誠舟 Pedro Solana – The Path of the Spiritual Warrior

誠舟
Pedro Solana –
The Path of the Spiritual Warrior
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Pedro Solana, also called Kru Pedro, was born in Madrid, Spain, on 7 December, 1971. He has been studying martial arts for almost all his life, having entered the martial arts when he was only eight years old.
In the 1980s, Pedro was introduced to the world of martial arts through training in judo which eventually led him to Muay Thai, in which his fighting career really took off.
He moved to the USA to further his Muay Thai skills and continued professionally fighting for several years in the early 1990s. During these years, he trained in other disciplines including Wing Chun, Kali and grappling with various elite masters such as Royce Gracie. After becoming the United States Muay Thai Middle Weight Professional Champion, he decided to travel to Thailand for an entire year to expand his Muay Thai and Krabi Krabong skills. He permanently moved to Thailand to continue his studies in 2002. He decided to become a monk because of his interest in the philosophical aspects of Muay Thai. His entire life has been driven by the pursuit of two things: martial arts and inner growth. After coming out of monkhood, he went to train in ancient Muay Thai Chaiya and Krabi Krabong, including Thai Weapons.

By 2003, Pedro had opened his first school in Thailand, which he expanded in 2010 into various other forms of South East Asian martial arts including Silat Minangkabau Ground Fighting, Bokator and Kalaripayattu. From his exposure to different schools of martial arts, he developed a unique and effective system of self-defence known as Muay Thai Sangha Fighting Arts.
Later, through experience, deep reflection, and self-discovery, Pedro realized that certain factors were missing in the fighting arts such as energy work, meditation and inner practices. This drove him to blend these internal concepts together and develop a new form of self-defence which encompassed all the concepts from his past experiences of fighting, together with the missing aspects that he found in meditation
Kru Pedro is now involved in teaching seminars around the world and creating documentaries to convey to humanity the very important message of overcoming one’s inner fears and developing and understanding the Self through the path of martial arts. The teaching approach that Kru now shares within his practice is related to expanding awareness, and sensing and learning how to interact with energy through the Five Elemental Forces of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Ether. Learning how to interact with energy will allow us to release different emotional habits from past experiences and to build new constructive patterns in life. The ultimate aim of his teachings is for us to become the best human being we possibly can be.
Central to the philosophy of the Muay Sangha school is maintaining the integrity of many fighting concepts. Therefore, students who come to Thailand to learn are still able to train hard while receiving the benefits of the internal martial arts teachings. Pedro acknowledges that:

The direction in which we align our practice is a very important factor, as the outcome
related to our actions will follow thereafter. Consequently, you should look inside yourself to discover what are the main reasons to keep training and fighting.

Today at the age of forty-eight he is still learning. He believes that we are students and masters in life as there is always something to share and something new to be experienced. Pedro is of the opinion that if we become attached to what we know, we will limit our ability to grow. He is convinced that every human being has the capability to develop further. His teaching approach is to reinforce the path of awareness in order to experience life with our maximum potential. He aligns his practices on raising vibration with the Muay Sangha Arts and shares his path with anyone interested.
Kru’s key concepts of Muay Sangha are as follows:

I. Open Mindedness
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Kru has found that one of the most successful concepts in martial arts is keeping our mind open and aware to experience new ways of doing things. Most of the greatest and most successful martial artists whom Kru has met understood and practised this valuable concept:

In the universe nothing remains the same and everything is in a process of change. Even our mind, ideas and beliefs are under this constant changing law. We must be aware of these changes with an empty and present mind if we want to adapt and flow with whatever situation the universe provides.

II. Creativity versus Physical Training
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Kru has encountered many martial artists who have lost efficiency in their training. To be creative is important, but we must also be aware so we are not tricked by our own ego into believing that our skills are invincible or superior to everyone else. A good way to improve our humbleness is by sparring with professional fighters whom we have not met before. In this way we will see what level we really are at and it will bring our feet back to earth.

III. Form versus Application
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Training forms are a way of learning the underlying movements of any system, so the body can recognize a way to express itself. Despite practising for years, a lack of understanding of the functionality of the movements may slow down the growth of the individual. That is why it is important to exercise with form for a period of time and also the application of each movement.

IV. Suffering versus Natural Gifts
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Trying to be better than others brings suffering,
trying to improve ourselves brings out our natural gifts.

When we are blinded by the desire to be better than others, eventually we become trapped by our own limitations and lose inner harmony as our attention is taken outside of us. If we connect with our creative side and see that each situation that we come across is just an opportunity to experience it and to grow from it, then we will never fall again into the trap of winning or losing, which does not depend on results but rather on one’s point of view.

V. Direction of Training
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In the past, Muay Thai was taught to defend the family as fighting was related to self-defence purposes. Now everything is different, and people fight for different reasons. Kru Pedro does not see Muay Thai or any other activity that intentionally hits another human being as a sport. Although he understands the potential for growth during fights in terms of confronting one’s fears, transforming one’s anger or even building confidence, it is important not to get attached to fighting, as a great deal of karma is generated from one’s actions.
Any action in which we take part will affect our life in one way or another. Being aware of this will help us to clearly see what kind of actions we must engage in and which direction we must take if we want to improve our life.

VI. Change of Direction of Life
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Many students have come to the school with the intention of changing their lives through the Muay Sangha path. Kru Pedro shares that:

If you really believe in your Heart that you want to change your life, understand that we cannot change our lives until we change ourselves. When we change, everything else changes.

When we understand this powerful concept, we must prove it to ourselves. It takes a culmination of actions and thought to allow our changes to come into fruition. Kru Pedro adds that where attention goes, energy flows. If we cannot sense the result, it is because we do not have enough sensitivity yet to feel energy or are not educated enough to use certain parts of the brain. To reach this point and beyond is a matter of time.

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Post-Scriptum: Lindsey Wei is currently writing a book about Pedro’s spiritual path, which will be published in the next couple of month through Purple Cloud Press.