Do NOT try this at home...

By now, surely you've seen this 'most epic of splits'. jean-claude van damme, the man, the legend, the split-master and the childhood icon? yep, easily i watched every one of van damme's movies. my grade school and middle school friday nights often consisted of 2 or 3 movie rentals from blockbuster with my best childhood buddy, dave brengle. and over the years we saw the dozen-or-so martial arts dramas that always had a "training" scene where van damme would showcase his splits. ouch! probably the best known of these dozen is called 'bloodsport' (the popularity of which likely was the first domino to fall in the acceptance of mixed-martial-arts as a viable American juggernaut).

It's interesting to note that van damme lost his way somewhere along the road of movie stardom in the mid-90s. his movies began to bring in fewer dollars and his recreational habits may have become addictions under the stress created by lingering success. sadly, it is an all to common tale amongst the elite entertainers. today it strikes me that it may also be a tale we all have some experience in. relevance in the eyes of others can become something we chase in many areas of our lives--work, home, facebook, leaving-a-legacy etc. we want to be seen a certain way and when we feel we've lost control of how other people see us, we look for ways to intensify our presence and numb the pain of feeling lost. and in this van-damme story there is a reminder, maybe even a parable, that has a happy ending. you see, when van-damme was at his peak, he simply did what he loved to do...entertain through martial arts (and his epic splits). and here 20 years after his mega-stardom, we see that 'getting back to basics' is what propels him into relevance again. simple thought: who you are is enough--no acceleration or additives needed. continue patiently doing whatever you do best. recognition comes and goes in waves and has nothing to do with whether you're valuable. we get in trouble when we try to be more than we are (as channing tatum so vividly illustrates below :-))