I must admit that I was given a little heads up to Sensei Mike's entry on the website as I was privy to read it before he submitted it.  WOW!  What a great question.  It had me thinking most of the day.  It reminded me of a quote I recently read.
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"The effectiveness of training is not determined by the amount of fatigue it produces, but rather, by the degree to which it improves the skill or quality which is being trained."
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What, you say, does that mean?

Not all training is productive?  Maybe

If the training you do does not work toward some goal, or help you to make yourself better should it be done?  Maybe

Do I run my katas every day? No 

Do I set a shining example every night as to the kind of martial artist my students should be?  Depends on who you ask

Am I a better person today because of the martial arts than I was before I began training?  ABSOLUTELY

Does running kata make you a good martial artist?  In my opinion, kata has its place, and a very important place.  BUT I do not believe they are the Gold Standard by which a martial artist should be judged.  If kata made a martial artist, I would not even be considered a "karateka".  I have never made any bones about the fact I do not like kata.  I do have to admit that I have gained more respect for them as I age in both years and as a martial artist.  But that still does not mean that I eat and breath kata or that I will ever develop a love for them. 

Does posessing good fighting skills make you a good martial artist?  No.  Just because you can fight does not mean you are a martial artist.  I know several good fighters that I do not consider martial artist. 

So what is a martial artist?  Ahhhhhh...I will save that for another day.

HOWEVER, Do my students see me give it my all every night during class?  You bet they do.  In most cases I am the first one sweating, unless Christian is wearing his hoodie and then he has the advantage, but that only gets me working even harder.  Very few nights go by that we do not work up a gorgeous sweat.  I am willing to guarantee that my students are in better condition now and more ready to defend themselves on the streets as they ever have been.  Does that mean that the ones who taught them before me did things wrong.  Absolutely not.  They helped mold them into the martial artist and warriors they are today.  And I applaude them for that. 

Do you lead by example by training when nobody else is around?  Or do you only train twice a week?  I train everyday except for Fridays.  After most Thursday night sparring classes my body needs a rest.  The rest of the week I spend it choping wood, beating a tree with a sledgehammer, working the makiwara, slamming my wooden dummy, doing wind sprints up hills and countless conditioning exercises.  When I wash my car I split it up into 7 sections and in between each section I do push-ups, squats and pull ups.  Does a push-up make you a better martial artist.  NO but it makes you punch harder. 

Am I tooting my own horn?  NO I am mearly answering a question that has been posed. 

I am stiving to be the best example I can be in the eyes of my students and my peers.  I think we all are.  We just do it in different ways.