What if you had to give up video games?
I like to play video games, even at my age. I consider myself a gamer. I am gamer generation. AM2 and AM4 have more than one song on my playlist. But I spend too much time playing games, way too much, and while it was fine before a demarcation line has arisen.
So, what is it that we get from video games?
1. A sense of accomplishment and personal development -- leveling up, building your character.
2. Learning new things -- exploring the world, learning about the game, best ways to do things, etc.
3. Social interaction -- talking to people online, hearing people, kidding around, doing activities together, being serious together
4. A place in society -- kind of like a combination of all of the above, it's a group, it's a society.
I found it trivial to walk away from video games when I realized that martial arts was all of the above and more.
1. I got a sense of accomplishment when I developed my own skill in martial arts. It took a long time but I am now definitely miles ahead of a beginner, at least in certain areas. For example now when I apply a technique I do not need to finish the technique to get a result. Now that I have seen and experienced that yes, I am in fact getting this from martial arts, why do I need to get it from video games too? I can let it go.
2. Learning new things. Well there's always something new to learn! Here at the ripe old age of almost fifty I just learned lien bu quan and gong li quan for the first time in my life. I don't like these forms very much but it's nice to learn new things. And forget "new" new, there's always delving deeper into what I already know, which is also equally if not more fulfilling. So if I am having so much fun learning new things -- and teaching is also a joy -- then why do I need video games to occupy more time in my life than martial arts? Well, I found out I didn't.
3. Social interaction. Wow -- we have so much fun in the mornings going out and talking while we practice. Joking around together, being serious together, "These guys, I'll remember them my whole life".. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2HOhvFSlVs). If I, we, get so much fun and reward and make so many friends and accquaintances ("use wushu for making friends") then why do I need to get on discord and talk to people who are, to sum it all up, not worth talking to? That social interaction is not really social interaction so martial arts has this covered too.
4. As a group or society, martial arts seems to be better. The people are better and the relationships are better. By better I mean it's easier to be who you are (to know your role). To fit in and improve within that structure. For people who are looking for a group, martial arts is way better than something like video games, or whatever the kids are into these days. (Werewolves and pokemons. I don't mean toy pokemons. Don't look it up, you'll thank me.) Plus martial arts has the best movies and dare I say it, video games. It's great conversation material.
The relationships I developed in martial arts stayed with me for as long as I can remember but in video games things are too transient. I think it is high time I take that few hours each day and spend it together with my family. Doing kung fu
Join me this year! in 2023, the year of the Rabbit, to make a "super bunny leap" into the future!
New Years Resolution: Practice kungfu for 1 hour of video game time (the first hour you would have played). Then you can play if you really want to.