Any good martial artist out there will tell you that learning self-defense isn’t just so you can beat down bullies or win over the hearts of the opposite sex. Training in the ways of martial arts improves the mind, body, and spirit to achieve new heights of self-awareness. The beauty of anime is that many fans who feel that they are lacking in some way, decide to take up different martial art forms—such as Kempo, Aikido, Taekwondo and Jeet Kune Do—and become stronger through dedication and perseverance. Many of us wouldn’t have sought these paths in life had we not fallen in love with martial arts anime.

As silly as martial arts anime can be sometimes with their usually corny lines of becoming stronger no matter what or winning at all costs, these lines are actually empowering. Ippo Makunouchi from Hajime no Ippo is an excellent boxer and wins several fights throughout the series but he equally gets beaten quite a bit too. Yet, Ippo teaches us that giving up isn’t the way to be in life. If you dedicate yourself to improving in life, then you will in turn become a stronger individual capable of overcoming any challenge. Martial arts anime has given us the strength to never surrender and always try again if we fall in life.

The recent WEBTOON adaptation of The God of High School is pretty crazy in the way martial arts is used but there is one element that stands out above all else. Often, we face our own fears in life—like Mi-Ra Yu and her fear of letting her father’s sword style phase out of existence—and that debilitates us. However, if we learn from the characters in The God of High School then we quickly realize even if the odds seem against us, we can’t give up! Challenging oneself is what helps us grow and become ever stronger, like we mentioned above. In the end, martial arts anime reminds us that while accepting new challenges can be scary, what’s even worse is letting those fears overcome us before we even face them.

Martial arts—no matter the style you take—isn’t meant to just unleash katas and moves on other people. The idea of martial arts is self-defense and that means just that; defend yourself. In the world of anime, many shows like Dragon Ball Z, Shijou Saikyou no Deshi Kenichi, and Boku no Hero Academia teach us that if we must fight we do it for a cause and for reason. We don’t condone fighting here at Honey’s Anime but equally standing by and allowing others to get hurt or allowing yourself to get beaten isn’t the way of martial arts. Martial arts anime might be fictional works but in our lives, we are reminded that fighting sometimes is necessary.