Pushups Are Shugyo

Why? Because I hate the damn things. I remember just how difficult they are for me. I realize that they are not so tuff for most folks but for me, psychologically speaking, they are horrible and I don’t like them and find them most difficult to do. 

This is why I say, pushups are shugyo, for me. I dread them, I feel horrible while doing them and I feel they should be done if for no other reason then to experience and overcome my resistance to doing pushups. 

I even go the extra mile using pushup bars, etc., to get a deeper work out across my chest, shoulders and upper back not to forget to mention the arms, etc. It is one of the best exercises a person can do. One well known physician said they are necessary to remain fit and healthy especially as you age. I stall hate the damn things.

I incorporate them into everything I do including my karate practice and training. I go the distance and every few days stretch it to go beyond what I can do simply as a means of shugyo or austere training.

You might be wondering right now, what the heck is this guy doing with a post like this because pushups are nothing. For me they are torture and my reason for the post is to say as a martial artists one of the ways you can stretch yourself in a shugyo fashion is to find those things you dislike, even hate, the most and make them a regular part of your training and practice. 

This will put them in plain site where your mind will know the torture is coming and teach your mind to say, “so what,” and then do them. Do the consistently, regularly and with vigor even when you hate them the most. Take them beyond your limits not only physically but mentally or psychologically as well. 

Consider this, fighting and combat are not things a person comes to like or love but we have to protect ourselves from those who use violence as a part of their lives and livelihood. This means doing things that are uncomfortable and training to do them without hesitation and with vigor and without hesitation. 

Addressing those things especially in the system you use for either, or, or both self-defense and combat will provide you the ability to use them when necessary and without hesitation. 

I hate pushups with a passion but when I train and practice I drop down and do them regardless of how I feel and what I think about pushups. Then there is my dislike of pull-ups - arghhhhhhhh

Note: my brother and I had a discussion about such things from a military perspective and we both agreed that mind-state or mind-set carries the mind and body way beyond its perceived limitations simply due to that mind-state. This helps in a small way to set that mind-state in its proper form for conflict, etc.