This is a one-way trip.
As soon as you notice an alternative way to live, you have changed. There is no turning back.
Even if you think to stop, the seeds of your transformation have already been planted, and will continue to grow.

Living a deliberate life is an opportunity for self-fulfilment, a chance to be you, to do what you want to do.
It is a chance to transcend pettiness and ego, to be free of your conditioning.
To die contented and happy. Without regret.

It is easy to get carried away during combat training. It is easy to be injured or cause injury.

By remaining composed, loose and friendly - safety can be encouraged.
Play, rather than fight.
Aggression has no place in our school.

 Sifu shows that the use of bagua in self defence is very effective and formidable. It is unpredictable for the attacker and extremely disorientating due to the movements and stepping of the defender. It is sneaky in its use of angles and finding openings. It offers many possibilities for the defender to counter attack. Bagua encourages lightness and mobility. It gets you out of the way fast and helps you deal with the potential chaos of multiple attackers. Good for people with smaller stature.

 (Rachel Waller)

Everybody feels fear.
It can be an overwhelming, overpowering experience, or merely anxiety.
This is normal and natural.

The main thing is to be present, in the moment.
Relax.
Place your mind on what is happening, rather than what you are anticipating.

Have faith in what you are learning, and avoid resisting.

Not many people actually think to live a deliberate life.
They just do what their friends do, or their family, or the people on TV, in the newspapers, in the magazines.
Instead of waking up and noticing the cage of convention that surrounds us all, most people just carry on sleeping.

Waking up is not easy. It may even prove to be disheartening and lonely.
You will be one voice in a tornado of noise, one person swimming against the current.
No one around you will notice, care about what you are doing, or offer you support.

People may even try and persuade you to stop.
They may invite you to set-aside your quest and re-join the ranks of the sleeping many.

Human beings have been civilised for a tiny fraction of the history of the species. Beneath the suits and dresses are primal genes. Even if it never acted out, the potential for violence is at the core of the games people play, a kind of hidden text.

Arrogant people employ it as a threat, timid people fear to confront it. Both conditions are out of balance and create trouble. Martial ability enables one to understand and come to terms with the subtextural violence, both in oneself and others.  It enables the practitioner to soften his hard edge and defuse of deflect the aggression of others. The deeper your kung fu, the less likelihood you will have to use it. Arrogance and fear draw trouble, internal power and centeredness bring forth wellbeing.

(Wolfe Lowenthal) 

We want to address an attack on a sliding scale of violence:

1. shuai jiao: fast and effective, a good deterrent

2. chin na: pain-infliction, suffocation, sprains, tears and breakages

3. striking: concussion, damage, internal injury