When my Dad used to say, wistfully, Youth is wasted on the young, I thought it was so much doubletalk.

The adage presupposes that youth only comes along once in a lifetime, and while this is the widespread perception, its wrong.

You can be, and I daresay you should be young at every age, and its possible if you train diligently in the martial arts.

If you need any proof of this proposition just take a look at oldsters in the Peoples Republic of China, the millions who do Tai Chi every morning in parks and public spaces.

Theyre agile, flexible, and graceful, and a typical 80 year-old practitioner there has more vitality and than the average, 35 year-old American office rat.

But most important, these people believe that theyre in charge of their bodies, they take responsibility for them, and they dont yield to silly ideas that say we should naturally lose our physical capabilities as time marches on.

If, at an advanced age, you study combative forms such as karate, and you spar with opponents of various ages, youd be amazed at how well youll do, providing youve paid the price to condition your mind and body.

Your body doesnt know how old it is.

If, as a 45 year-old, you tell it to perform as if it were 18, it will do it, providing you have prepared it properly.

More than toughness, self-confidence, or fighting skill, the true gift of intensive, ongoing martial arts training is YOUTH.

In this sense, Dad may have been more correct to say martial arts training is wasted on the young!