Martial Path or Downward Spiral?

In an upscale, gated LA community a distraught 45 year old financial analyst, unemployed with his fortune lost, killed his family and himself.  He laid out a will, a letter to the police accepting responsibility for the deed, and a suicide note. The  narrative recounted the extreme financial tragedy brought upon his family in what he called “an unfortunate downward spiral”, and explained his planned and subsequent “solution”. At the scene Deputy Chief of Police Michel Moore, said, “this is the perfect American family behind me, absolutely destroyed, because of a man who just got stuck in a rabbit hole of absolute despair, somehow working his way into believing this to be an acceptable exit”.

What remains when everything falls away? Crisis may cloud our judgment and generate disastrous behavior, even among the intelligent and successful, as evidenced in this tragedy.  6 people are gone. Why? The financial pressure ripped apart sense and reason. This is extreme and tragic, but we are all experiencing a new reality.

The recent economic events are disturbing. It is a barren landscape and each change shifts our identity. For many of us this is the forced quest for the self. Where do we go from here?

We at TanDao look at how the martial arts may be applied to life. Survival and self defense are basics.  It is not skill, technique, or strength, but ultimately an invisible power, an inner strength that determines victory or defeat. During the American Revolution the colonial militia, comprised of ragtag farmers with hunting rifles and farm implements, were able to vanquish the well equipped and mightiest military empire…Great Britain. It wasn’t the fire power, the fancy uniform, or the reputation, but the fighting spirit of the patriotic colonialists that prevailed. They found their footing, dug in and centered. Clarity. Purpose. Survival.

This is the spirit of the martial way. Whether battle or financial crisis, if our strength feels depleted, options exhausted and confidence obliterated, despair may follow with catastrophic consequences.
Things we know now seem unfamiliar.  But we are alive. It is time to clear our minds, find our footing and learn to center.  As long as we are centered,  there are possibilities and options yet to be discovered. In these tough times, let’s remind ourselves to look within, the power is there.

Breathe deep. Center. Share your burden. Be a friend.

Lawrence & Toni

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