Martial Arts The Eternal Beginner Am I

The Eternal Beginner

I would like to believe that once upon a time in a magical land,
with mountains shrouded in mist,
Warriors would lie down hidden in the grass,
and watch confrontations between animals.
From these observations they learned not only ways of combat,
but also the essence of the animals themselves.
What drives their spirit, their harmony with nature,
and the price paid when that harmony was disrupted.

Then they would watch more; watch the days, weeks, seasons,
They would witness how all the elements interrelated.
Then using these observations applied through rigorous training,
That would make Special Forces squirm,
These warriors would hone their beings into a deadly weapon,
Tempered with The Way, whichever way that was...

They would go about their life, righting wrongs,
going with the flow, in the groove…

Alas that time has gone, if it ever really existed,
but we do have glimpses of it from renowned masters of proven credit.
Am I one of these people? Indeed not.
I have been most fortunate to have been taught by a few teachers of immense knowledge but my life has always been far too chaotic to allow me to have trained under one master to attain anywhere near his level.
Over the last fifteen years I have formally trained in spurts usually lasting two or three years and in times without a teacher I have practised what I have learned and coupled this with lots of reading and pondering. In short I am the eternal beginner.

This ramble is about how I am finding my path through life,
with martial arts based on the Dao as my wobbly compass.
So what gives me the right to write anything on the subject?
I am no master, my mind wanders down a path, with many twists,
turns, dead ends and branches that need to be explored.
Maybe I am writing this as a self-help guide,
to put my thoughts onto paper to facilitate my understanding.
Maybe it is because I want to try to explain things in a clear,
concise manner for normal people like me,
who cannot commit themselves to a lifetime of intense study.
Or maybe I want to write this because of the dragons.
I love dragons, there I said it, got it off my chest.
Dragons are making a comeback, if they really ever went away!
Tigers and leopards too, however I am a little scared of snakes, cranes and monkeys.