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.

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 started thinking about Way of the Gray Dragon.

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

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!

There is a common denominator among them… they never did much fitness training, or at some point that stopped.

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 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.

When I was done, she said “wow.”

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 though, 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 thing I knew to deal with that 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 watched my folks decline slowly over about the last five years.

They waited too long to move, but the move could’ve been prevented if they had been stronger.

While my stepfather was athletic, he blew out his knees playing tennis.  He did a ton of walking and that is what keeps him from relying on a walker, but he is weak.

Mom is much worse.  She never did any sort of exercise in her life besides some walking.

Two broken ankles in her 50s ended that, and now she is very frail.

My father in Wisconsin is 92.  He is also quite frail and never did any strength training either.

He now has an inner ear issue that affects his balance.  A few months ago he crashed down the steps and broke a couple of ribs.  He is lucky.

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.

It 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!

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

Thanks for reading.

Scott Allan Cole