REGRETS

I

isshinryuronin36 36

Senior Master
Mentally reviewing my TMA journey while typing my last post (in Varying Styles thread) I got to thinking what I would've changed and regretted not doing when I had the chance:

Spending more time directly with Ed Parker.
Training with Danny Inosanto.
Spending a few more years learning Iaido.
Going to Okinawa.

For you guys old enough to have some regrets, care to share?
 
Not taking pictures. While cell phones with cameras were not a thing for most of my life, I would urge the younger generation to strike that balance between being in the moment and capturing memories for when your older, and those people that ment something to you have past away.
 
Not training with Yang Jwing Ming or Mitsunari Kanai when I lived in Massachusetts. Not training more Baguazhang with my first Shifu.
 
skribs said:
Can't you still do 2 or 3 of those things?
Click to expand...
Ed Parker has passed.
Too late in life to start serious study of a new art.
One iai dojo around but too touchy-feelie for me after being a student at Yamazaki's dojo.
Travel to Okinawa (or anywhere) not possible now as I'm my wife's caretaker.

I'm OK with it. Time has moved on. I've been fortunate to have learned arts from such esteemed instructors in the past and am now content in my continual pursuit of Isshinryu.
 
I don't have any REAL regrets, since my path has led me to this point and I am happy with it, so my path was objectively the correct one.

BUT I do wish I'd been able to get my black belt in Yoseikan karate instead of stopping at brown, actually finishing that chapter in a more satisfactory manner.

I also wish I'd trained judo at some point. Looks like a lot of fun.
 
“The funny thing about regret is that it’s better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven’t done.” -The Butthole Surfers
 
I'm with Simfers. There's a lot of stuff that maybe I'd have done different. I quit martial arts at 14, only to start again at 25. I would've been a lot healthier if I kept at it. But would I have been the same person? I may not have spent as much time on World of Warcraft in my teens and early 20s. But WoW is how I was able to get my mortgage on my condo at 23, so there's that.

I have had my issues with my TKD Master that are well documented here. But I also learned a lot about working with kids, which has helped me at my BJJ gym and is going to be very useful if I ever start my own gym, whether it's a TKD gym or a BJJ gym.

Recently, I've been involved in something that has another member of my gym very upset with me. But had I not crossed that line, I wouldn't know where it is. I'm a better person today for having made that mistake.
 
Getting old, every night, school memory still bothers me big time in my dream.

- Have not study enough for my next day final exam.
- My class will start in 5 minutes, but I don't know where my classroom is.
- I'm late to turn in my homework. Trying to bring to professor's house, but don't know his home address.
- 1/2 semester is over, hasn't attended one of my classes. Hope it's not too late to drop that course.
- Wake up at 12 noon and realize I just missed my morning classes.
- Happy to be freshman again in a university I like. Realize I will be over 80 years old when I graduate again.
- ...

Have only 1 nightmare about MA.

- Fight in tournament. Realize my punch and kick are so slow.
 
Last edited:
isshinryuronin said:
Mentally reviewing my TMA journey while typing my last post (in Varying Styles thread) I got to thinking what I would've changed and regretted not doing when I had the chance:

Spending more time directly with Ed Parker.
Training with Danny Inosanto.
Spending a few more years learning Iaido.
Going to Okinawa.

For you guys old enough to have some regrets, care to share?
Click to expand...
Well, we share one. Guro Dan Inosanto was my inspiration for seeking out FMA in the first place. And--while I've been to several of his seminars and trained with a teacher in his lineage--I've never traveled to California to train with him more thoroughly.
 
I have two related big ones.

In the nineteen eighties a big tournaments on the east coast gave a prize to the school that brought the most competitors.

One year we won. We brought 67 competitors. They gave away a video recording camera and a VCR type thing to play the tapes on. We bought a big TV for the dojo and used the system to film ourselves and watch the films to improve technique, fighting skills, see any tells we had etc. We did this for years. Kept taping over the tapes until they wore out. Everyone knew how to use it and did.

Do you think I was smart enough to save any of those tapes? Or to film the classes? We trained in ways I’ve not seen to this day. I regret that so much it makes me queasy.

The next year - that the same tournament gave away a nice pickup truck. But that year there were three tournaments on the same day so we split up and went to all three of them.

The school that won that truck brought nineteen competitors.

Our dojo could have used that truck. Or given it away to a family that really needed it. (We did a lot for charity) But nooooooo.

Sometimes I’m so f’n stupid I amaze myself.
 
When I went to college I drifted away from the MA for several years. I wish I had more opportunity to stay connected during this time. I later took a break in my 40s due to powerlifting. I mostly did this because I lost interest in the school I was attending for various reasons not worth reposting. I'm back in it now and enjoying it in my own way.
 
philwhite said:
When I went to college I drifted away from the MA for several years. I wish I had more opportunity to stay connected during this time. I later took a break in my 40s due to powerlifting. I mostly did this because I lost interest in the school I was attending for various reasons not worth reposting. I'm back in it now and enjoying it in my own way.
Click to expand...

It seems that many here have taken a leave of absence from TMA for an extended time (decade or more) and have found the motivation to return to it. I don't think this happens as much in other activities (physical or non-physical). There seems to be something special about our arts.
 
Buka said:
I have two related big ones.

In the nineteen eighties a big tournaments on the east coast gave a prize to the school that brought the most competitors.

One year we won. We brought 67 competitors. They gave away a video recording camera and a VCR type thing to play the tapes on. We bought a big TV for the dojo and used the system to film ourselves and watch the films to improve technique, fighting skills, see any tells we had etc. We did this for years. Kept taping over the tapes until they wore out. Everyone knew how to use it and did.

Do you think I was smart enough to save any of those tapes? Or to film the classes? We trained in ways I’ve not seen to this day. I regret that so much it makes me queasy.

The next year - that the same tournament gave away a nice pickup truck. But that year there were three tournaments on the same day so we split up and went to all three of them.

The school that won that truck brought nineteen competitors.

Our dojo could have used that truck. Or given it away to a family that really needed it. (We did a lot for charity) But nooooooo.

Sometimes I’m so f’n stupid I amaze myself.
Click to expand...
Great insights, but you are far from stupid.
 
isshinryuronin said:
It seems that many here have taken a leave of absence from TMA for an extended time (decade or more) and have found the motivation to return to it. I don't think this happens as much in other activities (physical or non-physical). There seems to be something special about our arts.
Click to expand...
I think the opposite; People pick up the guitar after years, sit at a piano keyboard after decades, rediscover dancing, book clubs etc. I think it’s more to do with personal circumstances, having more time/money/desire to show off (!) as you get older and more settled etc.
 
I regret not training harder before I got injured- a friend joined around the same time as me and now has a black belt, and I'm feeling sorry for myself. Realistically though? I'm at a point in my life where I have financial obligations, and I need economic security more than I need a black belt. There are plenty of people at class older than me when they got theirs, so for now I will continue with my home workouts and study.
 
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