Dancin Jackson stood back from his mirror and took a hard look at himself. “Man, I have to get in shape. I look awful. What woman would be interested in me. I am overweight, out of shape, and I have surgical scars all over my stomach and chest.”
Actually, for a 70 year old guy who recently went through colon cancer and a heart attack, old Jackson is not in too bad of condition. He should be in good shape. Yeah, a former Marine Sergeant and 2nd Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Doe, old Dancin Jackson knows he way around the block.
During his last stay in the hospital, when he was fighting cancer, the Docs complimented him by telling the nurses standing right in front of him, that he was a real Hard Case. That’s right. There is nothing pussy about Jackson. Especially, when the going gets tough.
The truth be known, Jackson is the last person to think of himself as a tough guy. His thing is he “doesn’t like winners and cry babies”. Other then that, old Jackson is a regular likable guy.
“Heck man, I got to get back into the work out routine.” That’s Jackson, psyching himself up for the inevitable hell that his physical restoration effort is going to inflict on him. The other day, Jackson spent 30 minutes in the gym and he almost passed out.
Like he has lost 50% of his body strength. The weight room isn’t what it used to be. Man it used to be fun. Hell bells, people used to watch and stare at him in disbelief, as he pressed over 300 lbs. “Man, can’t do that any more. I can’t even do 150 lbs.”
“I don’t give a hoot, I am going to slowly build myself back up. Little by little. You just wait and see. The heck with them. I’ll show em.”
Now you see why the world loves Dancin Jackson. Old and young people alike. They love his spirit. Boy does he ever have spirit. Matter of fact, it was just a couple years ago that Jackson was testing for his 2nd Degree Black Belt, when his Master presented him with a beautiful trophy for demonstrating very strong spirit. "That’s one thing I’ll say about Koreans, they love and admire people of strong spirit."
The following day, Jackson forced himself to go the gym. He spent 20 minutes in the weight room. Pure hell. And, it was demoralizing. “I’m sure people were watching me. They probably thought, what the hell happened to him. An old lady can lift more weight than he can. This is pure agony. I’m not going to give up.”
Jackson went home and sacked out. When he woke up, he was sore and depressed. Yet, deep down inside, he knew that one day he’d be back in top shape. The question really, was when?
Jackson’s telephone rang. It turned out it was Mabeline, the nurse from rehab at the hospital. She wanted to know if it would be alright to come over for a cup of coffee. Hmm.(To be continued) see Dancin Jackson Introduction
