In the past, I was never a fan of martial arts films, with the exception of 'The Karate Kid' :-). I never liked the way MA was made out in the movies. My dad on the other hand, glorified violence. He loved anything with blood. Van Dam, Steven
Seagal, Jet Li, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris. Anything involving bare chested men fighting would certainly interest him. He used to say Karate kid was for kiddies. He brought back hardcore flicks from our neighborhood video rental store. I on the other hand being much closer to my mom, hated 2 things, violence and soccer. I loved to watch what she loved, which was Sci
Fi mainly by Steven Spielberg.
When I was in my early teens, I was looking for a hobby. My dad had just sign up at a recreational club (The Valley). As a dependent, I was entitled to use the facilities under my dad's membership. One day, I was wondering around the hallway of the club, I came across this poster advertising '
Aikido - The art of unarmed self defense'. Yes, I did not make that up, it was exactly what it stated. There was a man dress in very cool baggy pants flipping another man with a flick of his wrist. First thing that came to my mind, '
Cooool, here's something different'. I decided to contact the no. on the advertisement. In about a week I attended my first class.
At first, I had no idea what I sign up for, nor why I was training in the first place. My biggest blow was when I was told that the baggy pants was for black belts only! Anyway, I continued practice until I was in my mid teens. My dad was very proud I took interest in something so manly. He even asked me if I knew how to fight already. I had to explain to him that
Aikido wasn't meant for fighting and that stuff like
Muay Thai was much suited for such things. He immediately lost interest in what I had to say and said I should watch Steven
Seagal instead.
During my mid to late teens, I was preoccupied with other stuff like chasing girls and partying with my friends. I slowly lost interest in any form of M.A. My mom opened a Fitness center nearby our home. That's when I started helping her out to make extra pocket money. During that time, there were Karate classes held at the premise but I still wasn't interested. I guess I was still searching for myself. During this period, I also indulged in other sports like Tennis, which I still actively play until today.
When I was in my early 20's, I wanted to be an airline pilot. I attended numerous interviews. Unfortunately, none of it worked out. Not sure why, but they wouldn't tell me the reason. Anyway, it was after one of those interviews that that really got me thinking. Feeling really depressed, I question everything I've done in the past. This included my short stint at Aikido. At that time, I thought that having a black belt meant I have 'completed' something. So I decided to start
Aikido again. This went on for about 4-5 years until I achieved 1st Dan (
Sho Dan) at age 26.
After a few years into my BB, I begun to ask myself. Is this what I really want? I soon found out that I needed a Martial Art that was more aggressive, physical, less artistic & straight to the point. I felt that I had so much more energy in me. I remember during my early
Aikido days, one of my
sempai was talking about the Gracie's. How this dude kick all other
MAs. Other than
youtube & the Internet, I never had the chance to see
BJJ in action until one day I was Paris for a vacation. I visited
Shihan Christian Tissier Dojo as a drop in student. It was there I saw 2
BJJers rolling after class.
Right after I returned to KL, I googled for a local
BJJ club. That was when I came across
KDTA. The irony was that
KDTA was run by the same guy that taught Karate at my mom's gym more than 10 years ago. Back then when I was not interested in MA! I told myself that I will commence training but not after my wedding. I needed the money and
BJJ wasn't cheap. In the meanwhile, I kept in touch with the center and vowed to visit this place.
It was months after my wedding I decided to give
BJJ a go. The toughest thing to do was getting myself on the mat for the first time. At that time I was worried that the guys at
KDT would find out that I'm a BB and they will kick my butt *
HAHA*. Anyway, I didn't tell the guys at the gym only after a few months into the training. I told myself that I should be proud that I have taken up
Aikido and there's nothing to fear about it. The irony was that the very first day in class, we were asked by the instructor ~ Adam
Kayoom if any of us had prior MA experience. Everyone shook their heads but I decided to come clean and said, 'Yeah, a
lil'. Emphasising, '
lil, with my fingers. Even that was a lie since I was already doing
Aikido for years. It was only a '
lil while later during class, the guy that shook his head, whispered to me and told me he actually did
Yoshinkan! ;-) So I wasn't alone after all!
The first few months of
BJJ was tough, I was thrown around, choked into submission by everyone. Never the less, I just went with the flow. I guess I have my perseverance to thank for. I used much of my
ukemi in avoiding serious injuries. It was after 3-6 months when I got my first tap. From there, I progress pretty quick. According to my instructor, I grasped the basics quite fast. Again, thanks to my previous MA experience. Also, I notice no one ever belittled me for taking up
Aikido. At first, some had had negative feedback about it, but it never bothered me because it was their right to think what they wanted. I'm not there to change anyone. I was there to learn something new for myself. Like a sponge, I soaked anything my instructor visually imparted.
The rest is history or should I say still an open book...
(to be continued)
