The Entering Of A Body Transformation
July 19, 2010 by selfimprove
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.”
-Henry David Thoreau
The Becoming of a Warrior: A Pathway to Transformation.
Well, that’s what I’m officially calling this body transformation. If you haven’t noticed yet, I like to make affairs a bit more dramatic. Meaning, rather than calling this “Brandon Cook’s transformation story”… BORiiiiiing! I would rather call it: “The Becoming of a Warrior.”
Doesn’t that have a nice ring to it? If you must, blame it on my creative side. All the same, my intent IS to become a warrior, so I thought the title seemed right.
It’s possible that my interpretation of a warrior may be somewhat dissimilar from yours. To me a warrior isn’t just a soldier who engages in battles, but in addition to has the potential to evolve into something more. Let’s take a look at some definitions from dictionary.com:
Warrior -noun
1. One who is engaged in or experienced in battle; soldier.
2. One who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics.
3. One who is engaged aggressively or energetically in an activity, cause, or conflict.
As you can see, by these definitions a warrior could be a soldier, a politician, an athlete, or even an activist for a certain cause. More generally, any person showing great vigor, strength or courage while involved in an activity, or in the resolution of some type of conflict could be considered a warrior.
As you may know, I have elected to name this blog The Awakened Warrior. This is my ideal of the warrior. In a real sense this is synonymous with an enlightened or spiritual warrior, one whose training, battles, and life experiences has led him or her to a higher level of consciousness or understanding of the world.
Thus, as the warrior awakens to a heightened perception and understanding of himself and his ultimate reality he transcends the state of mere warrior and becomes the warrior-sage.
According to Carl Jung, an archetype is an inherited pattern of thought or symbolic image that is derived from the past collective experience of humanity and is present in the unconscious of the individual.
The warrior is just one of many common archetypes. Others are the teacher, the clown, the bully, the redeemer, the sage, the lover, the hero, the villain, the goddess, or one of many others.
The Awakened Warrior is the combining of two archetypes. The warrior and the sage (an extremely wise person.) This individual has the heart, strength, courage, and power of the warrior, alongside the wisdom, discernment, and experience of the sage.
So, this is what I mean when I refer to a warrior or an awakened warrior. Both Bruce Lee and Morihei Ueshiba serve as great examples of awakened warriors.
Morihei Ueshiba was the founder of the popular Japanese Martial Art Aikido. After mastering the classical styles of Judo, Kendo, and Jujitsu he created Aikido in correlation with his spiritual philosophy. Aikido is the art of non-resistance and utilizes this principle to turn the attackers own force and momentum against him. Using throws, joint locks, and pins to subdue an attacker in a nonviolent way. Morihei developed Aikido as a way to cultivate peace and harmony in the world. He is renowned as one of the greatest martial artists of all time.
Bruce Lee… okay, well I’m sure you know who Bruce Lee is!!! Yet, you may not realize that Bruce Lee was much more than an actor, he was a martial artist, a philosopher, film director, screen writer, student of Wing Chun and founder of Jeet Kune Do. He is considered by many as the most influential martial artist of the 20th century, and a cultural icon. Bruce Lee was also an ectomorph who weighed only 135-145 lbs. So he also serves as a great example for many hardgainers.
The more I study and learn about them, the more I admire these warriors and how they lived their lives.
My training will be following along side of this ideal of a warrior. I’ll be focusing on strength and conditioning training while merging it with martial arts, meditation and a mind/body techniques. Here’s a few examples where my training philosophy differs from your typical bodybuilder, athlete or strength coach:
» • I have added daily Zen meditation, affirmations, journal writing, and visualization to tap into the subconscious mind and overcome any limiting beliefs.
» • I’ve blended elements and ideas from Aikido, Tai Chi, and other martial arts to develop the inner and outer warrior.
» • For the mind I include science, philosophy and spirituality, as well as, other topics through a process of continual reading, learning and growth.
» • To build, strengthen, and transform the body I incorporate various forms of calisthenics (bodyweight training), and strength training (weight lifting).
» • In addition, I will use various conditioning and cardiovascular training to further develop the heart, lungs, and musculoskeletal system.
Does this seem like more than just a regular work out? Maybe more like a total training program that will help you achieve results in the power of your body, mind and spirit.
“A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at.”
-Bruce Lee
Hope you have a great week!
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