Martial Artists: What was your happiest moment training?

Well it wasn't exactly training, it was at a tournament.

My very first instructor told my mother after about two months of training that she was wasting her money and that I would never amount to anything in the Martial arts. Just after this the man I consider my true first instructor opened his class and I transferred to him. I was 13 at the time. I didn't find out about that for a couple of years. Right after I got my black belt I had to spar against him in a small local tournament. I beat him 5-0 in about a minute. After we bowed out I walked up to him, shook his hand and asked him one question. "If I will never amount to anything in Martial arts, where does that leave you?" Then I walked away.

Not my greatest moment, but it sure did feel great.

I am training again after close to a year of not being able to financially afford training. Looking back at not being able to train and now being able to train again, I have to say training is my happiest time training.

I know that sounds tacky, but honestly, the lowest times of training (injuries, failures, times of apathy) are greater than the time spent away from training.

I honestly cannot convey what training means to me now, now that I have had to live without it. I'm an alpah male type of person, but I well up over it.

Training is my happiest moment training. The highs and the lows of it all define it to me as a moment. I know this seems illogical, but it is just how I feel

Honestly, one of the most satisfying moments I've ever had was when I was teaching. I like explaining things to people, talking about the history of Taekwondo, talking about why we do the things we do and sharing what ever knowledge I have in regards to Martial Arts in general.

Another satisfying moment was when i was sparring with my friend. The first time we sparred we did a number on each other and though he beat me (close match...but I must confess) it felt good to finally, after several years of training both at a dojang and on my own, to spar with someone who was passionate about their style. This wasn't a matter of skill that made the sparring match fun, but it was the fact that Matt loves Karate and I love Taekwondo. We take our arts seriously but most importantly, there was a level of respect shared.

I can remember when I was at my former dojang that there were indeed some very humble people, but also a lot of tools and I wish they had not been tolerated like they were. Sparring there wasn't so fun because it got to the point where I wasn't learning anything. My Grandmaster for some reason stopped sparring with me and the senior members so I didn't feel as if I was learning anymore. But when I sparred at my friend's dojo, I learned.

I guess I'm happy when I learn.

This may not necessary qualify as a "happiest moment", but I do consider it to be special moments. I got to hang out and spend time with the founder of my style Sijo Adriano Emperado. He came to my school on three different occasions back in the 1980's to train us. We talked, he showed me stuff, he encouraged me to continue training. I think he liked me. I trained hard back then and I was a tough guy back then, and I was fast.

Not all martial artists get to spend time with the founder of their style, I guess I am priviledged.

When I was still attending an official class, and a new student showed up. Guy slightly older than me, and in better shape (in the sense of muscle as well as low bodyfat). But throughout the class it showed that those of us, namely myself, who weren't in as good condition (by apperances, anyway) had far better flexibility, coordination, and skills than him. He seemed really impressed and actually talked to me about doing some extra sessions between classes. It was cool to have someone looking up to me, despite that I was pretty much bottom of the totem pole guy. He didn't last though - I was pretty disappointed.

Other than that, I landed a side kick to the liver during a full contact spar. It was a glancing shot, but the dude still had to lay on the floor for the next 6 or 7 minutes. We were on good terms, as we had both agreed to not hold back very much and etc. It was just a really cool moment for me to floor a guy (despite feeling bad that I floored somebody in sparring), and that I had done so with a precision shot.

My happiest moment in martial arts was when my son became the under ten european sparring champion in taekwondo. He had gotten silver in a few tournaments beforehand and was getting disheartened by being pipped at the post. It was the hardest fought tournament he had ever been in. When he got a straight punch in the nose during the final I thought it was over but he got straight back up, looked over at me for encouragement. I winked at him and mouthed, "Reverse turning kick." We had been practising it for ages because every time he tried it in a fight his timing was off or he was not the right distance from his opponent. He got up and missed with his first attempt but he was just getting his bearings. The second attempt connected beautifully with the side of his opponents head. Fight over! His opponent was afraid of him for the remainder of his fight. The look of pride on my sons face when the judges awarded him the fight was priceless. The trophy now has pride of place on the mantelpiece at home.

I think it was the first day of my training. I had wanted to study martial arts for many years. Finally I was getting the opportunity. I was extremely excited. I can't tell you how many movies I has watched or how many book I had read from the library.

Another moment was in high school with my 1st sensei. My sensei wouldn't allow me to compete for over a year because I had been through some injuries. My doctor release me but my sensei said I had to wait. One day he was demonstrating a pin to some new students. I'm not sure what got into me, but after I let him pin me I decided to escape. After doing this I I thought I'm going to be in trouble. He used it as a teaching moment and demonstrated how to counter what i was doing. I gain allowed it but I heard him say something that made me think that he wanted them to know that he had me and I couldn't stop it. Ego..lol I knew I was already in trouble so I might as well do something worth the impending punishment whatever that was going to be, so I countered him again. I let him escape and counter again with little resistance. H stopped me and had this strange look on his face that I never had seen. I thought he was about to scold me for doing this in front of new people while he was teaching. But he said that was good and said let go. He encouraged me to roll with him. We went at it for a while. I was having fun. I didn't fully resist when he was countering. I just wanted to see if I could counter him. Then he stopped me and said he wanted me to compete in the next tournament. I remember thinking I wish I knew this sooner. I would have fought back a long time ago if I knew he would let me compete. He talked about much I had improved. I knew he was protecting me, because I had gotten a few injuries in different tournaments. Mostly something minor, but that last was I had broken my ankle. I even fought other fight that day on the broken ankle. Of course I didn't know it was broken. I only knew I was hurt. I came to every practice even while on crutches. It was part of me. I loved training and competing. But this may seem odd. I didn't like randori in our dojo. I only wanted to fight or compete against others.

Edit:

Clowns,

That doesn't seem odd at all. This is something do because we enjoy it. No one forces us to do it. It is part of who we are. I have difficult time understanding why the guys that I trained with as a child the lived and breathed it as I did no longer trains.

I had trained in the beginning with a renegade instructor of shotokan. Then I moved to a real JKA dojo. After testing for a green belt, and passing the test the godan in charge asked me who had awarded me the orange belt I was wearing. When I told him, he said he had worked with his students before and they were competent. On those grounds, and by the fact I passed the test for green belt, he allowed me to keep the orange one! I didn't get the green belt for several years after that, but I was legitimate with the orange JKA rank. That was proud moment, and inspired me to keep training hard. I still remember the look on the godan's face when I bowed to him and thanked him for that.

Hi there

First time I got off the plane at Narita airport to go training. :)

Best wishes

idai

I guess... the day I said "I do".

;-)

Seriously, I think it was the day one of our students who earned his black belt. I was his mentor for 5 years. He had just passed an informal pre-test, and we were discussing who would be going on to attend the actual exam. I felt that I was largely part of his training, and I was proud for him when we agreed he was eligible.

My saddest day was the day we awarded him his belt - posthumously.