A Tough Week For Civility
Last week, I watched the horrible state of American politics unfold over a five day period. A crazy person sent bombs to political figures and government officials all over the country. Luckily, no one was hurt. Then, Saturday morning, a gunman entered a synagogue near Pittsburgh in a completely unrelated incident. Eight people were killed and several others injured, including law enforcement.
It brought up different issues for different people. As a writer, part of my work is identifying with other people. I thought a lot about the deeply entrenched beliefs that most people have about other groups. What jumped out to me is how after this doubleheader of terror, TV commentators and national leaders seemed as entrenched as ever. I guess with a national election in the United States just days away, the timing just isn’t right for our leaders to change course now.
I often wonder if people who carry out violence against certain groups actually know any people in these groups. In my world of martial arts, there is a lot of prejudice. But it’s usually against rival schools and different styles. When I cross train, I am consistently surprised at how similar other students are. They are often just like me and my own training partners. They just walked into a different dojo.
Training Was a Good Escape
Among this chaos happening on my television and pushing through on my phone, I found some escapism in martial arts. I trained nearly every day, which is unusual for me. This included showing up a little earlier and staying a little later. My need to disconnect from current events drove me to the mats night after night.
I found myself talking to the people I train with more. Asking about who they are, where they’ve been. I appreciated all over again that I am training with an interesting group. We are from all over the world, each of us with a unique story.
Before I got into martial arts at 20, I had never knowingly met a Muslim, a Feminist, a Homosexual, or Trans person. I barely knew anyone from outside the US. I had never had a black friend, or even a friend outside my own age range. For the most part, martial arts was the stage for these relationships to develop. Despite the diversity in martial arts, our identities rarely come into play in training. The race, religion, or politics of my training partners is an afterthought.
The Last Melting Pot
Martial Arts is the great equalizer. Your history, status, material wealth, none of it matters on the mats. If someone talked about politics to me while training, I would look at them like they were crazy. Who cares? We’re doing jiu-jitsu!
In fact, I can’t think of a better melting pot of social, cultural, and economic backgrounds than a martial arts school. Where else can you go to find people of different religions, political leanings, and ethnicity who are working together and barely take note of each other’s differences.
Maybe this is why I fled to my local academy last week. It was a constant reminder that people can shake differences if they are given something bigger to pursue. For us, it’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and the idea of finally mastering that tricky submission, winning a tournament, or maybe even getting promoted. They’re simple motivators, even silly in the grand scheme of life. But somehow it’s enough to make us lay down our prejudices.
I have some friends on the mats that I care a great deal about. We’ve fought each other, or coached each other in matches. But the particulars of their lives are unknown to me. I don’t know if they are married, what their job is, or who they voted for. But I would do a lot for some of these people. Their various ID cards don’t matter to me, because I have a genuine human connection with them.
Martial Arts is Doing Something Important
I’d like to think that martial arts school across the country are serving an important function in society. Yes, we’re teaching people self-respect, self-defense, hard work. But we’re also one of the last bastions of human connection. We take anybody in that can afford the fees and will sign the waiver. We don’t ask many questions. In fact, we put you in the same, white gi and belt as everyone else. And that means something important: We’re all starting from zero here. White uniforms, blank slates. Leave your junk in the changing rooms with everything else.
So if you are taking comfort in martial arts during this time of tension in the country, spend some extra time making that genuine connection with your fellow students. Not by asking about people’s politics, but about them and what makes them great.
And remember, for every one crazy, there’s a hundred of us.
Before I go, I’d recommend you check out another article on Martial Journal by Jarred Wilson. It explores the positive community of martial arts.
Also, if you like my writing style. You can check out my book on Amazon. It’s also about martial arts communities. Although this is more about the darker side.
He runs a site called HighPercentageMartialArts.com, dedicated exclusively to statistics in martial arts.
He wrote a book about fanaticism in martial arts, called The True Believers.
- I Spent Seven Years Ignoring Signs, Losing Friends, and Paying Money Before Asking Myself THIS Question: - November 26, 2018
- In An Insane World, Martial Arts is Connecting People - October 30, 2018
- Why I Changed my Mind About Competition - October 22, 2018
Thank you for this. After yet another tragedy this week, it’s vital that we all remember the positivity in this world and the good in the people we encounter.