How I got into martial arts.
When I was around five years old, the people who lived next door sold their house to a family who made a living by selling "unlicensed pharmaceuticals." I don't remember how I got to know their youngest son, but it was years later that he and I became friends. I think I was maybe around 10 or 11. Anyway, "T" had been taking Karate lessons and was very much into martial arts movies and especially Bruce Lee. I'm pretty sure I was never exposed to any of this before. It was all new to me and seemed pretty cool so I took a liking to it. I have a sort of "kick ass" part of my personality anyway so it seemed pretty natural that I would like it.
Since his dad was a purveyor of unlicensed pharmaceuticals, T had pretty much any toy, movie, video game or any other thing that he wanted bought for him. I'm pretty sure he had every Nintendo video game ever released. He also had every Bruce Lee movie ever made and watched them obsessively. He also had all kinds of karate and kung fu magazines. T was pretty good at drawing, and his favorite subject matter was, of course, Bruce Lee. I liked to draw too, and it sort of became a competition of who could draw the best Bruce Lee pictures. (I pretty much have T to thank for really getting me to hone my drawing skills.) T would even pause the movies on video and we would draw whatever scene we thought was cool.
One of the neatest things that I remember us doing was sending away for various catalogues. One of them was Kung Fu Supplies Company in Hong Kong. (I'm pleased to see that they are still in business.) It was so cool to us, being kids, that we could send away for something on the other side of the world and get back a catalogue with all sorts of authentic items in it. Of course, T got all the Bruce Lee themed items and even the authentic fingerless sparring gloves like Bruce had in Enter the Dragon and the yellow tracksuit from Game of Death.
Eventually, we started looking into different martial arts schools in the area to see if any taught kung fu since we wanted to emulate everything that Bruce Lee did. We found a school who's owner taught kung fu and was even taught by Yip Man himself, so we begged our parents to send us there. (The school was affiliated with Clan Kai Sai.) A miracle occurred and I was allowed to go to. That's when I started to learn Wing Chun kung fu as well as some other styles. I only went there a couple years, if I recall correctly. At that point T was losing interest and my parents were never into it and I broke a toe in an unrelated accident and stopped going to class.
T and I drifted apart as we were getting older and going to different schools. But that was how I got into martial arts and I still have a love for them til this day even if I don't practice like I used to.
posted by Xul at 11:00 PM
11 Comments:
Interesting story. Pity you stopped going to class. Did your parents stop paying for the lessons or had you lost interest as well?
Is there an story behind you breaking your toe?
Does T's family still live next door?
Did your parents stop paying for the lessons or had you lost interest as well? There was a lot of familial issues going on. I sorta lost interest since my friend was no longer going and my mother had zero interest whatsoever. I wanted someone to be proud of me and since no one really cared I figured why the hell should I keep going? Plus the school wanted to charge more money and it was just a perfect storm of issues.
Is there a story behind you breaking your toe? Yeah. I was cleaning up the basement with my sister and there was a little bench type thingy that I had made out of a pressure treated 2x10 plank of wood. It was heavy and the legs weren't nailed in very well(as I would discover). I picked it up by a leg and the nail pulled out and the damn thing fell right on my little toe. The pain was *absolutely excruciating* like nothing I had ever felt before. And they wouldn't take me to the doctor so I had to suffer in pain for weeks. I don't even recall getting a damn Tylenol.
Does T's family still live next door? No. His mother died a couple years after he stopped going to kung fu and his dad was arrested a while after that. I think he moved upstate with his older brother or something. One of his older sisters had the house up until a few years ago but I never had much to do with her except say hello in passing. I heard from another neighbor that T moved to Cali.
And they wouldn't take me to the doctor
What the hell?!? That's so callous. Did they expect your suffering to build character or something ridiculous like that?
Did they expect your suffering to build character or something ridiculous like that? Probably more likely to save money, except it was my sister who was insistent on "Oh, the doctor isn't going to do anything since it's the little toe. They can't put a cast on it so don't bother." The only "treatment" I got was ice on it. I was furious(and in great pain). I found some crutches in the house and wrapped my foot in an Ace bandage and had to go around like that for weeks.
I've had a bit of a look around on the internetz and apparently it is possible to get a cast for a broken pinky toe (well, these days anyway) but it's not always necessary. Still, a painkiller would have been nice, I imagine. Plus, a doctor could have confirmed that it was actually broken and not infected or worse.
Did it heal okay?
a painkiller would have been nice Yes! Unfortunately, I was still young enough to trust that they knew what they were talking about. I can't remember getting painkillers for anything, not even a headache. It probably wasn't until I was in jr.high school and complaining about period cramps that a friend introduced me to the magic of ibuprofen.
a doctor could have confirmed that it was actually broken and not infected or worse. Well, it never got gangrene or fell off. My sister kept saying that I was going to lose my toenail but I never did. It didn't even turn black. My toenails are attached pretty damn good! LOL
Did it heal okay? I guess so. It looks normal and not gnarly. Arekino, you are so sweet to go research the cast thing. You deserve some (((Hugs))) and maybe a little peck on the cheek! :P Such a nice ninja!
Aww, thanks. :)
Did you ever get to "demonstrate" your kung fu skillz in real life? Outside the dojo?
Outside the dojo? Once at school. I was with some friends and one girl was being bitchy and I don't really remember what she tried to do but I applied a chin na technique(wrist/elbow lock, similar to jujutsu kimura) and my friend Amanda was like, "HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS AWESOME!" and the other girl was all surprised and stopped whatever it was she was doing. Another time I was sparring with T and his cousin was video taping it. There weren't supposed to be any strikes to the face but T got a little wild and kicked me in the face and broke my nose. I never knew I had so much blood in my body! Scared the crap out of us all. The best part is my mother didn't find out about it. ;) Oh! Almost forgot the one where there was an incident in the locker room where this one girl was going to kick the shit out of another girl and I stepped in and said if she tried she would have me to deal with. She backed down. The threat of a thing and all. LOL
my mother didn't find out about it
How the heck did you manage to hide a broken nose? :o
She backed down.
I bet you felt like a hero(ine) then. ;)
How the heck did you manage to hide a broken nose? :o Some kind of miracle. It *had* to be broken the way the blood was coming out like Niagara Falls for what seemed like forever. At least it wasn't busted sideways or anything. I remember my mother noticing a little bit of bruising a few days later but it wasn't much and I'm sure I made up something as an excuse.
I bet you felt like a hero(ine) then. ;) And the chick was such a total bitch who I hated. The other girl was much smaller(not that I liked her much) but it gave me an excuse to put a bitch in her place. LOL
Thanks for this blog!!
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