Wu Shen Pai Jiu Mei

Li 禮

COURTESY

Courtesy is the way in which one human treats another.  It is hard to understand courtesy without understanding the qualities of respect, confidence, and kindness.  Courtesy means treating others with respect and kindness.  Extending courtesy requires one to be secure in themselves and have great confidence.  Being courteous also requires one to be modest.  Modesty is the absence of ego...it is not the absence of pride, but rather the absence of false pride.  Modesty, in turn, cannot be attained without selflessness.  Selflessness involves being devoted to something greater than the self.  In order to be selfless, one must know "the self," with all of its strengths and weaknesses.  Then, learn to become at peace with who and what we are.  In so doing, one should gain a greater appreciation for being human and how we interrelate with others.  Being courteous is the best way to create harmony within human society.

    Wu Shen Pai practitioners must strive to be more courteous than most.  The taking of a life is a solemn matter.  The training that a Wu Shen Pai Warrior undergoes makes the taking of life a task which is easily accomplished.  A highly skilled master of Wu Shen Pai can do great damage.  The Sifu who gives the student this capability bears the solemn responsibility for its use by the student.  It behooves the Sifu to carefully screen his or her students for character.  One method of driving out the unworthy and instilling virtue in those who remain is to insist on the cultivation of courtesy.  The unworthy student will fail to see the connection to fighting and will quit, leaving only the worthy...who will cultivate great skill over time.   

    The nature of the training process in Wu Shen Pai, as the student develops, often impairs the development of character.  It is when a student becomes highly skilled that they are most at risk for developing an enlarged ego.  A Tournament champion, for example, may conclude that he is above the rules since he possesses a highly developed level of skill.  The nature of the training process is such that it may easily instill a false sense of pride, which often leads to enormous egos.  Unless these egos are constrained through an understanding of humility, the Wu Shen Pai practitioner who constantly trains their body to be a weapon becomes a detriment to society, injuring and hurting innocent people.  For this reason, practitioners of Wu Shen Pai, and all true martial artists must learn to abide by certain rules of conduct and etiquette.  These codes of conduct are inherent in the study of Wu Shen Pai and in most traditional arts. The exercise of these codes of conduct are a constant reminder of humility for everyone who practices the art.  That is why the traditional systems of Martial Art such as Wu Shen Pai are deeply rooted in strict rules of etiquette, which mainly emphasize courtesy and respect.  Moreover, a true Warrior is a courteous individual.  I have often been asked about what attitudes I wish to see developed in my students.  I always respond that I want them to be intense and capable of inflicting great harm when they have need of doing so.  In other words, to survive an attack it is necessary to have this level of intensity.  Otherwise, however, I wish my students to be polite and courteous.  I wish them to be well integrated individuals respectful of all.  The true Wu Shen Pai Warrior has no need to prove anything to anyone.  It is the instilling of this code of conduct, rooted in courtesy, that serves as an external guide to the student of the art.  Without this external referent to give them some sense of restraint and morality in the use of force, they could easily lose their way.  Those who travel the Martial Way of Wu Shen Pai must be different individuals.  They are confident, but modest.  They are dismissive of false pride and strive to eliminate their ego.  They always treat others with respect and kindness because they have developed certain inner traits rooted in selflessness.  It is the security they feel within themselves that leads them to extend courtesy to others.   They are at peace with who they are and what they are capable of doing.  This balance within brings the practitioner of Wu Shen Pai into harmony with nature and society.  A true master of the Martial Way of Wu Shen Pai will emphasize the role of courtesy with their students.  Courtesy is a major trait developed on the path to mastery of the Martial Way of Wu Shen Pai.