I have been studying Martial Arts for over twenty years now. Studying Martial Arts has taught me plenty of great lessons. It has helped to teach me discipline, self respect, Humility and much much more. But today I would like to talk about what I feel is one the absolute most valuable lessons martial arts will teach a person.
Now it is hard to pick one of these lessons and say that it is more important than the others but this is a lesson that once I really understood it changed my life. The Lesson I want to talk about is RESPONSIBILITY.
Martials Arts will teach someone how to defend themselves during a violent attack. It will give you the tools and skills necessary to survive when you need it most and it will teach you how to do this 100% by your self with no weapons or tools and with no outside help. You will practice this situation over and over. You will learn that in the end you alone have the power to determine the outcome of the situation at hand. That no matter who is in front of you trying to hurt you, take you down or break your bones that it is your job to defend yourself and get home safe. No one else will be there to help you, no one is coming to your rescue. It is your Job, duty and responsibility to do what needs to be done and stay safe.
After practicing self defense and learning that you have this power and ability you will be able to apply this lesson to other areas of your life. You will learn that no matter what life is throwing in front of you that it is your job and your responsibility to handle the situation.
If a tree falls through your roof today it might not be your fault. You did not cause the situation but it is your responsibility to handle the situation. You need to do whatever you can do to fix the roof. Maybe you need to call your insurance, maybe you need to call your landlord or maybe you need to climb on top of the roof and fix it yourself if all else fails… but you can not just sit around in the rain hoping that the roof fixes itself.
It really doesn’t matter what life throws your way. Martial arts will help teach you that you are responsible for you. It will also help to teach you that no matter how difficult the challenge may seem you can overcome it.
Im hoping that most martial artists have learned this lesson and have put it to use in their everyday life because once I did my life changed forever. Maybe you are not there yet but hopefully reading this article will put the thought in your head and you can start on the path to learning the lesson and then applying it to your life outside of the academy.
Remember martial arts will teach us self defense but that is just a small part of it you should strive to learn lessons that you can use both on and off the mat.