You’ve heard of the warrior spirit, but what about the warrior gene?
Researchers in Florida State University have apparently discovered a gene that exists in certain people that they are calling the warrior gene.
Boys who carry a gene called MAOA, also known as the “warrior” gene, are more likely not only to join gangs but also be amongst the most violent members. They are also more likely to use weapons.
The findings only apply to males. Females with the same variant of the gene seem resistant to its potentially violent effects.
Overall, the gene brings out aggression in males.
Researchers are claiming that this gene is a predictor as to who is going to end up joining a gang or who will exhibit generally violent and anti-social behaviour.
But what does this have to do with martial arts? Well if the warrior gene is indeed present in such a large section of male society as the researchers claim, then surely not all of those carriers are going to end up joining gangs or causing blood splattered mayhem in the streets. Maybe certain carriers of the gene will take a slightly different path. Maybe some of those who carry the warrior gene will go into martial arts instead.
An Irresistible Pull
When I first started martial arts I did so for a number of reasons. The Bruce Lee influence was one. Self-defence was another. Beyond these reasons was something else though. I felt drawn to the martial arts. From the moment I realised what martial arts were I knew I had to get involved. It was like a calling of sorts, a pull I just couldn’t resist. An immediate connection was formed in me that has remained to this day. It’s what keeps me training after all these years, this intimate connection with the martial arts that permeates every fibre of my being.
I didn’t go to the martial arts, the martial arts came to me.
I’m sure I’m not the only one to have experienced this almost spiritual connection with the arts. To stick at something as arduous and at times draining as martial arts training for so long, you would have to have some deep-seated need to continue with it.
But were does this need come from? What compels so many of us to study martial arts and make it such a dominate part of our lifestyles?
The Biological Factor
Maybe it’s more than a psychological need; maybe it is in fact a biological need that compels us to train in martial arts.
And this is were the warrior gene comes in. Maybe this explains why we felt the need to join a “gang” of martial artists. Maybe martial artists who have this gene are just fortunate enough to have joined the right gang, a gang that brings out a persons aggression but also teaches them how to control it and use it in a respectful and proper manner, as opposed to other gangs that bring out the same aggression and channel it into wreaking mindless havoc and bloody murder.
Maybe the only thing that lies between jail or death and a lifetime of physical, mental and spiritual fulfilment and development through art is a simple twist of fate.
It could have gone either way for any of us.
This is all based on a theory of mine, of course. I could be wrong about this. I don’t even know if I possess this warrior gene. If I do though, my theory goes some way to explaining why I was drawn to my particular gang and why I feel the need to practice a fighting system that has violence written all over it, albeit controlled violence.
Regardless, it has given me a great answer to a question that is often asked of me, which is why do I practice the martial arts?
My answer from now on will be: It’s in the genes!
