This is a list of excuses I’ve heard over my three and half years of studying ju-jitsu. Most of these are from people who have never started, others are from people who have missed a class, and some are actually excuses I’ve used!
1. Don't have time
2. It costs too much for only 2 nights a week
3. Can't afford it
4. Classes are too late at night
5. Too old, slow, young, fat, shy, scared
6. Takes too long to earn a black belt
7. There are no tournaments
8. I'm not smart enough
9. I'm not coordinated enough
10. I have bad knees, back, neck…
11. I’m not paying money to get my ass kicked.
12. I go out to eat on the nights of class.
13. You get hurt too easily, too much
14. I have family over on the nights of class
15. I don’t get off work in time
16. I have to work at night
17. I’m too stressed/it’s too stressful
18. I’d be cripple in a few years
19. I don’t want to try it alone
20. I don’t like to fight
21. Falling down on purpose is stupid
22. Someone throwing me down all night would hurt
23. If I break an arm, I can’t work
24. I need that money for other things
25. We always eat supper at 7:00
26. My wife won’t let me
27. I don’t want to practice at home to get better
28. I can’t bend over to touch my toes
29. Everyone in the class is too far ahead of me
30. I’m not flexible enough
31. I might kill someone if I had to use it
32. Someone might hurt me
33. I don’t need to my, my girlfriend has the tae-boe workout tapes
34. Keeping a notebook is too much like school
35. I’m scared of the back fall
36. It’s too complicated
37. There is too much to learn
38. I’m too tired at the end of the day
39. I don’t like feeling sore
40. It would take away from my fishing and hunting
41. I like to drink beer in the afternoons
42. I go to church on Wednesday nights
43. I’m too embarrassed to start
44. If more people would start with me, I would
45. I need to get in shape first
46. I would if it were a 6 weeks course
47. My body can’t move like that
48. I have too much work to do around the house
49. I lift weights at night
50. I want to do high kicks and spinning kicks
51. I can’t start now, I’m sunburned
52. Classes are too long
53. I just have too much to do: I have a wife, a kid, and a 40 hour a week job.