Fighting Through Life

My lovely girlfriend told me that I should do a podcast about my experience with martial arts and discuss what happens each week stream of consciousness style. First off, I’m flattered that she would be willing to listen to me talk even more than I already do. However, I imagine that people are kind of tired of yet another straight white man having a podcast where they talk for hours and somehow say nothing. Naturally, a newsletter was the obvious answer to allow me to vomit my thoughts out without anyone actually having to listen to my voice.

Each week I want to discuss a topic that has come up during my training/experience as a way for me to provide a “looking glass” into what training martial arts is all about. I want it to be extremely clear that I myself am an able-bodied martial artist. So, when I discuss the experience of martial arts with a disability, understand that I am speaking from my POV. I have no clue as to how difficult, or how different it is to train any form of martial arts with a disability. I do, however, know what it means to fight, and if you’re being honest, you do too.

When I spent months working in the ICU I witnessed men, women and children fighting to stay alive. In my outpatient experience, I have observed grown men reduced to tears by the pain in their bodies. As a landscaper, I watched as those same grown men continued destroying their bodies, just so their children could have clothes on their backs and food in their bellies. As an only child I watched as my own mother struggled through multiple jobs so we could afford to go to the movies. Whether we like it or not, we were all born onto this earth and forced to fight.

This involuntary participation that was thrust upon us all is why I love martial arts and leads into the topic of this week’s discussion.

We must learn to love it

If you’re unfamiliar with Albert Camus, that’s okay. I only know of him because of inspirational pictures and quotes that you’ll find riddling the walls of most high school wrestling rooms. Regardless, he has a famous quote that states, “one must imagine Sisyphus happy”. Sisyphus, if you don’t know, basically got screwed over to an eternity of pushing a rock up a hill because he snitched on Zeus (pretty sure this is where snitches get stitches comes from).

Much like Sisyphus, we are all destined to a seemingly endless sentence of meaningless and infuriating tasks. Like taxes? Seriously? I mean I get it but come on. Every year?! Or the dishes! I swear I don’t remember using so many and yet every day I have a sink full of them without fail.

Anyways, as I have been discussing life and martial arts with various people, some able-bodied, some not, they all had the same thing in common.

They’re learning to enjoy the struggle.

I think it’s unfair to say that you have to love the struggle off the bat, I mean toxic relationship much? But we should all attempt to love our hardships. The dark, difficult, and stressful times we experience make the sunny, clear and worry-free days shine all that much brighter. What I have found in martial arts communities, regardless of individuals skill levels, physical or mental abilities, or backgrounds is their relentless pursuit to enjoy their suffering.

To me, life isn’t about avoiding hardships and praying with fingers crossed that nothing bad ever happens to you. Rather, it’s about gaining enough strength to look into the eyes of whatever crosses your path and ask, “Is that it?”. Bottom line is, we don’t have to be fighters; to have fight within us.

All we must do, is to have the courage to find our fight and be thankful for the opportunities that test it.

Trigger Warning: Picture of Blood & Gore