How to Make Martial Arts a Way of Life

   

    After training in martial arts for 30+ years, you would think that I could have boiled down some answers to standard questions to a simple sentence or two, but I just find that the answers to almost every question just become more detailed and spread out. I mean, I could try to answer this particular question with a simple one sentence answer, but I feel that would be doing the rich and fulfilling life of a martial artist a disservice. Let me say that it does not look like any one type of life style or fit any preconceived idea of what a martial artist might do. We are in all walks of life and we do it for years and years because it is part of who we are, and perhaps in the simple statement you can find the most truth. It is just part of who we are, but does not answer how we make it a way of life, otherwise I suspect that more people might choose to walk that path.

    I can only tell you about how I live it and make it a way of life for me. My way looks very different from many other people's way of living a martial arts life style. I don't think it is right, or wrong, it is just is who I am and how I walk the path of martial arts. We all have a different path, and that is the only path that we can walk, because it is part of who we are. If I had made martial arts a higher priority, I guess, I would have moved up faster in rank over the years since I have stayed with it for this long. However, I had to do other things while I pursued the martial arts path, so it has been a slower walk. Is it any less valid? I don't think so, because it is my path and it is valid for me. I have done what I needed to do as I have trained, and my training reflects who I am. I have been blessed with one instructor for 30+ years, which is extremely fortunate. He has taught me a great deal, not the least of which is consistency in maintaining a focus in this art of Kenpo Karate so I could eventually arrive at a black belt. (see my other blog entries on that progress).

    The way of the warrior, the martial journey, is a reflection of each person and how he or she lives. What does that encompass? It is infinite, in my opinion. It depends on each person's perspective. Every martial artist, every school, and every style has a legacy. How that looks, depends on so many factors. I think that is what makes it great and interesting. It is part of what makes us who we are. It all also factors into how we make it a way of life. 

    As with many of my articles, I like to boil things down to digestable steps that make sense. I don't know if this works for everyone, but I think it simplifies concepts and makes them easy to follow. So here are my steps to making martial arts a way of life, if that is something that you want to do.

1. Be Ready to Study, Be Ready to Train

    Martial arts, among so many other things, is about studying and training. It never stops. Even if you are a 10th degree black belt, studying never stops and training never stops. It is how you stay sharp and stay focused. It is also part of a daily practice that most people do who make this a way of life. How that daily practice looks in your training and studying can vary. Everyone's path is different. Don't assume everyone trains the same way. I actually think this gives great variety to the martial arts world when multiple martial artists gather together, we have so many different ways to train and we can learn and use ideas from each other because we are so different.

2. Find Joy in Your Training

    You absolutely have to like what you do. It is essential. If you do not like it, then why do it? It is really an essential requirement that you can cannot get around. If you like what you do, then you want to do it. If you want to do it, then you want to do it more. If you want to do it more, then you get better. The logic is pretty straightforward. There are ocassions where people do stuff they do not like. One example comes to mind is that people want to make themselves suffer in order to get better. Whatever that may look like, I am not sure. I am not one for that. Training in martial arts may be challenging, but even in the most challenging moments, it should never make you suffer. At worst, it is an adventure with unknown outcomes, but you should never suffer.

    The joy should come from the activity, the people, the place, and the process you experience in your martial arts journey. When you find joy in what you do, it becomes part of your life. You feel compelled to make it part of your life.

3. Accept the Challenge and Humble Yourself

    Martial arts is a journey of challenges. You must be willing to humble yourself as you encounter new knowledge and realize that you are not good at something. It is part of the process of learning. Some people have a very hard time with this. You cannot be a person that thrives on ego if you want to truly discover martial arts as a way of life. You should be willing to put ego aside as you always learn something new. We learn something new every day. Whether it is big or small, it is this essence of always being a student that is part of the way of the warrior. You learn so you can expand yourself and become better. Martial arts is truly a unique discipline in this way. It is a path of self-discovery, and you must be willing to do this and challenge yourself.

4. Seek Out Others Who Train

    This sounds like an odd one to make it a way of life, but hear me out. If you have others who share the experience with you, then you are more likely to make the training a way of life for yourself, because you have shared experiences with others to motivate you. Whether you are a teacher looking for a students, or a practitioner looking for a training partner, having another person who shares the experience with you is a motivating factor that keeps you going on some level. It makes you want to do more. It makes you want to share the knowledge and expand the knowledge. Most people do not want to do things alone, so if you can share it with someone, the journey is more enjoyable.

5. Don't Give Up on the Training

    This seems obvious, but it requires reminding. You can't make anything a way of life if you just give up on it. Many people give up on martial arts and never look back. That could be for many reasons. You have to have patience and persistence, along with all of the other things mentioned so you do not give up on it. You may change schools. You may change styles. You may change your training methods. However, if you do not give up, then it is still a way of life for you. For me, personally, I had to break for a short time from training at my school because I was busy with my career, but I kept training and I returned. If you train, if you make it part of who you are, then it is part of a way of life. If you have all of the other things mentioned above, then you will be unable to stop training. You will always train. You will live the life of a martial artist, both inside and outside of training. It has become part of you, and you cannot separate yourself from it.

Conclusion

    If you have read this far, you must be wondering at least if you can make martial arts a way of life. You might ask, why even write an article on how to make it a way of life? Believe it or not, from the very beginning, I wondered if I could do this or not. I did not think of it in these exact terms, but I felt the connection. One of the reasons I wrote all this is I wanted to share the things that have helped me make it part of my life, and give someone a possible path if they wanted it, but were unsure of how to get there.

    One of the things that you realize the more years you spend in the martial arts, the ranks and awards don't mean much. It is more about knowledge and relationships. If you focus on the latter two things, the other things follow in time. As so many people joke about McDojos and how people can buy ranks if they subscribe to one plan or another, you should really begin to realize, if you have the right teacher, there is nothing that can replace the hard work that goes into training. Martial arts is about training and knowledge. If you look for those things, then most likely it will become a way of life.

    You can't "buy" a way of life. You have to "live" a way of life. Transcend the material temptations that disguise themselves as part of martial arts and seek the knowledge, discipline, and relationships that build a lasting experience. It will make you better. Continue to train and good luck in your journey!