Age Is Just A Number

 

Still got that twinkle in his eyes

 

I woke up this morning feeling achy and tired, and I must admit it did take me a while to get up.

 

Basically, I felt old, which is an odd statement really.

 

This got me thinking of how, when I was young, perhaps eighteen or nineteen, my friend John and I would be messing around, painting the town red (not literally) and wondered if we’d still be doing this when we’re pensioners.

Well as the decades rolled by, in what seems like the blink of an eye I might add, here we are, not quite pensioners yet thank you very much, but being very much aware of what looms in the shadows, especially considering that all of my siblings are approaching or past retirement age already.

 

When we were kids we would think of how miserable and old these people were and that they had no sense of humour, but of course they did, it was just different to ours.

 

Mentally we are as old as we want to be, as my wife reminds me when she catches me chasing my children around the house with socks on my ears, only to hear her shouting:

 

“You’re in your fifties for goodness sake”

 

Don’t worry, the sock monster took care of her.

 

My point is this, Grandmaster Ip Chun is in his late nineties and yet still has that wonderful smile and a twinkle in his eyes, and this I put down to, not only has wonderful character and kindness but to a life lived through Wing Chun.

 

I may have ‘felt’ old when I woke up but this changed after a good old stretch and a Siu Lim Tau, and I was reminded me of something Master Ip Chun is famously noted for saying:

 

“You do not stop Wing Chun because you got old, you got old because you stopped Wing Chun”

 

For so many of us these lockdowns have taken their toll, therefore we must all try to keep our spirits up, keep training and keep healthy.

 

The best of health to you all, both mentally and physically, keep strong, keep well.

 

Now go and train your Wing Chun!

🙂