By Gavin King, 2nd Dan Go So Kempo

“I’ve always wanted to do Martial Arts!” Simon said as he necked back the last of his pint.

“Why haven’t you ever done it then?” I asked curiously.

“Oh, never really found one that I liked!” he replied, impatiently swirling the last trickle of lager at the bottom of his glass.

“You’re more than welcome to come down to my club. Same again?”

“Yeah, cheers mate. I would but I can’t really afford it at the moment.”

“It’s free to watch and if you’re really that skint I’m sure we could sort something out.”

“Yeah, cool, sounds great. I’ll have to pop along then.” he said uncomfortably as he decided to fulfil his civic duty by taking the empties to the bar. A sure signal to end the conversation.

In today’s society I think that we have an excuse for absolutely everything, a get of jail card for every imaginable occasion. There’s a disorder for this, a condition for that and a catch all whatchamacallit that covers everything else. If you look hard enough I’m pretty sure you can find a legitimate reason to squirm your way out of anything. I promise you that as soon as Taxmanophobia becomes a recognised condition I’m developing a terminal case!

So with such a plentiful bounty of ready made legitimate excuses is it any wonder we’re in such a bad state? Is it surprising that living in today’s world has become somewhat of a spectator sport? A sport whereby the majority live their lives vicariously through the experiences the minority, viewing with envy from the safety of their televisions and magazines. It has got to the stage whereby the small minority have become elevated to such a height that the mere mortals have no choice but to stand back and watch in awe. And there my friends where lies the problem!

People spend all their time watching others achieve wonderful feats, reading stories of others successes and generally being blinded by achievement. They become so blinded in fact that they completely fail to see the things that went into making that achievement a reality. Wouldbe actors only see the successful Al Pacino, and are oblivious to the fact that he was once so poor that he had to borrow the bus fare to attend auditions. Mohamed Ali arguable one of the greatest boxers of all time never actually had any interest in boxing, he leant it so he could “whup” the kid who stole his bike at the age of 12, yet wannabe boxers only see the Heavyweight champion of the world. Bill “Superfoot” Wallace went on to become a Kick Boxing legend despite being able only to kick with one leg, however many will just see the string of titles and belts he has won. These great men, among the most impressive talents to grace their respective fields, all started from humble beginnings.

What made Pacino, Ali and Wallace so great? They didn’t succumb to the excuses. Pacino could quite easily have given up acting because he couldn’t have afford to travel to audtions. If he had though would the aspiring actors have the opportunity to be envious of his achievements? Of course not. This is the difference between the minority and the majority. The minority see where they want to go and what they need to do to get there, where the majority see the final destination and make excuses as to why they didn’t travel down the path to make it there.

In our particular field of the Martial Arts these excuses are exposed for what they are, excuses. To be successful in the Martial Arts you learn that excuses have no place in our world. A reason for not doing something is actually a reason to find our way round it. While others gripe about the amount of time it takes, money it costs and ten thousand other reasons for not doing Martial Arts, we are the ones actually doing it! What these people fail to realise is that once you start finding excuses not to do one thing, you’ll find excuses not to do many things. By the Martial Artist actually doing one thing, they will learn to do many things. The study of the arts breeds the spirit of the doer, the attitude to get things done.

Yes my friends I believe that the Martial Artists are part of the chosen few, the small minority who don’t make the excuses! The ones who won’t listen to the million of excuses not to something and just listen to the one reason to actually do something, because they can!

So there you have it, Martial Arts the cure for the world’s ills! I bet the leaders of politics and religion are feeling mighty silly now, so simple when it’s spelt out isn’t it? Well maybe not, but it’s a start!