TIDINESS

by Phillip “Pete” Starr

After you wake up each morning, when do you make your bed? Do you shave every day? Where is your training uniform; is it on a hanger, neatly folded and inside your equipment bag, or is kind of wadded up somewhere? Some of you probably wonder what difference does any of this make? Where am I going with it?

It has to do with self-respect, self-image, and discipline. Typically, I make my bed within an hour of getting up. It has to be made just so. Simply tossing the blanket over it isn't enough. It's a discipline that I follow every day. Simple though it may be, it sets the tone for the rest of my day as far as self-discipline goes. If I don't do it because it's too much bother or because I just don't care (after all, nobody is likely to see it; I very rarely have company), what does that tell me about myself? I'm not concerned with what other people think; I'm concerned with what I think and how I see myself...

I do my best to maintain a daily routine that includes making my bed, shaving, and so forth. It doesn't matter if it's a holiday or whatever, the routine remains the same. I want to make myself presentable to people not only to be respectful of them, but also to be respectful of myself. If I allow myself to look like (or behave like) a lazy slob, how does that impact my self-image? How do I really see myself?

Gichin Funakoshi wouldn't leave the house until he had shaved, combed his hair (I don't have that problem), and dressed appropriately. In the West (particularly in America), we have become very lax about such things and it is my opinion that this neglectfulness has contributed greatly to the deterioration of our society. I remember the dress code we were required to follow in school; no jeans, shirts had to have a collar (no sweatshirts or tee-shirts), leather shoes, a leather belt, boy's hair could not be long enough to touch their ears, no mini-skirts for the girls, no heels...and so on. Of course, as youngsters (being rather rebellious as all youngsters tend to be) we all hated this stuff. Now I realize that a big part of it involved how we viewed ourselves; if we looked like slobs, we'd act and think in the same way. Eventually of course, such dress codes became very lax or vanished altogether and the results speak for themselves.

In my martial arts school, if a student showed up in a uniform that looked like he'd slept in it for a week, he'd be told to go home and come back when his uniform was clean and neat. Those who purchased various weapons (swords, staffs, and spears) with which to practice were required to ensure that the weapon(s) were maintained in proper condition at all times.

Remember that how you see yourself (which is reflected by how you look and the discipline that you cultivate) determines how you will act and even think. Ponder this...