I recently heard a cautionary tale regarding some professional athletes. No, this wasn’t the same ones about sacrificing too much –from relationships to even their own bodies—to reach the pinnacle of their sport. It wasn’t about letting fame and fortune get to them and then losing both. This one was about the athletes, who after their competitive career ended, just let themselves go physically. Totally. You would never know they had done anything athletic in their life just by looking at them. So how, or why, does an elite physical specimen with championship drive turn into someone unrecognizable? The athletes explained that it was because they lost all drive once they stepped away from competition. There was nothing else to win. There was no one else to best. So, what was the point?
Certainly, there are people who are driven by similar motivations in martial sports. I have been known to have a competitive streak, and I certainly tried to win my martial contests, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around going to such an all or nothing extreme, and I also feel gratitude that my relationship with the martial arts is not like that. But that begs some questions about why we do what we do. Yes, we are learning combative. But why, or what exactly, are we “fighting” for?
Of course, self-defense is one obvious motivation. We are training to best an adversary as well—a hereto unknown and hypothetical one—but one in very a high stakes match. And unlike a defined competitive career, you can never fully retire from the struggles of life and potential risks to personal safety. So, with the threat ever present, I suppose it is easier to stay motivated and prepared. Even if we aren’t at the peak of our game in our older age, we must be ready for a comeback at a moment’s notice. The mantra of constantly being harder to kill can indeed fuel a lifestyle, but I don’t think it can be the sole explanation. To train the majority of one’s life for a hypothetical event that may or may not ever happen, either makes one a rather paranoid individual, or suggests there are additional reasons and motivations to merit studying martial arts. Not surprisingly, I prefer the latter explanation. There has to be more than just fear driving the decision.
Of course, there are other battles or fights in life besides physical confrontations. The same mental approach that the martial artist applies to training can be applied to other aspects of life as well. This is the way, the “DO.” The concept of continual self-betterment through discipline, perseverance, etc., translates to success in many arenas. I will admit that other sports and activities also develop some of these habits and attributes, such as teamwork, discipline, and leadership, but with unapologetic bias I have asserted that the martial arts does it better than any other activity. Clearly, the aforementioned athletes in question didn’t get any concept of “DO” in their sport. The sport remained separate from their daily lives. We hope our students take what they learn on the mats and apply it in the world off the mats. That they apply the concept of constant refining, continual learning and self-betterment to areas such as education, finances, and relationships. While you can retire from a sport, you can’t retire from life, and if you see the martial way as a way of life, then you won’t want to retire from the arts either.
Besides, why would you want stop doing something that you like to do? The martial arts—from the techniques to the strategy, to the culture, to the camaraderie– are just plain fun and cool. One of things I appreciate most about martial arts is that I am still learning, and I still get excited at new applications or even nuances to familiar techniques. Certain professional athletes try to not to lose sight of the fact that they get paid handsomely to play a game that is at heart—a game for fun. Other athletes get bogged down in the grind and everything that goes into playing at such a high level and view it as something else, tedious work. While I can admit certain aspects of running an academy can indeed be tedious, I appreciate that people come here to have fun, to relieve stress, to become healthier, to be a part of a team, etc. They enjoy the subject and the practice.
It appears that some athletes might have enjoyed the thrill of victory and the spoils but didn’t really enjoy the process. I am blessed that I still enjoy the process and have “love for the game.” But for reasons and benefits listed above, both practical and personal, martial arts offer a lot of reasons to never retire. While other athletes may lose their “why”, martial artists should always have something to be “fighting for.”
visit http://www.gentrymartialarts.com for more info about us.
Gentry Martial Arts--the rants of a martial arts eccentric 