On March the 7th, 2024, I woke up and while I was checking the web I got surprised to hear the news.
Akira Toriyama, passed away? What? That can’t be.
He was the creator of the most beloved anime in my childhood, which I believe you might share the same sentiment if you were someone who born in 80s & 90s.
Going out of school, I used to rush to home just so that I can watch a new episode, and it was the only anime that my father didn’t switch to another channel when it was airing, he kept the channel and watched it with me instead. Well that says a lot that how beloved dragon ball was not just for kids but for adults as well.
Because of the massive popularity of Dragon ball, there has been an explosion of interest into shounen manga, which inspired the creation of other works among which one piece and Naruto.
Dragon ball wasn’t just a work of entertainment and comedy, it contained many lessons that one can use to better your life.
Here are 7 Lessons I have learned from dragon ball series.
Good things come to those who train
Goku, the alien kid who came from the planet Vegeta, has had unusual powers since childhood.
To push beyond his limits, he was trained by Master Roshi, who helped him become stronger. This theme of training is repeated throughout the series, if he hadn’t trained himself to the point of exhaustion, he wouldn’t have been effective in combatting his foes.
So here we aren’t just talking about physical training, which I believe everyone should do for the benefits it brings, but it’s more about cultivating the habit of training to become a better speaker, reader, musician, writer—whatever it may be. It’s all about mastering your skills, which can only happen if you consistently keep training to improve.
Forming great relationships requires a form of sacrifice
Goku’s training was not merely to test his limits. The main objective behind his training was to gain enough strength to defeat the enemies of Earth, who posed a constant threat to his family, friends, and the citizens of the planet earth.
In one of the most emotional scenes of Dragon Ball Z, Goku joins forces with Piccolo to confront Raditz, Goku’s older brother who had kidnapped Gohan, Goku’s son. During the battle, Goku realizes that the only way to defeat the enemy is by holding him in place, allowing Piccolo to deliver the special cannon beam that kills both Goku and Raditz.
Such sacrifice was not in vain. Using the Dragon Balls, Goku could be brought back to life. But more importantly, it had a profound effect on Piccolo, leading him to become the mentor of Gohan with the goal of training him for a period of time to unleash his full potential as a Saiyan warrior.
Forgiveness can turn the bad guy into a good one
When Earth was invaded by numerous Saiyans, among them was a warrior named Vegeta who sought to destroy Goku and his friends.
Thankfully, Goku engaged in a ferocious battle and managed to inflict critical physical damage to Vegeta, bringing him to the brink of defeat.
Krillin, holding a knife, approached slowly, intending to end Vegeta’s life. However, Goku yelled at him, urging him to stop and show him mercy
Goku wanted him to leave, hoping that he might be a good guy one day.
Fortunately, that was the case. later on, Vegeta become a strong ally of Goku, and he was among the central characters of the show. He was a great help to many battles to come.
The practiced virtue here is forgiveness, even if in the manga which has shown it could be also done for selfish reasons so that Goku battles him again, we still can see that Goku had a good heart by giving his enemies a chance of redemption.
An Agitated Mind doesn’t generate the best results
When you read about the great stories of different Martial artists ones like Bruce lee, or people from the past such as the Samurai warriors, you find them emphasised to be a great fighter, one should be able to put and end to the mental chaos and physical weakness, purifying both the processes results in the creation of a great warrior.
In the original dragon ball, we find that young Goku was taught by his master, Roshi, how to still the mind in order to master some fighting techniques.
Parts of Goku’s fighting style is based on Shaolin kung Fu. In the real world, this fighting style has some meditation practices such as mindfulness and Tai Chi.
Meditation helps still the mind and easily locate the position of your opponent and direct the body’s movements toward the enemy in coordinated and timely manner, without being well posed, your physical attacks can miss the target, also if you get angered you can react impulsively and lose control over yourself.
Meditation is an important tool for obtaining a strong, non-distracted mind which can allows the body to be strengthened in more powerful interconnected way. So if you happen to train your body muscles, don’t forget that your mind deserves the same attention as your body.
There is no everlasting peace, there has to be turn in the tide
Throughout the Dragon Ball series, we watch numerous battles between good and bad characters. In each arc, we may think that finally, life can be peaceful. However, not so long because Some evil character comes again to threaten Goku and his friends.
I perceive this narrative as a metaphor for our lives. We achieve a goal, believing that peace will follow, but within a few weeks, we find ourselves confronted with new challenges, problems, and goals to tackle. It’s the act of persevering through these challenges that we truly value, rather than simply reaching the end goal itself. This resilience is essential for reaching the highest peaks.
Positive competitiveness and seeking Mastery
Almost all the fighters in the anime sought more power; they wanted to be the best. And how can you test your power in the context of Dragon Ball? By becoming more fit and fighting other fighters.
We’ve already mentioned in the first point that obtaining good things requires training. But here, we’re not just talking about obtaining things, yes, seeking power means going for more training, but it’s more than just training. It’s about the positive emotion of wanting to master fighting skills.
It’s about being more present, having better offensive and defensive techniques. It’s about fighting with honor, not cheating your way to victory. That’s the beautiful thing of mastery, it makes you gift most if not your entire life to a cause that you find noble and worth pursuing.
Follow your passion and it would be a rewarding Journey
Goku had one passion: becoming the strongest fighter around.
He had spent hundreds upon hundreds of hours getting stronger. He didn’t have a specific destination in mind, but he was certain that any day he spent not training was certainly a wasted one. Even when we see him defeating the bad guys, his earned wisdom—that he may not be the strongest person alive—pushed him to train while things were peaceful, not just when he expected an enemy to strike.
His mental preparedness, coupled with his focused and chill personality traits, made him a worthy warrior who made many people concerned about his presence. Winning against him wasn’t something that could be easily achieved.
