The philosophy of combat is a many faceted entity but, in general, that philosophy will be very different from the most common forms of martial art philosophy, which are designed to suggest pacifism and inner stillness as underlying mechanics of combat. No criticism of this perception is required but the idea of pacifism as a combat mechanic is not regarded as appropriate theory for the Te Mana System - this is in part due to the cultural basis of the style and partly due to the experience of it's founder.

"In a conflict situation, your very life is under threat - take it personally!"
- Brook Benton Tu

    One of the most starkly obvious differences between asian style martial arts philosophies and the Te Mana System is in the ideal that one should be emotional when defending yourself; That, far from being an interference to our fight, 'well-formed panic' can often be the overwhelming factor in the defeat of your assailant. Dealing with that panic - and determining the basis of your fears (individually) is the very heart of our philosophy system.

    The Philosophies of the Te Mana System are Humanist in content; not given to religious undertones (There is not much hint of Zen Buddhism or the like in these teachings). They are designed to assist the student of our style in determining how to better master their pure, animalian reaction to self defence. In other words, our inner primal instinct is to react to conflict in much the same way a chimpanzee would react in a wildlife environment; OVER THE TOP - knowing this fact, we can develop intellectual control over these reactions, until our fighter is able to match both his/her animalian reactions with the intelligence of a  trained fighter.

"The most difficult enemy you will ever meet is Yourself!"
- Brook Benton Tu

    Using the skills and tools taught in the Te Mana Philosophy System will help the student to come to a fuller understanding of themselves and those emotions, memories, etc which might be an interference to adequate self defence. According to the Te Mana System, there are two types of fear:

INSTINCTUAL FEAR

    Instinctual fear is that inate consciousness inside us all that is most concerned with protecting the bodies life-signs. It is taught in the system that the most obvious and common occurrence of the instinctual fear phenomena can be found in our reactions to loud noises, behind us; In most cases, we react to sudden loud noise by bending at the knees and hips, raising the shoulders to protect the head and lowering the head into that cavity, made by the shoulders. We recognise this as an instinctual reaction because no one ever teaches us to do this, but we all do it! Harnessing this ability is the aim of our instruction.

CONDITIONED FEAR

    Conditioned fear is entirely subject to the things we experience in our individual lives.
From phobias to common discomfort, conditioned fear has been put in place by our reaction to all we have learned, observed, experienced or believed.

    One of the stranger aspects of Conditioned Fear is the fact that the experience that initiated the fear need not have been a real experience - in other words, some of the things that mess up our thinking can only be found in the thoughts we have - not in the experience we had. This factor makes for a very complex matrix of reaction which must be addressed and harnessed if one is to deal with self defence situations with any depth of control and measure. Even more strange is the idea that most of our fears are actually combinations of both Instinctual and Conditioned Fears.

THE PHILOSOPHY SYSTEM

The Te Mana Philosophy System is structured in a specific manner, addressing each fundamental issue in a sequence of components - these components make up the actual training level - LEVEL SIX: PHILOSOPHY. The components of this level are as follows:

1)   Self Perception: This component is dedicated to asking you a profound question: "Who are you?"

2)   The Pre-Condition: This component asks another profound question: "Who were you?"

3)   Instinct or Conditioning: A course in how to recognise the difference.

4)   Personae: A description of the way in which we perceive ourselves and how we allocate certain 'job descriptions'  to our fears so that we may better fit into various social/heirarchical groups. Personae is also responsible for a large proportion of the inner turmoil we experience in our lives.

5)   Morality vs Ethics: A discussion on the various properties of these two virtues and their combative applications.

6)   The Lie: A discussion about the lack of truthfullness in our everyday lives.

7)   The Truth: A discussion about what might be considered a truthful existence.

8)   Imagery: A discussion on the relative merits of imagery over verbalisation; in other words, making pictures of your thoughts instead of words.

9)   The Hall of Mirrors: The most intense and illuminating component of the entire system. This section is only for the strong of heart and mind and will not be entered by people of a feeble disposition.

10)   Recovery: After the Hall of Mirrors there are many questions - and answers. This component seeks to resolve some of the problems associated with recovery from the previous section.

11)   The New Perception: At this point in your training, you have discovered a 'New You' - this component is dedicated to reaching into this new world and bringing up your altered state, comfortably.

12)   The Future: A discussion about your personal choices for the future, armed with your new tools of Philosophy.

    The components are all designed to assist you with your long term goals of becoming a Combat Master.

    The worth of the Te Mana System's Philosophy Level can be found in it's application to combat. The level is meant to help you determine whether you will participate in a conflict and how much intensity you will require to overcome the situation. It takes a certain mindset to be come an adequate combatant and that mindset will be enhanced by the study of these philosophical principles.

    This is the most basic of outlines for the Philosophy Level of the Te Mana Combat System and should not thought of as an in-depth overview of the form.

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(Copyright. Te Mana Combat System. 1997-2004)