My martial arts addiction.

Yes, I admit it freely; I'm a martial arts junkie.  I have been since 1980.  Even before then, I was dibbling in the martial arts, but it really wasn't until college that I made Budo/Wushu, a real part of my life.  Rarely does a day past where I don't do some kind of training.  Whether it's something as simple as doing a couple of basic punches and kicks, to complex drilling like Naihanchi kata or the sword techniques of Fiore Dei Liberi.  I'm always trying something.

I've had the opportunity to study quite a few different systems in my past 30 years of training, and I've had a chance to study under some wonderful masters.  It was one of the benefits of having lived in a great martial arts city like Chicago.  Primarily though, my focus centers on five different styles.

Those are:

Karate ( Tang Soo Do, Shotokan, Kenpo, Shorin Ryu. )

Bujuikan Ninpo

Serrada Escrima.

Kung Fu ( Wing Chun, Shuai Chiao, Tai Chi, Northern Shaolin, Hsing - I. )

Historical European Martial Arts.

I don't have  a teacher currently.  Most of my training now is self-training, with occasional sparring matches with some friends of mine out my way here in Southold.  I'd like to teach somewhere and I'm currently looking for a spot to do just that.  The problem I've run into is there's a general lack of interest in martial arts ( especially Traditional ) in both the North and South Forks of Long Island.  So, I've been forced to practice mostly on my own.

It hasn't been all bad, though.  Self - work leads to self - discovery.  Many of the theories and concepts of the various different arts that I've studied have become clearer to me now through my struggle to master the basics of those arts.  I'm not where I would like to be, but at least, I'm trying.

And maybe, that's the point.  It's not the end of the journey, but the journey itself.  It's highs and it's lows.  The constant self - critiquing.  The massive effort to train when it is the absolute last thing you want to do.  The people you meet along the way, who make your life all the more worthwhile for meeting them.  The examples they entail for you.  The lessons that they teach.

I may not be the whole man I would like to be.  I'm still struggling financially.  I'm still struggling with finding steady work and my efforts as a writer and actor have not always come to meet my expectations and this is hard to admit, but I'm still trying.  I'm still sending out my resume, like I'm still practicing my reverse punch.  Moment by moment.  Every day.

Keep training, people.