What is your excuse?

Too many times I see students signing up for Martial Arts classes with big goals just to quit a short time after. What is interesting they always have reasons for quitting and by reasons I mean excuses. They’ll sabotage their goals by building a story in their minds about why this will never work for them. I have no time, I’m too busy, I’m too heavy, I’m too small, it’s too hard, it will take too long et.c.

Not Alex!

Alex came to Performance Krav Maga a few months ago.

When he walked into my class I couldn't help but notice that Alex had a prosthetic leg.

On one side I was excited that I will have an opportunity to help him in his Martial Arts training but on another, I was a little afraid of the challenge. I’ve never worked with someone like that before.

He was young, fit and he seemed to be handling his condition very well.

I figured I will run my class just like any other class to see what he can handle.

Halfway through the warm-up, I was amazed with his athletic capabilities. He had no problem with rolls, falls, balance, movement or any other aspects of the training.

Later I found out that Alex had some Martial Arts experience in Muay Thai and BJJ from before the accident.

Alex lost his leg when he was 16 in the construction site accident. He was given a short hope for saving his leg, but when the medical procedure did not bring desired results the only option was amputation.

Eight months later he was walking again with the help of his prosthetic leg and one year after the accident he was able to resume exercise and training.

I never gave Alex free pass on anything, as I understood this was not what he wanted. He always pushed harder than anyone. His heart and passion were unmatched.

After seven months of training, Alex was ready for his Yellow Belt exam under Krav Maga Federation – AC guidelines. It was hard, but he never stopped and never complained, even when his prosthetic leg came detached during the ground fighting portion of his belt test he kept fighting like he was the third monkey on Noah’s Ark.

At Performance Krav Maga we have a tradition that at the end of the year we award a student of the year with a Samurai Sword. This year making that decision was difficult because we had so many excellent students and Alex hasn’t been there a full year. However, when I nominated Alex all Instructors were in the agreement and Alex received that honor.

Alex has officially finished his training with Performance Krav Maga as he’s moving to Puerto Rico.

We’re wishing him success in his future endeavors and we’re going to miss him. When things get hard in training or in life we will always be able to ask ourselves a question: What would Alex do?

Alex, thank you for teaching us so much more than we were able to teach you.

Written by Greg Dziewonski