Here I am, writing in January 2021, and we're still having to deal with the ramifications of COVID-19.
Other stuff is going on, too, but this is a martial arts blog.
Anyhoo...
Depending on where you are, you might be locked down as hard as most of us were back in March and April, or you're not but still have enough restrictions in place that it's difficult to train. Me, I live in a relatively lightly hit area, and so lockdowns here haven't been as draconian as where some of you are right now, but it's still tough.
No matter what, the ramifications of all this continue to be absolutely devastating to the martial arts world.
But you know what? I think we're going to survive.
Maybe not like we were. It may be years before we get back to having the same number of commercial schools we had before.
Some commercial schools are surviving (I've heard a few - a very few - have been able to grow). Maybe they were able to negotiate rent and cut other costs to the bone. Maybe they were able to keep or grow revenue streams going during the worst of it. Around me, I know there's several commercial schools still here.
But many are gone, possibly forever.
But it doesn't mean those school that are gone includes the people who trained/taught there quitting.
Instead, we're adapting to new technologies (quality distance learning is NOW truly possible for the first time, and that's pretty exciting), we're going back to our roots in parks and back yards and garage dojos.
You and I know that the impulse to acquire bruises for fun is so strong that we just can't stop.
We won't stop.
We found a way in the worst of it, and we'll continue to find a way.
Some people who used to teach martial arts for a living are now working in a different job, and teaching on the side, often for free. It's because they just can't NOT do this. It's not how they're built.
We might have another three months of this. We might have another year of this. Either way, on the other side...
I'll be here. And you will be too.
We'll keep teaching and training.