"When you are one with everything, there is nothing left not known." - Z.o.S.
Knowing oneself is the beginning, but not the end. In order to transcend the average or even advanced player, one must become more in tune with one's environment. One must use all of one's faculties to draw in the information present to make one both aware and prepared for what may be coming one's way. This page shall look into each of one's senses and help one get in tune with the universal ether (qi/life/cosmic energy).
Look:
One of the simplest senses to use, yet one often not used carefully enough. When looking about, one must learn to be able to discern form from shadow and shadow from form. If one has the ability to ahead of time, one should go for a walk about the playing field in order to get a sense of how everything looks when a game is not occurring. Thus, during a game, one can recall what one saw before and compare it with what one is now seeing to try and determine if something has been changed or if something else is lying in wait in the shadows.
Listen:
Looks, alone, can often be deceiving. To compensate, one must also use what cannot be seen, rather heard, to guide oneself. Voices, whispers, footsteps, falling stones, water splashing, and even silence, itself, can all be good indicators of where the unseen may be. At the same time, if one is trying to remain concealed, one must not only remain unseen, but also unheard. As simple as that is to write, it can be particularly difficult to accomplish depending on the terrain or a given situation.
Feel:
Feel the surroundings. All the things that one can feel will give one much information without needing to look nor listen. The weight of one's blaster will give one an indication of how much water remains. The feel of the terrain will let one know how well one can break into a run if need be. Feel one's own heart beat to ensure that one is prepped physically should a challenge arise.
Extending oneself will even allow one to feel another Player's qi. Many have already experienced this phenomenon when one is alone and another approaches silently, but out of sight. Somehow, one just feels the other person's presence without need to see or hear or physically touch the other. This is a particularly good skill in the playing field if one can actively feel the presence of other Players even if they remain hidden.
Smell:
While not typically as effective as the above three senses, scents can often give clues about an opponent's position or what to expect in a given area. Some Player's cologne or general body scent can sometimes give away their position even if they are not easily seen nor heard. While in most cases one's nose yields little additional information, never disregard anything it can offer.
Taste:
While rarely used in water fights, subtle changes in the way the air/ether may taste can give one insight into an impending attack or whether a calm lull has been found.
Intuition:
This refers to the Water Warrior's sixth sense. Never doubt intuition when in the midst of a game for listening to Intuition may be the difference between a surprise soak or being soaked by surprise. With the Right View, the Right Mindfulness, and the Right Concentration, one will often find one's intuition particularly heightened.
Above all, one must feel oneself not as a separate entity acting on the surface, rather as part of the everything, able to sense and interact on one's own terms with all that surrounds. This allows one not only to soak effectively, being able to almost instinctively guide one's streams onto one's targets, but also evade incoming streams as if in a choreographed play.
