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Soul Strength

A Different Story - Invisible War

Scientific growth – Development makes people Selfish. This rapid progress, in all sectors of life, gives people a sense of uniqueness and of great importance in Nature. He searches, discovers, changes his Life, feels that he can achieve everything; it is just a matter of time… He feels like a little God…. He tries to become a superman, to overcome the human level; he considers and seeks for perfection…immortality … he believes he can accomplish everything on his own, based only on his strength, he has no “Fear of God”, he does not seek for His help, he lives away from Him, in delusion, selfishness and maximum vanity, humbleness is lost, God’s Grace is removed.

  He rejects and makes fun of everything that is godsend – Supernatural like as if it is something not real since there is no logical explanation. He explains everything with Natural laws, human laws. He becomes a rationalist – materialist, he gives explanations that make him feel nice, that lead him even closer to materialism and far away from "spirit". Now, he can justify his existence, as a Rationalist – Materialist…God cannot exist here…There is no God… We were created by nothing, by some strange explosions in the universe and we come from apes. Apes are our distant grandfathers, all these have been proven scientifically, are taught in schools and we see them everyday in television – usually in a documentary form. The Holy Father, however, does not abandon his son and uses all his Divine means to help him find his way so as not to be deprived of eternal blessedness. And man, just like a spoilt adolescent, who wants to do what he likes, closes his eyes to the intellectual “slaps” of his creator and remains in the dark, away from the light and the truth. He makes use of everything fake that is near him, adopts and believes by reaction and continues to satisfy his Selfishness, while in reality, he eats what they serve him. Man, the eternal Adolescent, who is always in danger of being trapped and this danger increases when he is alone. It is time to wake up, react and seek for his creator.

Someone who is involved in martial arts can be found in a similar course of removal and refusal. The   biggest proof of how selfish and arrogant he can be is his everyday effort for knowledge and control techniques of various energies that can lead him in an intellectual rise and the creation of a Super – Fighter. In his effort to create a superman, he adopts and loves anything fake and absurd that others give him, in order to satisfy his ego. He fictionalizes the Shaolin monks, he believes in Feng Shui (philosophy that is involved in the placement of the things around us at a correct direction in order to achieve better energy), in inner energy, in Gin – Giank, he loses his life, falls in traps and becomes the pray of cunning people. 

I wish to clarify, in order to avoid any misunderstanding, that I consider karate, boxing, taibox – kick boxing, kungfu, judo etc, as amazing sports. An exceptional way of practice appropriate for Greeks. We have suffered many and by nature, we know how to fight and I believe that each style has something different to offer.

Most intelligent fighters take the best and most effective techniques from each style and adapt them in their system.  

However, I am against teachers who wish to pose their systems along with eastern religious and philosophical Theories. This strangely vague literature of the eastern mysticism that comes from eastern religions, where the limits of the supernatural with the natural are indiscreetly. I believe that it is a decoy in order to attract all those who believe that they can overcome their human limits, exploiting the knowledge they have acquired through years of training or very expensive and short in duration seminars.

And after attracting them, the lies begin. "In order to achieve all those things - health to reach superior    spiritual levels – and become the unbeatable fighter”, you must change yourself, erase everything inside you, become empty and accept, as an “intellectual beginner”, whatever the “ Wise teacher” serves you, who is supposed to be an expert and holder of that "Magic". He will be your guide through innumerous hours of “Meditation- self concentration" you will have to dedicate besides simple body exercises, in order to achieve your goal.

If this is not vanity, naivety, selfishness, exploitation, stupidness, if this is not disrespect towards our creator, then what is it? What is our position towards all those things? Is it possible to believe that we can posses   Virtues without the help of God? And these "Wise teachers” believe that they are Gods and can share virtues through knowledge.

Let’s think of all those things, us teachers, let’s search our selves and not believe what others serve us.

In order to be good, we should be responsible regarding what we teach to young people. For    many of them we are examples and they want to be like us. Our responsibility is huge…! 

"To teach somebody is as easy as throwing rocks from the top of a mountain. However, to apply what you     teach is like taking those rocks from bottom to the top again". 

This is the difference between teaching and applying what you teach. It is better to stay away from those who want, for various reasons, to offer you martial arts in combination with eastern philosophical and religious     theories. Stay away from strange "self- concentrations" and "meditations", from strange people who claim to have offered health having just the gift to heal.

There are no magic tricks, do not believe everything, they are taking advantage of you and you will be very    lucky if you just lose some of your time and money; but if you lose your soul, if you become induced, then the situation is serious. 

"Do not become the student of a person who is usually proud of himself' because he will teach you pride instead of humbleness."

You must exercise knowing that "good things need hard work to become yours” and you must respect older people because they may know something more, as well as your fellow athletes. You must try to overcome yourself and not others. You must be happy with their successes and sad with their failures. "You should prefer failure with humbleness rather than victory with pride". 

These thoughts come from a person who has learned through difficult situations, who has walked through the traps that are always there, waiting for the innocent people – athletes. All the years that I fight, the only thing I have been doing and still continue to do is to pray, to ask not for victories but for what He considers will be best for me and bring me closer to Him.  

This is my Meditation!!! 

Guys, have gentle “Fights”!!!!!!

MAXIMS FROM GERONTIKO (a book with maxims by Elders)
1) In order to cultivate your soul, you need quiet, prayer and self- awareness. The last one can be achieved, when you learn not to worry about what others did wrong but about what you have done. (Ger.: 215).
2) Avoid conflicts – disturbances – confusion – many words.
(Ger 215).
3) When we leave the door of our heart open with our mouth, how can it remain clean? (Ger 215).
4)  a) How can they treat their body with cruelty?
 b) They did not learn how to kill their body but how to kill their passion. (Ger.125).
5) The greatest prosperity for man is humbleness of the heart. Whoever can achieve this, has no fear of being drifted by evil and sin. (Ger. 222).
6) Free yourselves from many cares, occupy your mind with divine meanings, silence and concealed spiritual work bring sanctity. Sleep and wake up with fear of God and do not be afraid that you the devil will defeat you (Ger. 234).
7) Do not hurry in answering before thinking what to say.
(Ger. 237).
8) "From what you say you shall earn justice or be judged “
(Ger 240).
9) Non-control of the tongue is a contagious moral illness and that is why it is very dangerous    (Ger 239) – see (3) – Ger 215.
10)  Silence is best; whoever has learned to be quiet can rest everywhere. (Ger 240).
11) It is not wisdom if you know how to discuss in a masterly way; wisdom is to know when to talk and    what to say. Do not boast for erudition, because you know less than those than you do not know.
(Ger 238).
12) If you cannot be silent – something more appropriate for young people - prefer the words of the Elders that are wiser. The words of Bible are neither easy to understand nor comprehensive to most of us. (Ger. 238)
13) I prefer failure with humbleness rather than victory with pride. (Ger. 257).
14) I prefer people with sins, who recognize their faults and can be humiliated rather than a virtuous person with self-complacency. (Ger. 256).
15) The beginning for our salvation is the precise knowledge of our selves. (Ger. 265).
16) We throw away the less heavy charge, which is the acceptance of our error and of "forgive me” and    we are charged with the heaviest one, an excuse. (Ger 267).
17) Whoever has learned to accuse himself easily finds excuses for the mistakes of others. (Ger. 271).
18) I was molded by your rib and I should always look at you. However, since you are molded by earth, you must permanently have your eyes down to it.  (Ger. 287).
19) It would be better to be taught by others than to become their teacher. (Ger. 290).
20) Humiliation is to forgive someone without ask him to apologize. (Ger. 290).
21) The humble man can win any temptation that comes across, if he is silent.
 (Ger. 300).



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B CHRONOLOGICAL DIAGRAM
9th century B.C, Mythical age.
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