Ernest Cadorin
Should Your Martial Art Match Your Personality?
2020/05/23Correcting Some Old Advice
I was at a Halloween party last fall, and at one point in the evening, the topic of conversation turned to martial arts (not even by my own doing!). The people I was chatting with were discussing the differences between aikido, karate, and various other styles, and one of the things I mentioned was that martial arts can differ not only in their technique, but also in the amount of emphasis they put on philosophy and character development.
I went on to explain that karate, for example, which puts a large emphasis on character development, is known to help shy people become more assertive and aggressive people become more restrained. Not surprisingly, most of the folks in my conversation group had not been aware of this relationship between martial arts and character development. In my experience, this is not a very well-know aspect of the fighting arts.
The conversation reminded me of the time when I first got involved in martial arts. I was a student at the University of Waterloo, and I decided to try out one of the martial arts offered on campus as an extra-curricular activity. There were three clubs to choose from – karate, aiki ju-jitsu, and taekwondo – and during the information session held at the beginning of the term, one of the presenters said that if you are not sure which martial art to choose, you should consider choosing one that suits your personality. For example, if you are a reserved person who prefers to avoid confrontation, then aiki ju-jitsu would be a good match for you. (Aiki ju-jitsu is a pure self-defence martial art.) If, on the other hand, you are the type of person who likes to mix it up and has a lot of excess energy to burn, then karate or taekwondo would be more suitable for you. Based on this advice, I enrolled in aiki ju-jitsu.
I was a co-op student at U of W, which meant that I alternated between school terms and work terms every four months. My work terms were in Toronto, and I wanted to continue my martial arts training while I was working, but I was unable to find a suitable aiki ju-jitsu school in the city. What I did find, however, was a karate program that was offered at the University of Toronto. It was on my way home from work and it was discounted for students, so I went ahead and registered myself. And yes, this program was operated by the Toronto Academy of Karate.
I alternated between the two martial arts as I bounced back and forth between school and work, but when I graduated and settled down in Toronto, I continued with just the karate. As my karate training progressed, I started to realize that the advice I had been given about choosing a martial art that suits your personality was somewhat incomplete. Instead, I would say that you should choose a martial art that suits your personality, and that (more importantly) will help you develop your personality in a way that you would like it to develop.
What this means is that if you are a reserved person, but you would like to become more assertive and outgoing, then a martial art like karate would definitely be a good choice for you. In fact, with karate, this type of character development is actually built into the art. As karate-ka, we are required to demonstrate in front of people so that we can get used to performing under pressure. It’s an important part of our training, since in a real self-defence situation we will probably be at least a little nervous. Furthermore, as we become more advanced, we are required to lead groups of students through various drills and exercises. This, too, is an important part of our training, as it helps us develop our leadership and presentation skills.
I certainly don’t regret the path I followed in my martial arts training. It’s good to get exposure to different styles – which is why within our own dojo, we often practice techniques that are borrowed from other martial arts. Nevertheless, I think it’s safe to say that I would be a very different person today if I hadn’t decided to try karate all those years ago!