by D. Kearney Sparano

Created on: April 06, 2009

From the age of 5 to 22 I studied Japanese Stand-Up Ju-Jitsu. 17 years of my life were spent on the mat. I learned many things and much of the person that I am, for better or worse, is due to that time period. Much of what I learned however, I wouldn't define as "life lessons?" To me a life lessons is a revelation, a transformation of consciousness. A life lesson can be marked when in one moment you felt perfectly in accord with reality and I the next you realize that your perception was skewed. As I recollect on my life and my time training I can recall several life lessons, but only one that came directly from martial arts.

Others may claim to have learned focus, discipline, self-control and so on from martial arts. They may consider these life lessons. I would agree that I developed these things as well but to my mind I don't see them as "life lesson." To me they are traits and aspects of my personality that martial arts, along with schooling, my parents and overall upbringing, helped to develop. Martial arts is part of the reason why I have the walk that I have and why I look at someone directly when talking to them. It is why I make eye contact and try to treat other as I would want to be treated. However, I think of these things as traits, as it said before, not life lessons.

I neither remember the exact time nor date when I learned my life lesson. I remember it was during a class and we were working on a take down. Some other students and I were having trouble making it work and couldn't understand why. It was a relatively simple more that involved shooting in on the attacker's leg, trapping it and using our body weight to bring them to the ground. You could see this done in almost any MMA contest. Eventually the instructor said to us, "You're not committing to it. You have to commit to the movement." This lesson would come up again and again as I trained. As moves became harder and self doubt would creep in, there was a tendency not to commit. I would quickly be called out on it.

Commitment is a simple basic lesson, as most life lessons tend to be. Whatever you are doing, commit to it. Whether it is a present action, a relationship, a philosophy, a goal or a lifestyle, commit to it. If you can't, don't begin because you will only be wasting your time. Currently I am studying ballroom dancing. I am sure you are thinking that it's a far cry and drastic change from Ju-Jitsu, but not by much. Many physical principles learned in martial arts apply to dance. It is only the intent that is different. Sometimes when learning a new step I am unsure about it, so I do it weakly. Like so many years ago, I get called out on it and in the back of my head I can hear my old teacher, "Commit to the movement," and I do.

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