As Martial Artists, we know what it is to practice with SELF. Even in a group setting, we know that we are ultimately practicing with the partner within us. Who and what is that partner? In my experience, sometimes the partner shows up as an angry young child, sometimes as a graceful, wise woman, and sometimes as just organs and spinal column. The partner within is all aspects of us moving towards a state of essence, which I believe the practice of martial arts enhances and helps to achieve efficiently and effectively: the very practice of martial arts provides an effective framework to fill in any developmental holes we may have been carrying since birth. So does the practice of “reaching” which is another article altogether.