KARATEDO (way of karate)

1.31.2013

I was reading a book  about  WWII  on Okinawa. It got me thinking about how hard life must have been, and all the hardships the people lived through.  But still, the Okinawan people kept pushing on and survived one of the most terrible times in modern history.  What is it about some people who have the will to keep on going? The Okinawa people have had a rough time for hundreds of years, so their toughness must have been bred into them.

The Okinawa’s  have the longest life expectancy on the planet. It must be their simple living, eating natural foods, and doing something that they love.  Studies show that this simple recipe of life is the true secret for longevity. In the 1800’s, the life expectancy in the United States and Europe was between the ages of 38-40. This lasted into the 1900’s when it went up to the ages of 45-48.  I guess if you made it until 10 then you had a good chance to live for another 25 or 30 years.  Life was hard all over the world; most men worked all day in the fields for their living. The lifespan was short for a couple of reasons, medical procedures were just starting out, I mean Doctors just started to wash their hands between patients!  If you got sick or injured there was a good chance that you wouldn’t make it. But in a small Island in the Pacific there lived a group of people who were living twice as long as the norm.

Why would we have a large group of men from Okinawa living to be 80 and 90 years old ?

It goes back to the recipe of life, live a  simple life, eat natural foods, and find and do something that you love. So why wouldn’t they want to follow the Karate life?   Of all the things that Karate had to offer, longevity would be a huge extra. Most of these men had jobs with the government, and had the time to train in the fighting arts.  In the old book called the Bubishi, it says the same type of thing;  live a stress free simple life, eat natural foods, follow the ways of the old masters. Most of the Karate men did just that-and lived to a ripe old age .

It seems that this is another reason to keep training in Karate.  The old masters found that by  training, day after day and year after year, in the fighting arts-that this was their fountain of youth.  Karate training, mostly Kata, is not a pure physical workout, but a challenging mental workout as well. This is why it is a lifelong pursuit. Just when you think you’re there physically, there is more to learn with your mind.  The old masters never found themselves bored or tired of training, because it was still what they wanted to do. Which I think is the true secret of life, finding something you love to do that keeps you moving and thinking and  gets you through the day.

Karate training works both sides of the body and both sides of the brain. There is always more to learn, and pushing yourself to keep trying to reach that perfect technique, keeps you training year after year, and, that is what keeps you living longer so you can keep trying to learn all that Karate has to offer. Because there is no secret or hidden techniques, there are just the ones you don’t know yet.

See you in the dojo.