About 4 years ago, I had two men walk into the school. The first man watches a class and decides that he is “too old” to be starting a martial art. The second man watches the class and decides “Might as well give it try”. Now let me describe the two gentlemen. The first man was in his early 30’s, in decent health and decent shape. The second man was in this mid 50’s, completely blinded in his right eye and missing his thumb and two fingers on his right hand. Folks, this is a true story. When I asked the second man why he wanted to start martial arts, he simply replied “I’ve always wanted to do it, but kept thinking I was too old. I finally got tired of being too old.” After talking with him I reflected on how many times I have used that same excuse to avoid doing something new in the martial arts or any other activity that may be deemed more for the younger generation. Now it is obvious that, more times than not, a 40 year old will not be as flexible as an 18 year old, a 50 year old may not move as quick as a 16 year old, and a 35 year old may not be as physically fit as a 25 year old. However, physical limitations can be overcome or worked around. A good example is July’s issue Taekwondo Times which featured Master Robert Ott, the creator of Kidokwan and a gentleman who is completely blind. Physical limitations were not a factor in his achievement of success, nor should it be in our own achievements. It is our mental limitations that cause the obstacles we just can’t seem to over come. So many times in the “real world” we prohibit ourselves from accomplishing new goals because of three simple words; “I can’t because…” Yet, when we are in the dojang, these words don’t exist. They are not allowed to because our teachers won’t hear of it. You are never too old to try something new in the dojang so why are you too old to try something new outside of the dojang be it a new job, new hobby or a new fashion style? The “Yes I can” attitude shouldn’t stop when you leave the dojang for the evening. In fact, you practice that attitude at the school, but like anything else you need to apply the lesson on the street. The bottom line is that you are never too old, perhaps too lazy, but never too old. To show you that I have been practicing what I preach here, at my current age of 37, I just tried a wushu class for the first time. I was thrown into the adult class where the oldest student, besides me, was only 23 years old. I struggled and pushed and was sore for 3 days and too be honest, I can’t wait to go back again. I was explaining this to a co-worker who is one of those Lazy Boy recliner people who watches his sports and enjoys telling me I’m too old to be some of things I do. He simply chuckled “Well you can’t teach old dog new tricks.” I just simply looked at him and told him “Yeah, well you can’t teach a dead dog anything.”