Does karate inherently improve your character?
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Character traits can certainly be built, shaped, and even transformed with enough effort and willpower. However, the benefits of character building largely depend on your own values and personal goals. Karate – or any martial art – can serve as a tool for this growth, but it isn’t an automatic process.
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The real question to ask yourself is: how important is character to you? If you believe that developing your character matters, remember that – only you can do it, there is no magic method or style that will improve your character alone.
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Okinawan karate master Kiichi Nakamoto in an interview stated that pre-war karate masters treated students harshly and expelled them for the slightest reason. A student also had to have a good character, or they wouldn’t teach him.
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Nakamoto sensei suggests that having a “good character” was a prerequisite for learning martial arts, rather than something that developed through training.
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I do believe martial arts can be a powerful vehicle for personal growth. But it’s far from automatic – it depends on many factors. In fact, they can just as easily have a negative influence, I’ve certainly noticed that. So, when asked whether martial arts can change a person’s character for the better, my response would be: it depends.
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The phrase “perfection of character” is often used in martial arts circles, but I question whether “perfection” is even possible. And even if it was, would martial arts be the best path to achieving it?
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For me, any character development that comes from practicing karate is a direct result of what you put into it. Character building requires time, effort, self-reflection, and a willingness to learn both on and off the mat.
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Time is a crucial factor – it takes effort and perseverance to grow as an individual, it’s not automatic.
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So, can martial arts improve or change your character?
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Written by AC.