Come back when you're serious!

So, it is a new year and the future awaits. I hope everyone had a great and safe holiday season. My heart goes out to all of the victims and their families from this rash of violence across the country. That being said I am in hopes of another great year for my Muay Thai team and the whole L.M.T. brand. Now lets get on with it. I was just chillaxin around the apt the other morning and randomly an episode in my life that I had forgotten just popped into my head. I was living in Dallas at the time and it just brought me to a few conclusions as I gave it a very minor amount of thought. I was roaming through the city of Irving, probably on a skateboard seeing as that was my preferred vehicle of choice for any number of years throughout my teenage life. I skated past a martial arts school which I had passed at least 100 times before. You could clearly see through the storefront every kind of weapon a person might need for an ancient war in Asia. I might have even peaked in once or twice to look for Ninja claws(you should be laughing if you know what they are). Anyway, for whatever reason, on this day I decided to check it out more thoroughly.

This brings me to my first conclusion. I have always been a martial artist. It is in me. I was pursuing it all through my life and conversely it was pursuing me. As I stepped into the school I realized that there was a class in full session. I wasn't nervous as I had been through a few years of Taekwondo in Chicago prior to moving. I actually felt at home. I was only there for about 2 minutes before the large grizzly instructor noticed me and came over. I had always been very respectful of Sensais and I had met a few along the way. As he approached I gave a short bow. I'm not sure if he did anything. "How can I help you", he said in his grizzled voice. "I just wanted to come in and check it out", I replied. And without hesitation he said it. "Well come back when you're serious!". (Dramatic Pause)... Wow, even now i'm sort of shaking my head about it. I couldn't have been more than 14 years old at the time.

Second conclusion, I don't like a@$holes. Especially Karate instructor a@$holes. I walked out into the blazing hot dry heat that awaited me and skated away surely saying that I would never come back, in my head of course. Well I don't suppose I could get anymore serious than i've been over the last 10-12 years. However i'm convinced that I must have been serious then and since well before that moment. I know this was sort of a random blog but it all culminates into this one idea. My final conclusion about all of this is that you don't require anyone to tell you how serious you are. Your level of artistry depends solely on how you carry yourself privately, in society, and how much you train. Those are the things that determine how serious you take this lifestyle. Happy 2013 p.s. Stay out of Cobra Kai dojos.