If life was a knife... Part 1
Hey guys! Hope everyone is well. This one is going to be a little deep so bear with me. If you don't know, I really love Martial Arts. Now I've trained in many styles and have many masters. I say "have" and not "had" because even though I may no longer train under them I still hold each and everyone of them in high regard. The inspiration for this open ended series comes from my Sifu posting on FB about how parents view martial arts as an activity. Not really appreciating the life lessons that are taught while taking martial arts. I wanted to share a few lessons I've learned while training. One of my favorite weapons is the knife. Now I'm no expert knife fighter by any means but I wanted to share some of the lessons I've learned while training with the knife and how they can be applied to life.
1. Respect the knife, I think this one is a no brainer. If you don't respect the knife you're most likely going to get cut. It's not a toy, so don't treat it like one. Also if you don't respect it enough to take care of it, when you need it it'll be rusted and dull. As in the knife when you don't respect your things enough to take care of them they tend to break down. If you don't tend to your car and get the oil changed the engine will eventually seize. If you don't take care of your shoes they'll break down faster and you'll have to replace them more often. Respecting things also include your relationships with others. Not too many people I know like being around disrespectful people. Also when you don't respect people's time they tend to not invite you to all the fun activities. Don't be that person, respect yourself and others.
2. Knife fighting forces to you engage in close quarters in order to be effective. You have to be comfortable in close distance but when you see a knife your first instinct may be to run. Knife drills may take you out of your comfort zone but as you continue training being in close becomes comfortable. Same as in life, you have to come outside of your comfort zone in order to grow and get better. So try new things, meet new people and visit new places. Going out of your comfort zone is the only way you truly grow, physically, emotionally and mentally.
Learning respect and the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone are two important life lessons. So while you're training to defend yourself you're inherently learning valuable life skills. You can't tell me that martial art training isn't worth the time or money. Or maybe you can but hopefully over the course of this series we can change that perception. Well that's it for now, thanks for stopping by and we'll see you in the next one.
-Sean Flac