Sweating

Why is sweating given such importance in karate or any martial arts. One person I talked with said, "I miss being active. I miss sweating." This prompted me to think, "Do you learn to sweat or do you sweat to learn?"

I guess my gist here is what value and prominence do you give this term? It is a matter of a mind-set. You can sweat at any physically demanding effort. You can go for a run, you can play basketball or you can ride a bike - they all make you sweat.

When I am asked why the last thing on my mind for an answer is I want to be active and work up a sweat. I simply state, "I want to walk the path." A path will take you many places and those places or event might or might not make you sweat. If I go to the dojo the last thing on my mind is, "Oh boy, I get to be active and really work up a sweat," or "I just finished a great work out and I feel like I really exerted myself because I sweated buckets."

Forget physical fitness, forget straining your muscles, forget wanting to be active - focus all your attentive abilities on the moment, what that moment brings and what you are doing in that exact moment, be it a technique or principle or kata or kumite. Forget whether your tired or worried or stressed, train.

Train for training sake, practice for practice sake and be in the moment for that moments sake. Martial Arts are not a form of exercise. Martial Arts are not some club you join for fun. Martial Arts are not sport. Martial Arts are not to impress your friends and family. Martial Arts are a serious endeavor with far reaching meaning and effects. The physical fitness, the sweating, the activity, all of it is a byproduct of the path you take in practicing and training in Martial Arts.