13 Jul, 2020
This is an essay which I had to write for my 1st Dan grading. This was written in 2013, at the age of 19, before I failed my 1st attempt at my black belt. The message in it still holds true today, as it did over 7 years ago. The martial arts have expanded my life in so many ways, leading indirectly to my involvement in the Police, the Navy, my current job as a fitness professional, and so much else besides. To paraphrase BCKA Instructor Iain Abernethy, 7th Dan - "The martial arts should be life preserving and life enhancing." Through developing a deeper appreciation for physical culture and fitness, karate has helped in life preservation for me, and in so many other ways, it has been life enhancing. I have been doing karate since I was about 6 years old, almost three quarters of my life have been affected in some way by it's practice. It has been the sole constant in my life since before I can remember, and the only thing which, when I want to do nothing at all, can still inspire me to do something. It is the first thing I look for when I join or go somewhere new, or think about going somewhere; “Can I do karate there? How much training will I miss?” It's hard to explain, really, how karate has affected my life, because at this point it's so much a part of my life that there's almost no differentiating between them. Everything I do, such as weight training, is done to better myself as a person and as a karateka in equal parts. I've done various other sports in my life, and even different martial arts, but none has ever challenged me, or drawn me in as much as karate has, and continues to do. I have trained in different dojos, in different styles taught in different ways. In all of these I have helped teach younger students, or lower grades, and I love the ability to help people learn something which so inspires me that karate gives me. Some of the best people I have ever met are friends I've met through karate, who have opened up entire new areas of my life. It's thanks to karate that I started weight training, and that I gained the confidence to join the Navy, and the Police, and the confidence in my own abilities to allow me to perform in both of those roles without fear or worry about what happens. I still remember my first karate instructor, who taught me Goju-Ryu for almost a decade. I've met him a few times around town, and we exchange words, but it's amazing to me that we still remember each other after 5 years and it's amazing that karate, like no other thing, can have an impact on people lasting such a long time. I've read his one of these, which is much better than this, if I'm honest, and even though he was inspired for different reasons to me, and I've been inspired in different ways to the everyone else who is and has graded to black belt, but the most important thing is that we've all been inspired. Inspired to turn up for 6 hours a week, or more for gradings and courses. Inspired to train for months, years at a time to reach a goal, whether it's the ultimate goal we're all supposed to have of gaining our black belt, or our own personal goal; to master that jump; to make it past the first round in competition; to be better. And I'm lucky, because I've been trained by some of the best karateka I've ever met, ever seen. In my life I may never be better than them. I may surpass them immensely. But that's the thing about karate, there's no luck to it. If I want to be better than - or even as good as - those who have taught me, I can never stop training, and I never will, because to do so would be to disrespect their skills, and the hours of teaching they've spent on me. Since failing my grading in October last year, I have redoubled my efforts in training, primarily in regards to kata training, the area in which I was found wanting. I have practiced not only at the club, but in my own time when other engagements, or illness, have got in the way of my attendance at training sessions. I have also made a special effort to attend the clubmark courses as frequently as possible in order to be as up to date on the revisions to the kata so that I can perform them as they are desired. I have also been assisting with the junior classes held by Sensei Rosemary, and I feel this has given me a greater understanding of the Heian kata, as I am having to develop a deeper knowledge of them in order to help those learning for the first time. I have developed a great deal in the 8 years since this was written. I have changed the focus of my karate, I have attended seminars with some of the top karateka in the UK, I have taken up kickboxing, judo, and tried my hand at Jujutsu and catch wrestling. I have an amateur MMA bout scheduled (hopefully) towards the end of 2020. And I've changed a lot personally, too. I'm more confident, more sure of who I am as a person. I'm less concerned about the mundane than I was as a teenager and in my early 20's and more focussed on life, friends, family. And this is all because of karate. Stand firm. Be strong. Let all that you do be done in love. Rob.