteristics with which it commands such respect and instils such fear, qualities that we as Martial Arts strive to achieve.

For the Martial Artist to behave as water, they must first become like water. Water is soft and fluidic, so must the Martial Artist be. If you are tense and stiff, you’ll be like an iceberg, crashing into everything that comes into your path. Being an iceberg is fine as long as you’re the biggest one in the sea, should you crash into a bigger iceberg you’ll be smashed to pieces. The Captain of the Titanic decided to take on the iceberg and ended up with a big hole in his boat. If he’d flowed round the iceberg he wouldn’t have sunk, and we might not have had to be subjected to 3 hours of Hollywood tripe 90 years later. Leonardo, you have got a lot to answer for!

As well as using the nature of water as inspiration for our physical movements, it can also serve as inspiration for our mental state. Bruce Lee said that our minds should be like that of a calm lake. When the moon shines upon a calm lake, it will be reflected back with complete clarity off of the surface of the water. If the lakes waters are rough and unsettled then the reflection will be distorted. With a calm and still mind, we can see the world around in complete clarity. When we are angry or upset we receive a distorted impression of the world.

Viewing the mind as the surface of the lake can be a powerful tool for tracking and controlling our emotions. In your minds eye picture a calm and quiet lake, try to equate this to your own state of mind. Take a mental check of your feelings. If you’re stressed or upset replicate this in your mental lake, imagine the surface becoming rougher. If you’re feeling happy and relaxed, imagine a calm and still surface. If you’re really pissed off, imagine the lakes surface being extremely turbulent, splashing and crashing into the shore. Now what ever state your mental lake is in, change it. If its still and calm, imagine it getting rougher, if it’s already rough, imagine it getting calmer. Have play with this visualisation. You should find that you can actually control the state of your lake and have a direct affect your own sense of peace and harmony.

Another exercise is to take your mental lake out for a walk, to work or somewhere else where you’ll interact with other people. Every time someone annoys you, imagine that they have just thrown a rock into your lake. Keep a track of the state of your lake. If it starts getting rougher, try to calm it down again. Now, if you imagine that the more someone annoys you, the larger the rocks they are throwing in your lake get. Some people seem like they are throwing boulders! When people are irritating you, mentally try to calm your lake. This will cause you to regulate your breathing and give you something positive to focus on; there is no point you throwing rocks into your own lake!  With practice this is quite a powerful emotional management tool.

As you’re probably beginning to see Water is a wonderful source of inspiration. Using the mental lake technique and moving with the physical characteristics of water will benefit you in every aspect of your life! Remember that other people have their own lakes too, and throwing rocks in them will have the same effect as it does on you. Every irritation you cause is another rock in their lake, and with enough rocks even the calmest lakes will spill over!

The mental lake technique and the verbal side step (mentioned in my previous article), provide you with some tricks that can help avoid a lot of life’s hassles. Every time you use the verbal side step, you’re effectively dodging the other person’s rock and whilst not throwing any back of your own. Your verbal side step helps keep your nice calm lakes free from rocks, and a rock free lake is the key to a happy life!