One evening, on a side street in downtown Seoul, two enthusiastic martial artists engaged in a casual conversation while waiting for class to begin. One of them was myself--a fish out of water trying out taekyun for the first time. The other was a taekyun veteran who grew up in Seoul.
I was taken aback to learn that his first martial art was karate and not taekwondo. For a martial artist growing up in Korea, that was rare and surprising. I said as much.
Then he told me something I will remember forever.
"All martial artists--we are all brothers and sisters. Taekwondo, karate, taekyun--it doesn't matter. We are all brothers and sisters."
It was true in more ways than one. I was welcomed warmly by these strangers on the opposite side of the world from where I called home. I shared lessons, smiles, sweat and laughs with people with whom I shared neither a language nor a culture. It didn't matter because we spoke martial arts fluently (or fluently enough) and we didn't need to share a culture because we shared a family, as brothers and sisters.
This is a project about uniting martial arts brothers and sisters. We have stories to share and there is much we can learn from each other. And there is a great deal of good we can do together.
In the 50 States Challenge, I aim to travel across America and visit a martial arts school in each state. At each school, I will take a class and learn anything that the school wishes to teach me. Then I will teach a class to share what I know and what I have learned along the way. Instead of being paid for teaching, I volunteer my time as part of a fund raiser for the charity of the host school's choice.
This blog chronicles the lessons and stories of the people I meet throughout the project. It is here to invite martial artists from all styles and walks of life to share in the journey. I hope you find somethng of value along the way.
Congratulations, and I wish you the greatest, most enlightening time of your life!
ReplyDeleteThanks! That's my hope, too!
DeleteGood luck with your journey
ReplyDeleteThank you for your support and interest!
DeleteI have my school in Florence, South Carolina. You are welcome anytime to share with me and whichever student is there that day.
ReplyDeleteI only teach private lessons and right now it is just 3-4 classes a week. This is how I started back in 1974. text=18436765280