I mostly enjoyed the movie “Fight Club.” While it contains a lot of violence, and unnecessary sexual situations, overall the story was good and the film well done. One thing that resonated with me was the lead character (although certainly a sociopath and definitely delusional) found a way to feel more fully alive.
The members of the Fight Club would beat on each other, hoping the violent encounters would provide a way for them to feel something real, to know that they were doing more than just going through the motions of living bland lives.
That’s one of the reasons I love the martial arts. Getting hit and punched in a controlled environment, getting tossed around on a mat, and being bruised and beat up by people who genuinely care for you can have the effect of waking you up out of a stupor.
I’m not talking about being abused, or practicing violence for its own sake. I’m talking about testing yourself against others, about having endorphins flood your body because it needs some minor healing. About squaring off against another, and feeling the impact of hands and feet on each other, having some fear of getting hurt or looking stupid but doing it anyway, because today you have chosen to live. Because today you decided that you are too complacent and satisfied, and you have become bored and boring, and you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired.
It’s fun to get hit and to hit others in this manner. If you haven’t yet done this, today’s the day. Being tested by being broken is good for us, if it’s done correctly and in the right environment. There are martial arts school out there who are full of instructors who are so vain and so small that they seek to harm and belittle rather than create and uplift.
The better schools are those who allow students to knock each other down, hard, and then pick them back up. Whose instructors understand the process of breaking down and building back up. Those whose mission is to make their students better people, to help them find paths to being more fully alive. To be more fully kicking in their lives.
Husband. Father. Son. Broken, Mended.
Fully Kicking 
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