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Intensity There was a great line in the recent underground movie hit, "Repo Man." In this movie, a street-wise car repossessor, played by the excellent character actor, Harry Dean Stanton, tells his apprentice, "The life of a repo man is always intense." Several months after I saw this movie, I attended a dinner honoring my teacher, George Anderson, who had recently been named as Black Belt magazine's man of the year. Seated at my table was a gentleman whose son was also one of Mr. Anderson's students. This gentleman was not involved in martial arts himself and was, in fact, a high school language teacher and a violinist. During our conversation, this gentleman, who was perhaps 50 years old, decried his inability to keep up with current student slang. I suggested that watching MTV was one way to stay current. He replied that he didn't care for rock music because, by and large, it didn't possess what he considered a key element in good music: tension and release. He felt that the contrast between these two conditions was essential for music enjoyment. I replied that he could say the same thing about good kata and sound like an expert martial artist to almost any black belt in the room. Months later, this dialogue came back to mind as I was searching for a suitable bit of wisdom to offer to my Saturday karate students before practice began. I realized that in addition to music and kata, the principle of tension and release can also be applied to the enjoyment of life. Consider, if you will, a cat. Cats of all sizes have the ability to absolutely relax. If you wish to define relaxation for someone, show them a cat stretched out in the sun, so in harmony with itself that it even has its own music of relaxation: purring. Yet, when hunger arouses our subject, this perfect example of non-activity can become, instantly, a blur of pure, athletic movement. The concentration of a stalking cat is completely intense. Every fiber of the cat zeroes onto the object of its stalk. What great contrast between this intense, efficiently deadly predator and the fur-ball purring in the sun! Cats do nothing halfway. All aspects of cat life are embraced with full intensity. I've been told that mating lions may couple up to 60 times in a single day. That is intensity. Relativity is the key here. By definition, a life of all relaxation would have no relaxation because there must be some effort from which to relax. Conversely, all activity would be no activity without some contrasting relaxation. Of course, a life of all relaxation or all activity are unusual extremes and are mostly useful as examples. But few people I encounter know the joy of ever doing anything with complete intensity. How many of us ever run down a country road as fast and as far as possible for the sheer joy of doing it? How many of us lift weights, practice karate, paint, study, or do our jobs with total concentration and love of effort? Beginning karate students usually practice line drills lightly. They are struggling to learn the proper movements but they also fear they will burn out and be embarrassed by having to quit a practice, so they hold back, they pace themselves. Later, at some point, some realize they have enough energy so they begin to apply themselves with intensity. Now they have discovered something. By doing line drills with complete intensity, aching legs, leaden arms and labored lungs are forgotten. Nothing exists but the movements of the drill. The sheer love of the effort of movement displaces all other considerations. This is happiness. All activity in our lives should be approached with the same vigor. Enjoying the effort and not fighting for results is the key to happiness. Let results take care of themselves. Relaxation is also a form of activity. It is the act of doing nothing. This activity should also be done with intensity. Relax completely. Don't worry about what tomorrow may hold or let regrets about past efforts intrude. Absolute relaxation will enhance all your activities. A favorite adage says, "If there is a thing to do, there is a best way to do it and it is worthwhile to search for this best way." Let me also add "once you have found the best way, DO IT INTENSELY!"
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