Martial Arts: The Beginning

 Every book has a first word. Every painting has a first brush stroke. Every journey has a first step. Martial arts is journey of patience, determination, overcoming limitations, reaching goals and establishing new ones. And like every other example listed, there is a starting point. That is the decision to begin training. But causes that initial spark? A potential student may have been in a dangerous situation, and wants to learn self defense. Or knows someone who trains, and based on that person's enthusiasm, decides to give it a try.

In my situation, the spark came almost by accident. I was in my mid thirties, decent shape, but thinking my conditioning could be better. A co-worker lifted weights at the YMCA a few blocks from our office at lunchtime. He suggested I join him. So I started with weights two to three times a week. I enjoyed it, and felt better physically.

At the same time, my work situation was not good. I was assigned to a new supervisor, who frankly had no business being in management. There was lack of support, belittlement, and the feeling that my work wasn't valued. The stress kept building up. Then one day, as I was leaving the YMCA, I just happened to see a newspaper article pinned to a bulletin board. I can't remember the exact title, but it was about relieving stress through martial arts.

The article was by a business executive in a very high stress job. He had heard of the benefits of martial arts training, and decided it might work. He admitted he wasn't young, or particularly athletic. One day, he went to a local dojo teaching a Japanese style. It was difficult at first, but he stayed with it. Within six months, he felt calmer, more focused, and able to shrug off a lot of stress. The physical training helped of course, but the mental aspects, such as self-discipline, relaxation from proper breathing, and better concentration, were invaluable. 

His job performance improved, a lot of things that bothered him were shrugged off, and his attitude, both on the job and in his personal life, dramatically improved. 

I was intrigued, and found out the YMCA taught Hapkido at lunchtime twice a week. I had not heard of that style, but the next day, I sat in on a class. Preconceived notions that martial arts required the conditioning of an Olympic athlete, and that instructors made Marine Corp drill sergeants look like wimps, ended almost at once. Sure it looked demanding, but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. After class, the instructor, Larry Maldon, came over to talk to me. He told about Hapkido. I said I had back problems and asthma. He said so did he. That settled it, two days later, I started training. 

It would be nice to say everything worked smoothly. Not even close. I'll go into the obstacles, and how they were overcome, in the next installment.