In martial arts, there lies both an internal and external component. The external is the more apparent of the two and is made up of all the physical aspects of our training. The internal, however, is not easily seen by the naked eye. It is the mental and spiritual aspects of training, and is far too often overlooked by modern martial artists. Yet, it is this very aspect of training that not only brings one’s combat skills to their highest possible level, but grants them an inner peace in their life that is bright and radiant to even perfect strangers. Martial artists who have mastered the internal aspect of their training are as calm as tranquil, undisturbed lake. They never seem to be anything less than perfectly serene and content, yet they are also the very warriors that none of us want to fight. Not only can they summon their skills at a moments notice, their technique is flawless to the point of being almost crystalized, and this is just scratching the surface of the physical feats they are capable of. They seem to have a pain tolerance like nothing the world has ever seen. Some scoff at the purported physical endurance they are capable of, but once they’ve seen Shaolin Monks balancing their entire body weight on the tips of spears or fighters completely unfazed by punches that would have sent Muhammed Ali to the emergency room, it is clear that the internal aspect of martial arts is not only real, but the key towards sharpening the physical, external aspect to its full potential.
Master Ken, founder of the powerful martial art Ameri-Do-Te, knows the internal aspect of martial arts well, and teaches it right alongside the purely physical aspect of his impenetrable fighting style to his students. He believes the key to internal aspect of martial arts is Ameri-Do-Te meditation. And like everything in Ameri-Do-Te, he has stripped away all of the unnecessary, ineffective components of meditation and honed it into its most powerful and effective form. Indeed, so confident is Master Ken in the efficiency of his brand of meditation that even novices to Ameri-Do-Te are fully capable of enduring punishing strikes with a baseball bat almost immediately. To bring yourself to your highest potential in martial arts, you would do well to follow the Ameri-Do-Te style of meditation!
