Olympus 2013-A pack of dogs

Practicing Kung Fu…

A pack of dogs decided to play instead of biting. To be a part of nature means nothing more or less than a chance to play without morality; this is something other creatures know instinctively. But for humans it always has to be a mental process of asserting who is the strongest; animals discover this quickly and immediately abandon it, out of boredom, and go back to playing. It’s as if they are mocking us. As if they actively show us that roles aren’t fixed, they are made to be nullified, that the amount each one of us can carry is boundless but at the same time fraud. That what you do should satisfy you first and foremost. That you are strong and weak at the same time, and that this is actually an intriguing concept. That to be committed and seriously engaged in Kung Fu can carry you further than the obvious. That sharing and learning has no end. That inversion is beguiling.

"He destroyed their agreements, provoked discord between their leaders and then he attacked."

                                                                                                                    Sun Tzu

Practice Kung Fu. That means destroy your agreements, whatever you think to be stale and rusty within you. Provoke discord between the leaders, meaning smash selfishness, your pompousness – it is a serious weakness; its leaders, meaning your insecurities, hang-ups, false attitude that everything is provisional, your body’s habits and its weaknesses, and attack, meaning: practice Kung Fu. Or maybe let’s just say have the willingness to change your body and soul. This attack, in the sense of a real battle (a practice of self-defense) and at the same time an attack against a mundane reality based on other people’s dreams.

I don’t know what helps more: watching dogs as they playing and running freely, Tao and its  changes, or simply exercising in a beautiful place like Mount Olympus, with so many different people around you.  

I think you need the maturity of a friend like Yiorgos, who opens a new Kung Fu school as naturally and as candidly as he were to invite you to go walking with him. No arrogance, no mumbo jumbo wisdom, and who is willing to build a relationship between him and his students based on trust, closeness and respect.

I think you also need the effort invested by a friend like Joanna who knows how to prevent repetition become barren. She makes you see how fists become stronger and how excellence in dance can be transformed into Kung Fu. With hard work, with humility, and with no pretentious anxiety about whether being a girl might be a problem in her way of becoming a strong Kung Fu athlete.      
But you also need to have close to you someone like Arber who doesn’t really bother with nationalities especially when that means following stereotypes that turn you in into the worst kind of foreigner: a foreigner to yourself.
Our childhood dreams to become fighters can come true in Olympus through practicing Kung Fu with friends. This does not only happen on film. This can become real. Your life is here, you bring it along and share it with others.

 Also, it is the charm of watching two major groups of people you either know well or have never seen before practicing Shung Bei Shao and Ba Gua Dao. Some more experienced, others new, together trying to become better. Some a bit unbalanced, others confused with which movement comes next and some getting it just right. Exchanging opinions about how it’s done, giving support when someone was about to give up, giving bandages and relaxation creams to the most tired. All badges of a battle fought collectively but also individually, on a personal level.
More complicated forms were also taught, Shung Dao ,Sap Jin Kune ,Siu Lin Wan Gim ,Siu Lin Wan Kune, aiming to teach us the most of important thing of all: To learn to listen. To listen when you hit with the stuff  regardless of how advanced or not you are (Doy Siu Lam Kune). Listen ‘roundly’ and not ‘squarely’, understand that soft and hard need to alternate, and realize that something stable is very close to becoming unstable (Tai Yi Siao Yiao).   
Those of us who didn’t dive into the Source of the Immortals and climbed further up than the 1250 meters where our camp was, to one of Olympus’ peaks, needed many hours to recover. But regardless of the physical pain and the sun burned arms and legs, our eyes were filled with a new strength. A gaze you don’t really come across in cities. I hope that we can all retain it.
  But for all this to come about most of all it took a friend called Dimitris. You can’t say he is ‘behind’ all this, because he ‘is’ all this. Another words, it is funny after so many years out of school to utter the word ‘Teacher’ again and to feel that it is neither compulsive nor degrading, it is just a name for how you call your best ally in your quest of the utmost.