By “I know that martial arts are not about defeating your enemy, but the fight. I know that you may be getting stronger, but that doesn’t mean you can beat your opponent. I know that you can’t jump higher than your opponent, but that doesn’t mean that your opponent can’t jump higher than you. I know that you can’t run faster than your opponent, but that doesn’t mean that your opponent can’t run faster than you.
That is the power of martial arts. It is as much a part of our lives as brushing our teeth or eating dinner. It is as much a part of our identity as our fingerprints. But just like fingerprints, if we lose our power to use those skills, our identity will also be lost.
It’s not as simple as just saying, “I’m not gonna use my power to fight someone who is faster than I am.” That would be akin to the old saying, “you can’t beat a dead horse, you can only choke it.” People would be less than helpful if they said something like, “it’s just not fun when you lose your power to fight.
People are so afraid of losing their power to fight that they tend to think it’s a bad thing. Unfortunately, that fear is what causes them to lose their power to use their skills. I can’t really call this a problem because I think I would rather lose my power to fight than lose my power to chew ice cream, or whatever.
I think we all just need to stop thinking that our power is something that will allow us to beat our opponents. It’s not. This is just something we need to stop using, because we keep abusing it. It’s not a bad thing either because it keeps us on our toes when we’re trying to practice our skills, and it also keeps us from getting bored and not getting to use it.
This is something we all need to stop doing, but I think we still have a ways to go before we see the light. If we were practicing martial arts with a really good coach, then yeah, maybe we would stop abusing our power, but I doubt that will happen in the real world.
The problem is that the best martial arts training is done in the real world when we’re not really practicing it. It’s always been this way, and it’s only gotten worse since we started using the internet to practice our skills. This is why I prefer to go to the gym. It’s the only place I know I can get the real thing.
But because the internet is the only place where we can get the real thing, you want to be doing the real thing when you’re practicing your martial arts, too. But, like every other martial art, self-defense training is something you’re going to have to learn on your own. So, you want to be in the gym with a good coach so you can learn how to defend yourself, too.
Because it’s not about the way you do your movements, it’s about how you teach them to your coach. For example, instead of your trainer teaching you how to kick, you want to teach him how to defend yourself. If you’re practicing boxing, that’s what you want to teach him. If you’re a wrestler, that’s what you want to teach him. If you’re a kick boxing kickboxer, that’s what you want to teach him.
In that vein, how many of you have had a coach or a trainer take an interest in you? And how many of you have had them get so attached to your movements that they want to be around you and teach you to do the moves that you want to do? A coach or trainer is a person who knows and trusts what you are capable of doing. They are your training partner and they are your coach.
