Who hasn’t said this at one time or another? On vacation last week I overheard a friend saying just those words as she talked about her failed attempt at “skim boarding”. Thinking that the fact that she was pushing 40 had everything to do with why she wound up in a pile of limbs and sand after a brief but agonizing moment on top of her son’s board.

 

Listening to her I heard the echoes of dojo and the same lament from a lot of you. Sure your body wears out and reflexes slow, but it’s not nearly as bad as you think.

 

Think back to my friend, what did she expect, the most “athletic” activities she has done in the past 22 years are jog and play bacci ball. Though these are noble endeavors, they are a far cry from skimming along the surface on a piece of wood.

How much of a chance did she give herself? I mean, really.

 

When you are young, everything is new. You are used to learning new skills and being challenged ALL of the time. You have too. As an animal, your very survival depends on your ability to adapt and think. When you are young, you can’t be afraid to try new things because EVERYTHING in new!

 

Now as you age, you become more sedentary. Being good at kickball is not as important to you when your 30 as it is when your 10, unless you’re me of course.

 

The problem is:

  1. We expect too much from ourselves
  2. You don’t give yourself a chance to learn

 

The solution is:

  1. Set the bar a little lower
  2. Be patient with yourself

 

We all want to be perfect, we all want to succeed. But no one can be and no one ever is. All you have to do is be a little better than the last time. And before you know it, you’ll be waking up those nerve endings and reflexes again.

 

Worry about the little victories, making it through warm ups, trying to do perfect push ups;  just take care of the little details and the big details will take care of themselves.

 

About the Author

Damian Ross is a lifelong martial artists and instructor. He holds a 4th degree black belt in Carl Cestari’s Tekkenryu jujutsu, a 2nd degree black belt in Kodokan judo, a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a varsity wrestler for Lehigh University. He has been teaching coaching and competing since 1975. He is the owner of the ZenShin Premium Martial Arts Dojo Dojo in Pompton Lakes, NJ (www.kidsjudo.com) and the president of The Self Defense Company a cutting edge reality self defense company with a world wide instructor network.  (www.thetruthaboutselfdefense.com)

Martial Arts and Self Defense