Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

Many martial artists focus on either proficiency in the ring or self-defence techniques. Some others concentrate on advancing through the ranks. Still, others focus on character development. All those are good ways to be warriors.

When many martial artists post technique or self-defence videos, they give off the impression that studying martial arts is all there is to it. I do not doubt that their worldview is broader than what is conveyed in the videos. Unfortunately, that side of martial arts is not conveyed enough on social media.

For example, a martial artist constantly posts about the need to spar or fight on social media. It’s nearly all he talks about; he thinks it is the end-all/be-all. It’s getting old. The posts give off the impression that his view of martial arts is limited to sparring. I would argue that martial arts is much more than sparring.

Random sparring video. Click here if you are not able to view the video.

Being a warrior encompasses much more than fighting skills or proficiency in self-protection. Understand me; I love practicing with sticks, knives and real-life scenarios. But I think that martial arts is much more than that.

Let me give you an example. One of my students recently told me that he and his family regularly give out $10 Tim Horton’s gift cards to homeless people in the area. He also revealed that he and his family periodically buy several gift cards to give out. I have to tell you, that’s a marvelous idea.

Is he a warrior? Yes, in my book, he is.

One key to being a warrior is looking out for and helping vulnerable people in the community. This applies whether you are defending another person from assault or addressing a person’s need for food and drink.

In that same vein, one well-known high-ranking Modern Arnis practitioner has posted semi-regularly about good deeds that he has done. No, I do not think he is boasting about it, but instead, he is trying to inspire others to do the same. For example, he often describes asking homeless people what they would like from a McDonald’s and fulfilling their requests.

Is what he is doing part of the warrior ethos? Hell, yes.

Now, I will reveal something I haven’t discussed too much. My mother-in-law asked my wife and me to move into her house in 2019. She was adamant that she would not move into a retirement home or an assisted living facility. She would not move out of the house she had lived in since 1966. After receiving the blessing of my wife’s siblings, we moved in September 2019. We put a few of our belongings into storage to facilitate this move. In addition, we had a basement apartment constructed for ourselves.

As you might guess, that was great timing, considering that the pandemic struck in March 2020.

At this time, my mother-in-law was close to 89 and still quite independent. My wife and her mother agreed that we would each do our meals and do our thing. But, let me tell you, she was fiercely independent and only begrudgingly accepted help.

Then, in the summer of 2020, amid the first hard lockdown in Ontario, my mother-in-law became ill and was bedridden for nearly two weeks. My wife and I dealt entirely with telehealth and her family in nursing her back to health. At that time, we didn’t want to expose her to COVID-19 at the local hospital. Luckily, she bounced right back after recovering.

In 2022, we gradually took over the driving and drove her to grocery shopping and doctor appointments. She remained in relatively good health until last fall, when she started to decline slowly. That decline accelerated suddenly in mid-March. Suffice it to say that we never got an answer to explain this sudden decline. It did not get to the point where we felt unable to care for her, but it was getting more difficult.

Then, she fell and broke her hip in early April, resulting in emergency surgery. Unfortunately, she never recovered from this trauma and passed away in the hospital on Sunday, May 7th. She was a wonderful woman and a great mother-in-law. I will tell you, I could not have had a better mother-in-law than her. We had many great meals and laughter together in the dining room.

She fought to the end. She never gave up. She hung in there like a true warrior.

I was honoured and privileged, along with my wife, to live in my mother-in-law’s house for the last four years and help her out (pssst, when she needed it). Caring for and helping another human being is more important than knowing how to slice and dice a bad guy in a self-defence scenario. Right?!

That is the highest level of the warrior ethos.

This is one way to be a warrior. Choose your way of looking out for others. There is more to martial arts than sparring and being badasses.

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