Martial arts must have a fundamental philosophy which is continuously defined by 3 essential elements: purpose, motive and cause. Martial art is not an isolated phenomenon, divorced from any other endeavor in life. It's not a rare occurrence in life or a field devoid of the same internal principles from let's say: engineering, science research, psychology, mining, medical fields, aeronautics, counseling, military science, environmental fields, nursing and so on.
The purpose, the motive and the cause are universal, but the platform on which they are founded, seems to be different for each person. For person A, the purpose he does martial arts is because he LOVES the personal confidence he gains from it; the motive however, maybe because he wants to fight professionally and make a living in that capacity; but the cause for him may be the fact that he used to be severely beaten and abused by his father and had to witness every night, his mom being battered too; therefore, fear, lack of confidence, and intense emotional bottling have caused the initial [motive] and then in turn it shaped the [purpose]. I am just using hypothetical examples------trying to give some possible explanations for them, and not attempting to pin point the exact literal cause of these scenarios. We move forward.....
For person B, the purpose she does martial arts is due to the fact that she loves helping people through self-defense; the motive may be self-recognition and popularity status; the cause may be that she used to see too many of her friends in different schools get bullied a lot, including herself-----------today, the martial arts training gives her a tangible strength and the detachment she needs from her past, but she appears to love recognition and popularity, caused by peer pressure for many years.
For person C, the purpose he does martial arts is because he loves the intense personal and collective awareness that it creates for him; the motive for him is a mysterious, or a sort of forensic problem-solving insights that he absolutely finds so fascinating; the cause may just simply BE a genetically-caused nature/propensity, or even an acquired trait in an upbringing that has encouraged and taught him that problem-solving and service are great fundamental human virtues.
The fact is, there are over 7 billion people on the planet and we can find at least as many as that number for every field of human endeavor------consisting all three universal elements of purpose, motive, and cause.
Here is an important feature that most people miss; and it is the fact that these 3 elements are not fixed or static, but evolutionary in nature. For example, in 1990, one's purpose, motive and cause for doing martial arts was not the same as what they are in 2019. I think one would be much more clear and would have stronger purpose in doing what one does than back then, GIVEN the fact that the weight, the depth, and the measure of those 3 elements are directly proportional to experience, wisdom, and age!
Here is the catch--------if the vehicle (the mind) that carries the purpose, the motive, and the cause lags in anyway behind experience, wisdom, and age----then the result would actually be the opposite-------you would either end up liking your field MUCH LESS (any kind of field) or you would abandon it altogether because the worth of the original cause has disappeared------and with it, the whole purpose and motive go also. Keep in mind, the cycle would repeat itself with whatever else you think would be the more-worthy endeavor!!! There is no escape from this configuration, and no greener grass on the other side! That's guaranteed!
The only lasting antidote to this possible life-cycle illusion is to take the self (more transitory life-pursuits associated with lower-nature propensities) out of the center of the circle (personal life configuration) and replace it instead with principles that are more timeless and placeless.
In short, it's not really what you do in life, but the purpose, the motive, and cause behind what you are doing. As mentioned above, it's critical to ensure that the continuous life-long experience and wisdom which must come with biological aging are proportional to the weight (things that are timelessly important), the depth (things that are timelessly meaningful), and the measure (things that are timelessly far-reaching) of those three essential elements we discussed. Your endeavors must include frequent reflections in which your passion in the field should increase through a renewed purpose, motive, and a definite sense of a heightened cause.
Thanks.
SHAHRAM MOOSAVI