Biggest Relaxation Mistakes and how to avoid them

Long ago sports evolved from martial arts (like: Greek Olympic games) and were transformed into competitive play with rules and winning points. Sports carry in itself some cultural impact on competitors. Martial arts of today, especially Chinese, are mostly later inventions. They have typically risen at the end of 19th century. It was the time when China and other Far East countries understood cultural impact of sports and had nothing else to offer regarding sports. So they began to export martial arts and other techniques.

The core of all – not only Chinese martial arts – is so called ‘natural movement’. It is a way of movement that has originated in Nature and is connected to energy consumption (see: Least of effort in leadership).

Long ago, when physical strength was necessary to fight, ‘natural movement’ was commonplace. All styles of martial arts, breathing techniques (see:  Best Ways to Relax Successfully), meditation, yoga etc. are supposedly methods to regain natural movements. Those are very straight forward and very simple once we know how to do it, but quite a bit hard to (mostly) re-learn (recall) from our childhood years. And when we do, we realize how powerful natural movements are. In the Nature all species depend on them to survive. That is why masterful martial artists when old move so simply, so powerful and are able to subdue much younger competitors.

There are different techniques to learn natural movements! Some of them are very popular today:

• “Meditation allows your body to settle into a state of profound rest and relaxation and your mind to achieve a state of inner peace, without needing to use concentration or effort.”
• “Yoga is a healing system of theory and practice. The purpose of yoga is to create strength, awareness and harmony in both the mind and body.”

But are the above techniques fairly represented and taught?

Best Practices That Drive Adaptability

“Better to spend three years looking for a good master than ten years training with a bad one.” Wushu wisdom.

We live in a fast changing world where “being stable” means being adjustable. Only people who lost their adaptability naturally resist change (see: How to Guide Your Change). They become rigid which is the opposite of stable.

In Martial Arts adaptability is the principle of the Bruce Lee’s idea of giving with adversity, to bend slightly and spring back stronger than before and finally to adapt oneself harmoniously to the opponent’s movements without striving or resisting. During a competition or fight you have to adjust to the environment, your opponent, and to the mistakes you and your opponent make. This you can only do by being stable, flexible and adaptive.

Nature is a prime example of adaptability. Even big trees should be flexible and adaptive to grow stable. They adjust to the surrounding environment, to the winds and become even more stable. If not, they are uprooted. They don’t consume extra energy to rise straight up. For them it is natural to adapt to the soil declination when growing.

Water is the next good example mostly used in martial arts as a material to ‘replicate’. In China they used to say: water purifies and refreshes all living creatures, water without restraint and fear trickles through the surface of most things, water is fluid and adaptive, water which is in harmony with the laws of Nature. Water is soft but can cut through the hills and hard rock. Water “makes” it by adapting.

In everyday life there is an abundance of events and issues that require our adaptation.

Are we able to adapt or not quickly enough?

How to Guide Your Change

“Change is the only constant in life” Heraclitus.

Then why are we so afraid of it?

In the post Organizational change I have written that employees, others as well, perceive stability as security and therefore normally oppose changes. Such perceptions present difficulties or even block a change.

Where, then, is the exit door to ‘changing’ that?

Let’s start with a simple question: what do I want to be?

The answer does not lay within New Year’s resolutions where we write down our wishes and intentions on a piece of paper, store it in a bottle and launch it to sea, hoping it will manifest by itself! No. The Universe isn’t going to make this happen. You are the only one to do it!

So, how then?

Sun Tzu wisdom and Leadership

In my previous posts I have deliberately omitted any connection to well-known book The Art of War by Sun Tzu. This book is one of the seven fundamental Chinese military books: from general Wei Liao Tzu, then Wu Tzu, The Methods of the Sima, Six Secret Teachings, the Three Strategies of Huang Shi Gong San Lue, and finally Questions and Replies (Wen Dui) between Tang Taizong and Li Wei Gong. These seven important military texts of ancient China are called Wu Jing Qi Shu or The Seven Military Classics. The texts were canonized under this name during the eleventh century, and past the Song Dynasty were included in most military encyclopedias.

The Art of War was created in sixth century before our era and contains the rules of warfare, which are grouped into different aspects and collected in 13 chapters. Each chapter is devoted to one aspect of warfare. Outside of China this book has long been regarded as the book of ‘the ultimate’ military wisdom and as the oldest and the most famous product of military strategy and tactics.

Dualism vs. Yin-Yang

Can Western dualism be compared to Yin and Yang?

We are probably all aware that René Descartes was a major figure in seventeenth-century European continental rationalism. His most famous expression was/is ‘Cogito ergo sum,’( in French: ‘Je pense, donc je suis’) or in English: ‘I think, therefore I am’  ‘I am thinking, therefore I exist’ or ‘I do think, therefore I do exist.’ He definitely shaped or better defined Western polarization culture’s thinking.

Descartes defined the roots of Western dualism in ‘Description of the human body’ and the ‘Passions of the soul’ in which he advised that the body functions like a machine. In contradiction to the body, the mind or soul was described as a non-material object that lacks extension and motion and does not follow the laws of nature. This form of dualism or duality has a problem when one proposes that the mind controls the body and that the body can also influence otherwise rational mind. 

The dualism, as a philosophical matter, is then transferred to all themes such as good-bad, heaven-hell, day-night, left-right, man-woman, etc. This polarization is very strict and does not allow any big or small interconnection and/or interdependency. This kind of thinking was strongly supported by prevailing religion in Western hemisphere at the time.

Ancient knowledge about leadership

Last post about “Different views on leadership” discussed the differences between Western and Eastern leadership views. In searching for those dissimilarities I came across text from Spring and Autumn - Warring States, chapter Yao Yue describing discussion between Confucius and his apprentice Zi Zhang. Discussion is obviously focused on a leadership principles and attitudes:

Zi Zhang asked Confucius: "In what way should a person in authority act in order that he may conduct government properly?"

The Master replied: "Let him honor the five excellent, and banish away the four bad, things; then may he conduct government properly."

Zi then said: "What is meant by the five excellent things?"

The Master: "When the person in authority is beneficent without great expenditure; when he lays tasks on the people without their repining; when he pursues what he desires without being covetous; when he maintains a dignified ease without being proud; when he is majestic without being fierce."

Zi: "What is meant by being beneficent without great expenditure?"

The Master replied: "When the person in authority makes more beneficial to the people the things from which they naturally derive benefit; -- is not this being beneficent without great expenditure? When he chooses the labors which are proper, and makes them labor on them, who will repine? When his desires are set on benevolent government, and he secures it, who will accuse him of covetousness? Whether he has to do with many people or few, or with things great or small, he does not dare to indicate any disrespect - is not this to maintain a dignified ease without any pride? He adjusts his clothes and cap, and throws a dignity into his looks, so that, thus dignified, he is looked at with awe - is not this to be majestic without being fierce?"

Zi then asked: "What is meant by the four bad things?"

Learning Leadership from Martial Arts - I

The central blog question is: “How to successfully lead a group of people coming from different cultural backgrounds?”

Today we are facing important and challenging (new) factors in leadership and management: different languages, time zones, channels/modes of communication, physical distance, and consequently a large and variable mixture of cultural factors. All these factors influence work processes, decision-making, management, work habits and even get embodied in national work-related legislation. To be able to lead and to predict behaviors a modern leader is supposed to grasp them and not to give and take offence due to misunderstanding of cultural issues. In today’s global world it is increasingly important and desirable to understand these differences and understand how they require a different leadership and management style.

As there are numerous studies of cultural impact on management, leadership, team building, motivation, etc. I will not describe them, but rather follow a different path. People share a lot of the same habits, reactions, behaviors, etc. that are more culturally independent and are effectively and efficiently used in martial arts training and teaching. Can the same approach be taken in a new way to a different leadership?

Dao De Jing

Dao De Jing is a transcript of around five thousand Chinese characters in eighty-one chapters or sections. The chapter divisions were during history in later editions reorganized and supplemented with commentary. The title of the Dao De Jing text comes from the opening words of its two sections: DAO represented in chapters 1 to 37 and DE from chapter 38 to 81.

To explain the title we can separate containing terms. The term Dao was explained in my blog “Dào (Dao, Tao) – the Way” and De in “De – Virtue –Dé”. The third word Jing is translated as ‘canon,’ ‘great,’ or ‘classic’ text.

Thus, Dao De Jing can be translated as ‘The Classic/Canon of the Way/Path and the Power/Virtue.’ Even if this well-known text title did not become generally used until the Tang dynasty (618–905), it is fundamental to philosophical Daoism and it strongly influenced other old Chinese schools, such as Legalism and Neo-Confucianism. This ancient book is also central to Chinese religion, not only for religious Daoism, but also Chinese Buddhism which, when first introduced into China, was largely interpreted through the use of Daoist words and concepts.

Tai Chi Quan Leadership

Tai Chi Quan (Tai Chi) is represented through steps by the coordinated actions of the body’s extremities, of the body as a whole including the eyes. The breathing is also coordinated. Thusly,  Tai Chi is a complete system of exercises characterized by the unity and by the cultivation of the internal and external application of power. A very old system, widely known for its healthy and relaxation methods but rarely considered a martial art.

The term Tai Chi Quan translates as “supreme ultimate fist, boundless fist, great extremes boxing or simply the ultimate.” Tai Chi theory is deep and profound. It takes many years of practice, learning, research and pondering to gradually grasp the esence to the art. It is said that Tai Chi Quan was created by San Feng Chang in the Song Hui Zong era (1.082 – 1.135) although techniques and forms with the same basic principles were already in existence almost 600 years earlier that were created from previous one taught in Han Dynasty (206 BE – AE 220). The content of the art has varied from one generation to the next. What we see today in the forms of Tai Chi has been evolving for more than eight hundred years. Various versions of Tai Chi are still practiced around the world: bare hand, sword, saber, spear, stick, ball or ruler. Some are slowly disappearing for there are very few masters around to teach.

Leadership and responsibility

Responsibility translates into commitment to finish something. People mostly like and tend to hide from responsibility for their deeds, actions, and decisions.

When learning to master martial arts one is encouraged to think about the responsibility and how to use it in all techniques. Depending on energy, force, and power used a martial artist may kill, immobilize or cure a person - the body point to which it is applied is the same. It is a heavy and sole responsibility what and how to use the accumulated martial arts knowledge.

The responsibility is, by all means, one of the most demanding requirements in leadership. “Good leadership involves responsibility to the welfare of the group, which means that some people will get angry at your actions and decisions. It's inevitable, if you're honourable. Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity” are the words of General Colin Powell on leadership’s responsibility.

I Ching

The I Ching or Zhouyi – the Book of Changes is a collection of practical wisdom used as oracular statements and pertaining to every conceivable situation. It is one of the oldest Chinese classical texts.

I Ching is built of linear signs represented by 64 sets composed of two three-line arrangements, namely hexagrams (guà) that represent sixty four main kinds of life situations. The lines of hexagram are, of course, not just lines. Each hexagram has a name and is a physical symbol representing deeply metaphysical or subconscious manifestation. Every line of hexagram can be broken or unbroken. The unbroken or solid line represents yang, the ‘creative’ principle. The broken or open line with a gap in the centre represents yin, the ‘receptive’ principle. These principles are also represented in a common circular symbol or diagram known as Tai Chi Tú but more commonly known in the West as the yin-yang symbol, expressing the idea of wholeness of constantly undergoing change.

Traditionally the I Ching is consulted by throwing 50 yarrow stalks, but today a set of three coins is used more frequently. When a hexagram is cast using one of the traditional processes of divination with I Ching, each yin and yang line will be indicated as either moving (changing), or fixed (unchanging). A second hexagram is created by changing moving lines to their opposite and represents new possibilities and transition that might occur due to someone’s interaction of a free will.

De – Virtue - Dé

In my blog: Virtue – Morality – Ethics and leadership I wrote that virtue motivates and morals and ethics constrain. To support that statement here I’d like to describe virtue through Chinese  ancient text ‘Dào DéJīng’.

Dé is conventionally translated as ‘virtue’ or ‘power,’ and refers to how the Way or Dào functions, or literally “walks” throughout the visible world. ‘Moral authority’ is probably the closest modern English equivalent to Dé. It was an opening stanza in the oldest version of Dào Dé Jīng, now it is introduced in stanza 38 that describes virtue:

High virtue by obliging not - acquires moral force.

Low virtue obliges always and thus lacks moral force.

High virtue neither strives nor acts for its own ends.

Low virtue does not strive but acts for its own ends.

High kindness does strive but not for its own ends.

High service also strives and does so for its ends.

High ritual not only strives but compliance failing stops at nothing to compel conformance.

Thus the loss of the Way meant the advent of virtue.

The loss of virtue, the advent of kindness.

The loss of kindness, the advent of service.

The loss of service, the advent of ritual rule.

Ritual rule turned loyal trust to deceit, leading to disorder.

All that has been learned adorns the Wayand engenders delusion.

Hence those strong and true keep commitment 

shun deceit, stay with the kernel that’s real and shun flowery adornment, choosing the first, refusing the last. (Moss)

Dào (Dao, Tao) – the Way

In my blogs I have been using a term Dào (Dao, Tao) and would like to share with you my understanding of the meaning of the concept.

Dào is usually translated as way, road, channel, path, doctrine, or line. Chinese language is a tonal language so we must not confuse Dào with Dǎo, although for us it sounds the same. The latter, Dǎo, has an entirely different meaning: to lead, to transform, to guide, to conduct and or to direct.

There are some who would like to believe that Dào is a sort of ultimate creator, a God? It is not. God interferes with people and things, Dào never does. It is said that he who pursues Dào does less day by day. Less and less is done until nothing is done at all; when nothing is done at all, nothing is left undone. This is the fundamental difference between God and Dào – there is no interference when Dào is in concern. At the same time we should understand that Dào in Daoism can have dual meaning. One is religious and the other philosophical. The understanding and use of Dào in my book Leadership by Virtue is the latter.

Least of effort in leadership

The Mandarin Chinese word wú wéi could be described: ‘by inaction nothing is left undone.’ It may well be also translated as ‘non-acting makes all action possible.’ Lǎo Zǐ, a philosopher of ancient China and the author of the Dào Dé Jīng, in stanza 38 ‘About Dé of the Dào’ described it as:
High virtue by obliging not acquires moral force.

Low virtue obliges always and thus lacks moral force.

High virtue neither strives nor acts for its own ends.

Low virtue does not strive but acts for its own ends.

Dào is usually translated as way, road, channel, path, doctrine, or line and by Chinese opinion cannot be obtained as virtue cannot be approached. The legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero Yellow Emperor (reigned from 2.696–2.598 BE) said that once Dào is lost, virtue arises; once virtue is lost, humaneness arises; once humaneness is lost, righteousness arises; once righteousness is lost, formalism arises. But formalism is the flowery representation of Dào and the beginning of disorder.

China’s history and culture impacting Leadership - 3

The third example I would like to share with you is the historical novel Three Kingdoms, written in the tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals which are attributed to Confucius. The historical novel of the Three Kingdoms is so important because it describes China’s tradition of political culture and the struggle to define its political form, transporting the reader from the highest councils of dynastic power to the lowest fringes of society, from the capital and key provinces to the edges of the empire and beyond. The novel offers a startling and unsparing view of how power is wielded, how diplomacy is conducted, and how wars are planned and fought. The novel has in turn influenced the ways that the Chinese think about power, diplomacy, and war. It is a tale of China itself in its infinite variety.

While ‘preserving moral judgment’ in every turn of phrase the novel marks the ‘rise and fall of kingdoms’ in a grand sweep of time. The novel has added to this tradition by reaching the broadest possible public with its message. This challenges a reader to reflect on how his own conduct measures up to the standards of loyalty and filial piety as they are fulfilled or betrayed in the novel. As Jiang Daqi said in the preface to the novel ‘merely to read it but not apply [its lessons] vigorously in one’s own life, is inferior to [real] study.’

China’s history and culture impacting Leadership - 2

The second example from China’s history for an outstanding leadership can be taken from the novel: Journey to the West. The main character is Sūn Wùkōng, Brother Monkey or Great Sage. The narrative uses a lot of symbolism and is based on the Daoist philosophy. Brother Monkey represents the heart and resides in fire, which is a fifth Daoist element. He was born from a stone and acquired supernatural powers through Daoist practices on the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits, which is the source of yīn and yang. The whole settlement and the place represent the Daoist theory of five elements where the other four are: Fruit and Flowers represent wood, Water Curtain where Brother Monkey hides refers to water, Iron-Plated Bridge leading to his camp refers to metal, and Rocky hill refers to earth. 

China’s history and culture impacting Leadership - 1

In this and the next two blogs I will try to shed some light on the topic of how one should behave and what one should aim for to be a successful and superior leader. Here I will take it from a non-Western perspective – from China’s history that is quite rich and could be the source of potentially broader viewpoint in today’s (mostly western) leadership methodologies.

I begin with a story Outlaws of the Marsh. The main character Sòng Jiāng, the descendant of a landowner's family, nicknamed Timely Rain, was a clerk of the county magistrate’s court in Yuncheng. He was especially adherent to playing with weapons and adept at many forms of fighting. At the same time he had a reputation for being extremely filial and generous in helping those in needs. He helped anyone who sought his aid, high or low, making things easy for people, solving their difficulties, settling differences, saving lives, even providing his guest with food and lodging in the family manor. And so he was famed through the province of Shandong and Hebei. However, in silence he suffered in the face of the arbitrariness and corruption of the imperial justice system.

Wing Chun basics 4 Leadership

In the book Leadership by Virtue I refer to martial arts philosophies and Wing Chun principles with regard to a personal growth for those who strive to become an outstanding leader. Here I’d like to share some Wing Chun basics to illustrate this relationship:

Efficiency and effectiveness are both the hallmarks of Wing Chun. Out of these hallmarks spring three main principles: central line, economy of movement, simultaneous attack and defense. And these principles serve right only if you have cultured three roots: balance, structure and stance.

A correct stance is like a bamboo, firm but flexible, rooted but yielding. It gives us power to either deflect external forces or redirect them. Balance is connected to a structure that is embedded within a stance. A correct structure is not important just for the defense, but also for the attack. Being effectively ‘rooted’ or aligned against the ground enables the force of the hit to be taken and absorbed by the ground. Why a good leader has to have a stable stance I have already explained in my Leadership and stability blog post.

Martial arts philosophy

Better sweat in practice than bleed in battle (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

The combats and strategies were a constant topic through the human history. In China only there are seven important military texts. First is from worldwide well-known Sun Zǐ, (The Art of War), the next are from general Wèi Liáozi (The Art of War), Wú Qǐ (The Art of War), Sīmǎ Fǎ (The Marshal's Art of War or The Methods of the Sīmǎ Fǎ), the legendary figure Jiāng Zǐyá (Six Secret Teachings), general Zhang Liang (The Three Strategies of Huáng Shígōng), and finally: Questions and Replies between emperor Táng Tàizōng and general Lǐ Wèi Gōng. The texts were practically canonized under the name “The Seven Military Classics” already in 11^th century, and were later on included in most military encyclopedias. In military spheres it was as important as Confucius’s work is for the bureaucrats.

Better spend three years looking for a good master than ten years training with a bad one (Wǔ Shù wisdom)

In China a philosophy does not come only from the country’s rich culture but also from martial arts. The keystone in Chinese philosophy is a strong humanism that became a focus of numerous Chinese philosophers throughout the ages. This humanism does not imply exclusion or indifference to a supreme powers and the nature. Instead, the general conclusion goes towards the unity of human and ‘heaven.’ This spirit of synthesis has characterized the entire history of Chinese philosophy.

A range of similarly motivated philosophical doctrines is covered by Daoism. Two great philosophical systems of China stand alongside: Daoism and Confucianism. Somehow less influential and less important to the development of Chinese culture are ‘the School of Mo’ and ‘the School of law’. The latter was a utilitarian political philosophy that did not address higher questions like the nature and the purpose of life. Both of them evolved at about the same time as Confucianism and Daoism during the ‘Spring and Autumn Period’ (770–476 before our era), and ‘Warring States Period.’

Leadership catch: Adjustment and listening

Imagine walking through the woods. You carefully move and step slowly on the uneven ground where even the exposed tree roots are all covered by leaves. We adapt to environment. Although trees might seem static and unmovable they are still flexible and adaptive. They adjust to the surrounding environment and therefore become even more stable. They do not consume extra energy to rise straight up. It is natural for them to adapt to the floor declination when they grow.

We all have to adjust to our environment, or in martial arts to opponent, and to the mistakes you make during the fight. You can do this only by being flexible. In everyday life there is an abundance of events and issues that require our adaptation. But are we able to adapt quickly? How do we know what to do? When someone trips and is just about to fall, his brain starts to function at high speed. When we are very young or very drunk, we just let it go and fall down. Kids roll with it or just fall loosely, and because of this reaction, they are not severely injured most of the time. What about the rest of us? Our first reaction is violent; we start to gesticulate wildly with our hands. We start to contradict the obvious that happens all the same. Most of the time, instead of bending our knees, we stop our fall with our arms and quite a lot of times break our wrists. We forget how to fall and do not know how to adjust to this event that has happened to us many times before in our lives. We react in panic.