For the young mind fighting is a part of life. Everything we do in life requires some kind of fighting. Whether it is hand-to-hand or mind-to-mind, the fights go on day after day. But now, after all these years, I have come to know how to fight without fighting. Maybe it's maturity, maybe it was some inner realization, I am not quite sure. But I do know that sooner or later we all reach the point where enough is enough, where you lay down your arms, take off the gloves, or you simply just don't care any longer about confrontational encounters.

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I do realize one thing; it was the martial arts that brought me here. Now I find that most of my fights are mainly with one person: myself. The closer we all come to the end of our lives the more we tend to realize what is really important and what is not. Now I see what is important to me, namely, inner peace. This is not to say I would not do it all the same way again if I had to start over, I would. What I am saying is that when you reach the level of inner calm and contentment, fighting becomes the least thing you want to be involved with.

Of course there will always be those who never learn how to deal with life without a fight. That's because they have not found the way to inner peace. Sadly, people go through life from birth to death never knowing what inner peace means. Let me say it is a feeling of calm and contentment with everything around you. It is like seeing a storm through an open portal, safe and sound inside.

Finding inner peace is like seeing a storm through an open portal, safe and sound inside.

We are blind when we are born into this world. As we grow we have no idea what life has in store for us, so we fear everything. We try to prepare for events throughout life without ever knowing if we will succeed or not. But the truth is that no matter what we do, we can not escape the currents of life. We are swept along never knowing what will happen next.

We look for success in life, but what is success? a big house, a car, a large bank account? You might say yes, but look around at all the people who already have these things and who still remain so unhappy. No, this is not what brings inner peace. Only knowing what is important and then achieving it can bring us peace.

But what is important? To this question I answer: contentment. But what is contentment? Contentment is being happy with the people and events that comprise our lives, contentment with our lot in life, contentment with what we have or don't have.

What do we really have to begin with? The answer is, nothing. We were born with nothing and we will leave this life with nothing. All things are only borrowed for a short time. There is nothing to gain for you can not keep anything. We are all just serving time here, only to be removed from this existence in a few brief years.

What really is important is to discover why we are here in the first place. Learning that is the most valuable gift life can offer us. It is the gift of knowing the truth of your existence, finding yourself, your real self - not the self you think you are - the self that is hidden deeply with the confines of your soul.

Nature does have a plan. It is to evolve, to change, to move further into what can be. Life is not a mere waste of time. It has purpose and reason, for I truly believe we don't die but merely move forward in our evolution. I have come to know that death is only an illusion, a trick: now you see me now you don't.

Like all tricks nothing really vanishes, it only seems that way because we were fooled into believing it. Nothing is gone, All that was in the world is still here, but only in a different form, a different shape, a different name. Its essence remains the same and always will. The sad thing is that few realize this and live life with a wrong view.

The martial arts have taught me to slow down and look within myself, to be honest with myself, and not to persecute myself. We are always trying to make something of ourselves that we are not. We are only human and there is nothing wrong with that, but we try incessantly to remake what nature already has made perfect.

Acceptance is the answer to everything. Just accept yourself for who you are. Don't try to change the world, rather try accepting the world for what it is. Live life fully, enjoying the wonders of the world. Know that you are but a guest here in this form and you will evolve again and again. All that you need to do is come to a realization of what is. It's all here right in front of your face, right now. But still we fail to see it.

In Buddhism they talk of enlightenment. But what is enlightenment? It is simple really. We only make it complex so that we can't see it. Enlightenment means coming to term with what really is.

Life was meant to be lived fully moment by moment with one purpose only: to evolve to a higher level of knowing and being.

Once it is seen there it is a big sigh of relief and a great release in knowing that everything is as it should be. Not a single thing needs to be changed, it all is as it should be. There is nothing for you to do, there is no rush to attain, because you already have attained. This is an acceptance of life and of the working of the universe. It is knowing that you are indeed a part of existence and existence always was and always will be.

When we realize that there is nothing, all the goals disappear. You simply live and enjoy the wonders of evolving life. You move and react differently when you know who and what you are. I am a force that cannot be stopped by death or changed by birth, only transformed again and again to my own designs.

Life was meant to be lived fully moment by moment with one purpose only: to evolve to a higher level of knowing and being. It is the training in martial arts that brought me this insight. It started with training how to fight and ended with learning how to love.

There is nothing, yet there is all eternity to look forward to. Life is indeed an important matter. It is the workshop of the soul. It is here and now that we have the chance to remold our destiny. It is here we have the chance to come to know the truth of existence.

You need a path, you need a way to come to know what it is all about. You can't do it without self-control, self-discipline, without deep internal looking and evaluation. The martial arts are the path that brings us home.

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