Thread: Outside support.

I can't tell you. This is one of the things which you have to know for yourself.

My sensei (and good friend) is currently finishing his officer training. He came in as an outsider. Has 2 masters degrees, and lives for martial arts. When he lost his job, he applied for an opening for officer in the army. He underwent several tests, and came out as top candidate from a pool of over a thousand applicants.

His training... to be frank... you have to be slightly 'off' if you like that kind of stuff. Marching through rain and bad weather with 150 pounds of junk on your back. Then build camp, dig trenches, and do whatever else they do. Then break up after 2 hours sleep and march through the night to the base camp where you cram some food down your throat before your actual physical training begins. Sleep is measured in hours per week. Weekends are used to study as much as possible for the language tests (officers need to be tri-langual) and other theoretical tests.

From the stories he told me, the entire process is not so much to bring out the best in people, but the worst. The entire 1.5 year training is designed to weed out anyone who is less than strong in all areas. Which makes sense, especially for officers. The first stage is to weed out people on physical levels. The next level is to weed out people on psychological level. And the final level is to weed out on character.

I'm pretty sure I'd be one of the weeds. Even if I could survive that kind of training, I'd never do this voluntarily. Yet he takes to it like a fish in water. For him, being an officer is not a job, it's something he 'is'.

Anyway, my point is: it depends wholly and who and what you 'are'. And none of us can tell you. If you feel your future is in that direction, go for it.