When people find out I take martial
arts I often get a slurry of questions. One of them being, does it
hurt? Invariably I answer yes, and I'm glad it does for so many
different reasons. Usually at this point I get the raised eyebrow
and the look that says, “You are some kind of masochist”. They
don't realize the difference between harm and hurt. Hurt is just a
physical pain, discomfort no long term effects. Sometimes there is a
lot of hurt and sometimes my fellow Karate-ka will hurt each other.
Something often said around the dojo is “No, that doesn't hurt the
right way try this”. If I didn't know how much the technique was
supposed to hurt in the first place I'd have no idea if I was doing
it correctly or not. Somethings hurt a little. Somethings hurt so
much that for a moment in time, that feels like it stretches out to an eternity, I
feel as if I have no body, that I've shot up out of my body and have
no arms or legs in which to tap. It's hard to yell ouch when you are
in non-corporeal form. It's how I get the confirmation that I know
that what I'm doing works if I never needed to use it.
Along the same lines yes I get hit in
class. It goes along with getting hurt. Of this I am also thankful.
No seriously I'm not a masochist! Getting punched or kicked or
poked hurts a lot. In my outside life I really don't want to do
this. Fighting hurts even if you are the winner. But it's not just
about that. I'm glad I get hurt because if there is an unavoidable
altercation and I get hit, I know what it feels like, and it's not
going to stop me. It's not going to catch me off guard and it won't
cause me to hesitate. This is very important because a split second
hesitation could mean the difference between life or death. As one
of my Sensei's says, “On the fields of hesitation lay the bones and
souls of fallen soldiers”.
Getting hurt in class is a good thing
believe it or not. I have no interest in hurting others outside the
dojo. I don't want to get in a bar fight to test my skill. As I
said. Fighting hurts. I avoid confrontations and situations that
could lead to violence. (Hitting people hurts me too in more ways
than one.) Best to avoid the whole situation in the first place. It's not that I'm a wimp, just a very big pacifist.
The other thing is knowing how to
defend myself and knowing how to fight is a very powerful feeling.
It's not that I believe that I'm even that good, but I've dedicated
the last 7 years ish to the martial arts and I know I've earned every
belt that has been given to me. I don't need to beat on someone to
feel powerful. It is a far more powerful feeling for me to walk away
peacefully from a physical altercation knowing I could damage someone
else. It is in the choosing that the real power is. I couldn't have learned it with out Sensei's who were willing to hurt me.
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