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“The
Value of Sweat” 
The ultimate value of martial arts? That's right! No matter how much we sweat and study, we just don’t fully know for sure, so we cannot tell you. But in a dangerous world like ours, a world providing absolutely safe paths that are few to none for any member of humanity, a group that by its very nature is delicate of mind and body, martial training creates, in anyone of us who cares to do so, the ability to physically, psychologically, spiritually, yet reasonably, go where and do what we choose.
Free choice, autonomy – perceived freedom of individual action – is, was, and always will be the ultimate goal of every human being that reached or will reach self-awareness. Considering the supreme byproduct of our self-initiated sweat in martial training is just such self-sufficiency, maybe we should term genuine martial study, life training, rather than martial training.
Our natural human leanings, of course, tell us there might be a less strenuous path, than vigorous martial arts training, to the freedom I have described. Being born into the perfect family, perfect community, perfect nation, and perfect world, would most certainly do the trick. Replace the word “perfect” with “most powerful” and we still might get the trick close to done.
Yes, a perfect, or at least most powerful lifestyle would not only provide one the opportunity to possess the physical, and psychological qualities necessary to create an ability to actively choose and walk one’s chosen life path, but also the perfect transportation to and from the perfect destinations. However, a relatively perfect or powerful birthplace, family, and fortune are impossible for most of us, if anyone at all, to come by. And even if we do, it's just an opportunity, which we may or may not make good - to create relatively full freedom of existence, that is. But as always, most of us are happy to take the next best thing when we can get it, or even the next, next, best thing.
True martial training is one of the next best alternatives to the perfect and/or most powerful birth and life space. And it’s even better than the next, next best thing, assuming our chosen destination is a good life. And let’s remember that supposed best life path - the possession of inherited perfection and/or power - can only be acquired via amazingly good fortune in coordination with great training. We cannot choose in the womb to be born to such a path; it chooses us for the most part. One alternate path, genuine rigorous martial training (sweat), we can and should deliberately choose.
All that said; understand that we serious students of martial arts best use the result of our sweat to help ourselves become able to "do the thing,” not "decide what thing to do.” Yet make no mistake, training to do the thing naturally includes training the decision-making process, though still not what to decide. Either way, arguably the ability “to do the thing” is the door to a perfect and powerful world of our own making. But like full freedom, perfect lives, perfect power, and perfect worlds are by definition perceived, illusory.
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