Going "back home"

[Bill Glasheen]

This past weekend I had another opportunity to visit my old UVa dojo. The place is now run by Ian Jenkins and Tim Ahearn. It'll always be an unusual dojo model - somewhat self-run and self sustaining. My visit corresponded with a twice-semester occasion of evaluating and testing. This was the final review for ranks.

It never ceases to amaze me how much can be gotten by giving to such people. There I sat in front of two separate classes of young men and women in the prime of their lives. So much promise. So much potential waiting to be tapped - both physically and mentally. And from some, enough appreciation to make it all worth it.

I first started doing Uechi karate (not my first style) on that aged wooden floor in 1974. The building itself is about 80 years old, and the floors have many memories to tell when those floorboards creak. Coming back is such a heady experience. On the one hand, I am no longer that young man that first entered the building so many years ago. But in my place are so many others just like me, or at least at the same stage in life. It's almost as if time is frozen there, in spite of how any one body will age.

UVa is probably a lot like a lot of universities. Except that it IS a special place, having been founded by Him (Thomas Jefferson). One is constantly reminded of Him around "the grounds" in the architecture, statues, and the way people treat each other. But it is also unique in Virginia in that it is a magnet for people of all races from all around the world. And for whatever reason, a martial arts class ends up being even more diversified. In it you don't see the normal black-white thing I have come so begrudgingly accustomed to here in Richmond. Yes, I see Europeans of various decents and African Americans, but I also see Japanese and Chinese and Koreans and Indians and Vietnamese and, and... It's incredible. I often wonder what draws so many "ethnics" to this activity in this location. And it is what I miss the most about this UVa club.

In the collection of all these many bodies, I see "the whole" represented only by individuals. Here I see two strapping young men do ashikitae in a way that would make Tang Po jealous. There I see a tiny Vietamese woman do a Kanshiwa with a passion that sends goosebumps down my spine. In another place I see an agile male do a dive roll on a hardwood floor with barely a whisper of sound. Nobody had the whole package (and any one dojo only sees this once in a generation), but it was all there - in pieces. Collectively they understood "it". Collectively this group is able to carry the torch to future generations of aspiring young students of the art.

And where would these people go? And what great things would they accomplish? As often as I have seen people quit and never come back, enough people through the years have done enough great things that the potential is staggering. I have seen physicians and attorneys and engineers and researchers and married couples and - yes - even great karateka come out of this group. And my potential effect on these impressionable young folks causes me great pause.

Yes, it is bloody well worth it.

- Bill

[Tim Ahearn]

Bill,

I'll pass this along to everyone in the dojo. I'm sure they'll be touched. Drop by and reminisce anytime; you're always welcome.

-Tim

[Schiman]

Bill -

Reading your posting brought back some nostalgic memories. I remember practicing in that same dojo in UVa from 89-93. I even taught the beginner class in the fall of '93 after receiving my shodan in May of '92. I smile when I remember the past stories told, the group home-brew parties, and multi-attack aikido exercises. Since then life sure has shifted things. I went from practicing Uechi up to 12+ hours a week to barely getting in the time to practice at all. With working a 50+ hour a week job, a 15 hour weekly commute and then enough time to spend with my wife and son, there is barely enough time to give Uechi the attention I once was able to give it. Yet through the Uechi net page, I was able to connect to another practicioner in my town with similiar constraints. We now meet together on a weekly basis on Saturday mornings to review our kata, bunkai, and other practical ideas to the uses of certain moves. It's been the first time I've been able to practice Uechi with another on a regular basis since June of '93... oh how I've missed it. I look forward to the day that my life settles enough to knock hours off my work and commute and be able to teach again!!
I thank you, Bill, and the UVa dojo for the skills and memories. If you ever wonder what becomes of the ones that never come back, just know that they are a good amount of them out there doing their Wa-Uki's on shower doors as if it was a Mem Gym mirror looking forward to the day they can get back into the art more earnestly but just taking what they can get in the meantime.
Believe me when I say from one individual amoung the hundreds you've encountered...yes, your time and devotion is definitely worth it.


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:> Ken