51 Years Ago Tonight I Took My First Martial Arts Class
September 20, 2024
51 years ago this evening, I walked into my first martial arts class. I was 20 years old.
The teacher, "Grandmaster" Sin The, led us through high blocks, low blocks, stepping and punching. The room was bursting at the seams with young people inspired by the Bruce Lee craze. In fact, the class spilled outside of the dojo, which had a garage door for the side wall. They opened the door to accomodate all the new students and I stood with a group out in the parking lot.
Bruce had died one month before. I was inspired by his beautiful movement. Having defended myself successfully against bullies all my life, at age 20, kung-fu was very appealing. I wanted to learn how to fight better. I just had no idea how long I would keep practicing.
I have learned from several teachers since I left Sin The's school. When I discovered Chen style Taijiquan in 1998, it was what I had been searching for, and I am still studying, practicing, and teaching it.
This week I have practiced with students, I have taken two classes because I'm still studying, I held a live online class, and today I'm doing a private online class with a member of my website.
Fifty-one years after I began, I still think kung-fu is cool and I want to learn more and keep improving. My goal is to help my students save time. It took me a couple of decades or more to find high-quality instruction. My students get the internal information I wish I had received 51 years ago.
The real satisfaction of studying martial arts is not in reaching a destination, it's in enjoying every step of the learning process along the path. I'm still enjoying it more than five decades later.
--by Ken Gullette
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