I've spent over half my life training and teaching in multiple martial arts disciplines. I've had the privilege and honor of being trained by and with some exceptional martial artists. On this journey, I sustained numerous injuries. I've been knocked out, choked out, and stressed out and suffered multiple joint, muscular, and nerve debilitating injuries. I've been kicked by people whose kicks generated 800- 1,100 lbs of force. Kicks with so much force that they swept my legs from under me. I've been kicked in my head with so much speed and power that my body did a 360 summersault. In my training, I was what I call a martial arts extremist.
I've been stepped on, jumped on, hit on with sticks, and punched wood, walls, bricks, and Makiwara boards, all to harden the body, to make my body somewhat impervious to pain, to increase my pain tolerance.
I've put my body through some of the most extreme drills. Some martial artists may not experience such intense training, but that was my lot. I've trained in places and with people whose motto was "Train hard or go home."- I never went home. So, with all that I've put my body through, my workout now takes the form of therapy, and while some people exercise to look good, I exercise to stay good. With all that I've put my body through and the many years doing what I do, I've only had to use my ability in a real-life situation 2-3 times, and with those encounters, my record stands at 3-0. Jude said, "But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit" (JUDE 1:20). Believers in this society have it so good the very blessings we live under cause us not to see the need for extreme training and preparation, we see no need for a life of prayer, fasting or Bible study. Unfortunately, the Church sees no need for prayer, supplication, fasting, and some Bible study; we see no need to deny ourselves. Churches today don't even have prayer meetings; their youth, adults, and even leaders don't know what that means. We have fallen for the slogan "It doesn't take all that." Now, we suffer for believing it doesn't. We dance but are not prepared to die. We sing but don't know how to use the Sword. We floss in our clothing but don't know how to put on the whole armor of God, let alone possess the ability to use it. We use this "peacetime" to play, not to prepare. We quote scriptures like "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." for selfish corporeal pleasure when those words were voiced out of tribulation and oppression. We teach believers to live in the now but don't impart what they need to live in the last days. Believers in this society are the most corporeally blessed but the most spiritually troubled.
Paul said this: Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
King Saul tried to give David the armor of society to fight Goliath, but David was not used to the king's armor. He was used to training with a staff and a sling for all his young life. David became proficient with the staff and the sling, using them against foxes and wolves. He never faced a challenge as huge as Goliath. But it is not the size of the challenge but the training and the proficiency one gains with the repetitive use of what one trains to use and the intensity of that training. It is not the challenge but the preparation. As a martial artist, I know that the training and preparation for the fight are always harder than the actual fight, even though the real fight is much more life-threatening. So the question is, are we preparing to contend for the faith? Are we preparing to fight a good fight? Are we doing the endurance training it takes to finish the course?
Yes, it does take all that; we either suffer in preparation for the battle or die in the actual fight.
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