Category: Feel Good Story

I’ve spent the past week writing about a short, four-question interview I’ve been providing to a lot of the key people from my karate background. If you haven’t been reading these posts, they’ve included a surrogate brother, friends and colleagues. The list has by no means been exhaustive, and there are a number of key people who simply haven’t responded, as of yet. Not least of these is Sensei. But as I’ve been transferring these answers from whatever messaging platform I’ve received them to the blog, it’s dawned on me that i should likely take a moment to answer these questions myself. Here we go:

1. Why did you join karate?
   I started studying martial arts in general at a very young age, but started karate specifically at the the age of ten. My health wasn’t the greatest. I had been diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes a few years’ prior, and had suffered through a number of Diabetic comas in a short number fo years. Due to lack of education and these accumulated complications, my doctors predicted I wouldn’t live into my teens. My body had severe insulin resistance, which, since a Diabetic needs insulin to survive, wasn’t a happy combination. Doctors had no answers and basically started prepping my family for the possibility that I would die before reaching adulthood. imagine being a 10-year old kid and being told you’re going to die. That’s what I had to deal with. I wasn’t satisfied with that potential outcome and felt I had to do something to take control of my own health.

I was also significantly bullied. I was always a bit of the “different” kid in every class I attended. And I’m not talking about the modern, “snowflake” version of bullying where people’s feelings get hurt. I used to be cornered by three of the school’s “popular” hockey players, where they’d take turns punching and kicking me until I either passed out or someone came along to help. I once had an instance where a bunch of guys grabbed me and threw me into the gym showers, fully clothed. I spent the rest of the afternoon going to classes, soaking wet. The icing on the cake was having busted my face and lips on the tile flooring when I landed.

For all those reasons, I chose to step into a karate dojo and begin training in karate. I needed to improve my health, increase my chance of surviving long enough to experience life and I needed a way to properly defend myself as I had learned from a young age that the strong will often prey upon the weak.

2. When did you join karate?
I would have joined karate in 1989, when I was about 10 years old. I was introduced to Sensei through Guillaume, whom you would have read about here.

3. How many years have you been training and are you still doing so?
At this point, this year marks 33 years of studying Uechi Ryu karate. It’s been a bit of a bittersweet journey, since my departure from my home Province means that I haven’t grown and progressed to the point I would have liked. If I’m being honest with myself (and with my readers), there may have been times where I’ve taken a “break” but I’ve truly never stopped.

4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
I think the first and most important thing I gained from karate is perspective. People join the martial arts for different reasons, some good, some bad. Within a matter of months, my insulin resistance improved, my blood sugars started to regulate and I started to get into shape (much to the amazement of my doctors. Once my health started to improve, I began working on being able to defend myself. Since I was somewhat certain that taking my health in hand had accomplished what my doctors seemed unwilling or unable to do, now I had to make certain I could walk confidently without having my peers take advantage of me or harm me.

It all came to a head for me when I had one of my bullies try to come at me with a pocket knife. It sounds like something out of a bad movie but unlike a bad movie, it wasn’t a long, drawn out affair involving dodging and weaving, knives flashing as high-octane music played in the background. It was all of ten seconds; five seconds for him to come at me and sink the blade into my wrist and five seconds of my throwing him and breaking one of his bones. The irony is that once we received medical attention and the smoke had cleared, I was sent home for a week for “starting a fight.” No one stood up to explain I hadn’t started it. Que sera.

I tell this story as something I gained from karate because it provides two very important details to my story. The first is that I learned quickly that I wasn’t proud of what I had done and was frightened beyond reason. Fighting someone who means to do you harm is a scary thing. But more over, I learned that I wanted nothing to do with harming others. This is where the Buddhist aspect of me kicked in, believe it or not. It was in my teen years that I recognized the existence of suffering and my need to try and eliminate it from my own life, well before I had even started studying Zen.

By the time those different aspects of my youth had been addressed, I found myself in an existential black hole. Now that I had ensured my improved health and self-protection, I needed to discover who I was as a person and what mark I wanted to make on the world. Most of the years that followed involved trying things and trying to discover my inner self. I eventually did, but I also discovered that once I started I couldn’t stop. I’ve been doing karate and martial arts in general, ever since.

By the time I reached adulthood, I had gained/developed discipline, motivation, focus, strength, concentration and the drive and ambition to accomplish anything. More than that, I joined a fellowship that would stay with me for the rest of my life. The people I’ve met, places I’ve been and the dedicated students I’ve trained/trained with are all counted among the most important of things that I’ve gained from the martial arts. Even now, being as far from home as I am, those connections remain intact.

In closing, I’m going to ask a question of myself that I didn’t provide to the others. Maybe I should have. That question simply this: what does the future hold for me? When I look back at everything I’ve been through in my 33 years of karate, I acknowledge that I wouldn’t be alive today, had it not been for my training. That applies both to my personal and professional life. Karate continues to flow through my daily life in almost every aspect. I don’t have a crystal ball and I don’t know what the future may hold.

I’m inclined to believe that my days of training hard for hours on end may be dwindling away. These days, you can find me training as a guest of the Regina Institute of Kempo Karate. The great, white hope is that eventually my sons will snap out of it and choose to step into the martial arts world, as well. My youngest is certainly showing some affinity to it. At the end of my journey, passing on this knowledge to my children will be the final step I take as I lay down my belt for the last time. ☯️

In today’s volume of my personal chronicles, we look at someone whom I’ve known for over thirty years. Our history goes all the way back to before either of us was born. Our families have known each other for the two generations that preceded us, and she and I grew up living on the same street. As we grew into adolescence, we not only became friends and built the most solid group of friends one could possibly ask for, we were also a couple for many years.

When my martial arts training kicked into high gear, MJ started joining me to classes. She developed great skill and was usually a challenging opponent during sparring. If you remember Volume 2 about JL that was posted just a few days ago, he could tell you without a doubt. She’s the only one I’ve ever seen to drop him to the ground during sparring. I’m not saying it never happened before or since; I’m just saying it was the only time I ever saw it. These days, MJ is extremely busy raising her children. Here’s what she had to say:

1. Why did you join karate?
   “I had an annoying boyfriend that kept bugging me to join, lol. But to be honest, it was the best thing I ever did.”
2. When did you join karate?
   “I was 16 years old.”
3. How many years have you been training and are you still doing so>
   “I trained for about three years when I was a teen and did a year after my daughters were born. Sensei said it was like I never left. We were very well-trained.”
4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
   “I’ve gained self-esteem and it gave me my beginning experiences in spirituality.”

I have to say, I definitely like the answer to the first question best. I’ll be the first one to admit that I was a significant handful to deal with during my teen years. But i can certainly be grateful that my youthful stubbornness helped MJ to find some benefit to everything we trained in. Everyone’s reasons for joining karate may be different. And everyone’s outcome may be different. the key point is to make a positive out of it. ☯️

Today’s volume of the Uechi Chronicles is near and dear to me, because it involves someone that’s been an important influence and shoulder to lean on throughout my youth. Guillaume is my Sensei’s son and having basically been raised and grown up around Sensei’s home, Guillaume and I had the opportunity to develop a life-long friendship that’s endured despite years of time and distance. He and I have been friends through all of the important firsts in our lives and I’ve forgotten more stories about us than I can remember.

I first starting spending time with Guillaume when I was around 10-years old. I went over to Sensei’s house and Guillaume thought it would be a good idea to use his home chemistry set to create an explosive. You know how those kids’ sets always say the chemicals are basically harmless? Guillaume proved them wrong! As we grew older, we started to get into all sorts of bad pastimes , such as gun fights with pellet guns, sparring and beating the shit out of each other in public places and being an all-around bad influence on each other.

What’s interesting about Guillaume’s story is that unlike most others, he didn’t join karate by choice. As Sensei’s first-born son, he was basically pushed into it. Although Guillaume is significantly skilled and capable in the martial arts, the forced obligation to be in karate soured him on continuing on into his adult years. As a result, he rarely practices anymore. This is to the detriment of the martial arts world as well as himself and other students who could benefit from his potential teachings.

He now lives in a small city called Bathurst, which is roughly an hour’s drive away from our home town. We still chat on the rare occasion but like most people, life and familial obligations have made it so that we don’t have as much contact as we used to. I last saw in him in late 2019, when I was travelling through New Brunswick on work-related matters. He currently operates as a self-employed acupuncturist and has been building his own house for some time. Despite this busy schedule, he took the time to answer my questions. Here’s what he had to say:

1. Why did you join karate?
   “I was forced by my father to do karate.”
2. When did you join karate?
   “I was about 3 years old.”
3. How many years have you been training and are you still doing so?
   “I trained for about 16 years. No, the odd time I might do a kata… But I can say I spar on a daily basis. So something stuck with it.”
4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
   “It was the listening part that you had to follow. Made your ears work and not your tongue. To follow orders and commands…my father still, to this day comes to see me and I hear him say my name from a distance, doesn’t matter where I am, and as soon as I hear it, I yell back ‘yes, dad!’ The response to years of having a split second to react.”

It’s an interesting perspective and as some of you may recall, I’ve written and posted videos on the perils of forcing one’s children into the martial arts. Karate is an important journey; one that needs to be made based on one’s choice. This is why despite my preference, I’ve never forced Nathan into karate. He doesn’t seem particularly interested in anything other than wrestling in general, as a game. There’s hope for Alex, though. So who knows? Guillaume has the honour of having been Sensei’s first graduated black belt. Despite the reasons behind, I believe that leaving karate behind is an impossibility. Aspects of it still permeate his soul. ☯️

Here we go with another instalment of The Uechi Chronicles, where I provide interview answers I’ve gathered from some of my longer-standing karate colleagues. I’ve actually started accumulating a number of responses, so there’ll be a few of these coming out. It’s interesting to see the different perspectives, opinions and reasons behind why all these people chose to join the martial arts and in some cases, were forced into the martial arts.

In this post, I’ll be providing JL’s answers. JL is a friend of mine from back in New Brunswick, who ironically lives and works here in Regina. A few years younger than I, I first met JL while visiting his Sensei’s dojo. His Sensei happened to be a student of my Sensei, and she had opened a dojo of her own. Since we had recently dropped from three classes a week to two, I decided to supplement my training by working out in JL’s dojo on Fridays. Since the class was entirely comprised of new students, everyone was a white belt, save for the Sensei and myself.

This being the case, when the class formed up I took the front spot to the right, which is where the most-senior belt is to stand. Turns out that this was the spot JL was accustomed to standing, despite being ranked the same as everyone else. When he walked up to the front, he confronted me and asked, “What the hell are you doing, that’s my spot!” I remember thinking I couldn’t decide whether I should laugh or punch him, but the Sensei recognized the situation and eased it for all parties concerned.

Despite that rocky start, JL would go on to be one of my oldest friends. We would train in karate together, go on to pursue the same career and despite the massive size of our country, somehow managed to inadvertently end up in the same area. Life has progressed in such a way that we don’t get to see much of each other anymore, despite living so close to each other. But we still get the opportunity to grab the occasional coffee and catch up. And that’s more than a lot of people have. Despite his busy schedule, he managed to eke out some answer for me. Here they are:

1. Why did you join karate?
   “Tired of being the small, weak kid. Wanted to be able to defend myself, as I was picked on every now and then while growing up.”
2. When did you join karate?
   “I joined when I was in Grade 9, so 1996.”
3. How many years have you been training?
   “I trained for 4 years. I would have continued, but I made the choice to go to college to ensure I would be ready for the rest of my life. After college, I thought of getting back into it but I wanted to get muscular, so I started hitting the gym.”
4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
   “A little more self-confidence, some skills to defend myself and somewhat prepared me for the idea of wanting to become a police officer.”

His answers were short, succinct and less detailed than Ricky’s. But this is a good opportunity to point out that it’s never too late. I’ve had students start karate from day 1 in their 50’s and have gone on to build skill and precision and become avid martial artists. I, myself, worked through two years of college WHILE training regularly in karate. As the old saying goes, where there’s a will, there’s a way. I anticipate that once the renovations are done in my basement, I’ll be setting up a home dojo. JL, if you’re reading this, here’s and open invitation to come train for free. Hell, since I have a punching bag and a garage, that invitation is effective immediately! ☯️

It stands to reason that I’ve met and trained with a number of interesting people over the past 33 years that I’ve been studying karate. I’ve seen the entire spectrum, from folks who walked in and tried it out before walking away, to those who toughed it out and developed themselves beyond the basics. And I have a handful of long-standing friendships that have developed as a result. By virtue of this, I thought it would be interesting to get each of their perspectives on what brought them to karate and some of the details of their material arts journey.

I’ve known Ricky for a little over twenty years at this point, and met him while visiting one of my Sensei’s students who had opened a dojo of her own. Over the next couple of years that followed, the student body at this dojo dwindle to the point that the lead instructor chose to close her doors, leaving thee remaining students with little options. Some went off to different styles but a few chose to join Sensei’s dojo and continue their development in Uechi Ryu. Ricky was one such individual.

Friendly and always quick with a laugh, I’ve come to appreciate Ricky for his warm-hearted and level-headed approach to life. He currently holds a brown belt and is one of the few active, remaining students of my Sensei’s dojo. I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions. Here are the answers:

1. Why did you join karate?
“I joined Karate for confidence and reassurance. I needed that protection not, only physically but mentally as well. I didnt want to go somewhere and be afraid of conflicts. I wanted to protect myself and/or people I cared about. Also, I watched a wack load of movies about martial arts and seen many demonstrations that I found “out of this world” and instantly caught my interest.
Plus, it was cool and deep inside wanted to impress people like they impressed me. Lol”

2. When did you join karate?
”I joined karate in 1997. I was 12-years old at the time.”

3. How many years have you been training?
”When I was younger, I wasn’t taking my training seriously. So it became an on and off thing but when I began to upgrade in ranks, I felt like I needed to change to become better. Focus, determination had to be in me to succeed.
So to answer the question, I’ve been training for over 20 years give or take.”

4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
”I gained the power of mental discipline and a focus I never thought I could acquire. I gained not just friends but a family outside my family.
Physically, I am stronger, faster and tougher.
I truly gained a skill that I can now pass on to people that need it, like I did at the time and to my children one day.”

It’s definitely interesting to hear the different perspectives and reasons behind peoples’ choice to enter into the martial arts. Sometimes, it’s hard to believe I’ve known Ricky for half my life and although we’ll never know for sure, we likely never would have met if not for karate. Another shining example of how the martial arts can provide so much more than just the skills and knowledge of the style. I’m looking forward to providing interviews from a few other people. Stay tuned. ☯️