The Meaning of Life

By John Kanabay

I believe the meaning of life is to search for what
makes you happy, and do it everyday. If you find the
meaning of your life, then stress, insecurity, and a list
of other negative emotions disappear. We all need to
ask ourselves: When I look back on my life, what
regrets will I have? Was I happy everyday? Did I wish
I was somewhere else? Me, I am happy everyday in
the dojang.

I feel my life’s meaning has always been martial arts.
Ever since I can remember I have had karate on the
brain. As a small child my mom would take my sister
and me to the library, and every time I would look for
a book on karate. By the age of nine I had read almost
every book in the library on martial arts. I had also
been attempting the techniques that I had read about
(although, none of my attempts were very good).

I struggled in school. I was always in trouble for
talking during class. I ignored homework assignments
and felt that my bad grades were the teacher’s fault
for not liking me. My father also worked a lot, so I
didn’t get to see him often. He would wake up around
five a.m. and come home around nine or ten at night.
By the time he got home I would have already been in
a world of trouble and my mom would leave it up to
him to straighten me out. We didn’t get along very
well. I felt that my world was chaotic with a lack of
direction.

One day a friend and I decided that we would try out
a karate class together. I didn’t know what to expect—
I only knew what I had read about in books. When we
got there, I saw the students working on the
techniques that I had read about, but unlike of my
attempts theirs looked great! I began to understand
the difference between my books and the real thing.

I remember that I was wearing a white t-shirt and
black sweat pants. I stood out as I walked into the
room with all of the other white belts in their
uniforms. I took an amazing class and on my way
home I told my dad, “I am going to run a karate
school when I grow up.” He laughed and said, “Why
don’t you get your white belt first.” I was very serious
because at that moment I had found the meaning of
my life.

From then on, I would take class to get away from
stress at home and in school; I took class a lot! If I had
a bad day I would grab my uniform and forget about
my problems for that hour when I worked on punches
and kicks. As soon as I embraced the meaning of my
life, my grades improved and my social life improved.
Most importantly, my relationship with my family
improved.

My instructor instantly became my idol. He was the
first black belt I ever met and to this day I still try to
do techniques the way I saw him perform them. I now
enjoy calling my father and reminding him about the
conversation when I told him I would run a karate
school. In the end, I found a way to talk in class and
produce a positive result—no longer getting in trouble
for talking. I love teaching everyday and giving all my
students a new life experience. Who knows, someday
my students may have a better story about what I
have done for them!

Thank you to all the instructors that have helped me
along the way.End

Instructor Photos from Breaking Week,
Sept. 6–10 2005

click the photo below to see more