What Would It Take??

[IcemanSK]

I go to nursing homes often & talk with seniors. A few years ago I started envisioning myself as a senior going down to a local MA & helping out, somehow (if I could no longer train). Maybe I'm seeing an idealized vision, but that's (at the least) what I'd hope to do.

[sensei8]

Great posts, all; I thank you!!

There was a time that I'd say that there's nothing on the face of God's green earth that would cause me to walk away from the MA forever. Nothing!! But, saying that means that nothing ever changes, and that things are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The MA is all I've ever known, and it's all that I've ever been good at! The MA has given me everything that I've ever dreamed of, both the good as well as the bad. Without the MA, I'm an empty vessel that's battered and torn!!

The MA is just a thing! The MA is a want, and it's not a need! I don't need the MA to sustain life; breath, heartbeat, oxygen...the basics of maintaining life. What I do need is my wife and kids, family, a roof over my head, food in my belly, means to provide, utilities...the basics of maintaining a rich and full life.

Please don't misunderstand me, the MA maybe just a thing, but to me, it's one of the most important thing in my life. Can I just walk away from the MA? Something that's been more than just something that I've done. Something that's been more than a friend and closer than a brother. Something that's been a constant in my life. Something that's told me the truth on and off the floor. Something that's fought for me when no one else would. Something that's loved and hated me when others wouldn't. Can I just walk away from the MA?

YES!! I can!! As painful as it would be, I could, and without any pause and/or reservation, and without any regrets!!

Would the circumstances need to be undeniable? What would have to be occurring in my life, at that moment, or leading up to that moment? Just what would it take for me to walk away from the MA forever?

Not much! Why, not much? It perceives that I've not truly loved the MA, nor have had much respect for the MA or for those that do. Possibly! However, while perception is reality, there's something else that has precedence over everything and everyone...and that one thing is that whatever the decision I would make at the very moment, no matter what others might or might not imagine and/or think...that one thing is that it's personal, and in that, it's private.

Something personal and private doesn't have to be in concert with everyone else in or out of the MA. However, I sincerely believe that anyone's decision has to be respected, and if for no other reason(s), because it's a personal and private matter. It doesn't have to be appreciated and/or understood because it's none of anyone's business.

I could say that it would take an act of God, an intervention of heavenly proportions, for me to make that type of life altering change. I could say that it would take a personal and/or professional tragedy to make that type of life altering change. I could say that it would take a medical disaster in my personal life to push me to make that type of life altering change. Whatever would drive me over the edge into the abyss of making this life altering change in my life would have to me something so undeniable that the decision would be instantaneous and without reversal.

Thankfully, I've not reached that zenith in my life, both personal and professional. Yet, when I do, if I do, I pray that I would have the ability to make that decision with dignity and integrity that's unmistaken and understood and respected by all; close to me and afar.

It would take a lot and it wouldn't take a lot. Those type of possible circumstances hasn't occurred yet in my personal and professional life yet, thank God, and to Him, I owe everything in and out of the MA. Hopefully, when I do encounter any of the possible circumstances, I pray that I'll meet them with my head held up high, my shoulders squared in confidence, and my heart full of joy. In that, I pray that I'll be able to recognize whichever the circumstance(s) might or might not be with not a heavy and trodden heart, but with a joy unspeakable.

Nothing to me is more important than God, family, loved ones, and friends...nothing!! And if I've the room, then the MA will take a backseat and enjoy being last amongst those that mean the world to me first.

[Archimoto]

This terrific thread serves as a great reminder - sorry I know this is corny - to SEIZE THE DAY !!!

I realize and admit that there are times when I take my ability to train for granted. This reminds me to enjoy every class, every lesson, each and every drill. So that eventually, if I have to, I can walk away as Sensei8 notes above, with NO REGRETS!

Great thread !

[sensei8]

This terrific thread serves as a great reminder - sorry I know this is corny - to SEIZE THE DAY !!!

I realize and admit that there are times when I take my ability to train for granted. This reminds me to enjoy every class, every lesson, each and every drill. So that eventually, if I have to, I can walk away as Sensei8 notes above, with NO REGRETS!

Great thread !

Solid post...excellent!!

[wagnerk]

Death?

Seriously, while I have seen things that have made me walk away from a particular style, for something to make to walk away from the martial arts world (as a whole), I would have to say "no".

Having sjogren's I was attempted to leave TSD for a gentler martial art like Tai Chi, but thankfully I've got the support from my instructor

[sperki]

This post flows into the question what is walking away from martial arts? I mean, wouldn't you still be a martial artist, just by virtue of years of training? That helps shape us as individuals and never leaves. Could I stop training regularly in martial arts? Sure. Having a 4 year old and a 4 month old and a bizarre work schedule have greatly reduced my MA time. But I still think about it and how to apply it and imagine getting back to it with my kids. So even if not actively training, I think many of us are still engaged in martial arts, it just might be tangentially. Physical ailments may force us to use our arts in new ways, but that fighting spirit, the patience and dedication that many of us learned in MA will always shape our approach to obstacles life throws at us.

[Archimoto]

This post flows into the question what is walking away from martial arts? I mean, wouldn't you still be a martial artist, just by virtue of years of training? That helps shape us as individuals and never leaves. Could I stop training regularly in martial arts? Sure. Having a 4 year old and a 4 month old and a bizarre work schedule have greatly reduced my MA time. But I still think about it and how to apply it and imagine getting back to it with my kids. So even if not actively training, I think many of us are still engaged in martial arts, it just might be tangentially. Physical ailments may force us to use our arts in new ways, but that fighting spirit, the patience and dedication that many of us learned in MA will always shape our approach to obstacles life throws at us.

Yep, yep, and yepper !!

[Nidan Melbourne]

I don't think i can ever truly walk away from MA.

It saved my life and continues to save my life every day. because i suffer from severe depression and still do every single day, BUT by me practicing karate every day helps me

[guird]

A very serious injury that makes it impossible to train safely.

I think that's the only thing that could make me stop.

[vantheman]

While I could see a variety of reasons to make me leave a specific dojo, it is pretty hard to imagine situations that would make me give up Martial Arts in general. It would need to involve some debilitating injury (serious hip injury, paralysis, blindness, ect.) or a financial disaster in which I could no longer afford lessons (although the latter would not prevent private/individual practice )