Call me “old school.”
In
high school, about the closest connection I had to any martial art was a
classmate studying Tae Kwon Do, I think. Martial arts then was about as foreign
a concept to me as the word “karate,” often mispronounced “car-rot-tea.” Sure I was familiar with “The Green Hornet”
T.V. show with trusty sidekick (pun intended) Kato played by Bruce Lee. I mean,
after all, who wasn’t, just as I was if not more so with Orioles legend, Brooks
Robinson and Colts standouts Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore and Raymond Berry? Not
only were they local Baltimore heroes, they were household names!
During
that time, the early ‘70s, sports stars being all the rage, notwithstanding, I
was mostly preoccupied with just getting through school and graduating (never
mind that my grade point average neared negative numbers), when I was going to
get my first car and, believe it or not, college. College? That’s right,
college!
After
high-school graduation and entering junior college and, yes, getting my first
automobile, I also landed my first bona fide job (none of this
“helping-my-dad-out-for-the-summers” kind of stuff or helping a school chum
help his father out). What I was, was an audio salesman in a local record store
(that’s what they were called back then). Having that job was so I could earn
an income to help pay for college. J.c., if I remember correctly, cost about
$150 per semester, books included. Perhaps there are people reading this who
can relate.
The
tide had definitely turned for me then. I had embarked on a new journey and
entered a new phase in my life. Not only for the first time was I understanding
what I was studying (electronics technology), I was actually enjoying myself in
so doing, taking electives such as bowling, music appreciation and, of course,
karate. Imagine earning college credit for taking a class in martial arts.
Okay,
time for the $64 million question: What prompted me to take karate being my
familiarity with it was virtually nil? One of my fellow students had taken or
was enrolled in such at the time and he expressed how his reflexes had
quickened. I was intrigued, so much so, that I had to find out for myself just
what this guy was boasting about.
This
was during an era when gas was 34 cents per gallon (that’s right), the Vietnam
War was drawing to a close and cell phones, ipads, the internet and mixed
martial arts were still to be discovered, and here I was learning how to
properly don a karate gi (uniform), secure such with an obi (belt), breathe
correctly and, yes, meditate. All history now, at the time for me it was,
uncharted territory. The style, incidentally, I was initially introduced to was
Shorinjiryu Kenkokan Karate-do. For what it’s worth, I believe I even earned an
A grade in the class, a real rarity for me in those days.
Karate
having satisfied a college physical education requirement, I nevertheless
gained much from the training. In fact, I was motivated enough to continue
after-the-fact.
Graduating
j.c., with a cumulative grade point average of 2.95, this was good enough to
allow myself entry into a four-year program of study at Cal Poly, San Luis
Obispo and where I met Sensei Domi. It was through an extra curricular karate
class, in fact, held on campus two evenings per week that my practice was
furthered. The style I was now learning was Shotokan.
When
I first joined, before training sessions got underway, I would practice
techniques and kata (form) I had learned back east. The thing I remember most
about the on-campus club was not so much the instruction as it was the
camaraderie. Fellow karateka came from all walks of life, many, who, like
myself, had prior martial arts experience, some more than others. That really
mattered little because everyone, regardless of rank, trained together, like
one big happy family.
Sadly,
the instruction lasted but three quarters (Cal Poly is on the quarter, not
semester, system). The instructor graduated. Even so, I continued to practice
unfailingly with fellow students, who incidentally, furthered their own
training too. In fact, in a place known as Poly Canyon, where some of the
school’s architecture students created several architecturally interesting
building designs, of particular note there was one house of sorts propped on a
hillside whose main distinguishing feature was its rectangular shape, that and
it was outfitted with glass all around. The structure, among its other uses if
there were any, in one case it was used as a makeshift dojo (training
facility). As such, it provided myself (a white belt) and another Cal Poly
student (also versed in Shotokan and a black belt) a quite suitable place for
he and I to sometimes train. Although the floor was concrete this in no way
detracted from practice. What this just goes to show is that practically any
place any one can visualize in one’s mind can serve as a dojo, everything from
a garage and a school gymnasium to a traditional storefront building space.
Well,
to make a long story shorter, my college preparation and extra curricular
endeavors had taken me far, the karate training part of and parallel to my
post-high school academic experience. The side-by-side journey of karate and
academic study, together, whether considered “old school” or not, I would not
trade for the world.
Copyright
© Alan Kandel. June 29, 2012.
