Fight Your Self
Beyond fighting and self-defence, beyond speed, strength and flexibility, beyond knowledge, grades and belts, karate can teach us to fight our self.
You can never be the best at everything. There’s always someone stronger, faster, naturally athletic, better at remembering sequences and so on. However, you can be the best that you can be. It’s not a competition against other people, it’s a battle against your self. What does it take to be the best that you can personally be? It takes the mental strength to push yourself past your limits. The will to get up and do something on days when you feel like you can’t. Do something. Anything that improves you. When you practice, be mindful of your goal. Always aim to improve on what you did the last time, in some way. That might not be more power, it might be with relaxation. There are many aspects to improve. Tired? Good. Push harder. Bored? Good. Do it again. Find your fighting spirit and keep going. This is when you break through barriers and come closer to your best self.
And then rest. Acknowledge your achievements…. Then, when things get easier, find a way to make them harder. If you only do easy things you stop improving.
It’s not always about hard and fast training. Balance, breath and awareness are just as important.
All of this can be applied to anything in life. You can always be better at something. Fight your self to become your best self.
Enso Karate 