In it for life

Funakoshi Principle #9: Karate is a life-long pursuit.

In today's world of ADD kids and ADD adults, people rarely actually stick with something for long. Interests come and go and before you know it, your kid (or the parent) is onto something else. Personally, I think that the overload of information we see from technology and society today perpetuates our scatter-brained tendency.

Karate classes are just a casualty of this phenomenon. I've seen more people come and go in class than are enrolled in the class at any given time. I have put fairly high level belts on people who have earned them every bit, only to never see them again after that. Life calls.

Funakoshi would probably not be too happy with today's state of karate and martial arts in that respect.

However, hold on a minute!

Maybe not everyone is meant to be in a karate class his or her whole life? Maybe people are meant to get what they need and then move on? Perhaps all that is needed sometimes is several months of lessons to drive home some important point in life, at which step the person then moves onward?

I believe that is closer to the truth. So does this contradict Funakoshi? No. I don't think it does.

Instead of the word "karate", substitute "spiritual practice". Spiritual practice is a lifelong pursuit. That is true. A student might leave a karate class, but the student's spiritual practice goes on afterward, hopefully.

Remember, training, exercises, thrills.... these are not necessarily spiritual practice, or lifelong pursuits. However, Life is a lifelong pursuit. There is only one way out, eh? Every-day events are your teacher, and every-day actions are your spiritual practice.

I believe that Funakoshi probably equated karate with spirituality, and understood the importance of using life as your teacher. That is what he meant by the principle.