FROM DILIP MUKERJEA

"Genius is in-born, may it never be still-born."

"Oysters, irritated by grains of sand, give birth to pearls. Brains, irritated by curiosity, give birth to ideas."

"Brainpower is the bridge to the future; it is what transports you from wishful thinking to willful doing."

"Unless you keep learning & growing, the status quo has no status."

Thursday, August 12, 2010

WHAT HAS MARTIAL ARTS TO DO WITH PERSONAL CREATIVITY?




A lot.

I am no martial artist, but I do know Dilip Mukerjea is a good one, especially in Aikido & Jujitsu, as you can see from the foregoing snapshots. He is seen working out in earnest with his Sensei Toribio during his visit to Big Sur, California, around the late nineties.

My only so-called knowledge about martial arts is extended to what I often enjoyed watching on the silver screen - my favourite martial artists-actors, like Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude van Damme, Jet Li, Sho Kosugi, Steven Seagal & Wesley Snipes, beating the daylights out of all the bad guys.

Nonetheless, on a sober note, I instinctively know that both "martial arts" & "personal creativity" are creative endeavours... art forms. Self-expressions, with the quest for excellence, to be exact.

From my perspective, both are also artistic pursuits of spiritual enlightenment, because, in order to excel in either one &/or to reach the highest order in one's domain of knowledge, one must truly learn to "let go"!

[Do you remember the wise words from Grandmaster Oogway to Master Sifu at the scared peach tree, as the latter failed at first to comprehend the rationale of training the fatso to be the new 'Dragon Warrior', in the hilarious 'Kung Fu Panda' movie? If you have not watched the movie, you can go to this link.]

In fact, I like Dilip's cute analogy as he once described it to his Sensei Toribio.

The constantly moving, fluidic foot prints of the fancy footwork, stances, take-downs & throws of the practitioners on the dojo mat actually simulate the topography of "jump points" on a large splash map. Each of them is an idea sparkler!

[By the way, if you ever get the opportunity to meet up with Dilip, he will definitely tell you more about his philosophy of "exponential junctions"!]

Wow! That's a really good one! Thanks, my friend. Frankly, it sums up succinctly all I want to write about.

[I once read an interview report about Donnie Yen, martial-artist, actor, & film-maker (famous for the recent 'Yip Man' movie), who said:

"For me, the ultimate skill is creative movement. If your foundation is precise & based on traditional skills, then you should work to be able to free form your movements for any situation."

To me, that pinnacle necessitates absolute personal creativity!]

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