eople

(Approx 2 minute 40 second read)

I’ve taught quite a few people over the last 50 years or so that I have been involved in the martial arts. By now, regulars to my Page, and even those who aren’t, can probably tell that I prefer my karate to be practical and pragmatic.
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Sometimes those people I have taught say how they never realized what something meant, how it worked like that, or they didn’t understand its depth.
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However, I noticed that afterwards they would revert back to their way. Whether that was sport or a traditional method. Pragmatism being left behind.
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The teaching I did, whether through seminars or in their dojo, was accepted well at the time, many questions being asked, and enthusiasm running high.
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But sometimes there are others, with the dogma and cult-like groups they belong to, you can see the lack of interest. You can see it in their eyes their facial expression their body movements their words and tone. They can’t hide it. They think you don’t notice but you do.
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It doesn’t matter how convincing they try and be, their movement lets you know that they don’t want to change. They will forever be stuck in their ways. They won’t change, why should they. Their interest is in themselves. It is the ego. The narcissism, the overconfidence, that keeps them locked in, mind closed. Their way.
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It makes me wonder why did they ask for the teaching in the first place if they had no intention of allowing at least some of it to permeate.
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If you’re stuck in your ways like this how can anyone expect to learn anymore? Just because your style is meant to be the ‘Cadillac’ of the martial arts, as someone once put it, doesn’t mean even they can’t learn anymore.
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In my fifty plus years, I know I can still learn. And I enjoy doing so. I remain in contact with those of much higher experience than me. It doesn’t matter what grade you are or what style you follow, someone will always show you something different that may be of interest that you can add to your repertoire. Why wouldn’t you want to do that?
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Over the years I’ve learned that the ones who make real progress aren’t always the most talented. They’re the ones willing to question themselves. The ones who can put their pride aside long enough to see that their karate isn’t perfect, that no one’s is. Those people improve quickly because they’re not chained to an identity. They’re not terrified of being wrong.
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When someone clings to dogma, it’s not the art they’re protecting, it’s themselves. Their image. Their status. Their comfort. Letting go of that would mean admitting that years of training might not have been as complete as they thought. That’s a difficult thing for some people to accept. Easier to just smile politely, nod, and carry on as if nothing was said.
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But karate was never supposed to be about comfort. Tradition doesn’t mean imitation. It means understanding what came before, stripping away what doesn’t hold up, and keeping what actually works in the context you’re training in. That mindset is what built the old systems in the first place. Somewhere along the way many forgot that.
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I still meet people who surprise me. People who have been training a shorter time than I have, but who show me something I hadn’t thought about. That’s the beauty of this path. You either stay open or you stop moving. The day you think you’ve learnt it all is the day you start going backwards.
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If your ego can’t take being corrected, that’s your barrier, not the art itself. And barriers like that only ever serve one purpose, to stop you from seeing what’s right in front of you.
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Written by Adam Carter – Shuri Dojo