A Test

We read about testing, grading, and practicing as if we had a curriculum, syllabus and lesson plan like the normal school systems where karate of martial systems are treated like a subject class. This is not true of classical forms of martial arts.

Testing for a martial system come in a variety of forms and this post is about one of them which some refer to as austere training - shugyo. The most difficult test any martial artist can attempt is one where your mind says to you stop, quit, no more. It comes from any number of sources and reasons. The most common is the first year or two after achieving the level of Sho-dan.

As we travel the path and achieve greater levels the mind also follows a path to many psychological levels and each has its own form of test you either overcome and pass or quit in a no-pass scenario.

I have passed many of those types of tests over the past thirty years. Some were mere bumps in the road while a few are much greater obstacles to move, discard or simply bypass by another path around. It does not denigrate the test as to intensity. One persons minor test can be a major one for the person training right next to them in the dojo.

I am facing a really huge test right now. It is one of those very gradual sneaky type tests that you sometimes fail to see until your fairly deep into the test. This can be, my personal view, a really tricky one. Upon reaching this point or middle ground of a test you didn't recognize as a test till the middle can be much difficult.

Your mental and physical training is also tested here as well. You could be one of those who has tested your system agains real time violent encounters yet this type of test can be more difficult and a lot more debilitating if you allow yourself to hit the no-pass zone. It also becomes a greater test simply due to the aging process. What you endure in life at 25 years can turn into a greater challenge at 60 years and then consider this type of test coming at you again at an age like Keiko Fukuda Sensei of Judo - nearing her century mark.  She is inspirational don't you think?

A test comes in many forms and from many directions. Not always of the physical kind. I am ready to stand up and apply my system if violence attacks where avoidance tactics don't do their work or it they are bypassed entirely for the fight, battle, combat. This is where our spirits are tested by fire. The mind is our greatest ally and our most formidable opponent, threat, partner.

A Test!