Paradoxal

Nothing like what you've linked. I have worn different types of medieval armor in the past (mainly lamellar, as my armor is made of, but also some chainmail and some plates), and yes, the weight is an issue. The bigger issue imo is concealing it. If you go around wearing visible armor all the time, at the best you'll be ostracized and at worst accused of terrorist activity. Where I lived in America, it was a very real danger of some triggerhappy wannabe hero just shooting you when he thought you looked threatening. Thus, you'd need something that can be disguised as normal clothes and preferably, something bullet resistant. A quick Google search brought up the following sites, but I cannot speak for the usability or reliability of either of them: https://bulletproofzone.com/ https://garrisonbespoke.com/custom-suits/bespoke-bulletproof-suits These are expensive and very likely both unstylish and uncomfortable, as they are not made with those purposes in mind. A more viable option imo, would be knife resistant sleeves (similar to what Nungali linked), but even that might get you some side eye depending on how it looks, and it certainly will not be comfortable to wear every day. In the end, for both weapons and animals, the best option is to maintain an intelligent training program every day and to know your enemy. For example, if a dog bites your arm, the move is the push your arm further into its mouth to lock its jaw down. Would you try to do this for a snakebite? (No!!) You gotta know what the characteristics of the weapons and animals you're likely to face are in order to intelligently defend yourself, and oftentimes the smartest defense is to recognize: "Hey, I shouldn't be here..." and to get out before it becomes physical.

Any martial artist worth a damn does. Technically speaking, technique can allow you to outfight someone physically superior, but you're gonna want any edge you can get in a fight and technique alone will only take ya so far. Depends on the primary strategy you use, your bodytype, your age, your gender, and a number of other factors. The way I was taught is to assume whoever you're fighting is more skilled than you, armed to the teeth, and willing to die to take you down. Naturally, that usually isn't the case, but if you assume they have knives and/or guns then that changes how you train and how you fight.

...Systematic violence is still violence. Scamming an old lady out of her savings could literally put her on the streets, something that can easily be fatal in America. How is that any different from physically sticking her up with a gun?

I'm guilty of this actually... A lot of the guys I practice with here in Japan don't do body or fist conditioning (and I give them shit for it), but that means that me giving as little power as possible still causes them a decent amount of pain; I had a guy who runs his own dojo tell me he thought I was going to break his fingers when I literally just grabbed them, no locks or anything. So I've gotten in the habit of just not putting any power in my shots lately to prevent injury, but one guy I spar with does the opposite. Out of habit, I only lightly tag him, but he goes 70% with me (and I should be doing that to him as well), which never ends well for me. At least it shows me where I can improve, though!

Wouldn't this instead be indicative of a decaying society? Like, people are literally dying to enable CEOs and their ilk to line their pockets. It's bad enough that I consider anyone above a certain cut of wealth to be a mass murderer (due to their predatory tactics which result in millions of people dying due to a lack of food, shelter, or healthcare).

Agreed, but on the flip side, I'd say that it's very important for a martial artist to know when they've had this mercy given. One of the places I practice usually ends the night with a "playful" randoori, where we are explicitly told not to injure and to "gracefully lose". Basically, know when it's time to back off and don't injure or get injured. A running issue there is that people don't realize that something could have knocked out or killed them *because* of holding back... lots of shots to the neck, throat, back of the head, ears, etc. that people just disregard because they've never felt what it actually does when force it put into it.

As this came up in a thread recently, I thought perhaps it best to make a dedicated thread asking for opinions and arguments on morality. I'm of the opinion that there cannot be a 'universal' good or evil; rather, individuals have their own views based around their particular values. For example, one of the things I value most is saving lives (not only human) and preventing suffering. Thus, to me, killing will always be 'evil', but if done in the name of saving lives, it becomes 'good'. If you kill a warlord, that's one life traded for thousands (if not millions) saved. If you cause suffering for the sake of preventing harmful ideologies or practices that would cause many times more suffering, what is it but a moral obligation? I suppose it all comes back to the infamous trolley problem; I am of the opinion that not pulling the lever to save the many at the expense of the few is the worse option. I'm distinctly aware that my views on this are not universal however, so I'd love to open a thread where we (politely) discuss our views on morality; I'm looking for proper arguments here, so let's make sure we check up on fallacies! What would you say "good" entails? What is "evil"? How do they blend?

What, exactly, would define "right" instincts, then?

I would disagree with you here; if texts are to be believed (which is in itself debatable), an 'enlightened master' should be one above the limitations of the flesh, no? Now, it is truly the road to mastery to have the strength to call yourself out, to submit yourself to correction, and to be willing to change, but I would argue that they must still be at the journeyman phase if they fall prey to such things. It doesn't mean they can't teach people, but 'mastery' should be taken quite seriously in my opinion... Again, perhaps I am still just too young, dumb, and inexperienced! 😉 I said I wouldn't be morally troubled by it, but yes, I do think that there are points in which the morally 'right' thing to do is to cause suffering. After all, if someone has killed or tortured thousands, how can *only* killing them resolve that karma? Should the war hawks in their 70s and 80s die a peaceful death? This probably isn't the right thread for a thorough conversation on moral qualms and philosophy though, so... 😅

100%! For the record, I'd argue any spiritual teacher who got deeply tangled in politics is by definition not a spiritual master... Of course, that includes Jesus, Mohammad, the many popes, Confucius, Ghandi, and every other name dropped in this thread. Advocating is good, but creating an entire political system, leading revolution, or steering the world from a seat of political power, even for the sake of the unfortunate, is inherently an egotistical act. It generates many karmic links, does harm, and will inevitably be corrupted by time. This is wonderful for the physical world, but again, not the act of a spiritual master. ...then again, this is coming from someone who has no moral qualms in killing/torturing the rich (or any other person who chooses to kill thousands for their pleasure), so perhaps I myself am misled!

From my experience, clearing anger is best done with a combination of exercises. First, the feeling of anger itself needs to be sunk into the ground (it should go there naturally if you direct it, from my experience). Call it what you will, but this alone has helped me with some pretty intense rage. Anxiety is the opposite; it needs to be directed up and out. Second, practice simple gratitude meditation: recall the feeling of gratitude and try to bask in the glow of it. This will gradually tonify the leftover anger. If you've got longterm anger festering, I've found it best to intentionally transfer it into something else (salt, for example) and then dispose of whatever it was transferred into.

Hi there! Fellow Wing Chun guy here (William Cheung's lineage). Haven't worked with Damo Mitchell in person, nor interacted with him via email, but I have done his MCO video course and developed a very obvious flow of energy through it in a matter of less than a month. I also use his books as reference for my growth, though they are also *not* for the system I practice, so I need to be very careful with them. Nonetheless, I come back to them from time to time to refresh, and always get something immediately useful.

Be very careful going down that path mate. Always question every experience you have, especially when dealing in the esoteric. Nice strawman.

Where have I said that? LOL

And yet, American slavery was worse than most others, due to it treating slaves as livestock. I'm glad that you recognize my other points as true, though! 🤣🤣

...wait, enslavement, rape, and genocide are moral to you? Literally even now, the prison system is using folks for forced labor, y'know. And let's not forget eugenics originated in America, that we continue to suppress the native Americans whose land we stole, and that our "peacekeeping" is effectively imperialism. I suppose we each have our "free will" as to what is morally right and wrong...

I look at prayer as nothing more than an incantation in most peoples' hands. This is because most folk do not have the qualities required to establish a dialog, and thus are effectively screaming into the void. That said, I acknowledge that it is possible to hold dialogs with multiple gods (yes, I am saying that y'all's Yvwh ain't "the only true god"), and do so regularly myself. I've never tried to use it to get things I wanted, but I do ask for advice or about their individual intentions.

A wonderful example of someone choosing not to exercise their free will! Thank you for your noble sacrifice!

...but you're here right now! 😆 Anyway, my two cents is that we can CHOOSE to have free will, but many of us choose not to. It is easier to just let ourselves be swept away by the times, after all! I'd argue that well over half of Americans do not have free will for the reason that they allow others to think for them and do not pursue knowledge. For evidence of this claim, look to how Civil War politics have led to the current administration hundreds of years later. Nonetheless, even if we exercise our "free will", there are paths of least resistance and paths barred by thorns; I would posit this as the doing of karma.