clockworkmechanicalman
12-23-2006, 01:53 AM
hi
my name is matt. i play punk rock in a band named clockwork mechanical man, the name comes from L. Frank Baum's book tik-tok of oz. :cool: anyhoo, enough about music this is about martial arts, right. so let's get to it.
my life with martial arts began with taekwondo lessons from the age of 11 to 14. my childhood was ravaged with bullies. so when i left richmond to live with my mom in fredericksburg she got me some tkd lessons. i made it to 1st gup and was almost to 1st dan all i had to do was pay x-amount of dollars, such is the way with McDojang's... :yuck: so even at the age of 14 i realized the situation
i was being taught cookie cutter moves at ridiculous prices and my poor mom had to pay the tab.
after that i moved to poetry and music., which led to rock, girls, 15 minutes of fame everytime i took the stage. and my new martial art was that of frilled lizard evileyes look big, make alot of noise, and most time attackers back down. body piercings, dyed mohawk, torn jeans, and combat boots help with this martial art.
this lasted for awhile...about 7 years i think. until the rock-n-roll lifestyle chewed me up and spit me out. it wasn't drugs or anything like that, it was friends. crazy friends and their crazy problems. it was their problems that found me. short story is a friend of a friend was over at my house for a new year's party this friend beat up somebody while i wasn't home and when i made it home then friends of the beaten party where inside my house smashing my things, and chasing my so called friends out of my house. in a stupor i tried to remember my tkd training but could not perform well after years of frilled lizard kwon do (aka my rock-n-roll lifestyle)
i took a baseball bat to my face after i blocked one with a tkd high block (which snapped my arm in two places) i was bloody and beaten. the last thing i noticed was 5 thugs kicking me and trashing me with bats, while i lay there in the fetal position. :uch: as i blacked out i noticed a shadow move over them and all faded.
the shadow was my true friend Rob. we all called him Robnoxious, because he's obnoxious when drunk. lucky for me Rob dosen't feel pain, and has the build and attitude of a wrecking ball :grr: he beat them off me, broke his arm in the process, and carried out to his car, where there he proceeded to drive me to the closest hospital. Rob was a true friend, when all my other friends at the party jumped out the window to save themselves.
I healed. have a scar on my lip from where it split up to my nose, have a lump on my arm from where the bones healed wrong, had 8 teeth hammered back into my skull, and more scars on my head that yopu can see if i cut it close enough, all this to remind me that life is a battle. much like taoist temples are decorated with swords and spears, i am decorated with these scars. :dead:
After this a man of Tao named Shear tried to teach me Tai Chi. Lokking back at it i should have took the time to learn the art, but i didn't want to leave my room. insted i worked and when i wasn't working. i was playing videogames, by myself in the safety of my room. :(
some time after this i met a girl, NAY, a woman named Erin, who would later become my wife, and inspire me to write music again and make a band. :D
But in the back of my head I still think about the fight. i've had lots but that one comes to mind, and martial arts come with it. :straightf many come to mind, my neighbor takes BJJ classes and tries to convince me that that would help. i've yet to take a lesson, but i sometimes grapple with him on occassion.
the urge to fight back was strong, so strong that i bought boxing gloves, helmets, bags (both heavybags and speedbags) combo mitts, etc. and i started training to fight. but recently confidence has been a problem though i've won some sparring matches (i know it's not about winning or losing) i've almost got knocked out in the process. besides that my feet (the insteps mainly) and my joints are hurting now maybe from TaeKwonDo training has a child has caught up to me, maybe that kind of thing happens as you get older, any which way a few things are becoming constant that says (more like yells) "you're too old to full contact fight, matt" as of lately i've started to listening to that voice. and have giving my boxing gear to my BJJ/MMA neighbor he seems more likely to use it than i.
So is that it for the martial arts for matt brown? no. i've recntly found an aikido class on tues and thurs. i haven't been yet because of three reasons (none of which are confidence related mind youy)
1.) i have the flu. 2.) i am currently on a swing shift and right now the crew's working nights, dayshift will start again on jan 13th. 3.) it's holiday season and the school is probably closed right now.
the name of this club/school is 5 rivers aikido. they teach shin shin toitsu style aikido. the softest style, and most ki foccused. which some would say i need and others would say i should take tomiki style aikido. it doesn't matter which style i should try, (ideally one should try all) this is the only aikido class in my area for 60 miles, but that's not the reason i want to learn it. the focus on ki excites me. it seems like it might teach healing like aikido version of reiki or qi gong someway to heal others. my wife (my lovely wife) has lived with chronic pain for many years. ever since i first met her i knew she had chronic pain. such a talent like mastering ki to heal others, would be most useful :)
anyhoo that's a little about me
thanks for reading
matt
Hi Matt,
Welcome to AikiWeb and thank you for your very detailed introduction.
-- Jun
Laurel Seacord
12-23-2006, 08:22 AM
Matt - it's up to you, and aikido is a good way to do it. We don't have that much time left.
MikeMoazami
12-23-2006, 03:17 PM
I wish you all the very best in your Aikido journey!
Sincerley,
Mike
Kevin Leavitt
12-23-2006, 03:29 PM
thanks for sharing! Good luck!
clockworkmechanicalman
12-24-2006, 10:18 AM
thanks guys for all of that. i'll be looking into 5 rivers aikido soon. 5 rivers is the local aikido class, here in midle peninsula, va. out of the 4 counties(middlesex, gloucester, mathews, king william) that make up the middle peninsula there's really nothing, but jerry's karate studio (in gloucester county) and odyssey martial arts (in king william county). two places out of four counties! except 5 rivers aikido which is a club that is held at the wellness center in front of riverside hospital in gloucester.
they teach shin shin toitsu aikido and kiatsu, as well as other things. that all sounds good to me. :)