Dean Chin's Jow Ga Kung Fu Federation

Always make those above you feel comfortably superior. In your desire to please and impress them, do not go too far in displaying your talents or you might accomplish the opposite–inspire fear and insecurity. Make your masters appear more brilliant than they are and you will attain the heights of power.
–Robert Greene, The 48 Laws of Power

Today, we will expound on the last two articles discussing the future of a martial arts lineage. In the previous articles, we talked about the organization and ensuring its future. Today, we will cover a rarely discussed topic: Relationships and people, also known in the martial arts as “martial arts politics”. A Kung Fu system can be well-planned and technically sound, but if the relationships between its proponents and champions are poor its history can die out before the next generation can prosper. This is what Kung Fu politics is all about; the relationship between people, whether in a school, among schools and teachers, between leadership and its system’s members. If a martial artist, his school, or his lineage is to prosper, he will need to know how to get along with and collaborate with peers. At the same time, he must know how to minimize conflict while keeping disagreements civil and under control. We fancy ourselves politics-free and uninterested in it. However, as with all things, politics is unavoidable; I would argue that one must be well-versed in politics if you wish to be more than a casual practitioner. At a minimum, as a teacher/leader in the martial arts, you must know how to navigate the many personalities you will encounter as well as prepare your students for doing the same.

Telling students to “ignore it” is as neutered and impotent as a parent who tells their children to ignore bullies. Ignoring these things is like ignoring an illness or injury–it will only get worse if it isn’t dealt with.

Robert Greene’s 48 Laws of Power is a classic text detailing the universal laws that govern power, status, and influence. It’s first law, which serves as the title of today’s article is a masterful piece of advice, and speaks about the core of human nature: the ego. We human beings are complex creatures, and as martial artists, we are complex tenfold. As much lip service we pay to ideas like humility and suppressing the ego, we cannot deny that the ego is as much part of being human as is our warm blood and the fact that we breathe oxygen. All of us have one. At its core, the ego is the intermediary between our primal instincts (which we are born with) and our “higher” sense of morality (which we are taught and can vary from culture to culture, person to person). The ego is our sense of self-identity and our sense of self-importance. It is what makes us strive to better ourselves and fight for self-preservation. Many of us have made the “ego” a four-letter word; a negative trait that we must deny having. However, we all have one whether small or big. We become too passive and weak if we suppress it too much, and too aggressive and narcissistic if we don’t keep it in check. The “ego” has been blamed for many of the bad things people do so it became synonymous with toxic people. Because of this, we tend to downplay the ego altogether and act as if our ego has no influence over our actions. In reality, the ego, together with the subconscious, influences almost everything we do. The less you understand about it, the more control it has over you. The more you understand it, the more control you have over it. This is why I say that the next logical step after mastering the martial arts is to master yourself, understanding people around you, and human nature in general. Rule over it, or it will rule over you.

The first task in putting this knowledge to use is to keep this very vital law close to your heart when dealing with people: Never Outshine the Master. The “Master”, if you will, can be your own teachers and system’s leaders. It may also refer to your peers in the art–seniors, juniors, and colleagues. Anyone you must deal with in the process of doing business can be a “master” concerning this law. We must be confident and competent, and project that we are confident and competent, while being aware that in doing so we might make others feel insecure. Yes, even our own teachers and classmates whom have declared their love and loyalty to us might be one jealousy streak away, one accomplishment away, from becoming an enemy. This is a very thin line to tread. We may strive for perfection, but be careful not to appear too perfect. We want to look good, but not so good it induces self-doubt in those around us. The thought that our own teachers can be jealous of us might be a tough pill to swallow, but swallow it you must. This is not to say that everyone has these insecurities–just be aware that they may be hidden behind the smiles and compliments they give us. As they say in the fight game: Keep your hands up at all times.

There is a dark side to this law as well, and I might as well introduce it here, though we may discuss it in some future article. That is, the answer to the question, “Must I always refuse to outshine the Master?” The answer is, “no.” There will be times that outshining the Master is appropriate but understand that in doing so you might forever sever the relationship between you and that master. In political history there have always been powerful Kings whose reigns have expiration dates. These are powerful men, but flawed powerful men whose behavior and policies make them plenty of enemies and shortening their tenure. Those around them who benefit from their rule, whether by hook or crook/learning or political maneuvering, also risk going down with the ship when those leaders fall. In which case, take all you can from them–the lessons, the money, the knowledge, the power, the reputation, the access–and when the time is right, step back and let the arrows come… or be the one who pulls back the bow. In the martial arts, you may find yourself attached to people who benefit you but cannot carry you forever. Perhaps in your own education, you have surpassed such masters. Or perhaps associating with them have run its course, and continuing to be “under” them stifles your growth. Do not feel guilty in allowing yourself to shine and relegating them to the background. Imagine if a 25 year old Michael Jackson refused to leave is brothers behind to start his solo career? Or if a 25 year old Leopold Mozart had never defied his father and left the tutelage of the Archbishop of Salzburg? This law is not encouraging you to betray loved ones or become ungrateful to those who helped you grow. It is telling you that in order to grow beyond that which others helped you to achieve, you may have to outshine others and push back against their egos and unconscious agendas to suppressing you. It’s okay, just understand that the ego is always at play–even when people assure you that it is not. Even when you assure yourself that it is not. Ego is what makes us strive to become better versions of ourselves.

In managing our relationships with peers, colleagues, and rivals we must always be aware that there may be insecurities simmering below the surface. When you teach your students, be aware that there may be egos and power plays among them that are not so visible to you. Look for signs that feelings are hurt, that individuals may be in competition with each other, that some aggressions and manipulations may be taking place. These forces may seem juvenile and silly to you, but if you have been teaching martial arts more than 10 years, I can almost guarantee that you have lost many good students with great potential to such forces. In my 40 years of teaching the martial arts, I have seen great masters drive away students by showing favoritism (or appearing to show favoritism) towards seemingly gifted students. Oftentimes, our own egos will cause us to lean towards our own children when there were equally enthusiastic and hard-working students we’ve neglected. Then there are the times that we have had egotistic students drive competitive classmates away in order to become top dog–right under our noses. I had a student years ago bully classmates right under my own roof and didn’t know until I overheard a conversation between a group of junior students. There is a saying that there are sailors who will sink the ship because they can’t become the captain. Not understanding how this ego works can ruin a great organization. Keep this in mind when running your schools.

Finally, we must practice this law on ourselves. Be aware when your own ego is taking a hit. All of us, if we are lucky or if we are good at our craft, will experience this law being practiced on us. There will be a day, if it hasn’t happened yet, when we will have students who are faster, stronger, tactically better–than we are. On several occasions, I have had students beat me in competition (and I am a sore loser!) It was a bittersweet moment for me; I had produced students who were better than me, but at the same time I lost to a student. We may help newcomers to our towns get their schools established and then see them grow larger and faster than our own schools. We will have junior classmates surpass us in skill and in business. We might award instructorship to a student who moves on and opens a much nicer school than ours, and so forth. To feel a tinge of jealousy is normal. But the problem is when we feel it and not immediately convert that feeling into one of pride. I once heard of an Eskrimador who lost a series of sparring matches to his student. After licking the wounds to his pride, he decided that this was the moment to begin teaching his system’s secrets to the student, in the hopes that he would become an even more unbeatable fighter. Keep this close to your heart as well, I hope that each person reading this article will lose to such a student.

It is important to recognize the traits in your character that might otherwise be called “flaws”: your ego. We all have them. This is a powerful force, that if you harness it, can be used to propel you forward to perfection, mastery, and growth. However, if you do not, it will drag you down and enslave you to a life of forever trying to pretend it doesn’t exist while simultaneously proving to yourself and everyone around you that you are confident. As the joke goes, like a pimple on your forehead–or being ugly or stupid–everyone can see it except you. Recognize when you feel envious. Recognize when others invoke feelings of inferiority in you. Recognize when someone you might otherwise learn from and be inspired by becomes an enemy–and ask yourself why. Doing so will help you laugh at yourself and grow, as well as reveal to yourself your imperfections. This is only way you can become a better version of yourself. Once you accomplish this, go back to the beginning of today’s lesson, and apply your new knowledge in your interactions with everyone–your teachers, your system’s leaders, your classmates, colleagues and peers, your students, and then on to everyone around you. I believe you will find that those relationships will become stronger and more beneficial to you. It will help you become a better leader, and grow your schools and systems into one that is strong, cooperative, impenetrable, and unbreakable.

Thank you for visiting the Dean Chin Jow Ga Federation.