What’s Kickin’

An Instructor's Greatest Joy and Private Pain
by Master Kevin J Robinson
Originally published in the WTSDA Newsletter, January 2007

As I sit and reflect on my career in the martial arts I’m flooded with many wonderful memories. It’s hard to believe a skinny kid from a tiny town few have ever heard of would be so blessed as I have been. I have met and trained with some of the greatest masters of the 20th century. The late Grandmaster Remy Presas of the Escrima system, Professor Wally Jay founder of the Small Circle JuJitsu system, Professor Shihon David James of Vee-Arnis JuJitsu system, and of course my teacher of many years, Grandmaster Jae Chul Shin. Each one of these real Grandmasters has their own unique approach to the martial arts and how they relate to our modern society and their impact on the lives of their practitioners and themselves.

Over the years, I have heard people ask these great men to share secrets. Often, they laugh and redirect the question or give a simple two-sentence answer. Ironically, since 2001, I have had a number of my own advanced students and students at seminars I was teaching ask me to share secrets. I am a lifetime student of the martial arts. I have no great knowledge or secret techniques and I’m not sure anyone really does. I will, however, share a secret that few people know or even understand.

Every time a new student walks through the door and signs up, I am excited and thrilled that they have chosen to study the martial arts and receive all of its wonderful benefits. I am grateful that they chose to allow me to be their teacher and trust me to guide them through their journey. Every time a student works through a personal problem, overcomes a fear, or takes a test for a more advanced rank, I inwardly celebrate their growth and progress.

Over the years, I have had students of all ages, races, and cultures come to my studio that have had a wide variety of problems. Some had health issues, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, overweight, alcohol problems, and cerebral palsy. Some were victims of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, while others were insecure and shy. We have also had a number of students who came to us with ADD, ADHD, and poor academic ability, while others needed to reduce stress and become more coordinated. The greatest joy an instructor can experience is seeing the amazing life transforming changes in their students because they are part of a group that cares about them and their personal development and well being. I can give many examples of students whose lives were changed. We have had dozens of young people who were diagnosed with ADD and academic difficulty graduate in the top of their class and receive numerous academic scholarships. In fact, one of our former students received a huge scholarship to M.I.T.

Several times over the years, we have had students diagnosed with very serious illnesses and their doctors told them and their families the only thing that saved their lives was the fact that they had been in such great shape from all their training. Watching people who were abused and very shy become self-assured and outgoing is exciting. Joy is the only word to describe seeing a student reach their goal of black belt. The years of hard work, sacrifice, and dedication did all these things, when tempered with genuine love and caring for each and every student. They come to realize the universal truth that each of us is important; no one is any better or worse than them. They discover that if they want to succeed, they must keep their eyes on the goals and not let anyone or anything distract them from achieving their goals.

Even with all these emotional highs, anyone who has taught martial arts also knows the private pain. It is a secret that many of us keep to ourselves. All of our students are important to us, and when someone stops training it hurts. I often wonder if I did something to insult or hurt that person in some way. I then wonder "Is my teaching not motivating?" or "Have I not made them aware of all their improvements and positive changes?". But I remind myself that not everyone is going to love the martial arts like I do and make it a life long pursuit. There are of course different levels of pain and it really hurts when a black belt stops training. To think of all the years of training, the great physical conditioning, the time spent molding and developing these awesome human beings and the tight friendships that have been formed.

The most painful of all is when someone you have trained with for 10, 20, 30 years retires or stops for various reasons. In the past several years I have experienced several losses. In 2001, Professor Remy Presas passed away from brain cancer, which was a loss to many around the world. Over the thirty years I’ve been in Tang Soo Do I have made many close friends; people I have sweat, bled, laughed, and sometimes cried with, who are all exceptional people. I truly miss my friends, Master Ron Raver and Master Brian Piersall. This year, however, was extremely tough. My "karate friend" Master Joseph Leone decided to scale back in his martial arts training. Master Leone and I have been friends since our cho dan test in the early 80's.  He and I have traveled to the Region #8 instructor’s class together since the very first class at headquarters. We took all of our black belt tests together and, in 1994, he and I tested for our master's rank together. I learned many lessons about life and martial arts from Master Leone and miss our long rides to class and the master’s clinic.

It is important that we, as an organization, enjoy each and every moment we can together, because life can change quickly. Life is about others and then about you.

Master Kevin J Robinson