When should a fledgling practitioner ask themselves the question, "what is my martial path?"

A difficult question to answer. My first so called knee-jerk answer would be "before" they join a dojo. I would hope that such a serious decision and its resulting choices would spur a person to seek out knowledge so they can make an informed decision. This is not a normal response.

Most folks, us humans, tend to respond to something like karate classes with a perception resulting from television, movies or Youtube surfing. Lets not forget the influences of the current reality sports of MMA, etc. People today seem to be driven by commercial sound bites and the latest and greatest new fangled and well promoted "things."

Lets face it, I feel personally that most who join up for lessons will not even consider such esoteric understanding because of the drive we have to excel quickly and to achieve notoriety, fame and hopefully fortune. The self driven philosophical aspects that were first introduced to us here as Asian Philosophies driven by the much maligned and misunderstood "bushido code" have colored our view of what is important. Ok, important to me and some others like minded practitioners.

I mean in my system of Isshinryu I hear sound bites on such things as the ken-po goku-i and the bottles quote that sound good to the novice but in reality don't hold water, no substance and do well defined definition. Even as to individuals, no well defining meaning other than to impress the fledgling novice because it sounds Asian, it sounds mystical and it is promoted by the supposed Asian culture of the silent sage like Sensei who grunts and says, "it will come to you, go back and do more punchy-kickie."

Yes, you should know what your path is before you make that decision. Realistically, if you join, are lucky and have a good Sensei then you may find that after you reach a certain level you will start asking yourself questions and they may be found in those esoteric philosophical studies that contribute to a defined path you will want to follow.

You cannot get the answers from me or others - this is a personal and confidential thing you have to find and discover all on your own. I just wanted to get you to ask yourself the question.