I found this on the internet...I thought that you would like to read it too
I grew up in Long Island, New York in a little town, it was actually more like an extended neighborhood, called Fort Salonga. But it was all part of the district of Kings Park. That's where I went to High School. In the main street of Kings Park was the only martial arts school in the entire area and it still stands there today. It's called the Nokado School of Self Defense. Ha! It boggles my mind how long ago I trained at that school and the memories are still fresh in my mind. Nokado back then was a great place. I'm sure it's just as good now but I haven't been there for some time so I don't really know. I started there when I was around 7 years old. All the techniques I learned there were primarily self-defense based. A lot of wristlocks, standing arm bars, wrist turnouts, some basic judo, punches, kicks and defense against attacks like front / rear chokes, bear hugs and head locks. The man who taught all the classes at the time was Sensei John Olshlager. Without out a doubt, he played an important role in the development of my character and of my love for martial arts. Sensei O, as we called him, was a remarkably charismatic man. He still is. The man loves people and he has a unique gift of for teaching. Over the years, I have kept in touch with him from time to time and he knows about the different kinds of martial arts that I have gotten myself involved in. At Nokado, we learned a style called Hakkoryu Jiu Jitsu which was developed by Ryu Okayama. Over and over again, Sensei O drilled into us that Hakkoryu Jiu Jitsu was the style of the eighth light which is the color of the spectrum which cannot be seen. And, that Ryu mean 'Spine of the Dragon'. I'm laughing to myself because of how easy it is to recall in my mind and how quickly I am able to go back to those times during class when he would repeat it to us constantly. I remember that and I always remember his saying, "NO TALKING!". There was always a ton of kids on the mat and we were always a loud bunch. There were a few times where he just got fed up with us and would make us sit in the back. But man, he worked us pretty hard sometimes. And I remember there being some really talented kids. This one guy who was actually a classmate of mine was just amazing. He had the most unbelievable physicality I'd ever seen. He was tiny too, like me, but he had an uncanny mastery of his body. If he kept with martial arts, he would be a truly phenomenal force today. I'm happy to say he definitely made use of his physical gifts as he is now a professional ballroom dancer and darn good one at that. Big ups to you Jonas! As a kid, even in Jiu Jitsu, I really wasn't that good. I was small but I didn't have any special coordination or talent. My sister and I started together and, in fact, she was much better than I was. She's two years older than me and a lot bigger yet she seemed to be able to do the techniques more properly. The difference between me and her is that she didn't have a mind for it. She didn't embrace it the way I did. I loved it! From the get go, I was hooked on it and I enjoyed training. I relished the discipline, the physical endurance, the challenge, the seriousness, the philosophy, even though I was a kid. I think I understood those concepts and they spoke to me. And again, being small and getting beat up, it definitely helped with confidence and with socializing. The other great part about it is that it became a unique kind of constant in my life. I think for kids those kinds of things are important. Typical sports did not really come that easy for me. Even to this day, anything involving a ball, baseball, football, basketball, soccer, I'm a total clutz. Jiu Jitsu at least gave me something to do and to feel like I could do something, regardless of my proficiency at it. Plus, a lot of the kids I knew from friends of the family were also training there. So, we got to see each other and play. They were some fun times. One thing I really wanted to do but didn't quite get to was be on the demo team. Every kid coveted getting a spot on that dang demo team! They did all the fun stuff like performing for people and getting to go to special practices and learning really cool, flashy moves and wearing these special gi's. To be on the demo team, you had to be really elite. I mean, cream of the crop. Crisp, solid, fluid movements and technique. In fact, Sensei O actually put up an old video from 20 years ago of the demo performing. Even before he put it up recently, I could hear that music in my mind and thought it was so cool! It gets me pumped up every time I recall it! Watch the Video Here |
