Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali

“But it is an insane world, where Muhammad Ali can declare himself three times great, because now one time does not matter.  Alexander was great, but only one time; and nobody thought of being great two times, double the amount of Alexander the Great.  But Muhammad Ali has figured it out.  He is not even talking about a second time, he is talking about a third time.  He is saying, “Muhammad Ali thrice great.” And what is creative about him?  This man has broken many people’s noses, has fractured many people.  He is awarded; he is thought to be a hero.  He should be kept in a cage in a circus – that is the only place where he belongs.” 

“Our values govern people and their behavior.  If you are by nature strong, use your strength for your deeper inquiry; use your strength for higher flights in your consciousness.  It is not right to destroy this strength in wrestling, in boxing, in being idiots.” – Osho “Sermons in Stones” pg. 269

I don’t respect Boxers, I don’t respect Fighters, never had, never will.  They do not impress me, what they do is destructive and violent.  They are not wise, they are not intelligent, and they are not creative.  Rather than admiring a Boxer or Fighter, if I am to admire anybody for their physical strength and power, I would admire animals, such as the tiger, lion, cheetah, etc.  I would rather watch animals in the animal kingdom than to watch these stupid Boxers and Fighters.  I have been put in this world to be guided towards wisdom, the people I admire are Buddha, Lao-tzu, and Osho. 

I admired Bruce Lee, but he was not a Fighter, he was an Artist, and as a profession he was an actor.  He was paid to act, he was never paid to fight, he was never paid to hurt people, he was never paid to destroy people.  He was paid to create.  He was paid to choreograph fight scenes, he was paid to act in movies, he was paid to direct movies, he was paid to share the beauties of the Chinese culture and Eastern Philosophy to the world.  He was the only person that practiced combat that I truly admired.  But there can be millions of Boxers, millions of Fighters, they can win thousands of matches without losing one, but I admire none of them, actually the more they win, the more disrespect I have for them. 

To me it is like the mass murderer who has killed the most innocent people.  To me it is like the pedophile who has raped the most children.  None of this is worth admiring.  It is like admiring Hitler for killing the most amount of Jews.  Absolutely none of this violent behavior is worth admiring.  Not only is it not worth admiring but all these people should be punished for their crimes, so that it discourages the public from learning their behaviors.  See it like this, on the streets, the more violent you are the more you are despised from the public, the longer your criminal record, the more damaged your reputation; I see the same should be the case with Boxers and Fighters. 

Now training in Martial Arts is different, training in self-defense is different.  If you are training to learn how to defend yourself from danger, that is different.  It is not about training to strengthen your ego, it is not about training to compete to better another athlete.  It is about training to defend yourself from the murderer, it is about training to preserve your life.  It is like learning how to safely operate and use a firearm to defend yourself from danger, this has nothing to do with destroying others for egoistic purposes, this is about learning skills for survival.  Like an animal that fights when his life is in danger, not because he wants to build up his self-esteem to feel better about himself or to show off. 

A Martial Artist is creative, he is self-expressive, his fight training is not destructive, it is more creative like a dance.  It enhances his health and well-being, it brings positive energy to the people around him.  He uses his combat training towards spiritual growth.  He never fights to destroy, he fights to guide people towards spiritual growth and understanding.  A Martial Artist is a different breed, rare to find.  Fighters are everywhere, fighters are criminals, fighters are animals, fighters are violent people full of ego.  Martial Artists train towards no ego, Martial Artists train in meditation.  Martial Artists train to be the longest living human beings in the world, they train towards optimum health.