Mouth Like a Truck Driver

No offense to truck drivers, but I used to have a mouth like one. Before I started martial arts my vernacular and vocabulary were heavily inundated with off-colored phrases and curses. I think I kinda thought it was cute to wear a skirt and have a foul mouth.

When I started the dojo -- an early lesson along with "there is no such thing as can't" was the lesson of there is no cursing in the dojo. Initially I think it was a shock to my system. I came in independent, hard headed, and full of my own ideas of what kind of person I was -- some may claim I am still this way. :)

At first, stopping cursing was just part of following the rules of the dojo. Then it became part of following the etiquette of the dojo. Then it became something else.

I was taught that the purpose of martial arts is to work towards the perfection of character. Although I know that I have just begun to scratch the surface in my own training -- this phrase continues to come up.

I always used to wonder why those that came before me seemed very careful in their word choices, phrasing, and interaction with those beneath them. Now, when I consider myself and how those beneath me relate to me -- I understand the need to be careful.

It is true that people are watching and learning even when you think they are not. I now understand that part of not cursing is that to curse diminishes the dignity, honor, and decorum that one should carry and possess when they are both a serious practitioner of the martial arts and a student of an instructor -- whose ways they are expected to carry forward.

Does this mean I never curse anymore? Mostly I never curse anymore.... except when I stub my toe on my coffee table. What you learn in the dojo begins to carry forward into other parts of your life. Does this mean I never relax and let loose? Sure I do, but not with you.

Not because I don't like you, but it's my responsibility to teach the way I was taught -- it's part of the training so that same sense of dignity, honor, and decorum can be passed to you and to those beneath you.