People, studies show, behave differently at different ages. Older
people have fewer rows and come up with better solutions to
conflict. They are better at controlling their emotions, better at
accepting misfortune and less prone to anger. In one study, for
instance, subjects were asked to listen to recordings of people
supposedly saying disparaging things about them. Older and younger
people were similarly saddened, but older people less angry and
less inclined to pass judgment, taking the view, as one put it,
that "you can't please all the people all the time."
a bit of prior (ca. 1978) literature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=kNnrTNFWcsg
"If you're gonna play the game, boy, you gotta learn to play it right"
...
Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowin' what to keep
'Cause every hand's a winner, and every hand's a loser
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep"
-Dave
cf "Monk Gloats Over Yoga Championship"
http://web.archive.org/web/20030207115222/http://www.theonion.com/
onion2908/monkgloats.html
or, more seriously: Mochida Moriji
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaPxuwPhkD
it took my body 50 years to learn the basics of kendo
after I reached 50 is when the real training began
this is because I finally began to practice kendo with my mind and
heart
when you reach 60, your legs and your hips weaken
you learn to conquer these weaknesses with your mind and heart
at age 70, your entire body begins to refuse moving
this is when you learn how to *not* use your mind or your heart
I first encountered the concepts of sphere of concern vs. sphere of
influence in dilbertesque circumstances and was ready to toss them on
the buzzword bingo card, but have since reconsidered. One of the
rather concrete things about swordplay is that these spheres become
very tangible (as epitomized in la verdadera destreza). One of the
subtler things about swordplay is to realize that (primo) what
happens outside of combat measure is of very little concern, but
(secundo) an insufficiently frosty swordsman may still be influenced
even while out of measure.
