“So, What am I doing all of this stuff for?”
I think this is a good question that you need to ask yourself throughout your training career. It can help clarify why
you are (or, in some cases, are not) spending a lot of your time training & trying to get better at this particular set
of physical & mental skills. Do you draw your inspiration from pop culture (i.e, videos, movies, comic books) & imagine
a life of constant adventure, where situations will arise where you’ll be called on to use your knowledge to save
yourself, a loved one or the entire world? Or do you draw it mainly from watching highly skilled people move on the
practice or demonstration floor, which develops within you a burning desire to emulate them & hopefully acquire the
skills that will enable you to do the same thing? Or have experienced something that changed you to the very core of your
being & you perceive that martial arts training is the only valid way to address that situation?
No judgement is passed on any of these positions; your original inspiration for becoming involved in the martial arts,
whatever the source, is a valid one. But, it will most probably change over time as you accumulate knowledge &
experience (as it should). If it’s self-defense you’re after, then you should understand that you are becoming involved,
on a physical level, in a (very effective) civilian self-defense system. By “civilian” I mean a set of skills that will
allow you to survive relatively common (which is not to say unimportant or non-stressful)incidents such as muggings,
bar-fights, etc. Most of us are not in the military & are not involved in maintaining security for anyone but ourselves
and/or loved ones. This leaves us with a good opportunity to develop skill for its own sake. A set of mental, physical
and, if you’re so inclined, emotional/transcendent skills that can deepen your life in quite a few worthwhile,
occasionaly weird & embarrassing, ways.
The level of understanding & skill that you develop will coincide directly with how much time (in terms of time each
day over a long period of years) &, more importantly, how intelligently you train. You are at least as responsible for
your development as your instructor is & if you’re both aware of this concept, then your training will progress in a
steady, satisfying way that will allow you to endure the inevitable roadblocks that you experience. You will be able
to reflect on what’s happening to you & why & come to new undestandings of yourself, your goals & your limitations and
just “why you’re doing all of this stuff in the first place.”