To the untrained eye these hands looked wrecked. They certainly  aren’t appealing or attractive. however if you practice a striking art, you would recognize these hands as lethal. These hands belong to Morio Higaonna who is currently a 10th Dan in Goju Ryu, one of the styles the art I practice derives from. I have seen videos of Higaonna Sensei practice his art and it still fills me with awe. He is now in his seventies and still trains. One of the videos I saw had him being interviewed and he said something which resonated deeply with me. He said that only now was he beginning to understand the depth of his training and that it was now that he was seeing the deeper aspect of Karate.(my paraphrasing) This is after 60 years of training.

This spoke to me as a person who has been training for less than half that time that it all comes down to staying on the path.Whether it is karate or writing or anything else in your life that requires excellence. This was brought home to me recently when one of my students, an advanced green belt(which in our school represents five years of training) shared that she was thinking of stopping her training. She is nine years old and quite fierce.

So we sat down and had a conversation as to why she wanted to stop her training. Her initial response was that it wasn’t “fun” anymore, which I understood. She has entered the phase of her training where more work is required and more is expected of her. There are less moments of “fun” and more moments of work and rigor. I told her I would respect any choice she made provided that she gave it some real thought and not just give me a quick answer. I requested that she go home and think it over and give me a list of pros and cons and whatever decision she made I would honor it.

She went home and gave it some serious thought I am told by her parents.

Here is her list written by her without any help:

Today I will be listing and telling you why the reasons I want to stay and not stay:

Pros:

I have made lots of friends at karate and I don’t want to leave them.

The karate staff and dojo has become part of my family.

If I leave now all my hard work will disappear.

If I quit now what if later I need to defend myself.

Karate grew into my heart.

Once I quit it I might miss it.

Cons:

I don’t exactly love kumite because I always get hit in the stomach at am out of air.

Karate isn’t always fun all the time like in class on Sunday. 

When I read this list I was humbled. Keep in mind that this is a nine year old sharing these  profound statements. It made me reflect on my own years of training.

There have been many moments that were not “fun”.  But like this student my karate family has grown exponentially. More importantly, like her I know the importance of training. If we neglect our training or stop, all our hard work will disappear. Karate, our training, is no longer something we do. It is part of who we are. It defines and shapes us. If we remain on this path we will see, like those who came before us, that our training  and our lives can only benefit.

As for her cons, I agree. Very few people “love” kumite. The day will come when you will get hit in the stomach and you wont be out of air. I can assure you. And yes karate isn’t always fun, but it is always good for you. Stay on the path, I look forward to tying a black belt around your waist one day and then speaking to your students about their instructor.