“Fighter” I consider it a compliment, I said. Being - TopicsExpress



          

“Fighter” I consider it a compliment, I said. Being considered a fighter is a compliment. The term is used in martial arts and has some important qualities associated with it. Discipline, accountability, dedication and commitment are just a few. Under no circumstances can the undisciplined earn the title of “fighter”, regardless of physical strength. In the absence of discipline, individuals with fighting skills are nothing more than liabilities who threaten the concept of peace wherever they go because there is no predicting who or what will set them off and without the governor of discipline everyone is at risk. In today’s society the mere mention of fighting will ultimately result in immediate and aggressive opposition arguing that fighting is wrong and a civilized society should rely on diplomacy to solve issues. While there is merit in this thinking it is a little misguided. Those who thrive on violence do not respond to diplomacy or give it any consideration at all. In fact they it’s seen as a sign of weakness and may even be used as an excuse to attack. It’s also important to understand there is a difference between fighting and fighting back. A true fighter supports the latter. It’s understandable that most people are rarely able to distinguish the terms. We’ve done very little as a society to distinguish the two mostly as a direct result of the aforementioned issue with discussing fighting at all. Being considered a fighter has more to do with one’s will than physical strength and that’s why when someone we care about gets sick we comfort the family by referring to the individual as a fighter. A fighter never gives up. Through injury and illness a fighter pushes forward. Never one to makes excuses the fighter exists in a realm of discipline and commitment few people will ever experience. It’s the custom of a fighter to constantly earn the title therefore the past doesn’t exist, there’s only the present. Records of achievement have little relevance and serve to show only what’s been achieved, not what is achievable. This is why it’s crucial to condition the mind, the body and the soul…every day. A fighter has superior skills but above all desires peace so will stand in opposition of those who threaten peace and put himself in harms way in defiance of violence. There are those who will argue that even if a fighter stands up against violence he too is demonstrating violence by fighting. Once again, while the statement has merit it is a little misguided. One must first make the distinction of fighting versus fighting back. Secondly, a fighter becomes a fighter because he is adamantly opposed to violence. A fighter defying violence stands to lose everything and gain nothing therefore establishing another trait common to fighters; selflessness. And maybe the most identifiable trait of a true fighter is though he fights with conviction and resolve, there is no malice in his heart. With so many gender biases engrained in American culture it’s almost instinctive to assume a fighter is a man. Consider the riddle of a father and son who are involved in a car accident and are both brought to separate hospitals. The surgeon looks at the boy and says, “I cannot operate on this boy, he is my son.” Wracking our brains we tried to figure out a plausible explanation. How could the father make that statement if he too was injured and brought to a different hospital? Maybe it was a dream, maybe the kid was adopted. We considered the most abstract explanations while overlooking the obvious. The surgeon is a woman. In today’s society where violence against women is getting the attention it deserves don’t think of the fighter as a man, think of her as a woman and I guarantee your perspective will change. You will embrace the term “fighter” and see it as I do; a compliment. It’s often heard in my dojo that 95% of martial arts training is intellectual; it is 100% gender neutral.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 19:26:46 +0000

Trending Topics



Recently Viewed Topics




© 2015