DON'T HAVE TIME?

 By Phillip Starr

If I had a nickel for every time I've heard this excuse for not attending class regularly or training at home...(sigh). My usual reply is, “You”ll never 'have time.' You have to MAKE time.” But often as not, I get the usual response, “No, really! I honestly don't have time!” And so on.

It doesn't take much of your free time; maybe 30 minutes a day (although more is better – but no more than 90 minutes at the most, lest you burn out or get careless and injure yourself). You may have to rearrange your daily schedule a bit, get up a little earlier, or make some sacrifices. It's a question of how badly you want it (genuine martial skill).

Still, there are some who persist in saying that they don't have even 30 min. of free time each day. To them, I say:

• You either need a new life, or

• Martial arts just aren't for you.

  

Blunt, but true. People's response to my statement almost always start with “Well; I can't...”. And that says it all; they're determined to justify why they're unable to train properly. There's no need to justify it to me. I don't have that problem. Perhaps they're trying to justify it to themselves.

My statement holds true for any skill that a person allegedly wants to achieve. From broad-jumping to tennis, baseball, playing the piano...to achieve a high level of skill is going to require daily practice and if you can't or won't do that – whatever the reason – you simply cannot achieve it. Ever.