The Brotherhood of Martial Artists
All martial artists share the same path towards becoming better martial artists, regardless of where they find themselves on their journey. This creates a mutual bond, which allows them to see a bit of themselves in the other, even if the other person on the surface appears completely different.
While traveling I have met people and shared experiences I otherwise would have been without, simply because of my passion for martial arts.
When I find my self in a new environment, I often feel inspired. A lot of times this sense of inspiration will cause me to spontaneously start shadowboxing or performing kata-like movements, as long as I’m somewhere peaceful with space, so I’m sure no one ends up walking into my feet or fists!
This has often caused strangers to walk up and talk with me, simply because they have had some sort of experience with martial arts. This builds an immediate connection and provides good opportunities to train.
In a park in Turkey I got to meet and spar with a turkish wrestler, in India I have sparred lightly on the beach with a local who was a black belt in Taekwondo, in Vietnam a former professional fighter in Pride (once the biggest MMA competition in the world) shared his insights with me on the differences between ring fighting and street fighting, these are just some of the experienced I’ve had because of my shared bond with other martial artist.
But the truth is you don’t HAVE TO be into martial arts to realise the mutual bond and connect with strangers.
In fact the truth is, we are all on the same path as human beings on this planet.
We are all subject to the human condition and all of us want the same basic thing, which is simply to be happy.
Next time you become curious about someone you don’t know, I invite you to find out what makes them happy and why, and then relate it to your own experiences with happiness or your struggles to achieve it.