Way of the Gray Dragon

Get on the path now…build your body, strengthen your mind, stay independent.

Hi, I’m Scott,

Six months ago (it’s November 2026 as I write this), I turned 60.

For over 35 years I have made a living as a commercial real estate appraiser.  However, I now have a second calling, which is why you are reading this.

Before I dive in, let me tell you a little bit more about my background, although it’s nothing special.

Back in the day, I was a pretty good golfer, and that talent earned me a college golf scholarship.  I was also a swimmer through high school as well.  I would describe myself as a slow sprinter.  In other words, I didn’t win too many races!

Later in life, I married and had three beautiful daughters with wife #1.

In 2000, my oldest, who was six at the time, decided she wanted to learn a martial art due to her favorite show at the time.

So I took her to a kung fu school where I used to train, and I started back up as well.  Unsurprisingly, she stopped six months later, but I continued for another eight years.

It was then that I decided to start teaching golf as a side hustle, so I stopped training formally as well.

However, I always continued to practice a little bit each week as I recognized the value the training had toward my fitness.

While I was training at the kung fu school, I lifted weights and jogged to help make the occasional belt test go a little bit easier, as they could be true tests of physical endurance.

Unfortunately, at some point I had given up my fitness equipment, and since I have never been fond of training at a gym, my fitness started to go south.

By 2020, I had ballooned to over 210 pounds, and did not feel great, to say the least.

Fortunately, with my second wife, I bought this little house here in Maryland that came with a garage, which is actually a bit of a luxury in this particular neighborhood.

I immediately bought my existing fitness equipment, including a set of barbells, a power rack and an exercise bike.

This was just before the Covid pandemic hit, which drove prices up through the roof.

Anyhow, I went to work.

I learned more about strength training, and I applied all my other knowledge from kung fu along with other fitness programs I had tried out before.

I also finally started keeping track of my diet and nutrition, which was really the final piece of the puzzle.

You can see the results that I got.

However, I still consider myself to be a work in progress.  At this age, there always seems to be some sort of disruption in my training.

The last 15 months or so have been interesting, to say the least.

After taking a Cologuard test at home and getting a positive result (bad news), a follow up colonoscopy indicated I had a sizable growth in my colon.

I subsequently underwent surgery to remove a third of my colon along with my appendix and some nearby lymph nodes.

Fortunately, everything tested negative for cancer.

But then we had to say goodbye to our beautiful golden retriever Piper two weeks after my surgery.

So it was a brutal few months to end 2025.

In the Spring, I then had to move my folks into a senior living facility.  At 89 (mom) and 96 (stepfather), they were simply too weak and frail to continue living in the house where I grew up.

And it was THEN that I knew I had to get started with Way of the Gray Dragon, a project I had been thinking about for a couple of years.

You see, about 90% of the people living in the senior home rely on a walker or wheelchair to get around.

Modern medicine is helping us live longer, but not necessarily better!

While the facility is nice, and there is great community spirit there, it is a bit depressing seeing all those people lose their independence.

It doesn’t have to be that way!

Back to my surgery…

My surgery was December 16, 2025.  It involved six incisions, and man when the anesthesia wore off did I feel like crap.

However, within about 48 hours, I was starting to get my energy back.

That day, the physical therapist came in and put me through some tests.  I passed with flying colors.

That evening, my nurse came in and put me through a breathing test.  You have to breathe in and keep the water at a certain level for as long as possible.

I passed that one with flying colors as well.

They released me on the 19th and prescribed some oxycodone for me.

I never picked up the prescription… didn’t need it.

I was uncomfortable, but I just didn’t need the medication.

Piper was suffering for a couple of months ahead of my surgery.  It was mainly her hips, but I suspect there was something else going on as well.

She held out for me while I was in the hospital, but by New Years Eve, she let us know she was ready to cross the rainbow bridge.

That was brutal… second worst day of my life.  The next day was the worst… it was the first full day without her in the house since we got her as a puppy 13 years before.

The only way I knew how to deal with her passing was to get back into my garage gym.

Obviously though, I had a problem… six incisions in my abdomen.

That first workout was on January 2nd.  I did a few pushups and did some very light work with the dumbbells.

By early February, I started picking up the barbell, and I was back into my meditation practice.

I attribute my quick recovery to all of the work I’ve put in over the years… the kung fu, weightlifting, Qigong and all of the other work.

I created Way of the Gray Dragon to help folks in my age group get control of their health and fitness through a mix of strength training, kung fu, Qigong and conditioning work.

The goal is to keep as many people out of the nursing home as possible!

It costs over $5,000 per month where my folks live, and that is for so-called “independent living.”

Assisted living facilities can cost upwards of $10,000 per month!

Way of the Gray Dragon was designed by a 60 year old, aimed at the 50 plus crowd with all of our potential issues in mind (in addition to my colon surgery, I deal with arthritis in my feet and a lower back issue from my competitive golf days).

By the time we are 50, we have some wear and tear.

Thus, we can’t train like we are 25, 30 or even 40.

But we CAN still train hard!

Just because we are beat up doesn’t mean we can’t lift anything heavier than one of those little orange dumbbells!

We just need to train smart, and pay attention to all areas of our fitness, including our mental health.

Way of the Gray Dragon provides you with what I believe is the most complete training program you can find anywhere.

Want to learn how?  Head over to Gray Dragon Path to learn more.

Thanks for reading.

Scott Allan Cole