Rain could be considered either as an air element, because it comes from the sky and clouds, or a water element. Rain can be soft and hard. Soft like the droplets of a spring rain storm. Hard when driven by high winds or slashing out of the sky during a cloudburst. Sometimes the small droplets feel like hail stones against the skin.
Rain, like its sister, snow, can be both beautiful and deadly. The soft spring rain that greens the grass and waters the earth. The long awaited rain after a drought. The first rain that, with persistence, melts the leftover snow from winter. The torrential rains that wash out gullies, cause river banks to overflow and cause massive flooding. The horizontal rains driven by winds that break trees and flatten fields of grain.
One raindrop, of it’s self, can do little. It is when several join together that it creates enough water to wet the dry earth, or cause a stream to overflow.
One day, one week, or even one year of martial arts training can do little. As one raindrop. But continue. Add all days of practice, all the hours of training, all the nights spent at the dojang or dojo, and soon these add up to something, like a rain storm. Knowledge is power. The more knowledge, the more power. Like a rain storm. The more droplets that come together, the more powerful the storm.
This also teaches us that man is not an island. One man, although he can be the leader, like the first raindrop, needs support of others. We need teachers, and teachers need students. We, like the rain drops, need each other. Surround yourself with people who embrace your way of life, who feel for life the way you do. Together, like rain drops, people can either be a force for good, or for evil. Strive to be the force for good. Train and teach the good, like a spring rain. Get together with other students; share ideas and philosophies.
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Some days of training are like cloudy days that cover the sun. We can not see the light above us and wonder if it is worth it. Watch after a rain storm for the rainbow. A rainbow is caused by the raindrops that become tiny prisms that reflect and break the sunlight down in the spectrum of colors that make up light.
Red, yellow, blue, green, purple, orange and many more shades make up a rainbow. Rainbows are a beautiful part of nature, but are there only for a short time. Occasionally we can have the privilege of driving or walking through the shimmering light of the rainbow, and see the transparent colors around us.
The rainbow needs sun. The rainbow also needs rain. To be created, a rainbow needs both.
Sometimes, when life and training overwhelm us and the skies are dark, we lose a tournament, we fail a belt test, there is rain. But, remember, when the sun does come out, it can create a rainbow. We can be recreated and clothed in brilliant colors.
Don’t get discouraged. Remember the rainbow. Keep up with your training.
Train, a little at a time. A cloudburst, or a monsoon rain, are made up of only individual raindrops. A rainbow could not happen with just one raindrop. There have to be many, many raindrops to form a full rainbow.
Each form, each movement, soon will add up to a whole, just like each raindrop goes into the making of a shower. Don’t be afraid to be a leader, and don’t be afraid to be little. Humbleness is one of the first tenets of the martial way.
