A single chopstick is easy to break, but one hundred chopsticks bundled together are impossible to break. Cooperation is necessary for the further growth and betterment of our human society. Of course there are times when fair competition is good too, but cooperation is necessary to provide and ensure the success of the next generation. In nature, an animal dies to give their meat to humans, but when a human dies, what do they leave? A human only leaves an honorable name.
That is why we invest our time and hard work into building something. We can work to build a strong and successful company, a strong government, and/or a strong community. We must all work together in order to achieve these goals. Without cooperation what will occur? Will a family, a company, or a nation survive and know success? Think about this analogy. Two people set out to climb a mountain. On their way up, they fight and pull each other down only so they themselves can climb further up. It is obvious that the entire climb will be a great struggle filled with wasted energy and strength. However, if these two individuals pushed and pulled each other up in mutual cooperation, their climb to the top would be much easier. Within a martial art, all masters, instructors, and students must cooperate in a manner that maintains the traditional and honorable identity of their martial art. However, in present times there are many individuals under one martial art name that are in competition with each other. There are many who are working only for their own selfish motivations and personal gains.
In some cases the traditional martial art identity seems to have been totally forgotten. Everywhere there are individuals who have made their own “martial art” or their own “organization.” These actions have only caused conflict between members of the same martial art and have more importantly destroyed their martial art’s identity. These arts have become generic and now it will take great effort for the next generation to rebuild their art’s honor. If these actions continue the public will never trust the martial art community. The martial art community must work together in order to protect itself from the many improper organizations that exist today. We must protect our art’s identities against these dishonorable individuals. Then as a community we can regain our respect and once again work to build a better society.