Balance

[Symbri]

Ashan 30th, 717

“Horse stance”

There they were, Symbri , and her students. Even with the tumultuous political climate within Etzos Symbri and her ragtag group of students honed their craft it had only been a season but the students had begun to truly take to the art, punches were no longer exertions of brute force so much as they were practiced motions and the stances no longer tired them out in only a few minutes. No, they were growing disciplined, and through that, strong. From merchants to housewives the small congregation practiced sweated laughed and cursed together. Symbri still didn’t consider herself much of a teacher, imparting knowledge still tired her and putting concepts into words was often difficult her limited knowledge and vocabulary making the more spiritual side of martial arts difficult to articulate. But she did the best she could.

“Alright, punch and hold the position, I want to check your postures”
Walking among her students Symbri smiled, it wasn’t perhaps a truly happy smile, but it was one of contentment. They really were improving, slowly but it was there. As she walked she put her hands on one woman’s shoulders pushing her a tad lower while guiding her knees forward to put her into a less unstable stance. One man was too low and had his back too far forward throwing off his center of gravity. Placing two fingers on his back and pushing lightly the man stumbled forward a bit before looking back at her seemingly perturbed.

“Everything begins with your center, it’s like… when a flood comes, or the wind howls. The large trees, tall rigid and strong, they snap and break, for they cannot bend. If you are too rigid so too will you break, but the reed in the water, no matter how much flows or how the wind howls it bends and sways, but come the next day, there it stands. The tall tree is noble yes! To have to power to stand tall is indeed something to be proud of, but… is it not better to weather any storm… to… uh, Roll with the punches, than to lose your balance and crumble? Though it is not enviable, to lay down before all things that come your way, else you’ll never stand! So, you must find balance, between strength and flexibility, being stubborn, is not so bad, but to take on all challenges, unable to bend will leave on broken, so, strive for balance, in form, in stance, and in Life, this is a tenement of martial arts..”

Standing next to the Man Symbri mimicked his stance feeling the unsteadiness, her ankles over extending forward and her thighs working hard to compensate the imbalance. Bringer her back and her feet out she slowly showed how he could better his stance and become more solid without being too lose.

“Without a solid foundation, a house will fall, begin your stance with you feet and work your way up, Power comes from the center, but with no base, you can be tripped and all the power in the world will do you no good”