Nokoso



Nokoso: Quitter's

Karate de shippai suru yuiitsu no hōhō wa, kunren o teishi suru kotodesu!  I say these words all the time to my students, friends in Karate and even a few seniors that are still training but teetering on the edge of dropping Karate…..granted I say them in English and not Japanese!

                The time I have spent doing and studying Karate has really been a life time. Even during the times I was not attending a regular Dojo, I was trying different martial arts to augment my Karate or training at home.  I have left Dojos before for a variety of reasons, but never martial arts and Karate has always been for most in my mind and heart. I have left to do Judo, and endevour my hips and shoulders remind me of daily now that I am older. I have left to do Jeet Kun Do, Kendo, Kung fu (a few kinds), wrestling (high school), and a variety of other arts….but I came back because Karate was the way for me.

                I have always said that no matter how hard Karate has been on me or for me I would never throw in the towel, the option simply is not existing in my mind.  I used to train 7 days a week about 2-3 hours a day….then I had a family and little girl that has taken first place in my heart, a wife that has taken second…but Karate still is third and a strong third at that.  I cant train as much as I want or used to…but I never said “well I am going to drop it then” or “ well people will get better than me so I will just give up”.  No, I simply said “my Karate time will just be that much more special for me then” and set out a plan with my wife that once a week I get to go to a Dojo…and on the week ends…and the rest of my training I will do at home.

                Karate is a funny thing. It will always be there for you, no matter what your situation is, your health, your family, your social situations ext. It accepts you and pushes you and leaves you feeling healthy and with life! You feel uplifted and while tired…you have lots of energy!  So, while we are all getting older and life tends to get in the way, Karate is a nice “time out” to get perspective and decompress from the daily activities that tend to build on our minds.  Why would you ever give away your life line to sanity simply to spend more time stressing out?

                I understand that some of us have even MORE complicated lives than I do.  Hey, I am only the bread winner in a single income family, with a special needs daughter who has some very special needs, and needs as much love as I can give her, a husband and son with demands on me at work, home and the chairman of the organization that I am in, the assistant instructor and administrator of my club and also have an older home that I am always watching fall apart for me to put back together!…yah, little stress…..I could very easily throw in the towel…but why would I.

                I realize that there are people out their that suffer stress filled lives and are really looking at Karate as a financial burden or have family responsibilities that pull them away from Karate or health issues that stop them from being part of a class…..but the truth is….none of this has anything to do with KARATE itself.   Throwing in the towel is a sign that you give up, you quit, you admit defeat!

                See I believe whole heartedly that Karate is a personal challenge to yourself. You are not competing with anyone else in Karate. You are competing against yourself, at rankings, classes, tournaments or any other Karate activity. You are saying I WILL NOT GIVE UP and I WILL NOT BE BEAT! Every time you strap on your belt. You are showing the world that no matter what it throws at you, you have one thing that you can do to let all the stress and calamity that is attacking you that it might be getting the better of you on some level, but it has not won!

                You are also growing as a human being and showing the world that your health and mental well being are your priority.  I always say to my wife that if I just sat at home and did nothing, watched my little girl get older for as long as I could and just worked and came home…I would not be around to see her graduate grade 12. The stress of life would break me! But by strapping on my Gi, working out, throwing my belt on I am giving LIFE THE FINGER and saying….Bring it on baby!

                I am not a quitter and I never will be! I am an bull headed Welshman that does not mind being misread by others, but damn it I wont EVER give up on something I feel so much passion about! My Karate training is for life, be it at home, in a dojo, in a headquarters club or on a beach/in a park some place. My Training is MINE!  I wont let life take it away and I sure as H…E…Double Hockey sticks wont throw in the towel and let someone or something beat me!

                If I fail a testing or if I have a bad day at the club I simply remind myself of my favorite saying Karate de shippai suru yuiitsu no hōhō wa, kunren o teishi suru kotodesu!  THE ONLY WAY TO FAIL AT KARATE IS TO GIVE UP! 

                When you think that you cant go any further in ranking, or you cannot figure out what the purpose of showing up to wear those silly white PJ’s really is…..Remember Ranking is simply a piece of cloth around your waste and the reason to show up….Its to show life you are not ready to curl up in a ball and throw in the towel!

                Other things may seem more important…for now. But years down the road will that “issue” that had you give up Karate seem that important?  Will that reason feel as important to you as all that lost time you gave away to it?  You may always come back to Karate…but will the reason you left be as important then as it seems now?  Will throwing in the towel feel good to you 15 years from now knowing that all that time has been lost and you don’t get a do over?

                Probably the best advice I ever received on Karate and continued training was from Tanaka Sensei at the very first Koyo Camp I went to. I was already a Black belt and he asked me if I was ready to Start learning Karate. At first I was sad thinking “man 20 years down the drain…now I get to start Karate” he however cleared it up and said “Karate is for a life, each day…you start learning real Karate…You get out of bed…you go to Dojo…you train and start all over again showing that you are now ready to learn Karate”. 

                The point being that you never fall behind in Karate, you never meet the end of training, Karate is for life and the only way to fail at Karate….is to give up!