"When are you going to give it up?"

[Spartacus Maximus]

People who have little to no interest in martial arts will never understand. It is a waste of time trying to explain it to them. The only reply that makes sense is to laugh off their question.

This very question is precisely one of the reasons one would be better off keeping martial arts training as private as possible. The less people know about it the better it is.

[LLLEARNER]

I guess this is part rant but I thought others at KF might have had similar experiences...

Does anyone ever feel like they have to justify their training to their friends and acquaintances?

Today I got asked by a coworker "When are you going to give it [TKD] up?"

What kind of question is that? Why would I give up doing something that I love, keeps me fit and healthy, and where I get to see all my extended family i.e. training partners nearly every day?

This is not the first time coworkers have asked me this, and I suspect it might not be the last. They also ask me why I train so much, why I give up my evening and weekends to it. Sure I moan about nigging injuries, about not having time to do other (more boring) things because I'm at training. But giving up had never been an option for me. To give up something that's so integral to my life sounds crazy to me. I've been training 4 to 5 days a week, 52 weeks of the year, for the last 15 years and yet they think I could just walk away like it was nothing. I wouldn't know what to do with myself.

No matter how many times I explain just what it is I get from TKD and the martial arts, it seems like they never get it or understand why I might want to spend time doing it. Does anyone else feel this?

Funnily enough I got the same sort of attitude from friends in high school who just couldn't grasp why I preferred to go to the dojang over hanging out with them doing nothing. At the time I figured it was because we were all teenagers and they just hadn't figured out their interests in life. Now I just think that the majority of people are content to be boring, and be mediocre, just going through the same routine every day, spending their free time sat on their backsides watching TV. To me that's not living, that's just existing. Your hobby doesn't have to be martial arts or even a physical activity but everyone's got to have something they are passionate about right? Maybe this is why they can ask me when I'm to quit and give it all up.

/Rant

Ask them when they will give up beer and tv.

[IcemanSK]

I went to my 30th high school reunion last year. Many people knew I trained back then. Several people said to me, "I remember all you talked about was TKD. What are you doing now?" "Running a TKD school," I'd say. But I get that most people can't connect to doing something for life.

My passions are my MA & my Christian faith. I'm a theology nerd who is a social worker. Between what I enjoy and what I do for a living, no one wants to a discussion with me about what I spent my day doing. I get that. And I'm completely okay with that. There is a great big world out there of things to talk about.

[ninjanurse]

NEVER!

[ashworth]

haven't been asked that before, anyone that knows me knows I'm the dude that does karate, and knows what a big deal it is to me. I have been doing it since I was 5... If I speak to someone that I haven't for a while, they ask if i'm still doing it, which after writing that out I realise can be quite a normal question, but I almost feel insulted that they need to ask.

I will be doing it for my whole life, there is no doubt in my mind about that. part of me wishes that I will live to be past 100 so that I can be doing karate for longer...

[gunner]

I get that question occaisionally. I usually fire back "Why should I?" and wait for a response. Then with a blank look on their face as they try to hold beck the "you're too old" I explain to them it's just a fun way to stay healthy. Then all I hear is excuses why they can't do it. I try to tell them that anyone can practice MA. It's just another style of exercise. You don't have to be Bruce Lee. Be yourself and have fun. Who cares if you can't do flying spin kicks, not many people can.

[Tempest]

When?

HA! I will be trying out for the team when God and Satan host that great Judo tournament in the sky. If I don't make that one, I will try out for the historical fencing tournament. I bet the Archangel Michael knows a lot about how to use a longsword...

[bushido_man96]

I will say this, things have slowed down for me considerably. I haven't been to TKD class in months. I did recently complete a defensive tactics recert for work, and hope to be doing more of that soon. Life is catching up with me.

[el-peligroso]

Well, if you're starting to get injuries that affect your daily life and ability to pay the bills then I think you should pack it in.

Otherwise, keep at it.

[ShoriKid]

Well, if you're starting to get injuries that affect your daily life and ability to pay the bills then I think you should pack it in.

Otherwise, keep at it.

I'm a bank manager/lender. The only injuries I really worry about are facial bruises. I try to time those to happen when I will not be meeting with upper management for several days.

I get the same sort of questions from time to time. Being this is a small town where guys still talk about playing football and how awesome they were 25 years and 55 pounds ago, I just smile. I'm a bit past my athletic prime, true. And if I woke up without some sort of pain in the morning I'd have to check my vitals. But, I still give the younger guys fits, I've still got a bag with some tricks they don't know and I keep getting more skilled, if less talented, over time. So, I guess I'll give up my karate when the ex-football players give up stories about their glory days.