If you were going to be stranded on a desert island and you could only bring three things with you, what would you bring? Obviously, food and water, but budo? Yes, budo. Budo is the skill of all skills. Training in the martial arts teaches us to not only have perseverance but also have shuyo (修養) or self-discipline. If we don’t have self-discipline or the will to see something through to its end, then it won’t matter what else we bring with us. Bushcraft survival expert, Mors Kochanski said, “The more you know, the less you have to carry.” If we are stranded on a desert island, a person will need self-discipline and willpower in order to survive. Self-discipline and will power are not things that can be taught, but one can learn them. They can’t be taught because both of these things are choices. One chooses to be disciplined or to have the will to see something through to its end. In other words, we succeed because “Where there is will, there is a way.” Martial artists are not normal people. The paradox in the martial arts is that we spend time an inordinate amount of time studying how to hurt other people in order to not hurt other people. What enables us to not use the skills that they have learned is self-discipline and willpower. Martial artists are the type of people who like a challenge. We relish in the opportunity to test our level of self-discipline, willpower and tolerance and thus a desert island would be a great test. Martial artists have a certain amount of willfulness. A Japanese proverb which explains this willfulness is, “Doku kuwaba sara made nebure” (毒食わば皿まで) or “If you eat poison, be sure to lick the plate.” Only a person with a warrior’s spirit would have the fortitude or tenacity to lick the plate after eating poison and so only a a person with a warrior’s spirit could survive any adversity. Thus, bring food, water and budo.
Today’s goal: Self-discipline and willpower are a choice. Start small, but choose to be more disciplined and have more will. “The more you know, the less you have to carry.”