ItalianoGACKT Official Blog update. Translation below:
To be able to remain active at the forefront. That refers to how well you deal with your injuries.
I completed my morning training
then prepared to go out.
After going to the hospital
I rushed towards the venue of the All-Japan Taekwondo Tournament.
Of course,
I’m not participating in it,
I’m there to support the athletes though.
The number of black belt dojo students from
my private GACKT Dojo has increased quite a lot too.
If you practice it seriously
you’ll be able to get a black belt in 3 or 4 years.
Of course,
the main purpose of this isn’t to get the belt,
but to train both your body and spirit
and become able to be yourself in real life
by going through that training and feeling it daily
while looking at yourself anew.
So I’m here to cheer on the kids who will lead the future
and the Japan-representing athletes
who have come to such a GACKT Dojo to teach.
Martial arts are great.
Among the people who have never done martial arts before,
there are many who think that
it simply teaches you how to punch and kick.
That’s completely wrong.
Martial arts is 【the way】.
That means to learn about life through martial arts.
It is to protect someone with the strength that you’ve gained.
If you practice it, you face your weakness,
nurture your perseverance,
and you’ll train your can-do spirit.
Right now, people with injuries tend to appear in the tournament finals.
So Byungsoo, who is someone I love like a younger brother,
is also one of them.
Even as he pushes against his opponent in the final,
he suddenly collapses in the middle of the match.
He dislocated his shoulder while in contact with his opponent
and it was discerned that he was no longer able to compete,
in the end, it was judged that he lost the match.
In the past,
when he dislocated his shoulder in the same area,
the match was stopped
so he pretended that it wasn’t painful
and requested the judge to let the match continue
but the judge made the decision to call it off.
Of course,
there are also those around me who would want the match to continue.
It’s also not wrong of the judge to make that decision to end the match.
There’s a chance that the injuries he sustained would have irreversible effects.
After the match,
he appeared at the bleachers with a bandaged shoulder.
『I’m sorry, big bro…』
Well,
it was fortunate that it didn’t lead to anything big.
The result of the match will become a lesson for the next one.
We should learn lots from losing.
『You didn’t train enough…』
I said,
and we joked around for awhile but
he couldn’t hide his chagrin.
No matter the occupation,
even if you’re not an athlete,
while building your body well,
if you can fight at the forefront,
if you can work at the forefront,
if you can keep yourself in the top class,
it means that you’ve diligently dealt with maintaining your body.
Having a peace of mind
simply by going for a health check up once a year
is not OK at all.
If a person lives for a long time,
they will definitely fall sick or get injured.
Of course,
there’s nothing better than never getting into such situations but
the late Ogata Ken-san once said
that of course we should live in a way that keeps us away from those things but
if we get injured or fall ill
what’s truly important
is how we face those situations and continue living
and whether we can handle them well while continuing with life.
『When I became like that
there were many things that I began to understand for the first time.
That’s why we have to be thankful…』
【The accumulation of your daily effort becomes your life】
I suppose everyone will understand
the meaning of this phrase on a superficial level.
I wonder how many people truly understand it.
While watching thus tournament,
these thoughts kept going around in my head.
After it ended,
and even during a program meeting,
no one knew
that these thoughts were constantly on my mind.
I have to put in more effort too.
KiAi!!
Source: GACKT Blog
Translation: GACKT ITALIA Team
Translation © GACKT ITALIA