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WHAT THE FUCK?????

I thought you were the little lion?? The one who can bring so much pain to workout that can bring any would be warrior to tears in seconds??

What’s all this talk of love??

What does this have to do with training, what does this have to do with being a warrior??

The answer??

EVERYTHING

For centuries people from all walks of life have tried to conceptualise it, poets, artists, songwriters, warriors, people have given there entire lives in the pursuit of it, have been willing to sacrifice everything to share it with one special person, people for have came up against and passed the most ridiculous odds and challenges in the name of it, battles have been won and lost, souls liberated, any boundaries over come, night turned to day, rain to sun, mountains truly moved because of it, it is the very power that allowed 300 men to stand against a million at Thermopolye, it has filled the seemingly most cowardly mens hearts with courage and instantaneously transformed them into warriors, It is the most powerful thing in the universe, in my opinion it is the universe.

Love cannot ever be described by words , song, art, these can only be fingers pointing to it, it is direct from the heart, it can only be known by the heart, and experienced through living it.

‘From the Beginning,
love has been my undoing….
and my redemption’ – From Socrates Journal

Personally love has been the single most motivating empowering and amazing guide in my life. It has made me devote myself to an ideal, to hold my self true, to open my heart, given me the courage to face the greatest pain, and greatest challenges i have ever known all in the pursuit of it. It has lifted me to the greatest of heights, let me find a strength in my spirit before unknown to me. It has been the single biggest thing that has shaped my life, is my greatest adventure and always will be.

True love cannot be described but it is worth any sacrifice, it allows you to look anything, even death straight in the eye and say ‘for love i can face you’

It allows you to face any fear, gives you the courage to do anything, to endure any amount of pain, it can melt any negative emotion, and it has the power to break ANY barriers.

Love has given me my greatest happiness, my greatest motivation, my greatest desire, my greatest passion, my greatest challenges and my greatest training.

Love is a power of the warrior, a single warriors heart filled with love is more powerful than 10,000 armies, no sword is stronger than a warriors heart that is filled with love.

‘If you could only love enough, you could be the most powerful person in the world’- Emmet Fox

To walk the path of love requires courage, to open your self, to embrace love, is to remove all the barriers from your heart, to leave it wide open and ungaurded, in this state the human heart is both the strongest and most delicate thing in the world.
Trust in love to guide you through the darkness

‘ill use my heart and not my eyes, to navigate the darkness’ – Hoobstank

To me the very power that fills us all, that the universe is made of, call it what you will, God, Buddha, Universe, Tao, the very thing that cannot be explained, or even understood by the concious mind but rather only felt and experienced through the heart can be summed up with one word, love….

‘I am just a mortal man,
I have no more or no less power inside of me than my brother who stands next to me,
But i, i love with with my entire heart, my entire soul,
And it has made all the difference’ 

**This is a republished blog from my old site Brutal Training – Europe**

‘You cant control the waves, but you can learn to surf’- Unknown

We can shape our lives, shape our destinies, shape our universe by what we focus on, by our beliefs either empowering or disempowering, and by the actions we take. But we don’t always know ‘how’ things will come about, waves or events happen and we cant always control them, what we can control however is our response. We can either react – usually in a pre-programmed negative way, or we can choose to respond with calmness, choose to respond like a warrior. It is a warrior who can smile in the storms of life not only for himself but he can lift all of those around him too, he can ‘bring the others back’.

Are you going to let external circumstances control you? or are you going to be a master of your own fate? The choice is yours at any given moment. Are you going to hide from the storms in fear? or are you going to stand with courage and with faith knowing the storms will pass and the sun will come out, just let go of ‘how’.
I once saw this following passage written out in a tricking video, I have no clue where its from, nor have the link to the video ,but i wrote it down, it makes me get really excited:

I’ll walk accompanied
and sleep comfortably
knowing that all sides
front, back, left and right
will be inevitable happiness
under all my uncertainty
for love and
the future life i’ll live
there’s a story written out
that doesn’t end so bad
i’ll close my head
and shut my mouth
for i know everything
from here on out
will be ok

the adventure awaits….

**This is a republished post from my old blog Brutal Training – Europe**

Visualisation is an extremely powerful tool that we have to create our own destinies and shape our own lives. Daily i use visualisations to for all aspects of my life, and what i want to create, i realise i am the creator of my own universe, i am unlimited and undefinable, so are YOU!

Daily I focus on increased strength, health, vitality, energy, i focus on my inner energy field pulsating with power, every muscle exploding with strength and carved out of marble, my body moving with the agility, grace and speed of a big cat, my spirit shining through, i feel like a force of nature, shining like the sun, with the power and stillness of the ocean, i envision myself as TARZAN….

But you cant just picture it and wish you could be what you desire, you have to feel it…you have to become it…

Before I enter these meditations i free myself from identification with the ego mind, i am not and neither are you, your past, your beliefs, your problems, or ANY of your life situation. We are all something far greater than can be spoken about, we are the infinite unlimited consciousness, we are the universe, god manifested, we are the creators, the immortal spirit, this is our true natures, This is being. To experience this you must free yourself from ego mind, let go of everything you THINK you are and FEEL what you truly are let go of past and future and be present here, now, only now do you hold the power of creation. You can create ANYTHING you want there are no limits in this universe, limits are only in mind, see and more importantly FEEL yourself as that which you desire, not in some future time, that is an illusion, but right here, right now, feel it, become it, where you stand. You don’t need to know how, that will take care of itself. Just see, feel and believe to be that which you desire, give gratitude for ALREADY having it, and release your wish to the universe, which is in turn, your own true nature. You are free, there are no limits.

‘ Spirit, by its nature, has no consciousness of duality, since it has no faculty of discrimination. It knows no impossible, no failure, no obstacle, or limit. or lack.’- John McDonald

The adventure awaits……

**This is a republished post from my previous blog Brutal Training – Europe**

Combat has nothing to do with fighting your opponent, to fight an enemy is to give him strength.

It has EVERYTHING to do with facing yourself.

It’s nothing to do with beating some other guy to a pulp, its do do with looking inside yourself to face your own fears, to dis identify from mind, from illusion and from fear. In combat or any other sport, or life situation.

In fact, in any and every moment you must cut away from the ghost of the past, cut away from the illusion of future, and just be fully present in THIS moment.

It is here we find our inner peace, our unmovable stillness, we become the calm within the storm, we take whatever action is necessary without fear, and without judgement, our actions spring forth from the absolute.

This is our warrior spirit.

This is what all warrior seek, and ARE!

Combat is just one of the many ways in which these lessons are realised, when your opponent stands before you, you have no option BUT to be in the moment, to relinquish fear, otherwise you will die a thousand deaths.

The man standing before you is not your enemy, but your greatest teacher

‘The man who conquers himself is superior to the one who conquers a thousand men in battle’- Buddha

The adventure awaits……..

The universe is speaking to us in every moment, in every experience, there is a message guiding you toward your own destiny in every moment, but since your own true nature is the universe, is the infinite, this is you speaking to yourself, you are guiding yourself, creating opportunities and events to help you along your way to your own chosen destiny.

‘I am your own voice echoing off of the walls of god’- Rumi

Most people are too asleep to see, hear or notice these guides, and signs,they can come to you in the form of some inspired action to take, some intuitive hunch, it could come from inside of you you or from something that is seemingly external, but unless you are fully present IN THIS MOMENT you will be blind to it, you will see coincidence, you will see external circumstance, if you are living in the past or future you will fail to embrace the opportunities the infinite has created for you IN THIS MOMENT. If you are bound by limited beliefs, you will see negative circumstances created by some outside force that is greater than the force within you, IN THIS MOMENT you are the creative force. Everything happens for a reason, and you have created it, either consciously or unconsciously. You must find in EVERY MOMENT the best in every situation, treat it as if you created it, because in a way , you have.
Realise that –

‘Everything that happens in your life is moving you in the direction of your goals’-Bob Proctor

We may be led in seemingly circuitous routes at times toward our goals, but we have to let go and trust the process of our lives, trust the universe, trust ourselves.
That opportunity that presents oneself, that intuitive feeling to take inspired action, that corner to turn, that letter to write ,the phone call to make, do it, relinquish fear and move forward with courage and faith. Do it now, IN THIS MOMENT, this moment will never present itself again!
The best way I’ve found to throw us fully into the moment is to face your own death every moment, realise the reaper can take you at anytime, YOU do not have a say, all that exists is this moment.
If you knew you were going to die in the next 30 minutes, what would you do? what action would you take you’ve been putting off? who would you spend it with? who would you call? How would you embrace your last moments of this life?
It is facing this that brings our full attention into THIS MOMENT, face your own death and be liberated from it. Do not be ignorant to the fact that this maybe your time, this is not a sad thought, but rather one that once faced and embraced in every moment lets us see this life for the gift it is, look for the signs, they will guide you, what will you do IN THIS MOMENT?

What drove me to write this article?

Inspired action of course! Live it

The adventure awaits….

**This is a republished post from my old blog Brutal Training Europe**

WHATEVER IT IS YOU CHOOSE TO DO, DO IT WITH PASSION!

Immerse yourself in whatever it is you choose to do, follow you bliss.

Immersion in that which you love is an extremely powerful uplifting experience, Here in this place, you find your own spirit and the spirit of the thing itself will be revealed to you, but only by dedication to that which you do, and then , become.

Your life situation could be feeling bad or pressured around you, but by immersion in what you love, spirit is brought forward, everything feels alive, you find your peace and centre once again.

I am eternally grateful to the activities i love, to Parkour, no matter whats going on around me, the city is always there, the urban jungle, and nature. Here i climb, i run, i swing, free flowing self expression, unlimited movement, the city is my playground, a simple wall becomes my best friend, it tests me, how graceful can i pass, how artistic can i move, the city looks different to me, than to others, others see boundaries, i only see movement, expression, freedom. I climb to the highest points, beauty, peace, stillness. I am never alone for the city is always there for me, the urban jungle calls me into her lap. If find myself now more than ever as my life evolves, dedicating my every moment to Parkour, early in the morning as the sun rises, long before most have risen, my friend greets my for another adventure. Late at night, most are asleep, the moon and stars watch over me, i move through city playground, silent, still, free.

Why?

Because I choose to.

I am also eternally grateful to the Martial arts- All my life i have immersed myself in the fires of the arts, only through thousands of repetitions have i come to know myself, and the spirit of the thing itself. Capoiera is a fairly new art i have thrown myself headfirst with reckless abandon into. So steeped in history.In the Roda David Kelso ceases to exist, i am the Jaguar, i am the ghost, beauty, rhythm, movement, the music takes you, the energy of it, the beat, the dance, the fight, the expression. Only the moment is left here, no past no future, just the moment, just the kick that’s coming, just you evasion and your own leg shooting out all on its own, the music takes you!
The surf- For this force of nature i am so grateful, for so long i have wanted to do this, and now i have begun. To the element of water itself i have always felt a drawing to, i see it in the ones i love most, the calm, the peace and power. Here riding the waves, i feel connected in some deep way, unspeakable by words, pure bliss. My journey here is just beginning, but i know it will also be a great one.

My point? Whatever is happening around about you, in your life situation, your passions are always there to cradle you, they are you best friends and teachers, they will teach you everything you ever need to know, immersion, dedication, live them!

The adventure awaits…….

I remember a homework exercise I had a few years ago from Brutal Training. It was to take yourself out of your comfort zone, to find unique ways to train and to find that ‘ beginners mind’ again.

As I delved deeper into the world of Capoeira I came to realise one of the most important aspects of it, and life, is rhythm.

I began thinking diverse ways to train my rhythm outside of Capoeira practice itself, the answer was obvious- Dance. Now don’t get me wrong i love to dance, i dance all the time, well i don’t know if you can consider bouncing around screaming at the top of your lungs to Rage Against The Machine and Pearl Jam all night long dancing, but its fun and moshing has its benefit’s lol. I still love dancing like this, whenever i hear i song i like, wherever it may be, in a shop, who cares? But i f i go out now i throw myself at the dance floor instead of the bar, Ive always liked to dance and it adds to my rhythm training.

Outside the comfort zone-

As well as my usual moshing I immersed myself in all manner of dance, samba, salsa, anything and everything. I even found myself dancing in a Jazz club in Edinburgh, now not that i have anything against Jazz music, but i can vividly recall many conversations with my best friend ending in hilarity because neither of us ‘ understood Jazz music’

As a result of visiting the said Jazz club and dancing the night away, i still don’t understand Jazz music, however i did have to improvise my moshing.

All this put me in a beginners frame of mind when looking at rhythm and movement, and placing me in the perfect learning environment for Capoeira.

Samurai wrote poems and done flower arranging, Spartans sang, all warriors have diverse training, don’t limit your body, mind or spirit, challenge yourself, throw yourself into action, and herein true growth lies

The adventure awaits……..

**This is a republished post from my old site Brutal Training – Europe**

Bob Proctor, one of the philosophers on ‘The Secret’ is quoted as once saying-
‘Everything that happens in your life, without fail, without exception, is moving you towards your dreams’

I think this is a beautiful belief, If you really begin to think about this, to transcend thinking about it and really feel it with every part of you, to live it, it is life changing.

When you live this it doesn’t matter what happens, even seemingly negative things you experience, you can have absolute faith , that everything without exception is moving you in the direction of your dreams. It is a warriors job to find the positive in everything!
Living in this way automatically shifts you vibration to a positive one, no negativity can enter here because you are refusing to focus on it, so therefor it doesn’t exist, you are looking for and focusing on the positive and that is what you will bring to life, this is as i have stated before, being the calm within the storm, being the warrior.

Others around you may be focusing on the negative, and be blind to positive, they may try to convince you to ‘face reality’. What reality i ask? You create your own reality, there is no reality independent of the observer, once you start to choose to find the positive, to focus on, to have absolute faith that EVERYTHING is moving you in the direction of your dreams, then that is what is.

Know what you want, believe in it, and let go, here you will attract all the experiences you need for its manifestation, don’t judge what comes to pass, just believe its moving you forward, look to the positive and that is what you will see.
For some, knowing what they want is the hardest part, it requires you to look inside, it takes courage. Trust that even if you don’t know what you want, it will reveal itself to you one way or another, you will either keep having experiences of something until you take notice, you will have that feeling of being drawn to something from inside, that feeling to take inspired action, that intuitive urge, again it will keep repeating until you take notice. Or you may be guided by noticing what you don’t want, this is good, just don’t focus on it. From a transcendental view point there is no duality, no good and bad, but in this case contrast can serve us, by realising what it is you do not want, you can see clearly what you do- positive in everything- remember!
I believe that our dreams, our desires, the true ones from the heart come from our true higher selves, our spirit, super-consciousmind, they exist for a reason. So even if you are not aware of what you want, your spirit is, be alert for that nudge from within.

A great friend and teacher of mine once said to me-
‘Look inside, find out what it is you want, because it wants you too’

I suggest the same now, to you.

The adventure awaits………

This is a post from my old blog Brutal Training – Europe