The first part of The Homing Beacon of Martial Arts deals with the philosophical aspect.

The second part of the book deals with the technical aspect and covers basic aspects such as breakfalls, for those martial artists needing to perfect this extremely important part of martial arts, too often neglected by numerous styles. It also contains a great number of illustrations showing more advanced techniques such as strangulations, leg and armlocks, come alongs, etc.

Martial Arts as a Way of Life

In my view, martial arts should be a “Way of Life based on harmony between opposites” rather than just a system or method for self-defence. If your mind was set on simply learning effective self-defence techniques to protect yourself and your loved ones, just a few months would suffice, and we would only have to concentrate on your gross motor skills (those that are likely to respond well under high stress). On the other hand, if you wanted to compete successfully in a “martial” sport such as judo or Brazilian jiu-jitsu, we would need to spend a few years to develop specific fine motor skills on how to respond to various standing and ground fighting attacks, somewhat in the same way that a chess player has to outdistance his/her opponent by thinking several moves ahead of time.

Our purpose is to help you reconcile so-called opposites so as to assist you on the path of be-coming the best human being possible. It is a life-long endeavour during which the outcome is not something yet to come but rather something you are achieving right now, in the present moment i.e., while perfecting every move as you learn them. In other words, the outcome IS the process (pretty well in the same way that Marshall McLuhan used to say that “the message is the medium”). Aim for self-accomplishment now, in the present, rather than waiting for an undetermined moment in your life. Linear and circular moves are indeed part of the same pro-cess, and so are hard and soft, gross and fine motor skills, etc. Gross motor skills can only exist because of the counterweight of fine motor skills. Why limit yourself to only part of the picture and be prisoner of this fallacy for the rest of your life. One cannot exist without the other.

You may eventually find that this development process has repercussions on every aspect of your life, including your intimate relationships. You will have a different outlook on why people respond with violent means despite any laws that can ever be voted in parliament to stop violence. You will gradually understand that violence is a useful energy that can be channelled to achieve desirable goals, and so is sexual energy, etc. Mastery rather than repression is the only answer to human harmony. Only gradual, painstaking efforts can lead you to this state. Discover the spiritual and eternal dimensions in you. Discover that body and spirit are intimately intertwined rather than completely separate entities. Do not let your ego take up all the space. Your self-accomplishment starts right now!