A student asked me once "How long have you been in martial arts?". "Oh" they replied, "but didn't you start even before you were 5 years old?"
I did indeed start young but I was asked that question over a decade ago when I was 45 years old. It still fascinates me that there has been no time since then where I have not found space to train. Even when being away in places to work which by necessit
y limited our actions, even then there's opportunity. Like on sunny Falkland, we were training Judo on the sands in between the mine fields and penguin colonies - which I grant you was a little surreal. Or in Canada, training with RCMP on the use of their side handled batons (Monadnock PR24), or Denmark training Boxe Francais ...with a German engineer (I know, right?). We even managed to practice traditional Japanese Jujitsu in the south of France during a building contract (yes, the Gi goes everywhere!) with a class that was half Spanish and no one spoke English. Good stuff that was too. So obviously, I must be an expert at this martial thing by now? With several "black belts", certifications and all that good stuff, one may expect that to be the case. Not at all. Well Ok, I can definitely work a problem. We know in one environment we took care of an average 2 to 5 half decent issues on a nightly basis over a ten year period. Even if we said 3 problems, three difficult shifts weekly, ten years. No breaks. You do the math (mine's evidently rubbish). Other than a couple of tricky issues with some glass and a blind sided attempt with a sharp which left an itch - no real damage. Must have been doing something right. Without doubt, what I have come to understand in great depth over the last half century or so is that the more you learn, the more you realise you know very little ...so the more you need to learn! It is and it always should be, a continually evolving process. I love it that I still find so much that is new to me and that creates a broader insight with which I can deliver deeper levels of knowledge, experience and understanding into the family. As I wrote into the Nyojitsu.com website.. "Life evolves - So Does Violence - So Must We"
I hope you will join our family in that discovery and you too can find, learn and be ever fascinated by what is new to you... and of course gain a really strong confidence in looking after yourself or others who come into close physical conflict. See you on the mats!
