ZenMum: I’m always asked how I stay energized and motivated. I’ll keep it simple – Its Martial Arts!
My parents, both had black belts in Karate and were instructors before I was born, so they insisted I try Karate while young, but I never held enough patience so i stopped participated in martial arts until the age of fourteen years. I watched my brother and father train twice a week in Taekwondo for a year, before deciding to join and give it a try myself. Then that was it, I was hooked! It wasn’t just the physical and spiritual elements of marital, but the community itself had a large part why I was hooked.
The martial arts community, (it’s worth acknowledging; it does not matter what type of martial arts you are involved in, or what background you have the community is welcoming.) is strongly based on Humility, Determination, Respect and Reciprocity. The belt system very much represents these core values. Belts represent the skills and time a person has achieved through consistent participation. When someone has trained for long enough and has the acquired skills for that belt level one must pass a test (grading) to then be reward the next belt and congratulated formally. This creates a kind of structure within the community; Lower belts must always respect higher belts; higher belts have more authority. It is a community that has always remained balanced, in my experience. The community work together at eliminating ‘bullies’ who misuse skills and power, this is easy in an environment of shared morals centralising on; Humility, Determination, Respect and Reciprocity . The community spirt inside a martial arts community push past barriers of; race, gender and age.
The ‘Belts’ of martial arts have been with my family for so long, it has occurred to us that the process of ‘grading’ is a lot like, what was needed throughout life like; meeting educational and career goals, weight loss, muscle gain, finances etc This keeps you calm, determined and highly motivated.
My experience with Martial arts has been profoundly beneficial in making me into the motivated, hardworking, respectful, healthy and honest person I am today. I thank my parents for introducing to me such an insightful and skilled community, and I will pass it down to my children happily.
I’d highly recommended any martial arts, but especially the ones with ‘Belt’ systems, they are more heavily based on humility, determination, respect and reciprocity to anyone interested in Martial arts.
Thank you for reading!
If you have any thoughts, comments or questions feel free to post below or send me an email at zenmumbody@gmail.com
ZenMumBody
References;
- ZENMUM
- Image from Amazon; https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Martial-Karate-Taekwondo-Sporty/dp/B0081OP1J2/ref=br_lf_m_js4vy467q2bs9gj_img?_encoding=UTF8&s=sporting-goods (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
- Image from; https://www.pinterest.co.uk/adina1779/tkd/ (FEATURE IMAGE)
- http://www.azquotes.com/quote/598250
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