Many times over the years I have been asked what it was that drove me to Karate. It’s as if they think there was some defining moment in my life when as a child I had some bully knock my block off and as I laid there bleeding I made some promise to myself that I would master Karate so I could get my revenge. Quite simply, it doesn’t happen that way.

We all have our reasons for training, I can only tell you what mine are. But I will tell you this, we’ve all been bullied, we’ve all been defeated by those who are stronger than us. But those events only drive us for so long, as the days and weeks pass we move on and forget about them. To spend a life time mastering a martial art just because little Billy beat you up and stole your lunch money when you were six years old is just silly. It takes something far deeper, far more spiritual to drive someone to devote their lives to mastering an art such as Karate. These events can only plant the seed, they may drive you to start your training but something far deeper will drive you continue your training. Some of us are born to be soccer players, some are born to be ballet dancers, some are content to just sit and watch TV all day — either its in your blood or its not.

When you look at life think in terms of karate. But remember that karate is not only karate — it is life.
Gichin Funakoshi

I remember the day I decided I was going to become a black belt. I was only 8 or 9 years old and I was hanging out in my friend’s basement watching movies. We are watching The Three Ninjas. The movie was a child hood favourite of mine, though I’m sure I’d laugh at it now if I were to watch it again. I remember saying to my friend, “I’m going to be a black belt when I grow up.” He just laughed at me. “You’re the last person on Earth who will be a black belt.” As cruel as his words were, I couldn’t blame him for making such a claim. When it came to athletics, I was about as awkward as you could get. I was the last picked for every team, and once the game started I would sit in the field picking dandelions and pay no attention at all to the game. But despite this, something inside me told me he was wrong. I knew that someday I would because I was determined to do it.

It was nearly 10 years before I started my journey. But that day I decided my own fate. Not to prove my friend wrong, rather because I knew I could do it. In the years between that day in my friend’s basement and the day I started my training I developed a deep obsession with the martial arts. I became more and more facinated with the precise movements and timing of those who had mastered the art. I fell in love with the spirit of a true martial artist. I felt that I had the true spirit of a Karate Ka and if there was one thing in life I was meant to do, it was Karate.

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