What Karate Has Taught Me About the Losers in Life

Karate has given me a very interesting perspective on other people and how they approach life. I’m not saying you have to take up karate or you’ll be a loser but doing something like karate sure gives you a fresh perspective on how other people act.

• Losers are really out of shape –even ones you might not expect

I’ll admit I was a loser on this one for a long time. There are the obvious people who do little or no exercise and are overweight. You don’t need me to tell you they’ll have problems later. Even many of the people who do spin classes twice a week don’t really push themselves and end up cancelling out their hard work later by having a pizza and beer on the weekend.

And have you ever noticed the guys with tons of muscles, but they can barely move, or find it hard to get to the top of the stairs without being out of breath? Or how about the marathon runners with little stick arms and legs? I’d argue their out of shape as well, just in specific areas.

Martial arts and karate, though, really show you how to be in shape in all areas: strength, speed, stamina. This is done through gradually taking you step by step through training and strength exercise as you make it to black belt. It covers the whole body and does not focus on just one key area. A good sensei will also want you to do things outside the dojo to improve your health.

The key lesson here, if you want to avoid being a loser, is to diversify your training and make sure you work on your entire body. You should also push yourself to try something more challenging. Those gym classes are great, but you should look at throwing in some weight training or do a marathon if you haven’t before. Buy something like a kettlebell or start body weight exercises.

Or maybe even taking up karate…

• Losers are really unaware of their surroundings

In karate there is the idea of ‘zanshin’ which means being aware of your surroundings and what is happening around you. Modern life seems to be totally lacking in this quality. I think the biggest losers are the ones trying to walk and look at their phone at the same time. You cannot do two things at once effectively. If you are walking, pay attention and walk.

The other areas of ‘zanshin’ lacking is thinking about your own personal safety when you’re out and who is around you. Why are people in London walking around in badly lit parks at 10pm? Most places are generally safe, but as it gets later you need to be more aware of what is going on. And don’t get me started about drunk people rolling home at 2am.

• Losers give up too quickly

The dropout rate in karate is high. I think maybe 1 in 10 people actually make it to black belt. You have people who drop out after 1 lesson, and some after a week or two. Then others when it starts to get a little harder. Rarely does anyone give it enough time to develop their technique and become better to the stage where they feel they can defend themselves. How can you know if you like something if you haven’t even stuck with it for a few lessons?

This problem translates directly to modern life and is only getting worse. Many of the people I know now give a movie maybe a 1 minute trial then flick over to something else if it is ‘boring’. It is all about the surface, and if things aren’t easy or appealing straight away, they move on.

The key point here is to give things a little more time, especially if they’re worth having. Let things develop and see if you can achieve a higher level of mastery. In my opinion it is worth more to develop a skill in-depth rather than have lots of different skills that you’re not so great at.

None of the above is very difficult, but I think there is a lack of effort. So there is really only one answer: Be karate, not a loser!