The Cost of Age and Martial arts

I have been a life long dabbler in the martial arts since the age of six. Being a small framed child, I was bullied often and quickly learned that physical intimidation was a part of life. Whether such is right or wrong, it created in me a strong desire to be able to defend myself and to encourage others to be able to do the same.

Unfortunately I never took to physical martial arts with the passion that many other people who became masterful at them did. Oh I dabbled, trained half hearted, sometimes very enthusiastically. But through it all it stayed an interest that was in my life more as concept than as constant.

As I have gotten older, I have gotten much more serious about the martial arts because of all the other secondary benefits beyond just skill in self defense. It has helped settle my mind, increase my self discipline, and just in general offered me an outlet for stressors I could seldom address in any other way.

Yet as the human body ages, it recovers from injury with less easy every year. Many of the traditional masters in many martial art traditions always noted that humans become better mentally but less able physically for the various arts. It is one of the ironies of life.

Of course all this contemplation created because my neck is sore from ju jitsu class last night, and my thighs from bagauzhang practice yesterday morning.