What Karate Means To Me
It is interesting to look back at why I have taken on a new hobby or project and then try to recall why I started it. Difficult even! But then, Karate isn’t a hobby, but I thought it was when first I started.
Before I started, I thought of Karate as self-defence, strength, flexibility and fitness. During my days of playing high grade soccer I knew all about the aspects of strength, flexibility and fitness. These I did on my time. When I went to soccer training, I learnt new skills and techniques and honed those I already had. Karate, I found out, is no different to soccer in that respect. Fitness was my responsibility and had to be done on my time.
However, my lacklustre ability over many years to focus on “healthy body, healthy mind” had its impact on me, and not only from a physical perspective. Unable to navigate through some personal issues, depression and anxiety set in, and to my dismay I became the person who was lacking confidence, was standoffish, and completely unable to function at work. I was unable to take criticism, unable to speak in front of my peers and unable to find my true self. My mind had become a quagmire, a slushy swamp of sadness and, at times, despair. I had to do something, so I dug deep and decided to take some action. A small action, just a nudge, nothing more, just to get me moving forward again. I enrolled in Karate and thought “maybe this will be enough”.
How wrong I was! It wasn’t ‘enough’. It was so much more.
I found myself and I started living again. I found people who listen, teach and support each other to not only be better at Karate, but also help each other in everyday life. I found another family. The people I found ranged in age, gender and ethnicity, bringing together like-minded people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Each of us have strengths and weaknesses and we lean on each other for support, whether it be inside the dojo or outside. Karate, therefore, became an integral extension of my life, making me want to be a better person.
Along with the sense of belonging came a resilience I hadn’t felt in years. I became more confident in who I was and mentally stronger. I am sure the training assisted to do this, as when training, I focussed on the here and now, and no longer dwelt on the past or the future. I also believe that those I train with have provided me the substance required to become stronger. Knowing I have people who will back me, support me and strengthen me in the Dojo, gives me that strength and purpose outside the Dojo. There is a flow on effect, a synergy that goes beyond just the Dojo. Some may call it a spirituality, but to me it was a newly felt inner confidence. So, in training with you all, I have gained a sense of purpose again, improving myself and hopefully becoming a better person along the way. The mind is now stronger, the body though, still needs some work!
Goju Ryu; essentially means hard and soft. There are many anecdotes about being “strong as a tree to withstand the storm”, or “being supple to bend like reeds in the wind”. But for me, it isn’t the external elements that Goju Ryu brings but the internal aspects that have built my resilience and strength of mind. The resilience to go through a storm in life and the mindfulness to bend and flex when affronted with negative forces that are out of my control. It is enjoying the small victories in any moment and in every environment. It is dancing in the rain, and bathing in the sun.
So, back to what Karate means to me? I believe that Goju Ryu Karate has given me the resilience, confidence and strength just to be me again. More aptly, the question is what has Karate done for me. The following quote may say it better than I ever could:
“That the real and most dangerous opponents we face are fear, anger, confusion, doubt, and despair. If we overcome those enemies that attack us from within we can attain a “True Victory””. Morihei Ueshiba.
Craig Smith began training at karatedo on 23rd of July 2015, at age 50 years. He was graded to Shodan on 18th December, 2020, at age 55 years.