Perhaps this is a strange way to start. I think that the question at hand is," How has kung-fu changed my life?". To me that question is relatively easy to answer. Through the discipline of the body we do reach the development of the mind. However there is one question I find more difficult to answer. What is it that I have received that is so worth the price I pay? What have I received? A new way of life. Different attitudes have surfaced. Higher standards in all areas of life. A new family. The chance to take myself somewhere I have never imagined possible. All these things somehow assimilated into a single word group, Kung-Fu. And the price I pay is kung-fu. Roughly translated to hard work, and lots of it.

     With all the hard work, pain, and injuries there also brews the willingness for more. The craving for more comes not from the love of pain. But more specifically the realization that the more intimate one is with pain and fear, a deeper level of understanding emerges. As with anything else to gain an intimacy with something or someone, we must surrender our own needs and desires to that of the person, or thing we seek a deeper understanding with. Then, once we have surrendered all the things that make us, as a species, more susceptible to weakness (i.e. pride, shame, righteousness, fear, greed, lust, and the illusion of control) a new light dawns the horizon. A harmony of life amongst nature fills our ears. For without the symptoms of society there is beauty in all of lifes´ moments.

It is my opinion that with this attitude or commitment to life, do we find a source of energy and enlightenment, that most people simply ignore due to the price of the key that unlocks the door. Behind my door I have already found a few things that I have always felt without. Confidence, discipline, and self-control have always shared a shadow in the deep recesses of my soul. To be quite honest, after eight months in the Shaolin Lohan system of kung-fu I have gained only a shallow understanding of the previously mentioned qualities. However, to expect any more than that would be silly. For I have embarked upon a life long study.

     Outside of this study of kung-fu, there also exists the study of every other aspect of life. Such things as relationships, love, fine arts, music, science, and trade. These all are permitted of the same fundamental essence. An essence of exceptance. It seems much easier to prepare, or even succeed if you are willing to embrace reality without having to sugar coat anything. Being honest enough to view the right path, humble enough to dismiss pride as motivation, of enough self-control to harness our emotions, fearless enough not to get scared off the path, tenacious enough to pass like water through the granite of lifes´ toughest challenges, graceful enough to accept every victory as an invitation to you next defeat, of enough honor and integrity to not defeat yourself, and disciplined enough to follow on the perception that there is no finish line.

     So many things about kung-fu amaze me. How it has improved the quality of life I live? The way I look at things has completely changed. I feel my family bond has grown. Not to mention my body is stronger, more flexible, able to perform with dexterity and agility, less prone to injury, operating with an increased metabolism, and much healthier. Spiritually, my faith has grown leaps and bounds. Professionally my intensity has me pushing better doors open. So many avenues of the town called life are now just miraculously healing. Coincidence?

     -Abram Whitehead-