“How does it feel standing on the edge of the cliff, looking out into the abyss,
and having people come to you being human and ask you to fix it?”
These were the words my teacher used to describe the job of being a karate teacher 18 years ago when I decided to embark on a career as a martial arts educator. It was and still is the most accurate description I have heard, of this gig, yet.
I did not know what he meant at the time, but the years have taught me that I have SO much yet to learn about being a teacher. That being said I have thoroughly enjoyed the journey these past years and look forward to many more in the future. Many students have come through the door. Some stay, others do not. I have been overjoyed in sharing in the success of some students and have been frustrated with my failures in not figuring out how to help others succeed. “Success” in the martial arts is such an individual thing and figuring out from student to student what motivates them to succeed is an ongoing challenge, but one I embrace every time I step onto the mat.
With that said I dedicate this to my all of my students…past, present and future.
Dear student;
I have been training in Kenpo at AKKA for 18 years and I cannot claim to understand everything about what we are doing. I cannot claim to know any ‘secret’ that would elevate me to any particular level of ‘success’. In fact, in the scheme of my teachers who have come before me, I am a novice.
All I do know is what I have done since I was a White Belt.
I keep coming to class.
I keep practicing.
This is all I did to get to the level I am at.
There were no tricks or gimmicks, shortcuts or quick fixes. I was told at one of my Black Belt test that many people look for the ‘mystical’ in the martial arts and the thing that guarantees the ‘mystical’ is repetition. If the reps are there the mystical can happen. If the reps are not there then it won’t. What is this ‘mystical’ element I speak of? Well, in my years of training I have not learned anything that will allow me to run on water or shoot bolts of lightning from my fingertips. What I have learned is that I have a confidence inside of me that, should I choose to use it, will allow me to do anything I set my mind to do. That is the ‘success’ I have achieved by studying Kenpo at AKKA.
How did I gain this confidence?
I keep coming to class.
I keep practicing.
At our Black Belt Tests we always say, “The System is the Solution”. The collection of motion we have in our Kenpo System, when diligently studied and performed, can yield such confidence to varying degrees of ‘success’.
What will ‘success’ in the martial arts look like for you? I don’t know.
When will you feel ‘successful’? I cannot say
This depends, so much, on a large constellation of variables that are beyond my ability to influence.
What I do know is this. You already have everything you need to ‘succeed’.
What we are going to do is walk this path together, learning as we go.
However, there are no shortcuts on this path, and your journey will have mountains to climb up and valleys to travel through; and the challenges you encounter will be unique to your physical and mental abilities.
All I can really do for you is to encourage you to show up. That is half the battle right there…cultivating the habit of attending class. Once you are here it is up to you to engage, to try, fail, and persevere with as much energy, effort and enthusiasm as you can muster in the moment. Over time, as you study Kenpo, my hope is you will learn a great deal about yourself and define a particular level of success that reveals something about you that you may not have known about; but has been there all along, from the beginning.
I teach martial arts as a practice. The movements do not exist for you until you do them and that is all they want you to do…is DO them. Kenpo is a practice, revisited daily, for (as far as I can tell) a lifetime.
Take care and I will see you in class.
Mr. Burt