19/05/2023
What is the difference between a sport and an art.
A sport is something you play, an art is something you study.
Many people stop playing sports when they finish school. Some will meet up with friends for 5 aside or will play competitively in sport till they get married and have children or till the knee pain and back pain kick in...then they stop.
An art you study...learning never stops, even if you have bad knees or a stiff shoulder.
In sport, the objective is to beat your opponent or opposing team.
In martial arts...you are your own opponent and the aim is to defeat your own self and improve and become better.
Yes, there is a sport aspect to karate, but many people stop competing in their 40s...So what keeps them training into their senior years? We see Kagawa Sensei in his 60s, Yahara Sensei in his 70s and Ueki Shihan in his 80s still training daily.
This is the difference between Martial art and sport.
Martial Arts is about the journey, sport is about the destination.
Once someone becomes Olympic champion, they have reached their destination and retire.
In Martial Arts, it's about the journey and staying on the path. A big step forward or small step forward is still a step forward on the journey.
We see set backs in life...we will see them in Karate...but we do not step off the path.
We keep training, we keep learning, we keep moving forward...This is Martial Art, this is karate 🙇♂️
