To quote Bruce Lee in an interview, “Running water never goes stale, so you gotta just keep on flowing!”
Keep on flowing. This is the path of martial arts, and especially the style of Kung Fu we teach called Choy Lay Fut. It is known by it’s continuous flow of techniques, one right after another.
This idea of flowing continuously is a really powerful concept. Flowing is a sign of life, health, vitality. A flow doesn’t stop. A flow can be dynamic, where sometimes the flow is fast and furious, and other times where it is slow and serene. But it never stops. Ever.
To be able to flow continuously requires understanding dynamics and moderation. Otherwise, it will basically be flowing, and then stopping. Flowing, and then stopping.
If we can shift our minds to think, “Just go, keep the flow, and don’t stop”, it can be the very thing that teaches us discipline. It can also be the very thing that teaches us control, from the stand point of being able to flow continuously means sometimes you have to take it slow…and sometimes you have to ramp it up.
We have many distractions that keep us from the flow…but the biggest distraction is the mind. It is what you think. It is what you believe. If you tell yourself to stop the flow, you will. Think of driving on a steep uphill road, and you decide to put on the brakes and stop the car. When you decide to start the car back up and start driving again, the car rolls back some.
The uphill drive is where you need to make the flow happen more and not stop it.
The downhill drive you may need to slow down because the road might curve at the bottom. Gotta stay on track, but that doesn’t mean to stop the car. Just slow the flow down.
Our Kung Fu routines have a lot of movements in them. At first, it may seem daunting. But really, they were all designed from the standpoint that you are going to flow with them. These routines are trying to teach you how to flow.
There is no real end point, in flow. Just go, keep the flow, and don’t stop. Flow is the ultimate expression of life.