Ana
“When we work out together, we breathe as one.”
As the world starts to slowly open back up again, albeit with a few restrictions, events are beginning to take place again. This includes our martial arts events; we are able to meet together and train in person again, and even have safe monitored tournaments. It’s very refreshing to be able to actively participate in a competition and test your skills, but my favorite part has always been the atmosphere. When we work out together, we breathe as one. Our energy all joins together as we practice our skills that have been passed down through the generations. We can have discussions about techniques we may have mulled over alone, we almost speak a different language as we begin to talk about the intricacies of our forms, or specific movements. Of course each person is different, but almost everyone who is there is there to learn and help others learn. To be in a room where everyone has the same goal for themselves and everyone around is something very powerful to experience, something that covid cannot take away from us!
David
“There are friends that support us, and there are friends that challenge us. In the martial arts world, our friends and community happen to be both.”
When looking into the different kinds of relationships that we have with people in our lives, there are two kinds of friends that we have. There are friends that support us, and there are friends that challenge us. In the martial arts world, our friends and community happen to be both. We push each other in mind, body and spirit. We get each other not only to train in different ways, but also to challenge each other’s thoughts in a healthy way and provide another perspective when it comes to technique or philosophy!
These friends are also our biggest cheerleaders and help us to achieve our goals whether they be inside or outside of the martial arts. In a niche hobby or profession like being a martial arts instructor, there are times where our martial arts friends are the only folks that understand us. Once we become more immersed in the martial arts and almost turn into a martial arts nerd, we oftentimes need to cross state lines to be with our closest colleagues that not only push and challenge us, but also understand what we are going through at certain milestones of our martial arts journey.
With technology, we were still able to keep in touch with our martial arts friends during the pandemic, but there is a certain level of emotional and intellectual intimacy that is only possible with being in person. For the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, I was able to spend a significant amount of time with some of my martial arts friends from out of state. It was great to finally share the training floor with them again and get different insights and even some good book recommendations! Most importantly, it was good to be together again, catch up, and support each other on our goals whether it be opening a school, competing in a tournament, or testing for a new rank.