Goshu-Ryu SunCoast

SHARING THE FEELING OF THE BLACK BELTS – STUART GILMORE

I recently got thinking what it means to be successful in a martial art? The more I thought about the question the more difficult I found it to come up with an answer.

In some martial arts one could propose that winning a tournament or fight constitutes success. In Aki Jitsu however we do not have competitions with one another in this sense. In addition the glory of winning a fight is ultimately destined to be transient as glory soon fades and eventually another person will be bigger, stronger or more accomplished and win over you.

Perhaps success can be measured by the rank on the practitioners belt? To a degree this could be argued to hold some truth in that the practitioner needs to be successful in the grading test to achieve the next rank. This however doesn’t feel like a comprehensive measure of success.

What about the ability to perform a set of techniques? We have all felt a sense of achievement when we have been “successful” in learning a new technique and performed it to be best of our ability. But we can always improve and we can aways do better in out technique and gradings, right?

Success remains elusive.

Perhaps the problem is with the concept of success itself. Success insinuates some sort of defined, specific and finite end point. This works well when we set ourselves specific tasks and goals we wish to achieve but doesn’t necessarily work well when applied to the concept of success within a marital art.

In martial arts we are continuously striving to improve our technique, our abilities and our self discipline. We recognise that growth within our art and within ourselves is truely a lifelong commitment and one that will never be accomplished. What is important however is our commitment to continuity work on our own personal growth both within our art and in our daily lives. This is I believe our true goal or “success”.

Osu! Stuart