Six Months, Everything Still to Become

All good things must come to an end. I used to be less sure about that. Today, I think the people who say it might be right.

The mini break is over, and I have genuinely loved it. Not because of anything dramatic — I didn't do a great deal, which was always the point. What made it worthwhile was simpler than that. Time with a good friend. Wonderful conversation. Beautiful meals eaten without hurry. A very small amount of training, and not much else besides. Exactly what was needed, in exactly the right measure.

But as the day closes and I sit with my thoughts drifting forward, something larger arrives alongside the quiet satisfaction of a good weekend.

I came to Wudang two years ago. In six months, I will leave. And sitting with that fact honestly, I feel the weight of what still remains — how much there is yet to learn, how much growth is still waiting to be lived. Six months suddenly feels both long and not nearly long enough, and I find myself genuinely uncertain whether I can reach everything I desire within it.

Time will tell. Time always does.

What I know is that the work will have to be focused, deliberate, and honest about what actually matters. And the truth, when I look at it plainly, hasn't changed. The thing that has always held me back — my physical limitations, and more specifically my hips — is still the thing. It has been a long journey back from my Shaolin days, when I pushed them past what they could reasonably withstand and paid a price I didn't expect to still be paying years later. I had no idea recovery would take this long. And recovery, if I am honest, is no longer the goal. I don't want them back to where they were. I want them to be better than they have ever been.

So once again I will double down. More focused work through the hips and legs, more patience with the process, more willingness to do the unglamorous daily work that real change requires. And in six months, I hope to look back at this moment with a smile that confirms it was worth every step.

I am ready to return to school. The weekend gave me what I came for. But the future I am building is waiting, and it is time to get back to the work of creating it.