Be Strong In The Lord! (Part 1)

Our training theme at Grace Martial Arts this year is – “Be Strong In The Lord!” The idea comes from Ephesians 6:10-11:

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age,against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

The Grace Martial Arts training year is divided into “trimesters.”

• Trimester 1 — September – November
• Trimester 2 — December – February
• Trimester 3 — March – May

Each trimester ends with testing for new Yon Ch’uan Martial Arts belt ranks and graduation.

We will be focusing on strengthening ourselves in three major life areas this year:

1. Body
2. Mind
3. Spirit

We begin our training this year by focusing on four areas which are based on Ephesians 6:14-16

“Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

We will first learn about standing or, as we call them in martial arts, stances.

• Japanese – Dachi
• Korean – Sohgi, Jah Seh, Kubi
• Chinese – Bu

Stances are far more than just “standing around” waiting for something to happen. Stances are based on the “structure” of the body. We want to structure our body in such a way that we can be strong in any position. We want to structure our body so that we can move from position to position and be strong at any point along that transition.

Standing strong in martial arts takes years of training. It may be one of the most difficult things a martial artist does. It is also one of the most rewarding. A person who can strike or kick powerfully will have no effect on an opponent if their stance is not strong or they cannot continue their strength while moving from position to position.

Our first lessons, therefore, are about stance.

The four “layers” for a strong stance are:

1. True stance
2. Right stance
3. Prepared stance
4. Shielded stance

We will learn more about those layers in our next post and in our September classes at Grace Martial Arts.

Blessings!

Sensei Mark McGee

“Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”