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grim23So, a former student asked me who I was fighting for. I replied that I was fighting no one. So, why do I train so hard? Why eat chicken breast and salads over and over? Why do those extra decline abs, why perform hyung and line drills and sparring over and over, why all those hours in the gym? Why all the running and the treadmill? Why all the tantra practice? Why train at all? Five reasons, of course (you knew there would be five reasons). *smile*
First, I train so that I am capable of fighting or taking action, in an emergency, when a less trained person might fail, and/or to protect others or myself from harm from people or circumstances, when I’m not able to more gently end the fight. That’s my only motivation for fighting, and that only as long as it takes to protect, defend, or escape from the situation. No longer.
“You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you’re down to the reflexes you developed in training. That’s where roadwork shows – the training you did in the dark of the mornin’ will show when you’re under the bright lights.” Joe Frazier
Second, my body is a temple. I respect it as such. Eating less healthy food means I desecrate my temple, and I can feel the energy drain. I do eat chocolate, and drink coffee, and enjoy an occasional whiskey and cigar - I’m not obsessive, but I won’t just constantly slow my body with sugar and carbs and processed, greasy food. It’s not worth it to me.
“Champions in any field have made a habit of doing what others find boring or uncomfortable.” Anon
Third, I train because it’s the price I pay for taking the journey. It helps me focus, and be calm, partly because I’m too tired to be otherwise. *smile* The meditative state of the repetition, the cathartic pain as you struggle for one more rep, the breathing, the practice of discipline and will, to keep going or even show up at the gym at all when you’re tired or stressed and your mind is saying ‘we’ll go tomorrow, take a day off’---that’s a reason I train. Daily improvement of myself - not training to beat someone else - is my goal.
“The way of the sage is to act but not to compete.” Lao Tzu
Four, I like it. I enjoy working to always perfect my technique – less effort and more effectiveness, as Sensei Foxx would say - for myself, and no one else. My own quest for impossible perfection is the point of repetition of kata or hyung. I am a long way from perfection.
As soon as one cherishes the thought of winning the contest or displaying one’s skill and technique, swordsmanship is doomed.” Takano Shigeyoshi
Five, our minds are intangible, and it’s difficult to see personal change, and we as humans tend to resist mental and emotional change. Our bodies, however, are very visible, and visible change reinforces and encourages. If we work the body in positive ways, it helps the mind and emotions---to relax the body is to relax the mind. Working on strength, balance, and coordination for the body does so for the mind. I train to maximize my potential, in the gym, on the wards and testing rooms, in clinical supervision, with Tang Soo Do and with tantra.
“Training is the path and the process, the means and the end, a bridge to personal evolution.” Dan Millman
Training? It’s what I do. It’s what Warriors do. Nothing more or less.
First, I train so that I am capable of fighting or taking action, in an emergency, when a less trained person might fail, and/or to protect others or myself from harm from people or circumstances, when I’m not able to more gently end the fight. That’s my only motivation for fighting, and that only as long as it takes to protect, defend, or escape from the situation. No longer.
“You can map out a fight plan or a life plan, but when the action starts, it may not go the way you planned, and you’re down to the reflexes you developed in training. That’s where roadwork shows – the training you did in the dark of the mornin’ will show when you’re under the bright lights.” Joe Frazier
Second, my body is a temple. I respect it as such. Eating less healthy food means I desecrate my temple, and I can feel the energy drain. I do eat chocolate, and drink coffee, and enjoy an occasional whiskey and cigar - I’m not obsessive, but I won’t just constantly slow my body with sugar and carbs and processed, greasy food. It’s not worth it to me.
“Champions in any field have made a habit of doing what others find boring or uncomfortable.” Anon
Third, I train because it’s the price I pay for taking the journey. It helps me focus, and be calm, partly because I’m too tired to be otherwise. *smile* The meditative state of the repetition, the cathartic pain as you struggle for one more rep, the breathing, the practice of discipline and will, to keep going or even show up at the gym at all when you’re tired or stressed and your mind is saying ‘we’ll go tomorrow, take a day off’---that’s a reason I train. Daily improvement of myself - not training to beat someone else - is my goal.
“The way of the sage is to act but not to compete.” Lao Tzu
Four, I like it. I enjoy working to always perfect my technique – less effort and more effectiveness, as Sensei Foxx would say - for myself, and no one else. My own quest for impossible perfection is the point of repetition of kata or hyung. I am a long way from perfection.
As soon as one cherishes the thought of winning the contest or displaying one’s skill and technique, swordsmanship is doomed.” Takano Shigeyoshi
Five, our minds are intangible, and it’s difficult to see personal change, and we as humans tend to resist mental and emotional change. Our bodies, however, are very visible, and visible change reinforces and encourages. If we work the body in positive ways, it helps the mind and emotions---to relax the body is to relax the mind. Working on strength, balance, and coordination for the body does so for the mind. I train to maximize my potential, in the gym, on the wards and testing rooms, in clinical supervision, with Tang Soo Do and with tantra.
“Training is the path and the process, the means and the end, a bridge to personal evolution.” Dan Millman
Training? It’s what I do. It’s what Warriors do. Nothing more or less.
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-21 05:38 pm (UTC)I've seen you party...you can't be too tired to start with. ;)
Thanks for your posts. They always make me think.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-21 06:11 pm (UTC)I'm glad that something I write for me to think also encourages others to think.
Looking forward to seeing you at a party when I return,
Love,
Grim/Aldebaran
no subject
Date: 2007-02-21 06:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-21 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-21 08:02 pm (UTC)Without a reason, a person would just drift through life, allowing others to decide their actions for them. I don't find this acceptable. I need to take responsibility for my actions, and for that I need a reason for them. Even if the reason doesn't seem valid or acceptable to other people. I need to be able to say, "I consciously chose to do this." In order to make that choice, a person needs to know *why* they are making the choice.
In my world, where cancer is a very real motivation for things, I may not be able to choose my health, but I can choose how I react to the cancer. There is always a reason, even if the reason is simply because "I want to do this before I die". And, that is a very good reason to do things.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-22 01:04 am (UTC)I really resonated with the idea that training is not to compete with others, but with yourself, to be always striving to improve for your own value of being the best you, you can be.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-22 01:42 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-22 04:53 pm (UTC)One of them was the definition I've always associated with the word - "a person engaged or experienced in warfare; soldier." This was what prompted me to ask the question in the first place.
But there's a second definition too, which surprised me a bit "a person who shows or has shown great vigor, courage, or aggressiveness, as in politics or athletics." In other words, exactly what you described above.
It is good to know what you work for. It is good to know what your goal is, and to revisit it often. Partly for the reasons given above, and also because if you are focused on your goal, and you "check in" with it often, you're much more likely to know when you've gone astray from that path right off the bat instead of not realizing it until you've gone so far out of your way that you can't find the path anymore...
*grins* I made some apple butter the other day and thought of you. I hope you are happy.
Safiyah
no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 09:43 pm (UTC)I'm asking for a week off to spend in OR, and you three are definitely on my 'want to see' list.
Love,
Aldebaran
no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 09:47 pm (UTC)*smiling back*
no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 09:51 pm (UTC)Love, Grim
no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 09:52 pm (UTC)There are no insignificant moments, as you know.
Love,
S/A/G
no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 09:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-24 09:56 pm (UTC)Thank you for the inspiration to write this, and examine the why.
Grim/Aldebaran