The Guaranteed Eventual Decline -- Despite Training

The basic conflict between the physical universe and a martial art is that martial arts were developed to escape the physical universe and attain some form of spiritual existence. As long as that non-material existence is not achieved, we are in the physical universe.

Within the physical universe there is a law that is never broken: Things don't stay the same in the physical universe -- they either increase of they decrease -- put another way, they either move toward survival or toward death, or toward "better" or "worse." This law was discovered and is best presented in the writings of Mr. L. Ron Hubbard.

When you take that law and apply it to training in the Martial Arts, or any form of physical exercise, you run into this CONFLICT.

You can improve your body, physically, through training. You can cause this improvement on a constant and very long term basis. Obviously, in the physical universe, you cannot achieve the infinity of some "perfect physical body."

You can fight the factors of aging that, for most people, cause their bodies to deteriorate, fast or slow, as they age. Any martial art can and should greatly slow down this movement toward deterioration. No martial art has yet succeeded in the original goal of achieving spiritual freedom through some "system" or "technology" such as Yoga, Kung Fu, Karate or any other method or philosophy that relies on training the body toward and achieving Spiritual Freedom through this route.

Perhaps in some early years someone like The Buddha could achieve a form of spiritual existence. Perhaps many others have? But what we do not yet have is a "path-certain" whereby anyone and everyone can follow that path and achieve that degree of spirituality.

Leaving aside, for now, this quest for immortality in a spiritual existence, let us look at that time period when we are within the physical universe and existence.

You can, through training, improve the condition of the body. That improvement is measured, for instance, in the perfection of your demonstrating the forms and the criteria for achieving some level of belt certification.

But, the basic law of the physical universe catches up with you -- it catches up with young people who start Kung Fu much more quickly than it catches up with older people who start Kung Fu when they are old.

The young person has all the inherent strength of youth and so for him to CONTINUE to improve THAT strength and Kung Fu ability is to start from a high beginning, but be faced, nonetheless, with the LAW that he must either increase or decrease.

His body, his Kung Fu skills, must either improve, constantly, or start to deteriorate.

The older person? He can start with many years of poor decisions about the care of his body -- and be approaching death rapidly. For HIM the martial art promises the greatest and easiest change -- he changes from the deathlike condition to a previous state of health and body condition. That is the "Science of Anabiology" == the restoration from a death-like condition to a previous state of health.

So as the young person enters Kung Fu, he will show improvements in his physical body -- more if he started when he was in bad shape, less if he started very young and has made good choices on food and life. The young person, however, has other gains from Kung Fu which may escape those who are looking for THIS solution.

In our society of permissiveness, we have children, perhaps the vast majority of them, who are disrespectful of their elders, fail to take responsibility for themselves, and in many ways dishonor the precepts of moral behavior which the Young Moon Moo Kwan has adopted as ITS moral code: "The Way To Happiness."

So, the younger person learns behavior in a social sense and improves his body condition as may be necessary.

The older person? He may or may not need the improvement in behavior, but it is a sure bet he needs the improvement in his body condition -- he can find that within the training and discipline of Kung Fu.

But, that law of the physical universe eventually kicks in for him too.

He can be in such bad shape that he improves easily with good Kung Fu training, but as he gets better and better, perhaps starting to equal the condition of a young kid with none of the Kung Fu training, this LAW starts to apply.

It becomes harder and harder for him to increase on a continuous basis toward immortality.

Yes, he may well reach the age of 125, but not the age of 925!

What do you do, then, if you are a senior with frailties and you start Kung Fu?

That is the question I plan to answer on this page -- later.

Karl Loren