Heroes

Young people have always had action heroes, and I was no different. When I started training in Isshinryu Karate my action heroes changed from those on television and in the movies to the adult Black Belts and some of the Brown Belts in the Dojo.

  I was amazed by their martial arts abilities. Some of the skills they possessed I didn’t think could be  real because before that I had only seen them on the screen. Their punches and kicks were faster than I imagined and more numerous than I could count. The quantity of pushups, jumping jacks and other warm-up exercises and the speed they were executed almost made it feel impossible to keep up. Kata and kumite were foreign concepts to me at the time that appeared to be something only the higher ranks could do well.

  There were a few other kids approximately my age, but they were intermediate and Brown belts. They didn’t interact with me much except for sticking me with the occasional kick or punch. I guess that was their way of helping me along.

  To this day I still feel fortunate that there was a core group of people that took the time to work with me and set the groundwork for what I am able to do today. One was an adult Ik-Kyu that took the time to explain to me why we were using the techniques the way we did. There were two Black Belts. Both were always fixing my basics and kata but one was always helping me with my kumite. She helped me to get off my fight line and stick people with kicks. One Black Belt would always spend extra time with me on the details. I was having trouble with my left side breakfalls as a teenager. Maybe he was just tired of seeing me fake the left side, so he stayed after class with me for over 45 minutes just working my left side.

  Not one of these people were my Sensei at the time. This was all in addition and clarification of what Sensei was teaching. You may not be the owner of a Dojo, or even a chief instructor. That in no way dictates the positive impact you can have on a student, especially a new student. Put in your time and hone your skills. Share those skills when appropriate. Never forget that younger students will view you as a roll model. You may never know how many people you have positively influenced, but that’s okay because they will know.