About a month and a half ago my mother became very ill. She was rushed to the ER and had to have emergency surgery, and her life was really in danger. She's doing much better now and is expected to make a full recovery, but for several weeks we didn't know how it was going to come out.
It's been a very stressful time for my family. And my father's health hasn't been good. So when Mom was first hospitalized, I had to step up. I was there every day for the first two weeks.
The only reason I could keep calm and focused during all this was my Seido Karate training.
Of course I didn't need to punch or kick anyone. But at the heart of it, that's not what our training is about. As Kaicho Nakamura says, "Technique rather than strength, spirit rather than technique."
The strong spirit you develop through your training is what is important. Being able to act calmly rather than panicking, to keep going in difficult circumstances, is much more important and useful than being able to kick high or break a board with your hand.
With any luck you'll never have to punch anyone outside the dojo. But I can guarantee that you're going to face challenging times in your life, at work or at school or in your family life. That's the way the universe works. If you understand what your karate training is really about, you'll be able to face those challenges more strongly and calmly.