Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Martial Addiction


Old Guy Xingyi

Hi, my name is D.R.
-(Hi D.R.!)
I'm addicted to Xingyi.
That's why I entered the 12-Animal, 5-Element form program.
I know I've had bad habits.
But I can get better every day in every way.

It started when I had my first taste of Tai Chi Chuan.
Sure, all the cool guys were doing Karate, I tried it and used it for years.
I was a glutton for punishment.
I often found myself on the floor.
I had injuries I couldn't explain.
I thought I could get by just using Karate.

But I had never tried the Chinese stuff.
A guy offered me a little Tai Chi Chuan.
He said I already used Karate, and I wouldn't get hooked.
And that's when I got in deep.
There was so much resource material, and I wanted to sample all the varieties.
I tried Bagua, and found my life spinning in circles.
Finally, I got in with a group of guys in the city. They were messing around with Xingyi.
I thought; "Hey, all the guys are doing it".
And before I knew it, I was chasing the Xingyi Dragon and had the Xingyi Monkey on my back.
I often find myself really drawing inward and doing some Xingyi all alone.
I mainly use it for maintenance now, but every so-often I really cut loose with friends.

So, I'm here to discuss my addiction, and hear the stories of other martial addicts-
And seek serenity in the Martial Arts...

5 comments:

Erik the Strange said...

Hi D.R.,

I am Strange and I am a martial addict. I got punched a bunch as a kid, so I decided to spend some years as a puncher. My youthful metabolism could handle it...and I wasn't addicted. But little did I know Tae Kwon Do is a gateway art.

My life used to be a straight line. Then I found Aiki and it sent my head in circles. I often hit the aiki so hard I stumble around the room until I fall over. I will stand back up and do it again and again.

Sometimes I will get into the hard stuff and go on a judo binge. One of my buddies will ask, "you want some of this judo?" I respond, "twist my arm!" One taste of that is like having your feet sweep away. The shame, the harsh come down - I usually open my eyes to find a fat dude sitting on my head.

Worst of all I found the blogosphere, where other addicts hide when they can't train and tell everyone else how addicted they are. It's sick. We even track our addiction and have ratings.

*sobbing*

Sean C. Ledig said...

I don't have a martial addiction. I can quit anytime I want!

In fact, I have quit several times already. Sometimes, I've had instructors move away or close their schools on me.

Sometimes, I've had injuries, like the sprained shoulder I had in 1981 or the knee injury three years later.


Sometimes, I've been broke and couldn't afford to pay for lessons.

Sometimes, I just plain burnt out.

But I always come back because I don't know what else I can do that is as good for my mental and physical health as martial arts.

Dojo Rat said...

Go ahead, vent, let it out my martial brothers...
And remember, there is a higher power- the elixer of life... Beer.

jc said...

admitting it is the important first step.....

Terry said...

Been running the Chinese stuff for a while myself. Some days it can be 10, maybe 12 animal forms.

(Nice piece. DR)