Is self-training in karate really essential?

I sometimes get asked whether or not self-practice in karate is really essential.

 

To answer this, I ask people “If one attends university lectures but does not study outside of class, can they expect to pass their assessments and benefit long-term from the material they are being taught?” Unambiguously, going to the dojo and training with others is utterly essential; nevertheless, this must irrefutably be supplemented by one’s own practice: in order to groove learning and skill refinement into the subconscious.

 

Using the analogy of university study again, I treat my study the same as karate, that is, I give it 100%. Anything less is cheating oneself. My thinking is that we don't need to be the best, but rather, to push our limits and become the best we can be. The battle is always with oneself... Correspondingly, this is how martial arts practice benefits other domains of one's life.

Taken as a whole, self-training in karate-do is not only important... It is imperative!

 

OSU, André.

© André Bertel. Christchurch, New Zealand (2013).