Life Lessons from the Dojo: What Martial Arts Taught Me

If you know me in person or have read this blog, you probably have gathered that I study Japanese. One person who I told almost immediately asked, “Why,” in an interrogative tone, and it got me thinking about how to put into words my exact reasoning for learning the language. It’s not the most commonly spoken, has almost no utility outside Japan, and can cause people to make assumptions about me (a white person) learning it. But really, why do I study Japanese? It’s my martial arts background that sparked my interest, and I owe a lot of who I am to that background. Note: This article is not about techniques I learned in martial arts. It’s about the mindset martial arts allowed me to develop.

The Lessons

When I was in elementary school, I started taking Kenpo Karate classes at my local community center. Between a couple breaks, I ended up practicing it for over 7 years and now currently train in Judo at school. Things I learned in that class shaped who I am today.

I learned discipline, respect, and to only compare myself to myself. I learned the importance of practicing and repetition to commit something to memory – I still have great form on many of my techniques despite no longer regularly practicing. We learned ukemi, how to fall and roll properly, and that has come in handy many times. Once, I face-planted off my skateboard, and instead of crashing, I tucked and rolled safely and smoothly out of it – which wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t learned ukemi with proper discipline.

Side-note – While I did tuck and roll, you might imagine this smooth image of me easily and quickly getting up and acting like nothing happened. That is not the case. I screamed an expletive as I fell, and because I had a backpack on, it was the silliest, slowest roll you’ve ever seen. But, I did it properly and the only “injury” was a bit of dirt on my pants. And my dignity.

Additionally, respect was a major lesson. While many Americans would say sitting down and shutting up is passive and weak, it gave me a lot of strength of character. I had two instructors in my class, one, the main Sensei was the good cop who rarely served discipline, while the other was bad cop who was fast and loose with assigning push-ups. I am a naturally talkative person, so learning to respect rules, (from people other than my parents) despite only being to avoid push ups, reinforced the important of respecting others, shutting up, and listening. I still do talk too much, but imagine how bad it would be if I didn’t learn respect.

Last but not least, I learned to compare myself only to myself. As a somewhat competitive person, it’s easy to fall into the trap of always comparing to others, seeing how people are doing things better than I am. It’s a rabbit hole of negativity, and Karate taught me to think differently. In my class after each test, one or two students would receive an award for doing the best test. However, the “best test” is not in comparison to other students. That comparison is between yourself and your past tests, and you won the award if you did the best you had ever done. So, thanks to that one award, my competitive nature shifted from an other focus to a self focus. While I still compete with others, my main opponent to overcome is myself.

Karate, to me, was the vehicle through which I learned life lessons. The self-defense aspect has had nearly no use so far, as I’ve never had to use it, but what I learned through practicing that self defense has played a large role in making me who I am. Much of those lessons, including respect, discipline, and being your best self are encompassed in the oath we had to learn for the class, which I wrote from memory below:

The Kenpo Oath

My Art is Kenpo

I will be true to my art

I will be true to my teacher

And I will be true to myself

I will conduct myself at all times with dignity and honor

I will treat all people with respect and kindness

And I will seek truth in all matters

Neither will I fear those who are stronger than me

Nor be cruel to those who are weaker than me.

I vow today and every day to be the best that I can

And face each day with bravery

For I have faith in myself

And faith in my art

My art is Kenpo

Life Lessons from the Dojo: What Martial Arts Taught Me