To late?

[Kieran-Lilith]

Physically, you have yet to even enter your prime. That doesn't begin until around age 18, and lasts until you're about 25.

I don't really think you've lost anything. While I haven't trained as long as you, nor hold your rank, I can tell you that I'm your age. As teenagers, we constantly receive the message to be better than our peers, to stand out, else we never get anywhere in life. It's a lot of pressure, and can make it feel like it's too late for so many things. So you might not be remembered as "some young martial arts genius". Big deal. There's lots of incredible kids out there who have trained since they could walk, and you can't hope to beat them. But you can always aim to beat yourself, and get better and better, so eventually, when the famous martial artists who were noticed when they were young have been forgotten, you can be an old master who may not be famous worldwide, but you will have touched the soul of every person you met, and as they touch others, what you give to the world will grow.

You said that the older you are, the less valued your achievements are. What about the 90 year old masters who can still whip our tails? I'm more impressed by them than I am by a bunch of kids our age who can backflip their way to fame.

[Jaert3]

i understand what you're saying and i thank you for your replays.

but Kieran-Lilith , you said:

There's lots of incredible kids out there who have trained since they could walk, and you can't hope to beat them.

and thats exactly whats bugging me , did i miss out on any chance i ever had to be at their level?

the thing is , am not the kind that settles for so little.

[srv]

With all due respect, you are only 14 years old. You are nowhere near at your peak in terms of physicality and certainly not at your peak from a maturity point of view. Most 14 year old guys are yet to have their growth spurt and to devlop the adult male physique. You have been training for 7 years which means you started when you were 7. From intructing children I think that most martial arts taught before that age is really just about fun and games. What evryone is saying is that you have your whole life in martial arts ahead of you and quite frankly, I am yet to see a 14 year old do kata or kumite anywhere near the same level as an adult with the same experience. You have the foundation of training to be a great martial artist but most people who have trained for a while realise that the martial arts has little to do with winning competitions, being special or being some sort of child prodigy. Even a kid of your age in Japan who has trained their whole life and who you seem so impressed with have still only scratched the surface of martial arts. Only when you stop worrying about being too old to be thought of as special and winning comps and how slow or quick it takes you to advance belt ranks, will you truly understand what it takes to be a great martial artist - which in part is humility and a hell of a lot of hard work. I can see you have the desire to be a great practitioner in the arts, just make sure you are doing it for the right reasons.

Good luck. I'm sure your dedication to training will pay off.

[Brandon Fisher]

Train hard and train alot. This is the best way to improve with anything. The japanese train things differently then most all the rest of the world. Their mindset is totally different then most cultures. Their pursuit of excellence and perfection is second to none that I have ever seen. Only thing stronger is their patience. When you get that mind set then you will begin your understanding of your training. It takes a great deal of time and effort. I just began my 23rd year in martial arts and I will tell you I learn something new all the time.

[Jaert3]

trust me , that is not the reason i practice karate , it just bugs me that i only started to improve my self just now , while i could of done it earlier and who knows i might of won something and be recognized by that victory.

i've read this somewhere:

history is colored by early achievement and promise of something greater

[Fish]

Maybe you've had a bit of a wake up call, realising just how hard some of the others out there must have trained, and how much better you could be.

But remember this, you can't change the past, but you can change the future. Instead of regretting not having trained harder in the past, and worrying if it's too late, focus on the future. Set yourself goals, and be determined to persevere until you reach them. Train hard, and you will make it.

[Brandon Fisher]

Seems to me you are really more upset by the fact that you didn't win.

[bushido_man96]

ok so i came back from japan about 4 days ago after being in the 9th skif world championship , and when i was there , i was embaressed of my self after seeing the performance of japanese students in kata , i knew that i need so much more improvement

i didint win any matches in the championship , but the whole championship was a wake up call , i then decided to become better and better in kata and kumite.

This is a great attitude to have! We can always get better, and it is never too late to start!

now i know this is weird but , i then started getting this annoying feeling that its to late , i am now 14 years old and will turn 15 in the 24th of december , i have a 1st degree black belt which i have since about a year now (my score was 98/100 in the black belt test which was given to me by hirokazu kanazawa) , you might wonder what i mean by to late , well what i mean is , even if i do become great in kata and kumite , from now on any achievement of mine in competitions wouldn't have any value because of my age , because i have this thought that the older you are the less the value of your achievements is.

I don't think that just because you are older, your achievements have less value. You shouln't get down on yourself like that. Going to competitions like you have is going to bring things like this to the forefront. This is a good thing. You should try to constantly improve, no matter what age or rank you are. Whatever you achieve from here on out will still be great, because it will be something you have not achieved before. If you quit now, then you will have something to feel sorry about. You said you will be 15 on December 24? That is not too old, my friend. Heck, that is just getting started. You have many years of competition left ahead of you.

and as lame or whatever it might seem , i like to be noticed from a crowd of others , and now its to late and i will never get that feeling again , i ones went to a gojuryu championship and in kumite i got first place and everyone started telling me how great i was and that made me so happy and confident , and from now on , noone would care and it just wouldn't feel the same.

It is ok to want to be successful. I have always wanted to feel the cheers of the crowd when you are in the ring. You CAN get this feeling again. But you will have to work for it. Also, I understand that you want people to think good things about you, but in the end, what is important is what you think about you, and how you feel about you.

for example if i start focusing more on improving my kata and kumite / start practicing gymnastics or whatever , it wouldn't be special , I wouldn't be special , because i would never settle for being just good or normal.

Why wouldn't it be special????

also it took me 7 years to get the black belt because the first sensi i had never made any tests , she (yes she) waited untill for example all the green belts are at the required level and gave them all blue belts (which i definetly hate) , so it took me like one year just to get the yellow belt , and that still makes me angry because in other places students get belts much quicker which allows them to practice on much advanced things at a younger age and i keep thinking that i should of gotten it earlier and started practicing at a high level much earlier and maybe then i would of ben way better.

so now i keep thinking that many years were wasted , and that wake up call came to late , i am having this sort of regret and i am now feeling as if its not worth it to start improving my self and practicing other things.

Don't be overly concerned about how long it took you to get to black belt. That is water under the bridge, and there is nothing you can do about that now. It is time to move forward. Concentrate on your current training, and do the things that you need to do to get to that next level. It is ALWAYS worthwhile to start improving and getting better. If you stop, if you give up, if you become stagnant, THAT is when you fail.

because if you're like 15 or 16 it would be a pretty normal/expected thing to be great at something like in martial arts , and now i've missed any chance i ever had to stand out from the others.

please take this seriously , because this is very important for me right now , i really need to listen to what you have to say

You are overreacting a little here, I think. You haven't missed out on anything, yet. If you don't try, the only thing you will miss out on is the opportunity to become better than you were. Now it is time to put your nose to the grindstone, and start gutting it out. There is plenty of time left for you to get better, and to improve, and to stand out amongst the crowd. Go get it! It won't just come to you. And remember, if was easy, everyone would do it.

[ps1]

i might of won something and be recognized by that victory.

You might still! There is no time limit on greatness. Nothing worth doing should or can be rushed. You have not achieved your "victory" by now because you were not meant to do so. Accept that and you will be better off. Besides...when your 40, you don't want to have to be the guy who needs to bring up the past when he speaks of acomplishments. When your 15, 18, 22, 35, and older; you want to be able to say, "This is what I did today!"

Martial Arts is a life long process. Every physical skill you learn between now and death is ultimately superfluous.

[Umerte]

so true