SKEMA Energy Training – back into “the now”
Energy training – what does it mean?
Energy is already included in the acronym SKEMA: Suny Kamay Energy & Martial Arts Academy. The expression of energy represents the strengthening and health aspect of the knowledge of martial arts. The fact that the traditional martial arts originally contain this knowledge is obvious: of course, the physically strong person basically has “better cards” in a confrontation, but even more important is the mental strength and the handling of emotions.
The struggle in a direct confrontation with a potentially fatal outcome is the greatest stress that a person can be exposed to. The martial arts include techniques to deal with it in order to remain able to act and keep a cool head. They teach us how to relieve stress as a result of trauma or seemingly hopeless situations. The corresponding techniques can be easily transferred to the less martial modern everyday life, and the practitioner can enjoy the liberating and vitalizing effect every day. He has more energy to cope with his tasks, more energy to stay healthy, and more energy to positively influence his life and his personal environment.
This energy component has always been an integral part of SKEMA training. SiGung Suny Kamay also did long research in this aspect of martial arts, turned over every stone imaginable, and learned an enormous number of methods. The knowledge of energy is included in every SKEMA discipline. In energy training, this is focused on in a rather calm and gentle way. The training includes the most proven methods for people of the Western lifestyle to achieve the desired effect, for example, morning activation or evening relaxation and peace of mind.
This is also the difference from methods adopted directly from the Asians, which are not immediately applicable to everyone and at any age. As a comprehensive training system, energy training works on all levels of the human being. Thus, it has a strengthening and flexibility-promoting effect on the body, balancing and brightening on the emotions and calming or stimulating on the thoughts – depending on the case.
Following the principle of “body over mind”, the body is worked on through active and passive movement combined with breathing. Every habit, every thought pattern, and every inherent emotion has its reflection in the body. The influence of memories and emotions on the musculoskeletal system and o
rgans is also widely recognized today. By continuing proper training, you can not only bring your body into balance – but also overcome internal obstacles on an emotional and mental level. The refreshing feeling of inner balance, the tension-free body, and after a certain period of practice also the experience of chi – the life force mentioned in the traditional health schools – you just don’t want to miss it over time.
Of course, unlike in the early 80s, today you can already find short instructions for individual breathing and relaxation exercises in every booklet or video blog, the “invention” of which an individual author attributes to himself. However, this only does justice to the complexity and tradition of this science to a very limited extent, because a teacher responds individually to the circumstances of the trainee. Also, the newly “invented” exercises are mostly already known for many hundreds of years. So there are e.g. records of Sufi orders, which document their continuous research on the effect of breathing on humans for more than a millennium.
