Tao of Chris

My view on the world of Martial Arts.

Name:
Location: Canada

Friday, September 29, 2006

Welcome to my Martial Arts Blog

Firstly, I would like to say welcome and thank you for joining me on my blog. Secondly, I would like to say that I do not view myself as a master or expert in martial arts in any way. In fact, I gave up my rank many years ago as I wished nothing more than to be a student.

Within these pages I will discuss some of my beliefs and thoughts towards Traditional and Mixed Martial Arts. I hope that you find something of interest while you are here. Enjoy!

Before we begin with the good stuff I will give you a short glimpse into my background in the world of Martial Arts.

I started training about 14 years ago when a flyer came to my door advertising the style of Wing Chun. It mentioned the names Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto among others so I had to go check it out. I was immediately hooked. I enjoyed everything about it and I soaked up knowledge like a sponge. My first teacher (Sifu Bently) taught me a great many things but the time came a few years later when I had questions that he couldn’t answer. I came to the hard decision that it was time to find someone that could answer my questions. I apologized to my teacher and told him that I needed more. Being the great teacher that he was he knew as well that I had to find something else but urged me not to forget what I had been taught.

A month or so later I was at a movie (Jackie Chan’s Rumble in the Bronx to be exact). While waiting for the movie to start another flyer was handed to me. The flyer mentioned numerous styles of Kung Fu all being taught under one roof and was offering one month of free classes. Again I had to go see what there was to learn. Truth be told, I had a bit of an ego when I left for that class as I was the top of my class in Wing Chun. The very first class I went to opened my eyes to styles and weapons that I had either only read about or heard about. My new teacher (Sifu Egon) noticed that I had a bit of an ego to start so paired me up with his best student (Warren). He didn’t look like much, stood a few inches lower than me, was a bit bulkier than me, and was about ten years older than me. Lets see what you’ve got I said in my head. WOW!!! I am extremely glad for the pounding I received that day, for it taught me never to underestimate anyone and that no matter how much I know…..there is always someone out there that knows more.

Over the next many years I learned many wondrous things and went through some of the toughest training I had ever endured. I was definitely at the peak of my physical well being at this time as I was training five to six times a week at an hour and a half to three hours each session. This was also the time that I asked my teacher to take my sash back as I wanted to just be a student again. I was getting tired of being looked at as a trophy by new students that walked through the door and I was also scared that I might get the swelled head that I had years before. He accepted with a smile and was kind enough not to take it as a sign of disrespect as some teachers may have. He taught me so many things but I think the best thing he taught me was that there are no ultimate martial arts only ultimate people.

Some of the styles that I dabbled in during this period of time are: Praying Mantis, Tiger, Drunken Boxing, Leopard, Monkey, Snake, Horse, Tai Chi, Iron Palm, Chi Kung, Eagle, Phoenix, and White Crane among others. I use the term “dabbled” because I do not believe that you can ever truly finish a style as they are always evolving.

Times then started to change at the school and I changed as well. It was again time for me to find something else. I can honestly say that I never found anything else that made me work as hard or feel as good as the years before. It was then that a friend of mine (Neil) asked me to help him start a school. Him and I had trained for a long time together and it looked as though it would be fun. We wrote up a curriculum and began to put things together. The only request I had made was that I was not to be looked upon as a teacher only a student….I just wanted to train and help out if needed. Once that was agreed a location for the school was found. It was a quiet little town that only had one other school. It didn’t take long to get some students but at the same time there was only enough of them to pay the rent of the building we were in, didn’t really matter though because we were doing things we loved.

There was one student in particular that caught my interest….or should I say I caught his. I first met him at a barbeque that one of the students was having. I hadn’t had a chance to train for a few weeks as I was busy with work and such but it appeared that he had already heard of me. Everywhere I went, everywhere I sat, he was there. I remember saying to my girlfriend “who is this guy?”. She shrugged and laughed about it all. Later we were sitting around the fire and again he was right next to me. I looked at him with a look of wonder and he finally spoke. “So, you are Chris…..show me what you can do”. I laughed and flat out refused. I had no intent on showing anyone what I could or couldn’t do. He introduced himself as Rayn and persisted in a slightly annoying way so I told him he would see in class as I would be back the following class. Even that didn’t seem to stop him from wanting to see something but he did finally ease off. When the next class came I eagerly suited up and started to stretch out. While I was stretching Neil came over to me and told me how Rayn said he wished to train the way we used to with our old teacher. I chuckled and said he wasn’t serious but he encouraged me that Rayn said he was ready for it. Truth be told I didn’t even think I was ready for it as I hadn’t had a workout like that for at least a year, but there was a point to be made. After class started and stretching was done I was paired up with the young student. All I can say is that I was a lot nicer to him than Warren was to me. Twenty minutes or so into the workout the young student had to be excused from class. He didn’t feel that well and seemed a bit upset that he wasn’t ready for the workout like he had thought. With my old teacher this was how we weaned out the people that didn’t want to learn as much as the rest. Rayn came back the next class and gave it his all again…..I am glad he did. He always pushed the envelope and yearned for more. No matter how hard you pushed him he would always come back. I am glad he is still pushing.

Well, I think that is enough about me for now. I will post more soon. Take care.

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Well writen, you know I never knew that you were a silent partner in the style and school. I presume, you recive royalty's from the franchise ;) LOL. I think I may have been there that class, I seem to recall you beating Rayn with your eyes closed, LOL.

9:12 PM  
Blogger Chris said...

Just to clarify Myles I didn't help in the respect of money being put towards the club...I merely helped out with the curriculum and such...The club was strictly Neil's and he is the one that deserves the credit for the success of the school.

10:39 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thats cool, Neil, And Rayn for that matter have both worked amazingly hard, and sacrificed alot over the course of many years. The volume of knowlege and skill that Neil has amassed is staggering. I am honored that I was able to train there.

3:50 PM  

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