Character:
Published May 15, 2010
By Spencer Sensei
One of the oldest text references found that refers to Okinawan Te (karate) comes from Nago Oyakata. In 1609 he wrote “No matter how you may excel in the art of Te and your scholastic endeavors, nothing is more important than your behavior as observed in daily life.” It is character that separates the street-fighter from the true martial artist. A good instructor can teach a student to defend him/herself in a year, but teaching character may take a lifetime. An instructor that does not include training in character building does his/her student and their community a disservice. The instructor has some culpability in his/her student’s behavior regarding their misuse of karate.
Humility is the greatest assets a man can posses. Being humble never gets you into a brawl. A humble man does not find himself in the position of apologizing to his friends. Humility is power. It is the power to control you, and that may be the only tangible thing one has control over in our daily lives.
The Christian Bible says this about character. “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” [Jeremiah 17:9] In other words we must wrestle daily to honor others and ourselves, because to live an honorable life is not a natural path to follow. We would rather be self-serving. Not all battles are external. Our most important war is waged in our mind. Our Holy texts show the importance of self control.
It is easy to give into selfish desire, and lay down your honor to take the easy path. It is easy to substitute anger for understanding, or hate for forgiveness. These substitute emotions are something the martial artist can ill afford. A martial artist must follow the path of honor because he/she has been trained with a skill that can be of great harm to others. Anger must be controlled. Honor is a choice. Your character is observed by everyone and you are judged by your actions, so don’t take the easy road.
Martial arts must be more than kicking, punching, and throwing. The latest craze to sweep America is Mixed Martial Arts fighting (MMA). Many schools popped up overnight to make a buck off this new endeavor. Some schools come from legitimate judo/jujitsu instructors with great credentials while others opened MMA schools possessing a year of karate or kickboxing training and four years of high school wrestling. This new breed of martial arts instructor began teaching anyone with a buck their pocket. They teach their students how to hurt others with out consideration of the consequences. Instructors coming out of judo/jujitsu backgrounds, in most cases, understand their responsibility to the community, and teach their fighters to be responsible citizens. Teaching MMA without emphasizing character is like handing a child a loaded weapon. At some point they will squeeze the trigger, and someone will get hurt. I’ve seen MMA students hurt other students and brag about the exploit later. These student most likely would not have been as please with the effort, if it were them having knee surgery after the incident. MMA was brought to United States by the Brazilian martial artists, but it has quickly become quintessentially American. My hope is that as the art matures character will be as important as landing a solid arm-bar. I fear MMA will go down the road of professional boxing, and it will become more about blood and money than a means to build people’s character.
Martial arts attract young-men between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. These are a young man’s most impressionable years. A pat on the back and an accepting nod from an instructor can elevate their spirit. Listening to their instructor’s war stories about breaking a guy’s nose in a street fight gives them the okay to do the same thing. This is true of an instructor’s humility also. To teach humility you must live it. Teaching humility and responsibility for your actions are lessons that can change a person’s life. When technique becomes more important than character, you’re building machines and not people. An instructor can poison a young man’s character without realizing it. If one of your students side-kicks a bystander across a bar to show off his/her technique, you have failed as a sensei. Students process every verbal and nonverbal instruction their sensei gives them. You do not stop being sensei when you leave the dojo. You are always sensei. You are always teaching. The question is what are you teaching?