“You think it’ll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won’t. One day it’s all gone. Even the sky”.

 

Posted by ADAM CARTER on MAR 01, 2023

“Karate-do, like life, which it mirrors, is a struggle: a struggle with our own weakness, with our egos and our selfishness, with our narrow-mindedness and prejudices.”

 

“You think it’ll last forever, people and cars and concrete, but it won’t. One day it’s all gone. Even the sky”.

Time does not care about anything but moving forward. What do the martial arts offer the aging student?

Young practitioners mostly see karate, or the martial arts in general, as something I once did……. sport, competition, tournaments. Fighting. It’s all about winning, being the best.

We’re all getting older. In one way or another, our bodies are not what they were. And the study of the martial arts, in its application, is a physical process. We use our minds to train our bodies so that when the need arises, our bodies will react swiftly and effectively. Unfortunately, age inevitably diminishes our physical capacities.

If the underlying goal of the martial arts is to produce fighters whose bodies will react swiftly and effectively when needed, that degree of competence seems to grow ever more distant as we age. To the general public, at least, the study of the martial arts looks like an activity for young people.

Mastery of the martial arts, or indeed anything worthwhile, is by its very nature a process rather than a goal: mastery in itself, is essentially unattainable. It can only be gained by a complete dedication to that process. Put simply, you have to have lifelong dedication, passion, and love what you’re doing. Not because you want to gain some form of status or recognition, because the demands of mastery leave no room for ego.

My study of the martial arts over the years has increased my overall health, and it has certainly increased the quality of my life today.

However, why stick with it if your physical attributes decline?

If the physical attributes of the martial artist decline as you age, the answer is not readily apparent….. Then there must be something else!

The emotional side of the martial arts, to the general public (and many practitioners and instructors), is just plain invisible. And, unlike the physical side, it does not necessarily make itself obvious to people, aging or otherwise.

Sadly, we have all known martial artists whose interests are solely in a fight first mentality, who as an example, train for decades without understanding Funakoshi sensei’s words of wisdom: “The ultimate aim of the art of karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the character of its participants.”

But does karate produce practitioners with a “perfection of character”?

In many examples I would say no. But whatever perfection of character maybe, which I am sure will be different for everyone, perhaps it is by teaching us to master our fears.

Fear drives many of our behaviors, including how we react to situations and people in our lives. It also fuels our habits and beliefs. Unfortunately, without awareness of our fears (some are deeply embedded) our fears can take the shape of our 'rules' for living and being.

Through the constant repetitions of physical training, even if those physical attributes decline, karate can still teach us to step away from our emotions. It does not make those emotions go away: rather it empowers us to act in a different way than those emotions dictate. In simple terms, it helps us to master those fears.

As we get older, perhaps we begin to understand that it’s not so much about the physical after all, it’s not about how many techniques you know, or how many fights you have, it’s all about the person you have become.

“In youth we learn; in age we understand.” – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916)

 Photo Credit: Tadashi Nakamura World Seido Karate Organization.