Sacrifice for martial arts

[Spartacus Maximus]

Serious practise of martial arts takes time. Making training fit with other important obligations such as family, school studies or work is a challenge all serious lifetime martial artist have to deal with. Sometimes is easier to choose, but at other times there are very difficult choices to make. Here are questions to ponder:

What is or was the biggest compromise you have had to make in favour of martial arts.

What was the most difficult thing you have given up, set aside or postponed?

Looking back on everything, I realize now that the pursuit of karate training and practise has been the goal as well as the driving force behind every single choice of adult life.

[bushido_man96]

You've started a great thread here, and I was just thinking about this myself, because I've missed a lot of classes over the past 6 months.

What is or was the biggest compromise you have had to make in favour of martial arts.

In favor of the MAs, its mainly the time I spend either watching TV, playing video games, or reading. But I still get a lot of reading time in. Its actually got to the point now that I don't watch much on TV.

What was the most difficult thing you have given up, set aside or postponed?

Right now, the MAs have been my sacrifice. I get really busy with the kids' activities, and with working afternoons and nights over the past 4 months, my TKD training has really taken a hit. I've been lucky that I've been able to attend the Defensive Tactics club on our college campus during this time.

[muttley]

When I was young, I sacrificed spending time with my friends in order to train, unfortunately since getting old and having a family, I have sacrificed my karate training for career and family time, something I need to get back in balance and aim to shortly.

[Spartacus Maximus]

For my part, it depends how far I look back. Karate has been such a high priority that I have broken off several relationships with people who were important. As if this were not enough, I postponed and restarted two years worth of a four year program while in school.

Even now karate is my main occupation because although I work, it is not something I chose to do or find particularly enjoyable. After all this time and choices putting karate before nearly everything, I still cling to the hope that some day I will understand enough to be able to gain something from it.

[chiliphil1]

I don't feel I have really given up much. As a kid, I trained rather than run amok in the streets. When other kids were into drugs and gangs I was into MA. Now that I am older I again feel that I am not sacrificing anything. If I were not training I would be sitting around, so I think I am winning in that respect. I try to include my family so I am not sacrificing on that side either, in actuality I think that families can be closer through MA.

[CredoTe]

Yes, great OP...

Biggest compromise of other passtime things: I'm a nerd, so time given up to things like computers, gaming (D&D anyone?), and video games...

Most difficult sacrifice: time with my family (wife & daughter)...

[Wastelander]

When I started training in martial arts, I gave up a lot of the time I used to spend playing video games and watching anime/movies. There is some sacrifice of time away from my wife and our pets, but I've cut that time down since I first started, to try to balance things.

[DWx]

Great topic.

In some ways I regret this but in a lot of ways I don't.... For me the biggest sacrifice was a "normal" social life. Training 3 - 4 nights a week with evenings off spent doing school work. I made national squad at 17 which made it was so even less time was with school friends and this carried on into uni. No going out and drinking on a Friday night but training or working.

But cant complain as my best friends are all training buddies and I've met some amazing people.

[Spartacus Maximus]

The first thing to go was and still is time to spend socializing. Even when not practising, the only company shared was either close family or other members of the dojo. Maybe a few outsiders but these too were involved in the same martial arts circles. Who can really call this normal? The choices I made may be considered differently by others who are unable to understand or accept that someone could make such choices.

[Zaine]

Great post and questions Spartacus.

What is or was the biggest compromise you have had to make in favour of martial arts.

Time, mostly. Time away from video games or other things that I love doing. They also take away from school and being with my family, so I have to budget my time wisely with these things so that I can get enough classroom training in to continue learning while at the same time being a good student, husband, and father.

What was the most difficult thing you have given up, set aside or postponed?

As far as material things go, I have not had to sacrifice much. Mostly, my passion for the various things in my life has necessitated an equal allotment to all of those things. The thing I struggled the most to let go of was pride, anger, selfishness; all of those things that martial arts is supposed to cull out of you.