Patience is a (Martial) Virtue.

I tell my students that a young person's greatest asset is time, and yet they often seem impatient. I remember the feeling well, remember saying in my first dojo's locker room to the assembled group, "I can't wait until I get good." That was 1983. 

Thirty-three years later with a greater appreciation for the passage of time, I know that time will pass all the same, regardless of what I do, and that my task is to use it well, not rush it along. 

I know now that my impatience was an impediment to karate training. I always wanted to be on to the next technique. I thought that, somewhere ahead, there was the move, that decisive crane-technqiue, a la The Karate Kid that, once learned, was unstoppable. It took me ten years to realize that the key was to master a handful of fundamentals instead. 

BJJ, it seems to me, is the kind of art that will reward patience. Which is good. Because I am not old. I'm 46. I am not old. 

I'm in my prime. 

Gettin' Fighty at Forty. Well, Forty-Six.

Here's what this blog is about: I'm 46 and a month ago I decided to take the plunge into the vast ocean of Brazilian Jujitsu because I feel guilty about not having enough pain and suffering in my life. So I'm blogging about it. 

Take with large grains of salt. But not too many, because if you're reading this there's a good chance your blood pressure is too high.