‘TOO OLD’ FOR MAR
Tell It to Mr. Miyagi
Martial arts get added to the list of activities we can’t do as we age, right? Unless you’re doing tai chi or aikido, most people think there’s no place in contact sports for aging folks.
today. The original movies showed us Pat Morita, an Okinawan expatriate and karate master who trains Ralph Macchio’s character, Daniel LaRusso. Morita’s Mr. Miyagi is no spring chicken, but he’s able to take LaRusso to new levels of karate expertise — and also beat down bad guy John Kreese in the process, despite Kreese being a much younger man. Mr. Miyagi is based on a “stock” character, or archetype, from traditional Asian martial arts culture. But there’s a grain of truth to it, whether you’re looking at real-life martial artists (Henry Plée comes to mind, who practiced well into his 80s) or fighting school founders in medieval Japan — who often viewed karate as integral to their understanding of Zen and other spiritual matters, and thus essential as they got older.
Except, as it turns out, there is.
From hip shows like “Cobra Kai” (and its basis, “The Karate Kid”) to centuries of tradition, older people and martial arts actually mix quite well — and they can be a great throughline for an active life.
Martial arts took off in the United States back in the 1980s with the “Karate Kid” franchise, which continues
CAN ‘DEFINING MOMENTS’ BE CREATED? According to ‘The Power of Moments’ by the Heath Brothers, Yes!
Why do we remember our best and worst experiences and forget pretty much everything else in between? Why are we most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel so incredibly alive when we plunge into the unknown? These are the moments that stick with us — the moments that define us. They’re an organic part of the human experience, and they can’t be purposely created. Or can they? In “The Power of Moments: Why Certain Experiences Have Extraordinary Impact,” brothers Chip and Dan Heath seek to answer these questions and ultimately discern why specific moments can define us. They also explore whether those moments can be purposely created. According to the Heath brothers’ research, positive moments share four characteristics: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. When you look for situations in which you can foster those characteristics, you can create moments that you and the people around you will remember for years to come.
“The Power of Moments” is great for anyone looking to leave a lasting impact on their employees or work team. Rather than have your next meeting
be about unity — and leave your team grumbling about how that information could have been sent in an email — create a meeting that has, in the words of the Heath brothers, “drama, meaning, and connection.” You can’t bring your team together for a defining moment by just talking about unity; they have to experience it.
While the characteristics the Heath brothers describe may seem a little vague at times, rest assured that “The Power of Moments” will give you a fantastic playbook for creating moments that define your team and stick with them. Check it out today!
Published by Newsletter Pro • www.newsletterpro.com
2 | 616-514-3831
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease