There are a lot of reasons people have to train different type of martial arts. Some people even go so far to say that not all “So called martial arts are martial arts now a days”. But those people are usually either die hard martial artists or simply to narrow minded in there looks on martial arts. So what does martial art stand for me?
- Training body
- Training mind
- Training Qi
- Transcending from every day life and it’s shackles on me mind
But for me martial arts tend to be more then only training. I trained as a kid, as a teenager, but back then i trained for different reasons. I was filled with rage and anger, I wanted to strike back to my bullies. Having to endure bullying for 10 years, going through doubts of wanting to live at same time as fighting against exactly those dark thoughts, Martial arts became a way of revenge.
Then I started to study at University level and I moved away from my hometown where my first sensei had been showing me how martial arts is not something you learn over a night, and how it is hard work to get to what you want. Almost 12 years later, at age of 30, I notice that my body is increasingly complaining about me sitting all day long in front of the computer and not doing any physical activity what so ever. I decided that something had to be done.
All those years that passed without any training I still dreamt of martial arts, I watched every single martial art inspired movie I could get my hands on and all anime I watched more or less had martial arts in it. I longed for the training without even understanding it my self. Then at age of 30 I had to do something, but I thought that training martial arts while having not only studies but also a two shift job would be impossible. On top of that we had just bought our first house and it was NOT in town but truly outside in the forest areas. I did not believe I would find any martial art dojo in the small village of Nurmijärvi in Finland, especially not one that was willing to let me train even though I still after a lot of years in Finland, did not speak Finnish.
I ended up going to a gym nearby and I trained like mad. One year I trained and I trained wrongly so my right shoulder got injured badly. I visited several doctors and physiotherapists but no one could help me. That is until I met the Finish national karate leagues official physiotherapist that happened to live and have his practice in Nurmijärvi. Almost a head taller then me ( and I am not short ) and arms as wide as my legs almost, with a T-shirt saying Shotokan on the side, he met me in the lobby of his practice. now a days i almost get tears in my eyes thinking back to that first meeting, tears because thanks to him I found my way back to martial arts, more precisely back to Shotokan karate and to sensei Hämäläinen.
Martial arts is for me a way to the true warriors heart. Once you bow at the entrance of the Dojo and look up, there is no backing down, there is no thoughts in your head about anything, only pure will to fight. I found a way to use that suppressed anger from my childhood and convert it into pure, as the Finish people say when they get angry, “PERKELE”
