The Promise

 

(thanks for the inspiration George)

"It's all about the promise", George said. "That's why we watch. In the beginning, when the plot is being set up, they introduce the promise. Over the course of the show we see the promise fulfilled. That's satisfying. That's why we watch. We want to see the promise fulfilled. We want to see how it happens". He was talking about anime, one of his many hobbies. He could have been talking about anything. At the time I didn't realize it, but he was talking about martial arts, too.

George loves anime, and he wanted me to love it too. I told him they are cartoons for children. He frowned. "Cartoons don't have the promise", he said. "Cartoons are pointless.". It would take me another few years to really appreciate what he meant and, ultimately, to understand that he was really giving me insight into the heart of my martial arts training. My son had become my teacher.

 Many things in life begin with a promise. It represents a commitment to action to create a better future, a way of showing that we intend to deliberately deliver some future outcome. Rather than just a hope or a wish, a promise infers an initiative with a plan. When we observe the promise in media, often in movies, TV shows, graphic novels and the like the promise is  a way of framing the problem and establishing that the protagonist (sometimes the storyteller) will fulfill that promise in some way, often unknown to us at the time. It allows for quests, journeys, adventures, plot twists, mistakes, crises, hope, redemption - casting the ring into the fire of Mt. Doom, as it were. Like the One Ring, symbols can play an important part in representing the central struggle or premise of the promise. In many cases, the bolder the promise, the more intriguing the pathway to its fulfillment becomes for the audience, who become drawn in as participants to the struggle and its resolution.

Our life stories have promises as well. Promises we make to others but also promises we make to ourselves.

I would argue that martial arts training carries many inherent promises, and this is one reason why it is so different from just going to an aerobics class (aerobics is nice too, though). Martial arts training has a unique blend of "martial" and "art" that can accommodate any person across its spectrum from very martial to very artistic and everything in between. It allows each student to customize a journey in order to fulfill the promise to themselves to become a better version of who they want to be. Dedication and determination are the struggle, the quest, and the outcome years later is to have been transformed into a newer, better YOU. Stronger and faster, but also wiser and more confident. A version of YOU that is no longer afraid to challenge growth in all other areas of your life. It truly is a growth for mind, body and spirit.

When students are first starting out, I often introduce the promise as one from them to me, their instructor. The agreement is to keep coming to class, twice a week, as often as possible, to trust the training and that I will guide them in the Way and introduce the steps of the path. Eventually, once deliberate action forms a habit, they become able to keep coming to class routinely as part of their weekly activity cycle. Promise fulfilled.

Next comes the promise to themselves. As students rise in their ranks, I remind them of their progress and introduce the idea that they can promise to themselves to continue to set and achieve their goals. While I am certainly satisfied to see them moving forward, this promise is for them to experience the fulfillment that comes from keeping your promises to yourself. This means being self-motivated and showing up to class and giving 100% regardless of the weather, the workload or any of life's other distractions. The promise is a commitment to investing in your own personal growth. Often times this is punctuated by the achievement of a black belt, a symbol of overcoming the challenges of fulfilling this promise to understand the basic foundations of the art and becoming able to represent them to others. Promise fulfilled.

This is the time for the third promise - the promise to others.

I fully believe that when we align to our soul's purpose in this lifetime, the right people show up at the right time to help guide us to our next phase of understanding. It is the case in many stories but I think this is also true in real life. For me, moments of plateau, moments of crisis, moments of opportunity were always accompanied by the arrival of new characters in my story - people whose appearance was destined to help me see the way forward. For all of my life these people have arrived just when and where they were supposed to. I feel very lucky to have been shown how to develop the insight to recognize this. It was many years later when I finally realized that the tables had turned... I was now the one meant to appear at the right place and time for other people. As a leader, a teacher, an elder I had somehow become a guide rather than just a traveler. I felt a deep sense of responsibility to deliver on this promise and to be worthy of it in the way that so many people had been to me throughout my life. I have tried to raise my awareness and be able to see moments of influence where I needed to be able to be the right person to guide, lead and inspire others to help them fulfill their promises, too. Doing so seems to fulfill mine.

In the end we come full circle. Martial arts begins and ends with a bow - a symbol of respect for the art, for the teachers/fellow students and for the self. So too, martial arts begins and ends with a promise. A promise to fulfill for the teacher, for the self and for others.

Train hard.