Wandering In A Bamboo Forest

I. Humble Beginnings
With the dawn of the New Year, I find myself looking inward and seeking once again to return to the martial path that I took my first steps on over 13 years ago. My first introduction to the martial arts was on a tired and splintered gym floor at Ohio University in a physical education class. It was there that I first began training with senseis Howard Bebee and Karen Richards. My interest in the arts had been burning inside me for years, but only then did the opportunity to explore the arts finally present itself. I took full advantage of the opportunity before me, taking 2 introductory classes through the university and joining the OU Karate Club. Fast forward through 4 years of training, 1 back surgery, college graduation, and finding a new club back home...and at last, the rank of Shodan (1st degree black belt) was finally achieved. At last, I was a serious beginner in 1999 and ready to begin more deeply exploring the martial art of Shotokan Karate.

II. Losing My Way
Life, general laziness, lackidasical training, and the loss of my hometown club--and any other litany of excuses--has kept me at the rank of Shodan for now nearly 8 years. Half-hearted attempts to find my lost path were met with tired (and sore) frustration, the sporadic training only fueling emotions of always starting over and never progressing. The path, it seemed, was lost. Unbeknownst to me at the time, it wasn't the path that was ever lost at all but me. The martial path I had begun so long ago that once shouted out for me to continue my journey was now nothing more than an annoying whisper---and one that I tried to ignore.

III. Returning To The Path
That whisper from deep within my mind has begun to chatter a bit louder in this New Year. I fear ignoring it any longer might finally discourage it to the point of falling silent, a fate the larger part of me feared even when attempting to quiet it. Again there is a "fire in my belly," a yearning in my soul to return to the path. "Do it now!" I hear thundering. "Or risk forever wandering along a path with no direction...and no destination."
And so it is now that I pick up arms once again and seek to return to the martial path I have ignored. Travel with me, if you like, as I take a little time to cache my thoughts here and prepare for a year dedicated to journey a little further down my martial path. If all goes well, these next 11 months will prepare both my mind and body to finally test for my next grade. Still, it's not passing the test that most concerns me. Rather, it's simply to find my way back along the martial path that I have long ignored. If having an exam date on the horizon will help sustain my motivation, so be it. But in the end, if only I can blaze a trail out of the forest that returns me to the path, this year will not be one wasted.

IV. Looking Ahead
Perhaps the old maxim about the first steps being the most difficult holds much more than a grain of truth. Even now, as I write and begin my preparations, I do not feel as if I have returned to my martial path. In truth, I've only just now begun trying to find the path once more. It looms on the horizon, I believe, obscured by the responsibilities and trivialities of Life. Only time will tell if I will overcome the obstacles obscuring the path, but rest assured those efforts are underway...