Today’s times of physical isolation during the COVID-19 Pandemic revealed to the world the weaknesses of today’s way of life, namely – the unhealthy and unbalanced way of life. Everything’s fast today – from cars, to food, all the way to resting. Caught up chasing a successful career and daydreaming for a happy life, people have turned into hamsters, turning the wheel of the modern economy without realising that all things in life have their consequences. When we’re young, we don’t think about old age, but when we become middle-aged we realise that we’re not immortal. So if we’ve turned our lives into fast food restaurants, these should be the first signals to make us re-evaluate it.
Thankfully, the science for knowing and understanding our body has been hidden in ancient times in the teaching of Kung-Fu. There a person can get to know themselves, as cliché as this sounds. “Listening” to your own body and its needs is the first step, but understanding what that means and having a balanced way of life is a never-ending process that goes on our entire life.
Today, many scientists share the opinion that the Coronavirus goes after the heart and circulatory system (according to a recent study by the Bulgarian Cardiac Institutå).
A big cause for complications and the high death rate of COVID-19 is people’s unhealthy way of life over the years. According to DSc Sotir Marchev, head of the Cardiac Clinic of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, among the factors for a weakened immune system are: “lack of movement, obesity, unhealthy way of eating, stress, lack of sleep – all these things lead to heart problems and a weakened immune system.”
If this pandemic has had a positive side, it’s that it’s made us change our priorities. To try and return to a healthy and balanced way of life by putting our own health at the centre of our system of values, rather than success in work and a materialistic way of thinking. Because life and health are the main priority, success and career growth are the next step. So, we should work in order to live, not the other way around.
“Movement is life”, as was once said, but understanding and keeping the balance is a science hidden in Kung-Fu. Presented only as a warrior’s system of survival, Kung-Fu often emphasizes the element of self-defence. But as an ancient science, it contains the way of understanding and maintaining our bodies and minds in shape. As a philosophical worldview, it carries age-old wisdom that develops a strategic way of thinking. And as a psychological aspect it carries so called “soft” skills, and helps develop emotional intelligence, empathy, and spirit.
Today, more than ever before Kung-Fu can help people through training, knowledge and the skills contained within it. They, in turn, can change our understanding of the world and ourselves, and give us a healthy and happy way of life.
Bozhidar Stanchev
2021