Retirement! Pfffttttt!

I have been a fierce competitor for as long as I can remember. I went to my very first competition at the age of 9 and I have been hooked ever since. I had a pretty good run too. Through my teens and early 20's I racked up several national titles and even a few hall of fame entries. I was even on the cover of the local magazine that covered our league. All and all I would say that I was pretty ok.

But then something happened. Our local league the "Excel Karate league" began to fall on hard times. Our ability to put on high caliber events became more and more difficult. And I mean lets face it tournaments are a tough business. But as our league continued to decline, and it became more and more clear to me that I had needed to switch tracks, especially if I wanted to compete in higher caliber tournaments.

And thats when it hit me. I had spent a good portion of my life competing in a league that wasnt really going to expand or give me the kind of financial opportunity I wanted as a competitior. And that hit me hard. And so feeling like my best years were behind me I stopped competing all together. I would occasionally enter a tournament here and there when I felt like the new team I was coaching needed a kick in the butt and a little inspiration. But really, I felt like I was done.

And then lafe happened. I got married and had kids. I got my first big boy job delivering uniforms. And I was mostly content. But I struggled to advance in my career, and we even packed it all up and moved to south west Colorado, best descision ever by the way! But i continued to have struggles with my career. Being a top teir martial artist is fine and all, but it doesnt take the place of a college education, and so I left the work force to open a business once again. And as our program has matured it is time once again to look for reasons to make the kids excited about the martialarts. And so now a tournament team get to be formed and being the person that I am, I want to inspire this team through my actions and dedication. So no more retirement for me!

And I am enjoying the training. I love getting ready for competition. It just gives you a sense of urgency that you can't really replicate other wise. So as I look to 2025 and the challenges of becoming a strong and serious competitor I hope you will follow me and may be inspired by my journey as well. And hopefully you too will do something that brings you joy! So train hard, fight fast, and score first!