Choosing Martial Art: A Celebration

A young man in his late twenties with short, light brown hair and a smile on his face greeted me at the studio.

"You must be Floreta."

I nodded in confirmation. I had two weeks free of martial arts before I was to make a decision on joining. To my surprise, he was the instructor.

A couple years ago, I took Kenpo karate and earned an orange belt. I didn't get very far before I decided to quit. Martial arts has always interested me since I was a kid, but my parents—being overly protective—prevented me from joining since martial arts are for boys (maybe this was the little feminist in training for me). Now that I am an adult, I am fulfilling my childhood dreams of taking martial art. This time, the style I've chosen is an Indonesian martial art, a variation of Silat mixed with Chinese Kung Fu.

(One of these days, I'd like to try Eskrima-Kali, the Filipino martial art, but it's hard to come by around here. Matt Damon trained in this art for his role in The Bourne Identity trilogy! This stick fighting martial art is something I have had the honor to watch in action during a demo in one of those cheesy Fil-Am [Filipino-American] Picnic Potlucks. The best!)

"You must have had some martial arts training before," one of the other students said to me as I finished my first class. He could tell I wasn't exactly a newbie, and I explained my background having taken "some Kenpo". One of the other white belts has a black belt in Kenpo and "likes to show off," as the man warned. But the black belt didn't intimidate me at all. In fact, he intrigued me. Black belts are hot and he wasn't so bad on the eyes either (Come to think of it, neither is the instructor. A girl could get used to this!).

To be honest, the first time I stepped into a Kenpo class—my very first martial art class—the instructor was really impressed with me too. "Have you taken classes before?" He'd ask. I shook my head no with a quiet smile. Does Tae-bo count? Maybe the months of Tae-bo videos had paid off. After all, this weight-loss marketing ploy does have roots in Tae-Kwon-Do. With Billy Blanks by my side, I perfected my way to front kicks, side kicks, back kicks and roundhouse kicks. Not to mention, a few punches.

Both my Kenpo instructor and my current instructor say the same thing: I am a fast learner.

* * *

Silat is considered a deadly martial art. Rather than train for self-defense, the art is trained to kill, and leave the opponent not wounded, but dead. In some places, the art of Silat has been banned! Like Capoeira, the art can be transformed as a dance, so that the teaching can continue. Graceful in movement but deadly in stratagem.

"One thing I ask my students is if they are comfortable with deadly martial art. The second thing I ask is if they believe in God. I will not teach students who don't believe." I was at an unfamiliar house in a new environment and students all around my age that seemed more dedicated and passionate than I could ever be. The Silat circle is small, and I was instantly uncomfortable by his two questions. It's like justifying war with Religion. Kill in the name of God. I don't get it, and I can't do it. Bouncing my way between a straight-up Silat class at someone's house, and a Silat variation at a legit studio wasn't a hard decision for me. While one asked for my belief, the other asked for nothing. By his two questions, I already failed as a prospective student.

Besides that, my passive attention while I watched the students perform demos for me did not entice me as much as getting right into a work-out in my first class at the studio. The numbered forms in Silat, utilized by the chanting of number variations for forms did not entice a non-numbers person like me either. How am I supposed to memorize 1-6-10-8-14-12-2-5-17-11-4-3 or whatever? Ain't happening. Learning styles and teaching preferences made it easy for me to choose the studio. Sure, maybe the variation can be deadly too, but my instructor doesn't strategize on the various ways you can kill someone. That kind of talk just makes me feel uneasy and queasy.

And the God thing. I believe, in my own way, except dogmatic martial arts training makes me feel uneasy. I don't believe one has to be a believer in order to train in martial art though I get what he was saying. Martial arts applied to a real-life situation takes a certain act of defiance, an act of faith. You can't think, you just do. You just react. And you trust that what you know can guide you in your actions. The movement is as if coming from outside of yourself (as if from a Presence or Divine). Think too much—hesitate—and you're dead.

* * *

"Floreta, please come up to the front," my instructor called me during my third class. I had just gotten done learning week two of self-defense holds while hotshot Kenpo guy was testing for his 2nd black stripe, a higher rank for white belt. The instructor carried a basket in front of him and pulled out a white belt. My eyes lit up as I was ceremoniously awarded the honor. So much ritual goes into this particular martial art. It's comforting. It's humbling to be awarded your first belt, even if it's only a white belt. Humble beginnings. And reason to celebrate.

"I'm really excited that you're here! You're a fast learner..." and other compliments my way. I am bad at taking compliments so I just tried to soak it all in. He wrapped the belt around my neck and meandered it around my waist to tie it in a double knot near my left hip bone. The entire class bowed to me and clapped after both me, hotshot Kenpo guy, and another higher ranked white belt all earned our honors. I smiled. Each class is truly a joy and I am happy to be back into martial art.

The month is April, and I am usually a bit damper as my birthday approaches the end of the month. I don't like to celebrate my birthday; the day I was born, but this year, this month, this moment seems different. I welcome my approaching birthday. I am happier than I've been in a long time. Choosing martial arts again was easy. It symbolizes that shift of awareness as I come closer to who I am. As I reach peacefulness with myself and greater equilibrium. As I truly let go of the bounds of a draining, failed relationship. I've got my energy back, slowly but surely. So now I celebrate.

[Sunday Scribblings #157: Celebration]