The Martial Artist - Martial Edge

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The Martial Artist

One of the benefits of running a martial arts site like Martial Edge is that you are exposed to opinion on a daily basis. Whether thats from authors, forum members of fighters it all feeds through this site one way or another. I have based this small piece on the concept of the martial artist from a famous quote I read from Bruce Lee. Have a read and share your thoughts with me in our forums.

Therefore to be a martial artist means to be an artist of life. Since life is an ever going process, one should flow in this process and to discover, to actualize it, and to expand oneself. – Bruce Lee

One does not become a martial artist over night, nor does one become a martial artist at the end of the syllabus. The practice of the Martial arts are and will always be a lifelong journey that commences the moment you first walk into the training hall and continues until the day they carry you out. (The author hopes you have a better ending but it has been known to happen) If you can understand that basic principle then achieving your goals in the martial arts will become a mere side show to the true journey which goes beyond winning trophies, getting dan grades and breaking boards.

The true journey is to survive and ultimately become a better human being for it.

Of course the question is how does that philosophy fit into the modern way of life? The fact is that the many people reading this will be thinking they have to make a radical change to their lifestyle in order to undertake some quest of Enter the Dragon.jpg self discovery such as disposing of all material possessions, leaving the family and day job and then taking on wild animals and ice cold waterfalls in the wilderness. Nonsense.

The truth is that to become a martial artist takes years of consistent training in your chosen discipline whether that is Karate, Judo or Taekwondo. Coupled with the fact of keeping an open mind at all times to the people you are training with and the other styles around you. This as a basic premise sounds quite easy, but take a look at your local school or club. How many students have begun training there during your time at the school and then quit? They join with all the energy and enthusiasm that you had on your first day and they attend every class, seminar and competition for six months and then simply stop. How does this happen? They have the same instructor as you, wear the same Gi, train with the same people and importantly learn the same movements as you did but for some reason the spark goes out. Of course this just doesn’t just happen to beginners, at your martial arts school or club certainly if you have trained for a few years you will have probably seen this with intermediate and more advanced dan grades. Fellow students with all the buzz and enthusiasm just walk away and never come back. Of course life in a western society throws up all kinds of obstacles such as a new promotion at work (longer hours therefore can’t physically get to the dojo) or a change in location to name a couple of examples.

Ultimately though whatever obstacle life throws at you is exactly that – an obstacle. A martial artist must find a way around an obstacle to stay true to the journey.

Again this is probably easier then it actually sounds. An example would be if you trained three nights a week with your school and then you got a new job which meant that you couldn’t train on any of those nights. Do you stop training because of this obstacle or do you find a way around it? Perhaps there are classes on at a different school on the alternative nights or even the weekend? If that doesn’t work take a look at your schedule and perhaps it may be the case of an hour private lesson followed by self study three mornings a week before work.

The point here is that the student who acknowledges that martial arts training is a life long journey and that to become a martial artist means taking on obstacles and moving past them.