Martial arts saved me from being
grumpy, disappointed, lonely, inconsiderate, and unhappy. They saved me from
being complacent, mean, stubborn, and bitter. Because of martial arts,
I’ve been able to push the negative from my life and replace it with hope,
insight, and positivity. I can look in the mirror and be content with who
I see; not just the physical person, but the one who has overcome, grown, and
achieved personal success wholly due to martial arts.
Looking back 26 years, I would never
have become the person I am today if it had not been for my journey into
martial arts. Back then I was not as confident, tenacious, or
positive. If I continued being that way, I would be struggling with so
many life and health issues today. I would lack motivation. I would be
negative and constantly complaining. I would be unappreciative and
sour. How do I know this? Because when I look around at some others who
are my age, that is what I see. I’m not being judgmental because everyone has a
right to live their life exactly as they choose. I, however, want not of
that. I don’t want to “choose” anything; I just want to “do” whatever I
can to make each moment count.
Because of martial arts, I am not
lonely. I have martial art friendships that are deep within my heart.
These are people I trust and admire and role models I aspire to be. When
you surround yourself with others who are exceptional, chances are that you
will find the “extraordinary” you. It is because you rise to the
challenge. The opposite can happen, too. Surround yourself with
negativity and you will find yourself wallowing in it. I’m going to do
whatever I can to cultivate passionate and reliable relationships that carry me
through my difficulties and continue to apply a powerful martial art mindset to
life. You can do this, too. Just make the choice to work diligently
toward the positive and push the negative aside.
Everything in our modern culture
points us in the wrong direction. There are very few cultural concepts
that direct us to be warriors and leaders. A martial art can provide you with
the quest for ambition and excellence, and that is what it did for me.
The day before I attended my first martial art class, I lacked leadership and
belief in myself. Today, I use whatever I know to help others succeed and find
happiness.
Martial arts were my saving grace.
They helped me walk toward becoming the best that I can be and to strive higher
than I ever imagined. Truly, martial arts saved me in more ways than I can ever
describe.
Years ago I was diagnosed with a
heart murmur and mitral valve prolapse. Neither is dangerous, but when I first
learned about them, I was worried. The doctor told me that there are
varying degrees of the prolapse (where one valve in the heart does not close as
timely as it should) and it could be serious or not serious at all.
Thankfully, it was nothing to worry about and I live with it and don’t even
think about it on most days.
The heart, though, is a very
important organ both for physical and mental survival. I know that it
needs exercise to keep it strong. I’m not what I would consider an
“athlete” or a champion martial artist, but I can tell you this. Every year, I
receive an excellent bill of overall health when I go to the doctor. My
blood work shows all of the positive benefits of exercise, and I know for a
fact without practicing the physical and mental aspects of martial arts, I would
not be in as good health as I am.
Practicing a martial art
strengthened my heart in more ways than one. Through my learning and my
teaching, I’ve experienced what it means to be humble and to have a healthy
appreciation and love for others. This is the kind of “heart health” that
everyone needs.
Exercise, be happy, and do
what you love. It will improve your heart health in more ways than one.
Heart and mind health, along with
the physical, have helped me overcome so many devastating barriers. Too many
times in life I could have given up. I could have lost my house and my
child. I was explicitly told that I would lose both, controlled by both a
bank to which I owed a loan, and a doctor who believed my pregnancy was
over. If I had not increased my owner personal awareness and fortitude
through learning a martial art, I may have believed them. I may have
walked away from years of effort building a house, and abandoned hope of
carrying the child whom I can proudly say is fourteen years old today and
completely healthy.
I would not have fought nearly as
hard through any of life’s obstacles if I did not trust and believe in
persistence. The only way I knew that I could get through these difficult
moments was because of the perseverance and dedication I used to earn my black
belt. My black belt is a daily reminder of personal success. It
means nothing to other people. Someone asked me the other day, “can anyone just buy one of those
belts?” and I knew after the words rolled off his tongue
that he was right. Anyone can find a way to buy a black belt.
No one realizes the difficulties and
circumstances that surround earning a black belt except those who have earned
one. To others, a belt is a belt is a belt; a piece of cloth, an
accessory. I don’t care what it means to anyone else. There were
years of effort behind it and the appropriate life lesson is that if we all put
that amount of effort and dedication behind all good things, we could make a
huge impact on our world.
I believe that a positive mindset
will allow you to live a fuller, more passionate life. When you can flip the
negative into the positive, you’ve performed magic. And, with magic, you
can do just about anything, including cultivating an invincible physical and
mental strength that can be summoned when you need it.
I’m not perfect, by any
stretch of the imagination. I’m still working on learning a martial art
and getting better at it, teaching, and sharing what I know. All of this process, combined, has given me an
amazingly healthy and positive mind and body. I don’t cringe when I go to
the doctor for a check-up. In fact, I look forward to it because I want
to be reminded that all of these physical and mental work-outs pay off.
Because of martial arts, I am the
person I want to be. It takes work, though. And, life circumstances and
who I am as a person always seem juxtaposed. Always facing dilemmas,
issues, and struggles, martial arts has given me one way to continue in a
forward moving pattern, to set my own worries and fears aside and also do my
best to help others.
Martial arts saved me. I know
that my life would be drastically different today. I would have never
known what it means to make the most of life, or how great it feels to motivate
and inspire others, if not for martial arts.
The next step? I think I will
just continue on and see what happens next…
Andrea
Wow! Beautifully written. Thank you,
Andrea, for sharing this article with us!
I strongly encourage readers to visit
THE MARTIAL ARTS WOMAN .
And please visit it often. Her writing has such a great personal touch to it.
Like her Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/themartialartswoman
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