Franklin Karate, Kung Fu, Street Fighting & Patience, MA

 
I started Martial Arts over five years ago and my patience level at that time was great. I had a street knowledge of fighting and after seeing the Master do a few moves, I thought I can do that. I appreciated the way he taught the children and after watching a few of my son’s lessons, I then joined. I listened well all the time. I occasionally asked question about techniques and the Master would give me a brief answer. I thought because he was Korean and didn’t speak much English he answered me the best that he could.  A few months went by and I had got a few different colored belts after testing and I was feeling pretty good about this whole Martial Arts thing. I kept asking questions about techniques and wondering why they needed to be practiced a certain way. Every time I asked the Master a question I would get a brief answer. My techniques were getting strong and I was as good as some of the other higher belts training at the dojang “school”. One time I had to spar “controlled techniques practice” against a 3rd degree black belt and I did really well. After class he asked me where I had trained before this Dojang and I said Loneycut. He said where’s that?  I said that was the neighborhood I grew up in. I was a street fighter and I was picking up this Martial Arts thing pretty quickly.

I then got my Green belt “Advanced level”. I was on fire! The Master asked me if I would like to be an instructor. My answer was yes. I thought to myself I can do this with no problem. He said to me “You know it takes a lot of patience”.  I said I got it!  I started helping out at the local recreation center with another higher belt and I was feeling invincible. I would explain something to the new students and they would listen well and answer by saying “Yes Sir!”  They looked up to me and I felt like a God.  I still kept asking The Master questions. His English was getting better but, he still kept answering me briefly. I was really getting aggravated that I wasn’t getting better answers other than “Keep practicing, 1,000 times, 10,000 days” and repeat it over and over. Ok, I thought. I am a street fighter and if I can’t get the answers I am looking for, than I would have to try and figure it out myself, and so the road of wisdom began.

I decided to go to a sparring competition at Brown University in Rhode Island. I waited all day to get in the ring and show someone what I was made of. It was time to get in the ring, and I didn’t see my Master. I had a coach so I just listened to him. I didn’t have much training for a competition but, I was from the streets.  I asked my coach a couple of questions, and he said just keup (Make a strong sound from your gut) kick and punch the padded chest guard, and most of all stay in the ring. I did some kicking, and a lot of punching, and sent my opponent out of the ring. Every once in a while, my opponent would kick me with an axe kick, and I would let it roll off me and push him out of the ring again. The Korean Ref would say a few words I didn’t understand and get between us. This wasn’t hard at all. The Ref called the winner by raising his arm in the air. The arm he raised wasn’t mine. I was shocked. My Master was no where to be found, and my coach had no authority to do anything about it. I lost.

After the match I talked to My Master, and he said it was an experience well taken. I didn’t understand that at all. I punched this guy out of the ring five or more times, and I lost. This was not accepted by me as a loss but, I accepted the Ref’s decision and took 2nd place in the event.

Time went on, and I got my Bo Dan level belt. This is the belt right before Black.  I was now the king. I had the street skills, mixed with Martial Arts, and my physical condition was not from this Earth. I was an assistant instructor, and I did everything the Master asked of me, but I still kept asking question after question.  I could do all the forms, techniques, and I had a strong physical condition. I had a good amount of theory from the Saturday morning instructor course as well. Why couldn’t I get more information out of the Master?  By this time his English was really good but, I still kept getting the same brief answers. Why is this guy holding things back from me?

I was now ready for My Black Belt. I used to brag about it to friends and family, and do cool moves in front of people. I would tell them I am an instructor. They got excited, so it was cool, right?  Then came my black belt test. I had to go through extensive physical and focus training. I had to know a lot but, I had it down no problem. I would zip through the pumsae (forms) like an Alien ship beaming out of Earth. The Master would say “slow down or fix you’re Upkubi (Stance)”. I would say “Yes Sir!” and I would fix it but, he would ask the same question 10 more times in a week. I was days away from my black belt test, and I wasn’t even nervous. The day came. I was really nervous, and I thought, “How did this happen? I thought I had it all down pat”.  I took a whack of a Red Bull energy drink, did a few laps around, and pumped myself up.  The test was 6 hours long and I aced it.  I didn’t even get tired. I went out that night and celebrated with a few of the other students that tested. When I got home that night, I crashed. I finally got my black belt! I was cool. I walked around looking at myself in the mirror with a cocky walk. I was a street fighter, assistant Martial Arts instructor, and now a black belt.

Ok, now the Master is going to tell me the answers I was looking for. The Master still would only give me a brief answer, and he kept on saying the same things over and over again “Keep practicing, repeat your motions”. Do this for 1,000 times, 10,000 days and you might understand more. At this point I was confused by this and bored with it. I thought there should be something more hardcore here. I was looking for a mystery of some sort. I thought I should be like a wizard or something. I said “The heck with it”, and starting doing my own research. Everything I knew as a street fighter mixed with the Martial Arts training should be enough. After a couple of months I starting coming up with my own theories. I asked the master different questions than usual, and he just looked at me like, “Huh? What are you talking about?” I thought he was going to say “Oh, you finally figured it out”. He didn’t say that. He said “You have to look at Martial Arts as a whole, not all scrambled up”.  Calm down, relax, have patience.  I was like “Whatever”.

More time went by and I was still trying to explain to the Master different theories of Martial Arts that I came up with. He just kept fixing my motions and to be honest with you, I think he was getting frustrated with me. I mean, think about it? I was trying to tell a man that has 30 years experience in the Martial Arts about different theories. He was gassed.

I then became a high level instructor. I only had two people above me in the position line, The Master and his assistant lead instructor. I was third in command and at this time I had some sick moves. I would fly around the dojang like a Tiger. I would jump, kick, and swing at the air.

The Master announced that there would be a 2nd degree black belt testing and I was eligible to test. I was really pumped up about it. The training began and the whole time the Master was pushing me to fix my stances or telling me to slow down and relax. I was mad. This guy thinks I need to fix my stances? Slow down?  Relax? I can do this stuff in my sleep.  He brought me into his office and said “You don’t want to learn do you?” I said “Why would you say that Master?  I respect you like a god. I always do everything you tell me to do and I always answer by “Yes sir”. He said “This isn’t about respect it’s about patience”. I was angry. I thought he really didn’t think I wanted to learn from him, and that I was being disrespectful about that.  A couple of days went by, and the Master asked me to write an essay. The essay was about “What is Martial Arts compared to Street Fighting?” I never wrote it. My mind was so scattered about the Masters Opinion days before that I couldn’t even think straight. He never asked me for the essay and I never brought it to him. After my 2nd degree black belt test the Master asked me “Why didn’t you turn in your essay?” I said I had been so busy at work I didn’t have time to do it. He accepted the answer I gave him and didn’t ask me again for it. I was very surprised he didn’t yell at me like he normally would have when I didn’t complete something on time.

A few months has gone by since I got my 2nd degree level, and I have had a lot of time to think. First of all, I never really listened well right from the beginning, even though I thought I did. I was never humble about my techniques, and if I listened to the Master, I would have known the rules to my first competition and probably would have done a lot better. What I was looking for as a mystery about Martial Arts never did appear. It wasn’t wise to question the Master’s ability to teach.  I never aced any of my tests in Martial Arts and my level of thinking right now is just a small amount of what it could be if I just listen to my Master. All that running around and flying into my pumsae forms didn’t mean anything if I didn’t understand it. By practicing 1,000 times over 10,000 days, and at that time listen well to my Master and other senior teachers, I might still not know everything there is to know about Martial Arts but, who does?  Here is my conclusion.
 
If you think that you know more than someone else that is higher than you, you may want to consider that they have a rank for a reason, and that you are a student for a reason. If you start to get cocky about your skills, you haven’t listened well.  Martial Arts is a feeling.  You see, I wasn’t better than anyone around me. I just had a little more confidence and physical ability. People have different physical abilities and they are not always capable of doing what someone else might do but, they can listen with patience just the same as anyone. The reason why I think the Master never asked me for that essay was because he had a great deal of patience. He probably knew that at some point I would turn it in, and he was right. It is OK to be nervous, or to mess up on a belt test. Just go with the flow, and every day you go to class for a lesson you will pick up something new about Martial Arts. I always thought Martial Arts is learning how to fight better. I was wrong. Don’t think about techniques all the time. Vision being above yourself, and look at the whole picture. You don’t have to break it all down to understand Martial Arts as a whole. Keep practicing and listen to your instructors. Be nervous, tired, or frustrated. Martial Arts is a life’s journey. Enjoy it, be happy about it, and most of all, have patience about it.

Oh, by the way Master. Street Fighting is belligerent and has nothing to do with Martial Arts.
Martial Arts is, what it is, a long life’s journey.  Our motto at our school is “To Be the Best of the Blank”.
After I really listened to you I realized that my blank is Patience.