The practice of martial arts is deeply rooted in philosophy, tradition, and culture. It teaches not only self-defense but also discipline, focus, and respect. Many people start their martial arts journey with a specific goal in mind – perhaps to earn a black belt, or win a world title, to learn self-defense, etc.
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It is my opinion that it is essential in the martial arts to have a deeper philosophy, a deeper understanding. The martial arts should not just be resorted to when you want to defend yourself against a violent attacker. The teachings of the martial arts reveal that the strongest one is the one that stays away from violence or conflict, even though you are training towards that goal.
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Often, we overlook the spiritual and mental benefits of martial arts because we solely focus on the advantages of self-defense and physicality. But the true value of the art is allowing yourself to be able to reign in your physical strength through the additional training of your mind and spirit.
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It is the self-control to not engage in physical violence or avoid it altogether.
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The spiritual side of martial arts, it is not religious in any way, nor does it attempt to contradict any religious beliefs that you might have. Rather, the spiritual aspect teaches you how to clear your mind of destructive distractions, helping practitioners harness their natural strengths. The spiritual benefits of martial arts are often overlooked because of the combative and self-defense skills it brings.
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The martial arts have given me the opportunity to travel to new places, meet people I never otherwise would’ve met and experienced things I never would have otherwise experienced. There are times in our life when we are faced with making a decision.
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It’s those decisions which take our lives down different paths. The martial arts encourage you to dig deep, uncover personal deficiencies, and move through mental blocks. It helps you identify what you need to improve in your life and gives you the confidence to make positive changes.
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The mental discipline that constitutes most of the “real” spirituality of a martial art includes; perfecting technique; overcoming fear; developing intent; making peace with one’s own mortality and so on.
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No matter how good the techniques of any system are, they’ll be ineffective if the practitioner cannot deliver them with a martial state of mind or being.
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We need to be truly present in the moment to sense and respond to an attack correctly, without our judgement being clouded by ego and emotion. We need to have made peace with the decision to use violence if necessary, but also have the maturity to avoid conflict and resolve it peacefully wherever possible.
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I’m sure we’re all met Budoka who are the most kind, generous and empathetic people – and who we also know, on an instinctive level, it’d be a VERY bad idea to attack them. People like this are my ideal of a spiritually evolved martial artist.
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How to get there is of course a whole new question. 
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