Why?

It’s been over thirty years. Why am I still training? What value am I getting from pushing myself further and further? Am I just a sadist? Is there not something else I could be doing with all this time I am putting into my kung fu?

I have been lucky. Teaching kung fu for so long has given me access to many students and so I have been exposed to every motivational trap and self-defeating talk anyone can come up with. Helping others stay the path has helped me as much as it has helped them.

I continue to train because of the focus the training gives me. Learning how to set a plan for achieving a goal and disciplining yourself to follow through is not just a skill, it is also a practice. Discipline is not something that sticks with you. Like all skills, it must be exercised regularly or it will be lost. Kung fu has given me a good life by giving me the physical and mental discipline to achieve more in all facets of my life. I am not someone who takes what he has for granted. I know how different my life would be without kung fu. Yes, my achievements are my own but I would not have pulled off many of them without the skill set kung fu has given me.

I have the battle scars that come with pushing my body to its limits. Ibuprofen has become my supplement of choice and my piano has never forgiven me for all those bricks I broke with ego rather than technique. Has it been worth it? Physically, I am in better condition than I was in high school. Mentally, I am focused, confident, and calm. Kung fu has served me for my entire adult life because I apply it and stay engaged every day. Oh yes, it has been absolutely worth it.

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” - Napoleon Hill (1883 - 1970)