I’ve touched on this subject before, but occasionally I like to ramble on and repeat certain things.
I was watching a documentary a while back about a mountineer who had similar trouble explaining to friends his reasons for engaging in such a dangerous activity. He said that to climb a mountian was dangerous, idiotic, and pretty pointless in that when you get to the top – there is only you and the experience for a brief moment in time. Then it is over and you have to return to the ground with only your fading memory of that brief moment.
He lived for that moment and was willing to put his life on the line to achieve it.
Training in budo is similar in that there is no real tangible reason to pursue it, other than you like the feelings that come with it. That daily challenge of saying to yourself ‘just one more, just one more’. That is what builds character, and what molds people into leaders rather than followers who take the easiest route at the first indication that things are about to become difficult.
Karatedo is not for everyone.
It is common that a student will begin training and will be enthusiastic to the point of training daily for many hours at a time. This will continue for 6 months or so, and then they will become frustrated at the thought of how far they’ve still yet to travel. The prospect is too daunting for them and they become discouraged and leave. How do you explain to them that its the journey that is important? What is important to the new student is the destination. They want improvement and are unable to see how they’ve progressed because at that stage of their training they will always be comparing themselves to the people they are following.
It takes a long time to learn how to start learning.
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