They say that breaking up is hard to do.
At the end of November I decided to leave the school I have been with for the last eight years. I started at the Derderian Academy of Martial Arts late in 1997. I was looking for instruction in the Filipino Martial Arts and I came across the DAMA add in the yellow pages. I was looking for this type of martial art as I had just gotten out of the Army and had trained in it for a year.
I went to the Academy and was also asked to partake in the Jeet Kune Do class as well. I did this for a few years and one day was asked to assist in a kid’s class for the Kempo system taught at the school. I started to help in the class on a regular basis and was soon invited to join the Kempo Class, which I cross ranked into (as I had rank from a previous instructor).
There are a lot of goals that I didn’t achieve while I was there and more than one I achieved that I didn’t expect. I didn’t get my black sash in JKD. A lot of people said to me that this was a shame. I really don’t see their point of view on this one. I received all the training that leads into that rank. I am well versed in the principles associated with that system. I have the training and the skill but no paper to back it up. No worries…If I ever need it I can always go back or train with some one else to get it. I don’t plan on opening up a school so that point is really moot. I love to train and Mr. Derderian was a great influence in this area…time well spent.
I also didn’t gain any official ranking in the Filipino Combatives program that was offered at the school. I love the Filipino Martial Arts. I find that they are the most dynamic of the martial arts that I have studied and are very practical in their application. It killed me that this program often fell by the wayside and was offered mainly to keep a few students that practiced them happy. I managed to gain a fairly comprehensive skill set while at the Academy and was able to see certain aspects of FMA combat that I lacked in the Family fighting system taught by my army buddy. The FMA’s were the main reason that I went to the Academy and it pains me to leave this program as well as Mr. Derderian is well versed in their methods. Once again, however, I was able to learn many aspects of the art and since I am not a rank hound…Time well spent.
One of the areas I really didn’t go looking into was to garner another ranking in a kempo system. Mr. Derderian’s Kempo (The Shinko Ryu ) was a fairly well put together system that taught a combination of percussive and submittal techniques. Applications were designed to off balance the opponent and then dump him on the “deck” to either put him in his place or so that the exponent could escape. It seemed to be a well rounded blend of American Kempo (I have been observing some of the self defense methods appear in a lot of the other kempo systems in the area. The ones that I have observed seem to be either from the Parker of Cerio methods of Kempo and have only slight variations) and some of the Okinawan hand systems (often called kempo systems to reflect the Chinese influence on the method). There is a smattering of Japanese kansetsu waza inlfuencing the system that seems to be at times pillaging some of the concepts of aikijutsu while still retaining its kempo flavor. When I started I was very unimpressed with the system’s Okinawan kata and the lack of any progressive kata exploration. We did them in solo sets and every once in a while actually applied the methods by doing the kata with partners. Most of the theories in the katas ended up in the self-defense methods and thus were practiced that way. One of my friends who has just started practicing Wado Ryu Karate-do has been clueing me into some of the significance of the katas I have learned and thus they have really opened up for me. There is a lot more there (just like the Japanese kata I learned) than just the obvious and digging for a deeper meaning often revealed a diamond in the rough. I managed to ascend to the rank of Nidan in the system and feel like I accomplished something, as this is the first ranking beyond the basic transmission I have received. Time well spent.
A lot of people have been coming to me and asking me the magic question. “Now that you are no longer in the school, are you going to open your own?” I always look at them and answer with, “Why would I do that?” There is this strange notion that martial arts people when reaching their black belt magically transform into teachers. That is most definitely not the case. Martial arts people are just that. People trying to find out the truth about combat. They might find it in an Asian fighting method or in a Western one, but in either case, they are looking to do more than just punch and kick in a hostile situation. They are not born teachers and many that start to train never even make it to the basic level (shodan or black belt). Many who reach Shodan even start to teach (which would be like taking a high school student and sending them to teach high school right after they graduate). I have never had any intention to open up my own school. I have every intention to keep on training until my joints won’t allow me to. Let everyone else open up the schools, I just want to keep learning.
So that was my insights into my time training in the martial arts from 97-2006. After all this time, my experience at the Academy brought me back to the thought I had when I walked through the door. No matter what happens today, keep training and never get cozy. Complacency is tantamount to mediocrity. Those that are hungry have a tendency to excel while those that are comfortable have a tendency to “hold the course.” It was time to move on and it was time to get hungry again. I now have my business ( HAZARD Studio) back up and running and new classes to look forward to (although I can’t train to the extent I was when I first got back from the Army). It’s a great time to look into new things.
I wish all those that train at the Derderian Academy the best for 2006 and I look forward to training with them once again in the future (Because unless you are a real jerk, you never know how things will end up).
Regards,
Walt
