There are
two types of people—those who come into a room and say, “Well, here I am!” and
those who come in and say, “Ah, there you are.”(Frederick L. Collins)
Communications are verbal but, equally, if not more important, are those
that are non-verbal. This accounts to between 50 to 70 percent of all
communication – facial expression, eye gaze, gestures, and tone of voice. The
way you listen, look, move and react lets other people know whether or not you
pay attention, if you are being truthful, and how well you are listening.
Martial arts are based predominately on non-verbal communications. Once
I asked my teacher: “Shifu, when two great martial arts masters meet how do
they recognize who is better?”