New Year's Resolutions and the people who won't

[HighKick]

I lost my Dad in 2023. Hoping for a better year this year.

My New Year's resolution is to trim down a bit.

Sorry for your loss. Keep his legacy going.

 

[Gyakuto]

Such an apetizing name.

The educated will know it’s pronounced ‘delicious peas’.

Ricky Gervais once took his unrefined and hilarious friend, Karl Pilkington to ‘The Ivy’ for lunch. The tiny entré arrived and immediately, Pilkington popped the blob of wasabi that was on the plate, straight into his mouth and promptly blew his sinuses out with searing allyl isothiocyanate. When he’d sufficiently recovered and Gervais had stopped laughing, he asked, “What the hell did you do that for?” Pilkington replied, gaspingly, “This is a posh restaurant, I thought it was a single mushy pea”!

 

[Steve]

The educated will know it’s pronounced ‘delicious peas’.

Ricky Gervais once took his unrefined and hilarious friend, Karl Pilkington to ‘The Ivy’ for lunch. The tiny entré arrived and immediately, Pilkington popped the blob of wasabi that was on the plate, straight into his mouth and promptly blew his sinuses out with searing allyl isothiocyanate. When he’d sufficiently recovered and Gervais had stopped laughing, he asked, “What the hell did you do that for?” Pilkington replied, gaspingly, “This is a posh restaurant, I thought it was a single mushy pea”!

Fun fact, most of the wasabi served isn’t actually wasabi, even in Japan.

 

[Gyakuto]

Fun fact, most of the wasabi served isn’t actually wasabi, even in Japan.

Horse radish with green food dye. Real wasabi is a lot milder, more flavoursome and can be enjoyed by sucking straight out of the tube

 

[Hanshi]

My general thought when someone says they think they want to try martial arts is "no, don't try it'. If someone says they want to train in the martial arts I say "go for it".

 

[HighKick]

Horse radish with green food dye. Real wasabi is a lot milder, more flavoursome and can be enjoyed by sucking straight out of the tube

Horseradish is 52,000 SHU's. Wasabi contains no capsaicin, so it is not on the Scoville scale, but is estimated to be about the same as a Jalapeno (2,500 - 8,000 SHU's). This would explain your 'sucking it straight out of the tube' comment.

 

[Gyakuto]

.

 

[Steve]

My general thought when someone says they think they want to try martial arts is "no, don't try it'.

Why not? I’ve spent a lot of my professional life encouraging people to try things. Sometimes it works out great and sometimes less so, but they always come out better for having tried. I see things like your post and think it’s a real shame…. Missed opportunity. The person who was just looking for some support and would most benefit from encouragement, you shut them down.

If someone says they want to train in the martial arts I say "go for it".

And the person who doesn’t need your support, you give it to them. What a bummer.

 

[Gyakuto]

Why not?

Reverse psychology. By saying “don’t“, he encourages people to have a go.

 

[Steve]

Reverse psychology. By saying “don’t“, he encourages people to have a go.

Oh I hope not. That’s not a very generous interpretation.

 

[Gyakuto]

Oh I hope not. That’s not a very generous interpretation.

Can you think of a more generous interpretation, Saint Steve? One that avoids personal virtue signaling?

 

[Steve]

Can you think of a more generous interpretation, Saint Steve? One that avoids personal virtue signaling?

People don’t like being manipulated. Reverse psychology is just a form of manipulation. When folks catch on, it tends to wreck things. So, I like to think that’s not what dude was trying to do.

Honestly, I thought you were just trying to be clever earlier, or I would have been more clear.

 

[Tez3]

I love this kind of post. People quit for a variety of reasons. I think most quit because their priorities interfere. We (instructors and serious students) can develop a knee-jerk reaction that they are "quitters". I don't like that term. It's okay to quit if you're not getting what you want. Just don't quit because you don't think you're "good enough". I certainly wasn't - at many times along my journey in MA and other things. Some of those were important enough to me to stick with it and get "good enough".

I've had a few students - very few - who came back. Every one of them was someone I had missed and was very happy to have back.

Many are quitting now because of the cost of living, just when you think you can manage along comes something else that's gone up in price. In April, the start of the new financial year, the government are putting council tax up by at least a hundred pound a year, utilities will go up again, the fuel went up a while ago and came down a little bit good prices which were put up stayed up.

NOT a political post but just one reason why people are cutting back on leisure and sports activities through no fault of their own.

 

[Gyakuto]

I’m back to being on my own in the gym again as all the NY resolutions are cast aside. It happens every year…

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Many are quitting now because of the cost of living, just when you think you can manage along comes something else that's gone up in price. In April, the start of the new financial year, the government are putting council tax up by at least a hundred pound a year, utilities will go up again, the fuel went up a while ago and came down a little bit good prices which were put up stayed up.

NOT a political post but just one reason why people are cutting back on leisure and sports activities through no fault of their own.

Definitely. I had some time off from training when I had almost no income, and couldn’t afford to pay monthly dues. My instructor’s school lost students to those circumstances. It happens in good times, and is surely happening more when COL rises starkly.