Martial Atrophy

Friday night before practice I was talking to Andy about what I call Martial Atrophy. He feels that he's settles into his rank. In my view, I'm usually getting better or worse, moving forward or backwards in progress but always moving. If I'm not practicing I feel like my skills are declining. I was wondering if there should be a system in place so that if a martial artist doesn't perform or practice for x amount of time if his rank should decrease due to lack of participation. Later that night during actual practice we went over Nijusan and though I haven't practiced it in a while, my views I discovered were pretty unfounded. While my off-balance timing was a bit off, once me and Andy started moving I could easily feel where his momentum was taking us. I recalled how difficult it was when I was a green and yellow belt and how much I have progressed since then. There's nothing quite like realizing you can still surprise yourself.