Kara-Te means Empty Hand. It is a martial art that was founded in Okinawa and was influenced by Japanese Culture. It is the most practiced martial art throughout the world.
Originally it was developed as a self-defence martial art against offensive Japanese Samurai. It is also believed that it had influence of an Indian Monk called as Bodhisatva in India and as Daoma Taishi in Okinawa.
As of now it is practiced all over the world as a sport or self defence system. But the traditional karate that was practiced by ancient masters was very different from what it is practiced now.
The traditional system of Karate not only teaches a person a way to defend oneself, but it also transcends the person in many senses. Karate is not just an art but a way of living. However there are 3 specific aspects of karate that if applied in our daily life can make us a fighter in LIFE.
As a Life Coach I emphasise on these qualities a lot. All those who have achieved great feats in their life have consciously or unconsciously coached themselves these qualities of life.
1) CONDITIONING IN LIFE
Conditioning is process a person in which a person, conditions his or her body by striking on hard subjects. Like punching and kicking on wooden logs, heavy stones & iron rods. Also two students would stand up in front of each other and strike each other’s hands & legs. The idea here is to make the body strong as a stone.
Students when begin with this practice mostly gets hurt physically. Many of them mentally resist to these practices. On each strike their body responds as it is getting hurt. Those who do the practice with resistance in their mind mostly quit in the long run. And even those who continue will grow very slowly.
But those students who mentally look forward to endure each and every strike are consciously changing the body’s natural response of getting hurt to super natural response of not giving a fcuk.
Same concept applies in life. When we mentally have a resistance toward the challenging events of life we will quit in the long run or will grow very slowly. Having office politics, fight within family, financial burden, challenges in business, sudden health issue, career shift, etc are all the external strikes of life. If you face it with resistance in the mind, it will hurt you more and will hinder your overall growth.
But if we train ourselves to face on any event in life with full acceptance and confidence, we can turn the situation to our advantage. Instead of hurting you the situation will make you much more strong & confident.
When we have this mindset of ‘bring it on, whatever you can’, no matter how worst the situation is, it will make you stronger.
2) BUNKAI
Bunkai is application of techniques. Every technique that we practice in karate we practice in a specific posture. However in real life one need not to use the technique in the exact way we practice.
The actual application is completely different from the way we practice. This is the primary difference between a real Karateka and a rookie. A practitioner can practice a technique for thousand time, but if he or she doesn’t work on the application then he or she will never be able to actually use it.
Same is in life, we might have a lot of moral and or ethical values in our mind. But if we do not practice the application we will never be able to get the best out of it.
One may emphasise on getting up early but is not applying. One may be having an wonderful idea about a start-up but is not able to quit his job. One may be having a lot of emotions for her spouse but is not able to express. One may want to do so much for his or her parents but is not able to do it.
You may have all the authentic knowledge about everything but if you don’t know the art of applying it then my dear friend it is useless.
But if you apply it then you gradually become a true rugged fighter for LIFE.
3) BREAKING
In karate training often students practice breaking wooden blocks or bricks. Many people think this process is for the body.
But in reality it is for the mind. It is for the mind to believe that the body can break things. It is for the mind to believe that body can break bones. It is for the mind to believe that body can do impossible things.
The fundamental training starts from the mind. The fundamental for a successful break is not just to punch on the object but to punch through the object.
The same thing applies in life. Whenever there is a strong obstacle in life, you don’t just attack the obstacle but you attack past through it.
You face a financial problem, a problem in your business, a lifestyle related problem. You don’t just address the problem but you resolve it in a way that it can never resurface in your life. You simply punch through the problem.
THE CONCLUSION
- Condition your mind by changing your response toward the challenges of life.
- Keep applying what you learn and keep on improvising it from time to time.
- Break through the various problems of life, don’t just keep responding the same way in the same situation but move through it in a way that the situation never repeats.
