I was never an athlete, although I was always athletic. Growing up in Texas in the late 70's/early 80's, I did a lot of fighting for fun and sometimes not for fun.
That's about all the working out I ever did. In my early 30's, I figured I needed to get in shape. About the only thing I'd done that was healthy was to quit smoking after 14 years in 1998. My kids were taking martial arts classes for fun at a local McDojo and I eventually decided to give it a go. The only part I enjoyed was the crappling, where we could actually *gasp* spar. It felt good.
Eventually, after a few years of this, I realized that I was still about 30 lbs overweight, had terrible cardio, pre-diabetic, high cholesterol and just generally in pretty crappy health. 14 years of smoking and drinking had taken their toll. So, I began doing some research and discovered BJJ as a style that sounded great. A few months later, I found my way into a legit school that was close to my house and have been there for over 4 years now.
In the time that I've been training, I have lost over 30 lbs, and every aspect of my health has improved. I'm 40 now and am in better shape than I was at 30.
So, all of that said, MA has been very important in my life. But coming into it as a father and a professional, I have always had a need to balance things. So, while the benefits of good health have affected my life significantly, BJJ isn't something that dominates my life completely.
As a quick side bar, a guy recently started training with us. He's in his mid 40's and very out of shape. He has a background in Kung Fu although I haven't asked many questions about it. Anyway, I gave him some advice for us out of shape, older guys who are getting started and said that if he wanted to, my blog chronicles my training from my first month in BJJ to receiving my purple belt. He told me yesterday that he spent hours going through it and found it inspiring. That made my entire week!
