It’s about a 20-minute drive from my house to the dojang. These days there are so many cars in Jeju that when traffic is bad, it can take 40 minutes. I’ve thought about taking public transit, but by the time training ends, the buses have usually stopped running, making it hard to even get home. Even the bus ride to my house alone takes too long — which is exactly why taking the bus isn’t really an option.
I’ve really been feeling lately just how much distance can get in the way of training. The drive to the dojang is only about 10km. But as they say, you notice what’s on your mind — these days what I mostly notice are gym signs. Along that short stretch, there are more than 20 gyms. Taekwondo, Hapkido, Teukgong Moosool, and so on… Lately I’m also seeing a lot of fitness centers and CrossFit gyms.
2017 is about to end. The day for making New Year’s resolutions is approaching once again. Here it comes…
Losing weight, quitting smoking, cutting back on drinking, and so on — as always, I’ll be making plenty of resolutions and commitments this time too.
Every year, many people take up gym memberships, hiking, or other kinds of exercise at the start of the year for the sake of their health. But it’s also true that there aren’t that many gyms out there that are really suited for adults.
Martial arts gyms have long since become spaces for children, and for the combat sports, jiu-jitsu, or Muay Thai gyms that adults might consider, the dominant worry is usually: “Won’t I get hurt at this age? Can I really do this?”
Yoga and Pilates are great exercises too, but since most attendees are women, it’s also true that it takes a fair bit of courage for men to walk through those doors.
And yet, if you’re a man, of course there’s always soccer!! But with competitive modern sports like that, adults who haven’t properly prepared often underestimate the risk and end up injured.
For example, a senior I know had loved soccer since he was young. One day, playing in an early-morning match, he collided with an opponent and tore a shoulder ligament, requiring surgery. He’s still doing rehab, and he even got scolded, in a way, by his doctor, who told him he should count himself lucky he wasn’t hurt worse.
Badminton is also one of the more enjoyable sports out there. A woman I know got completely hooked on badminton, trained for over two years, and after competing in a tournament, damaged the cartilage in her knee and ended up needing knee surgery.
And it’s not just those two. Either way, the injury and the responsibility for it end up falling entirely on the individual.
So what kind of exercise is actually good?
These days, the culture of hanging out together is disappearing. With the rise of communication technology, computers and smartphones have taken over, and now all you need is a smartphone — no computer required — to connect and socialize with anyone. It’s not even strange anymore not to feel lonely, even without meeting people in person.
People often say humans are social animals. We are beings who grow by competing, encouraging one another, and sometimes hurting within society. That’s precisely why discussing competition and determining winners inevitably matters.
Through competition and rivalry, we find a sense of achievement and superiority. The winner grows through the joy of victory, the loser through the pain of defeat. Competition can bring great joy through winning, but the pain of losing tends to follow it around like a shadow.
Looking around, it’s easy to see just how demanding a life we’re all living. Students fight fierce battles with their peers over grades, while working adults fight just as fiercely over performance results. The wounds left by defeat in those intense contests may sometimes be too much for any one person to bear alone.
The issue isn’t the sport itself. For me, Aikido has been a martial art that has taught me a great deal amid this demanding life. It’s a martial art where, even as we train against one another, we complement and elevate each other’s technique. There was no winner, no loser. Only training!
Here’s something a member in his late forties from our morning class once said to me.
“I really regret not starting right away when I first came to the dojang eight years ago. But I’m so glad I get to start now, even if it’s late.”
2018 is right around the corner. Before it gets any later, before you get any older, you really ought to pick up some kind of exercise. What will it be? I hope you find your answer.
