Why Train Martial Arts?

Let’s be real…

It’s not wartime. There’s no trouble ensuing outside of our doorstep. The chances of actually getting into a physical altercation (at least, for the smart ones among us) is extremely low. And if you actually do get into a fight, both of you will likely be charged with fines and high priced lawyer fees.

So, why train in the martial arts?

Martial arts allows us the ability to engage in a pseudo life-and-death struggle within the confines of complete and total control. It allows us the ability to tap into our animal instincts and come face to face with our greatest fear—helplessness. It allows us to channel our excess energies and discipline our minds to keep going; learning to push past the point of wanting to quit. It is the metaphysical expansion and evolution of the identified self, exercised in physical reality. It forces us to come up with new and innovative solutions to problems and obstacles, and it makes us look upon our transgressors as a means for improvement and ultimately enshrouds them with respect. It gives us the confidence to back up our words with actions; but, perhaps most of all, training in the martial arts allows us brief moments of levity, allowing us to go beyond our human self and into our divine being. Watching, acting and moving through total awareness.

In our modern and civilized society, the marital arts provides us with a vehicle for mental preparation and heart strength to help us cope with our everyday, normal struggles that we would otherwise take a little bit too seriously. When a fist is flying at your face, or a choke is slowly sinking in, all you can really do at that point is learn to accept and let go of control. And when the day’s session is all said and done, you will know that (unless someone else is training on the streets out there) it will be nowhere near what you had just experienced in the gym. 

Granted, that isn’t to say that you will never need to use your martial arts. There will always be those one-off occasions that will require you to tap into your Inner-Dragon. But if you look at the totality of those instances (especially if you’re not completely off-your-rocker) in contrast to the totality of your life, you will come to realize that the chances of any actual physical altercation comes few and far between. Even less so if you’re a true martial artist who knows how to avoid trouble at all costs.

So, why train in the martial arts? Because it makes the you better; where once it was only there to keep you alive. It is a civil evolution, allowing you to rise above the pettiness of mundane day-to-day problems and see the world more objectively in relation to a plateau that is set much higher, and with greater stakes, to what the general public is willing to endure. And that helps to make life a more beautiful and calm thing.

-train martial arts.