Reflections on The Road

Wow, it's been a long road.  I realized that I've been in and around martial arts some way or another for the past 37 years.  During that time, I have explored a variety of different arts including boxing, wrestling, fencing, karate, judo, ninjutsu, iaijutsu, kenjutsu, aikido and kali.  I have achieved black belt ranks in 4 arts (ninjutsu, iaijutsu, aikido, kali) and continue to study kali and express the other arts in it.

It was not a planned approach.  It has been more of a random walk, but I have been very lucky to have had the best instructors guide me throughout.  Time and again, I have met and been inspired by people who showed me the keys to open new doors (thank you Guro Claes) and helped me recognize and remember the connection between mind/body/spirit that underpins what we do.  My teachers called me to a higher purpose in service of my fellow souls, and challenged me to accept that Martial Arts would be much more than just punching and kicking.

I'd like to say that I never gave up - that I still continue training every art I learned.
That's only partially true.  I definitely incorporate everything I have done into my Kali flow, as I should.  However, I no longer actively train Yoshinkan Aikido, Takeda Ryu Aikijujutsu, Ninkage Ryu Ninjutsu or Kiyama Ryu Kenjutsu.  In most cases it's because my teachers have stopped teaching or because I have moved away from them.  Even in Kali Majapahit, which I teach currently, my teachers are in other countries and I am mostly left to build on their basics and discover the art through my own practice.  I am doing my best and I hope they will see some progress in between meeting me.

My martial arts is a core part of my identity.  It is central to who I am and how I am, and I cannot imagine ever being without it.  Achievement of black belt ranks has been a welcome recognition of my commitment but was never the end goal - nor the end - of any part of my training.

Sometimes students stall - for whatever reason - and they can't seem to progress as fast as others.  In some cases, it seems like they really don't progress at all.  This can be frustrating and cause them to lose hope and ultimately stop training entirely.  Maybe they feel ashamed or lose motivation if they don't go fast enough.

The reality is that we will all have peaks and valleys in the training, and especially over a lifetime in the arts things will change from time to time.  It is most important to find your way back to the Path, in whatever form it takes, so your personal journey can continue.

Progress can be measured in days and weeks, but it is the years that matter most.

I am grateful to all my teachers, fellow instructors and students for making my journey so fulfilling.
You remind my why I started, why I continue and why I will never stop.

See you on the mats.