A Yang Warrior is…

The Great Taiji

A Yang* Warrior is…

A force for good in people’s lives;

Says what needs to be said;

Does what needs to be done;

Protects the innocent;

Receives what is given to her;

Continues to develop her art, her body, her mind and her spirit;

Is responsible for her actions;

From self-love moves out into the world in love;

Makes choices that nourish her on all levels – whether it is food, literature, companionship or work;

Heals with food, herbs, breath, massage, meditation and movement;

Knows that compassion sometimes looks uncompassionate;

Honors herself and others;

Is respectful to her masters, ancestors, family and the Dao;

Marshalls her time to be of best use and service to others;

Is patient, waiting on the Dao, and therefore has impeccable timing;

Conducts herself with honor and respect and humility;

Reads from scriptures to nourish and heal and share;

Listens with her whole being;

Is always ready to be of service;

Doesn’t complain;

Is in command of her energy and her boundaries;

Seeks to be clean and clear and pure in her heart and her actions;

Treats all beings with respect, gentleness, compassion and honesty;

Is natural and lives simply and honestly;

Does not waste resources;

Freely walks her destiny;

Treats fear as a teacher;

Trusts the practices and doesn’t stray from her truth.

Knows the soft overcomes the hard;

Accepts both the dark and the light as the Taiji teaches;

Acts with purpose in all things;

Seeks precision in her art, her words, her thoughts, her actions;

Sees her students as teachers;

Trains hard, fights easy.

Wisdom

A soldier fights, a warrior protects, a martial artist serves.

We can go through this life as a victim or as a warrior. It is our choice.

If we are handed a bag of stones, we do not have to pick it up and carry it.

Most of all, a Yang Warrior strives to live these principles all the days of her life with the goal of progress, not perfection.

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*There have been books, movies and operas made over the centuries in China of the Woman Warriors of the Yang Family [Yang Men Nü Jiang, 杨门女将] during the Song Dynasty. I’ve picked up the phrase to mean a warrior of the Yang Family Style of Taijiquan martial arts that I study and teach. It is solely and wholly my understanding as influenced by my studies and training with masters and teachers in martial arts. If I fail in my principles or character it should not in any way reflect upon any of them.