Ep 6 | Rounding off the Angular, with Grandmaster Don Baird

Usual Pets

Today, we are honored to be speaking with Grandmaster Don Baird (American School of Martial Arts; Chang Moo Kwan Kung Fu). Though martial arts are rarely thought of as being imbued with artistic process, our discussion sheds light on the more refined realm of the practice, as developed though several decades in Don's advanced levels of Black Belt training. "Rounding off the angular" refers to an expansion of being through engagement with the arts. This process is traditionally known as "The Five Excellences": fighting, healing, musicianship, painting, and writing. In contemporary life, the five excellencies may refer to any number of art forms, though with the personal challenge to develop one's craft, in at least five different arts, to a high degree of skill. This interdependence with creative practices in everyday life facilitates a "rounding off," which deepens one's life experience, and is reflected in all things attempted in life, including the martial arts. The focus of our discussion is centered on the feeling of freedom as an entryway into creative space. Along the way, we also discuss desire, limitation, privacy, and secrecy, as aspects of an holistic approach to achievement not only in fighting but in human potential. Don himself is an exemplar of the approach he teaches, as you will hear in the conversation. How round are you?

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Don Baird—Links

MARTIAL ARTS American School of Martial Arts/Kung Fu: kungfukarate.com Suh Do Kwan / Chang Moo Kwan (history & lineage): https://amzn.to/2Wbejcd "Faces and Places" (view online; haiku anthology/photography): https://bit.ly/3z1RwOk Amazon: https://amzn.to/3AWfGKB

HAIKU Haiku at The Living Haiku Anthology (LHA): livinghaikuanthology.com Don's LHA Haiku Page: https://bit.ly/2WdOiZE Under the Basho, Haiku Journal: underthebasho.com The Haiku Foundation: https://thehaikufoundation.org/poet-details/?IDclient=175

Music and Haiku: https://bit.ly/3z3RQfq (“Haiku -- The Interior and Exterior of Being”)

MUSIC The Wandering Clarinet: https://bit.ly/3z3RiWU Thoughtscape: https://music.apple.com/us/album/thoughtscape/378345758 Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/donbaird Site: clarinetpro.com

PHOTOGRAPHY Flikr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/donbaird/ Getty: https://bit.ly/3sJZp8R

PASTOR Don Baird: https://bit.ly/3svv5OS