You have several interests. You learned to develop a mean backhand in tennis, you can carry a tune by strumming a guitar, and you even took up cross-stitching and macrame. Nothing really held your interest very long. After learning the basics, you move on. You always want to try something new without really becoming a master at anything. A friend asked you to accompany her to a karate class to learn about self-defense. You readily agreed. You bought some karate sparring gear to protect yourself from flying kicks to the abdomen and jabs to the face. When you think of a group of females meeting to learn about self-defense, you immediately assume that there will be a lot of screaming, hair-pulling and scratching since that was how you defended yourself in the past. When you attended the beginner’s class, the women were serious, determined and focused on how to protect themselves from would-be attackers through the art of the empty hand. You were smitten.
As you learned the ways of the true karateka, you were also taught how to effectively apprehend and immobilize an attacker without unnecessarily hurting him and yourself. You bought the complete sparring gear set because you cannot effectively train with bare knuckles and spar with people with your unprotected fists and legs. Learning the art and skill of Karate changed your world view and your lifestyle. You developed patience and discipline without even knowing it and you became calmer and more respectful of yourself and others.