30 Minutes for 30 Days, the Return: Day 15

 "The Virtues"

Today is the half way mark! I was hoping fir it to be a bit bigger of a deal, but it was not to be.

Tomorrow, my design students are going to create a Cyberpunk cityscape and it took a lot longer getting all the files they will need together, plus a bilingual PowerPoint.

With a half hour of the day to spare I got my gear and began footwork and lunges, but it was hard to remain focused. Realizing that tonight was not coming together.

Martial Arts are more than physical work, it demands the practitioner engages their mind and be literate in what they do.

Antonio Manciolino wrote in his 1531 manual Opera Nova about the attitude and mental disposition of the Bolognese Swordsman: "How beautiful this art becomes when it is adopted by four chief Virtues, which are courage, cunning, strength and agility!" (coraggio, astuzia, forza e agilità, respectively)

These teachings are echoed by various other Masters and primers such as Fiore dei Liberi who teaches caution, speed, courage and strength (prudenza, velocità, coraggio e forza).

There is commentary about having no humility or mercy. For the time, such mannerisms were important, especially if you were selling your instruction, serving as guard, soldier or duelist; but I truly don't believe that humanity was ever really set aside.

The Martial Arts are Fighting Arts; when you are training people in these methods, the proper psychological training is what keeps the student from harming themselves with improper practice and becoming predators against others.

The Virtues can also guide us in who we are and what choices of action we make.