My Superhero "Someday" Is Here: How I Shifted Wonder & Waiting into Action

My Superhero "Someday" Is HereI've always wanted to be a superhero someday.Ever since I was little, growing up on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and X-Men, I've been a sucker for super powers, stunts and tricks. I cared more about comic book characters than I did about Barbies. The way Donatello could tumble through the air with grace, the prowess of Rogue as she kicked ass (even though she didn't have to because she could have just touched them to kill them)... In the back of my mind, I'd always told myself I would do that stuff someday.I devoured Daredevil Season 2 a few months ago when I was still on my forced workout-cleanse, and then I rewatched the entire season mainly because of the mind-blowing fight scenes. It's been my favorite show since Season 1, but beyond that, the moves that Daredevil's stuntman could do were everything I wanted to do "someday."

Watching Daredevil fly around, wielding chains and billy clubs while flipping and kicking left me in awe. In my couch-ridden state, I was hyper-aware of how much joyful movement positively affected my life and that I couldn't wait to get back into it again.Watching the stunt man move ignited a call deep inside of me that I'd forgotten was there because of all the forms of movement I was doing because I thought I "should." It's only when movement was stripped from me that I realized just how much I yearned to be able to do everything he could do.But I didn't know where to start. What did Daredevil's stuntman do to get where he is today? I wondered about it for a while, but then I realized that wondering was the main reason I had never taken action in the first place.I wondered about which method of martial arts was best.I wondered which studio to try.I wondered if I could even be as good as I wanted to be. What if I failed?I wondered whether I'd even like it; what if I made a mistake?And then I realized that wondering was wasting my life. Time spent wondering was time spent in stasis. So what if I was wrong; at least I'd know and I could move on with another "someday."

My Superhero Someday would come not when someone else decided it would; I'd have to choose it.

So I determined to go directly to the source. I found out the name of Daredevil's stuntman and used 20 seconds of courage to tweet him, knowing he probably wouldn't get back to me:

I hoped for a response, but I didn't expect one. To my delight, just a few hours later, I heard a ping on my phone:

:0 Behold the power of the internets!After a couple more tweets back and forth, I reached out to Mike Chat, the owner of XMA HQ in Los Angeles (oh, and he's also the blue Power Ranger, NBD!!!), who almost immediately connected me with Church's ATA Martial Arts here in San Diego, the dojang (what taekwondo studios are called) where World Champions are made. The owner, Mrs. Church, informed me that to start the path of XMA, I'd have to develop the skills of traditional martial arts. At Church's ATA, they focused on Taekwondo.The process from the ask to the connection to a world-class San Diego dojang took less than 24 hours. It was too easy to ignore the calling.The next week, I was in the dojang, trying out classes. "Someday" was finally here, and I was a little scared that I'd made the wrong choice. These were world-class athletes I was training with.Would they be exclusive, better-than or impatient with a beginner?What if I didn't like it?What if I couldn't do it perfectly the first time around?!My schedule started with several belt-specific classes (martial arts ranks are measured in differently-colored belts) and a couple XMA Classes for tricking and forms (the choreographed "dance" of martial arts). I was the oldest person in the latter classes by at least 15 years. There's something oddly terrifying about being surrounded by black belts whose average age is 12.While this had the potential to be an embarrassing ordeal, the kids were surprisingly kind, encouraging and patient (like, grade school teacher patient).Starting something new is always a humbling experience, but this one was joyful at the same time. I half expected a strict, overbearing, perfectionist instructor, but instead, Master Church (the owner's husband) was funny, gentle about educating, but firm about discipline. Class wasn't just a series of "YES, SIR!" and straight-faced punches and kicks. We laugh, we have fun, we mess up and try again.

Now, I've been at the studio for just over a month and I'm already an orange belt (2nd rank)! I love it so much that I have to keep myself from overtraining by doing more classes than my body's quite ready for.

My Superhero Someday is something I'm no longer wondering about or waiting for; it's something I'm creating by trying (and sometimes failing) every day. All it took was a decision to start and the courage to stand back up when I fall.

Here's to your "Someday" being TODAY.Stay strong,Amy

Health Movementcourage, daredevil, extreme, fear, martial arts, someday, superhero, taekwondo, xma3 Comments