厭戦
Ensen
War weariness
Fatigue can be fatal. General George Patton once wrote, “Fatigue makes cowards of us all.” What he might have meant was that fatigue has a way of bringing out our true character. Fatigue is the main symptom of war weariness or in Japanese ensen (厭戦). We become battle weary as exhaustion and dejection set in from a prolonged conflict. When we get fatigued, we are more apt to make mistakes, lose our tempers or do something which is out of character. In the sports world, it is commonly thought that physical skill begins to degrade when an athlete’s heart rate stays at 145 bpm or higher for too long. In the dojo, fatigue can bring out our true character or personality especially when the class is very physical or during long seminars. In the dojo, when people get tired, they either become a teacher and teach instead of train, a talker who talks instead of trains, someone who runs away, or a bully who becomes too rough and takes it out on others. Regardless, fatigue reveals our true inner nature and reveals where we need to put in the work. As we approach the one year mark of the pandemic many of us are starting to get war weary. Deaths, people getting sick, riots, protests, confusing information, isolation, and loneliness are pushing us to the edge of fatigue. Nietzsche said, “Battle not with monsters lest ye become one.” What he possibly meant was that fatigue can become fatal because it can accidentally change us and we can become a monster because we allow ourselves to succumb to fatigue and end up doing something that we regret or is out of character for us. Martial artists are people who aspire to live their lives at a higher level. Furuya Sensei once wrote, “Martial artists survive day by day, welcoming adversity and using their skill and personal power to slowly but surely reach their goals and aspirations.” Remember, wars are marathons. If you get tired, rest. Don’t let fatigue become fatal; don’t let it change who you are.
Today’s goal: Pay attention to your thoughts and actions. Has fatigued set in? If so, find some way to rest and recuperate so that fatigue doesn’t change who you are.
Watch this video to better understand pandemic fatigue