True martial arts is not the mastery of a style, but the mastery of the self. Every art contains wisdom, but no single art contains the whole truth. To be a warrior is to remain open, adaptable, and curious to learn from all systems without being confined by any of them. The path is not about choosing sides, but about uncovering your inner strength, intuition, and spirit. I honor all arts, but I am defined by none. I train to become the most authentic, aware, and resilient version of myself, a fighter shaped not by forms, but by freedom. This is the journey of transcendence: to absorb what empowers me, release what limits me, and create a style that is uniquely my own.
“Absorb what is useful, Discard what is useless, Add what is specifically your own.” –Bruce Lee
The quote reflects the core philosophy behind Jeet Kune Do, his personal martial arts approach. The full idea comes from Bruce Lee’s writings and letters where he emphasized:
Taking techniques from any style that work for you
Discarding techniques that don’t
And ultimately creating a personal, flexible style rather than following one rigid system
He often expressed it slightly differently in different books or interviews, but the meaning is exactly the same.
This quote is one of the most famous expressions of his philosophy of personal evolution in martial arts. I’m proud to say that I naturally arrived at the same concept on my own.
Poem : “Inner Warrior Rising”
In every breath, a pulse of fire, A quiet whisper: Remember who you are. Not the belts you’ve worn, Not the systems you’ve studied, But the spirit that outgrew every mold.
You are a storm that learned to move with grace, A flame that refuses to dim in the wind. A warrior born not from one tradition, But from the courage to explore them all.
You learned the art of hands and feet, But also the art of intuition The way a heart can sense danger, The way a soul can anchor strength.
You walked through dojos and studios, Through styles that claimed to hold “the way,” And still, something inside you whispered: There is no single way. There is only your way.
So you gathered what resonated, Released what felt heavy, And forged a form shaped by your truth.
You are not loyal to a logo, Not bound to a lineage, Not trapped in a technique.
You are the movement between movements, The silence before the strike, The wisdom learned from falling, And the power found in rising.
Your warrior spirit is not taught It is awakened. It is remembered. It is lived.
And as you walk your path, May every step echo this truth:
You are the art. You are the journey. You are the fighter you were meant to become.
In general from what I’ve noticed, I am a lot more comfortable with my environment when I go to my jiu jitsu class. I seem to get a long with the guys there a lot more (being the only female there), I connect better and there doesn’t seem to be any drama, whether that’s gossip or putting others down.
In field hockey though, I’m always a bit uncomfortable. I may not really like the people there, I’ll occasionally run into bickering, as I’ve noticed in the previous games I’ve gone to where an authoritative figure was expressing himself out loud saying that “there should be a code of conduct” or I would notice players arguing profusely with one of the referees.
The difference between a martial art setting and the one I experience at hockey is “respect.” In the martial art class, we bow to each other, shake hands and have a positive attitude. In hockey you get the occasion of, if a player doesn’t like something or worse yet if a “coach” doesn’t like something, they’ll start arguing madly at the referee.
In my mind, when this happens there is no respect there. It gives a bad example that others can do it too. I think that a person has the right to question what happened in the game, but in a calm respectful manner.
I was so turned off by my fall season of 2022 when I was going, well by a lot of things, that when one of the referees made a call, there was this guy who was literally arguing with the referee for like a minute long. There were also some scenarios where the experiences of either myself viewing something as an outsider, or if I was the one experiencing something myself, I felt, was inappropriate to where I felt like I should’ve just left and walked away.
It’s too much for someone like myself to be driving an hour or depending on traffic from where I am, an hour and a half to be driving that long and far to experience unpeaceful crap. I would do it anyways, even with my busy schedule, lack of training during the week, and dealing with a heavy mental load, because of my love for the game.
I have now come to expect an unfavorable attitude from the sport of field hockey, because it’s always been like this since I was 16 years old.
I’ll just name one example as there are many. When I was in high school, the lady who was coaching the team wrote a letter of complaint to USFHA when there was a tournament in Chula Vista when I was in the Futures program, saying that I was uncooperative and didn’t go to some dinner event with the team.
I didn’t even know there was a dinner event. My dad and I at the time, cause my dad took me to all of my field hockey practices and events growing up, thought it was really weird and didn’t understand what the letter was all about. I wish I had kept it and framed it haha. The idea of framing it is to not dwell on the negative experience, but to show that even with unfavorable situations, that you if you choose to rise and not quit, that even these things won’t get you down.
I feel that if you are going through some serious challenges and hardships in life like myself, that the sport of field hockey is not a good environment to be in, because it’s not going to help you grow mentally or help you to build the mental strength needed to help you in life. (I don’t think I really appreciate, even for a tad, if a person asks me “Why the F am I playing for another team? I mean this isn’t high school last time I checked, it’s just an adult league).
I believe that because of something like jiu jitsu, it has helped me to be better person and an athlete and helps me to deal with the stuff at field hockey today.
During the fall season, with the stuff on my mind, when I would make a mistake on the field, just blank out, which is not my usual thing to do, it was really upsetting when I had one person approach me, with anger and frustration on not doing what they wanted me to do, but in a way that I also found physically threatening.
I had never been approached like that before in the sport of field hockey, that I felt like if I didn’t respond, I don’t know how close they would’ve gotten to me because that person was already pretty close to me physically when I was approached during the game. Even though I understood that person’s frustration, how they approached me was not appropriate.
It took me a while to “get over it” mentally. Not because I was afraid to take the person down if I needed to, but it took me a while because I never had that happened to me before since I’ve been playing hockey this whole time.
I look at my jiu jitsu instructor and he has not once gotten angry or shown frustration toward any of his students. There is a humongous difference in how my jiu jitsu instructor teaches verses the actions that I’ve noticed with the one who approached me, who is also in the leadership position.
I’m not sure why I get to experience these negative experiences but I’ve learned to distance myself, and I’ve learned to just ignore the negativity, gossip, anything or anyone that makes me feel uncomfortable. I only focus on the people I do like, and the positive aspects of the sport only.
It’s important for me to be focused on what I’m doing. I wish I could train more, at least every other day, with consistency to help me toward the goals of being a great field hockey player. I have no need or interest for negative crap. What I want out of the sport, is to be in an environment where you respect your team mates, you respect your coach, that I am coachable, we can learn from each other, have a good positive attitude, and focus on skill set and hustle. Anything outside of that, no thank you.
There have been times too when I would go on social media and the things discussed were also, I felt were out of line. There was one time in regards to the discussion of supporting “body slamming,” and the importance of training with body slamming in the sport of field hockey.
I just thought it was absurd that I just left the group online. This wasn’t the first time I had left a field hockey social media group. The first one that I had left, had a lot to deal with ongoing complaints about what was wrong with the “political stuff”, to the point that I just left.
Although it’s important to address what’s wrong, it doesn’t help the situation to just complain and not provide a solution of what’s lacking in whatever organization. It’s like saying that you have a flat tire and to scream that you have a flat tire, but not do anything about it, giving others the opportunity to also do the same, and it’s not conducive.
Even though I’ve experienced a lot of negative experiences in the sport of field hockey, I’ve learned to now expect it, with the attitude in mind that if I focus on only on the positive, what I want from it, then something will blossom and I will find myself with more happiness within the sport life. I’m thankful for the friends I have made within the sport and I hope that I can contribute more in the near future.
I feel that there are some people who identify themselves through an activity, hobby or sport instead of them defining and giving purpose to the activity itself. This can even apply to an organization, a group of people who defend a cause etc.
These people get so wrapped up by the activity defining who they are, that they identity who their friends are based off of that activity that their also in. If all of a sudden that particular person they were friends with is no longer active or doesn’t seem active in that particular activity anymore, they no longer want to be friends with that person.
I find these people to lack a sense of security and self-esteem, because they don’t really have a strong foundation of who they are and what their about in the first place.
It’s important to be serious and make a decision about what you want to do in life, because after you decide, you’re able to focus your attention & energy to be the best you can be and to be the best in that field.
I believe everyone is different. Some people are multi-talented and some are not. Some people are fast learners and for others it takes them a while to learn. There is no one size fits all. Once we accept this, this need to compare ourselves to others diminishes. We then realize that it’s not necessary or good to do. That’s why it’s important to know thyself.
However, if a person doesn’t have a healthy outlook in life, doesn’t understand what life is about and doesn’t really grasp the essence of who they are as a person, as they let an activity almost entirely define their identity (in an unhealthy way), if something were to happen, such as an injury or a mishap in life that causes them to no longer participate in their craft, their whole world and life, will seem as if it is shattered to pieces.
A good example of an unhealthy portrayal of letting an activity consume you is the Ray Fickle character in the movie Ace Venture Pet Detective: Part I
Ray Finkle, also known as “Lt. Lois Einhorn”, is the main antagonist of the 1994 movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. He was the former popular kicker for the Miami Dolphins group, but was ultimately dismissed for costing the team a Super Bowl win. (Feel free to check out the movie on this link here: https://amzn.to/3LH8EBN )
If a person is lacking in confidence in oneself, it’s important to build that inner confidence and get to know your life driven purpose. It’s important to understand that the thing that you do, the thing that you are most passionate about, is a beautiful mirror reflection of your soul.
The thing that you do and it doesn’t matter what it is, it could be music, art, writing etc., is like an art’s expression of beauty or poetry that creates a breath of movement, that expresses who you are.
Just because the thing in which you do seems to “stop” or is “still” does not mean that you are shattered. It is your beliefs, core values and philosophies that are the most important. They are the cornerstone that begins and puts breath into life in whatever you choose to do. Due to your values and what you represent, is the energy, resources, creativity and abundance that gives meaning behind the different ways of human self-expression.
This is why it’s important to not be someone you’re not, to try to cover or hide behind a mask, or do something because your family or friends have pressured you to do something.
I also feel that there is no place for the wicked heart. A lot of people are negative, want to retaliate, want to cause injury or harm, whether it’s in the form of discouragement that causes mental, physical and maybe even spiritual anguish.
There are athletes that think they can get away with cheating by taking drugs/ steroids, and with all due respect, even though the world is a competitive place, and we are striving to be #1, you should never lose your soul / lose your way to the top as you get there. You should be in good standing as far as ethics, morals and values.
It’s important to be a person that honors respect and has a love for others. It’s also important to have the notion instilled within you, that “the only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.”
It’s important to understand that there is room toward the top, to be a good leader and a good influence by encouraging others to be the best version of themselves also.
If you are surrounded by sheep when it comes to pursuing your goals in life, it may be an unfortunate situation, but understand that it’s important to be a lone wolf than to be like the herd. Sometimes it’s best traveled alone if this is the case.
If you can, surround yourself with like-minded people who want to see you succeed, will cheer you on and will not have any insincere intentions toward you.
Get away from negativity, those who are jealous and don’t want the best for you.
Each style of martial art serves their own purpose toward self-defense and a fighting style. Each different style of art is like completing the human body. One art may serve as the head, the other the foot. Another may be a toe, another a finger.
It’s never a bad idea to be open to learning a different style of art, because the one you are engaged in may help you to outwit your opponent. Being engaged in one style of art may be your greatest strength or weakness. It’s also important not to reveal the entirety of your cup of knowledge, because revealing it so soon is equivalent to just throwing out what you have in there. Although learning martial arts is taught through a business or other’s may advertise it in a “flashy way,” martial arts is about serving others first and not about the money.
If you serve others first and are passionate about what you do, the money will come. The flashy advertisements are fine, but martial arts is not about ego or pride.
It’s about self-control, perseverance and patience. You have to study something that stays true to it’s culture, tradition, meaning and roots like the tree of life.
The reason why martial arts is about serving others first, is to learn to defend the honor of others and yourself.
If you are defeated and must you so die, that money will not go to the grave with you. What you have, the skills, talents you possess, lies far greater value when you value your precious life and the lives of those around you
Notes from Simone 