I know a lot of "more normal" people (myself included sometimes) who are genuinely interested in martial arts/combat sports, but are shying away from actual training because of too many excuses--like they're fat or too thin or not very flexible or old or clumsy or with low pain tolerance or not athletic or sickly or just plain lazy.
Well, I've stumbled on a very inspiring blog that could probably change everybody else's perspective, as it did mine.
This blog features differently-abled individuals who have been actively involved in martial arts/combat sports despite their imperfections caused by accidents or illnesses or congenital malformations.
One very good example is Canadian kickboxer Baxter Humby--known as "The One Armed Bandit"--because he has no right hand. It was amputated at birth, just below his elbow, after becoming entangled with the umbilical cord.
Also dubbed as the only man in the world to win world titles with only one hand, Humby is the current International Muay Thai Council world super welterweight champion, and has a fight record of 53-10-1.
He holds a number of other titles, including IMTC World middleweight champion, International Karate and Kickboxing Council United States champion, and International Kickboxing Association champion.
On a sidenote, he also took part in the filming of Spider-Man 3, where he served as Tobey Maguire's double in doing a fight scene between Spider-Man and Sandman. Humby was the one who punched and made a hole through Sandman's chest.
Self-actualized albeit differently-abled individuals like Humby symbolize the virtue of an indomitable spirit. If he and the others like him could succeed in the field of martial arts/combat sports despite their obvious disadvantages and limitations, it's not unlikely that they'd succeed in other areas and aspects of life as well.
This very admirable mindset should what some of us "more normal" people learn to have and learn to apply in both our monumental and even petty endeavors.
Photo & Info Source: Martial Artists With Disabilities Blog
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