Karate teaches us the obligations we have to others. COVID reinforced why that's important

This column is an opinion by Doug Aoki, a retired academic and karate instructor. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

In February 2020, my spouse and I travelled to Okinawa, Japan, to continue our training in karate. It was our fifth trip since 2014. 

COVID-19 was starting to get increased attention, with the first case in Canada having been announced only a few weeks before. 

When Lucy and I returned, I developed a cough and contacted Alberta Health Services to get tested. It was so early in the pandemic that two technicians wearing what looked like hazmat suits were sent to our home to take a nasal swab. 

The test was negative — but it was a sign that the world had changed.

In March 2020, the province shut down all public schools. Our dojo has been at a local high school since 2011 so we lost our space. But we adapted, first by running classes online and later — when we emerged from winter and it became clearer that COVID transmission was greatly decreased outdoors — by training in a park. 

I was, and remain, a student and teacher of karate.

Over the next 2½ years of unfamiliar and shifting times, karate taught me how to deal with COVID. 

In turn, that gave me new and very old perspectives on being human.

The World Karate Federation says more than 130 million people across 200 countries do karate, and there are many different ideas about its aims and purposes. 

It debuted as an Olympic event in Tokyo, but I don't pursue it as a sport. My practice of karate is very personal; I cannot speak for all karate in general or all of my own style, Seibukan. I try my best to follow the example of Hanshi Zenpō Shimabukuro.  ("Hanshi" is a title awarded to master teachers of karate.) The head of Seibukan karate worldwide, he teaches how to move with purpose both across the dojo floor and through life. 

Seibukan is very traditional and steeped in Okinawan culture. It seeks precision in technique, strength and grace in the body, effectiveness in self-defence, and elevation of the spirit. 

Karate prizes humility and it has a special gift for humbling its practitioners. It's easy to be mediocre but it's exceedingly difficult to be good. 

One thing is certain: you can't become the next Bruce Lee by watching a YouTube video; it takes a good teacher, years of training and oceans of sweat.