oelier

There are times when I wonder why I practice and teach the martial arts I do.  Despite the fact that the Austin area has a disproportionate number of martial arts schools, no one in Austin practices this particular style.  In fact I’m not sure anyone in Texas practices this particular style.  There are practitioners in other, similar styles (and few even of those), but none for the specific style I practice.  In other words, despite the size of the martial art community, I have very little in the way of support.

In order to progress and learn new things, I have to fly to New England for a couple weeks each year.  Since I can only do this for a couple weeks each year, it kind of limits the idea of steady progress.  When I go, I train as hard and as often as I can.  It gets intense.  Since I’m only there for a limited time, my instructor is fairly hard on me.  He wants to be sure that I not only know what I’m doing, but that I understand what I’m doing.  He forces me to work on details that I wasn’t able to see for myself.  I just wish I could do that year round.

Since this style is unknown for the most part, it doesn’t get the name recognition that Tae Kwon Do or Shotokan or even Tai Chi Chuan get.  Even the YMCA I teach out of doesn’t use the name in their class brochure anymore.  No one understood it.  No one knew what it meant.  No one even had a clue.  Now it’s listed as “Indonesian Kung Fu” because people think they know what Kung Fu is. 

I’m isolated.  The most common suggestion I receive is, “Why not work out with some of those who are around?”  I could.  And I have.  And it can be very good.  The problem is that the styles are so completely different.  Would you expect Monet to paint the Sistine Chapel?  How about Mona Lisa as painted by Malevich?  Would you want to hear the 1812 Overture written by Chopin?  Or Ride of the Valkyries written by Mozart?  When I participate in the class of another style, I play by their rules.  Most of the time, their rules are more restrictive, so I have to hold back.

Strategically, and in the business world, being an isolated style can be a good thing.  It’s strategically good because no one knows what to expect.  In terms of business, I have a practical monopoly in the local market for this style.  On a personal level, being isolated is not so good.

So why do I continue to practice and teach?  Because I enjoy the challenge for itself.  Because what I offer is unique.  Because in the end, martial arts is not just a way to fight.  It is a way of life that kept me going when I could depend on nothing else.