I was in the army 40 years ago, stuck with drab duty and endless amounts of time in which to conjecture. I was supposed to go to another country and kill people. This was not a task I thought of as honorable.

One night I fell into a conversation with a young private, and he asked me if I have ever read Lao Tse. I told him I hadn’t and asked him what it was. He told me that it was…The Way.

To be honest, I had come across the concept of The Way in my study of the martial arts. I had read of the concept, talked about it with fellow students, and considered it in light manner. Oddly, though I had studied the martial arts for a couple of years, I had no idea that there was a book written expressly about The Way.

Not long after that I found a copy of the book and began to examine it. I dwelt upon the passages, translated the ancient Chinese terminology into terms I understood as best I was able. I was to find that the mere reading of the book, which is not a sizable volume, was a journey in itself.

There is no high without low, there is no front without back, translated into the most marvelous dichotomy. Oddly, I found that these concepts, high and low, front and back, were usable in freestyle. Indeed, as the years passed I was to find that the mere conjecturing of these concepts in thought, even in the middle of chaotic freestyle, brought order and advantage of a sizable nature.

My favorite passage of the book is, Do nothing until nothing is left undone, was positively enlightening. I would exchange the whims of my life for the chance to implement this strategy. Eventually, the forms done ten thousand times, I would see the glimmer of truth, and my art would actually engage in the effortless principles that make up the True Art.

Not every time would I be able to make the concepts of The Way manifest in my actions, but the contest was in The Way, and this contest brought me out of the box, undid the normal way of thinking, and enabled me to actually be a seeker in action, and the whims of my youthful desire began to manifest. Emotions became a joy, age became a relaxation, and and still The Way guides me. My form transmogrifies to the lilt of this ancient rhyme, and another world calls to me.

A perfect world, where the realization that The Way is merely the unceasing time before me has settled upon me. A world where those obsessed with political intrigue and the almighty dollar fall sick by the wayside and envy me my youth and good health. A world where human beings exist, outside the realm of transgressions and judgment, this is The Way that I have found.

Al Case has analyzed a variety of martial arts for 4O+ years. A writer for the martial arts magazines, he is the founder of Matrixing Technology, which technology results in the installation of logic in The Way. You can pickup his free ebook on Matrixing at Monster Martial Arts.

Tags: Self Defence