Forging Your Virtues

Last night’s class was the first after my return from vacation, and it was hard! I was certainly glad that I continued exercising and running while in Mexico, as I think it would have been much worse without it. Without giving away Fogarasi Sensei’s secrets, that man knows how to motivate and train his students. Osu!

The class was tough and much of the focus was on upper body. I couldn’t even begin to tell you how many pushups, punches, rounds, etc. were performed. A very intense evening. Enough to make your arms feel like jelly.

The focus seemed to be not only on the physical, but also the mental, or spirit. Driving past what you think you are capable of as a human. Just when you think you can’t do any more, Sensei yells to not put your feet down, or 10 more seconds, to push through, use your spirit! You get the point. You yell Osu! And you don’t want to let Sensei, or yourself down. So, you give it everything you’ve got and keep going.

Because of this my resilience and spirit are growing, and it’s affecting other parts of my life as well. As iron is forged to steel to form a blade. I am by no means comparing myself to such, as I am on this path and journey for a long time, but what I can see is that even in the short time I have been part of the dojo and training, I can feel myself changing, both physically and mentally.

It reminds me of the story of Nicholas Pettas, whose book I reviewed in a previous post. Though he was young and as a uchi deshi the training was much longer and more intense, he speaks about forging your mind and body not to become a better weapon, but instead stronger character and uphold the seven virtues, making a positive impact on the world around us.

The training is hard, but I love it. I crave it now. I love feeling the changes and the forging of virtues. I am becoming a better person because of my training and Kyokushin.

Osu!