My Essay on the Martial Arts

By Troy Sims

 The summer before I entered the sixth grade, my parents took me to visit Don Garon’s Pennsylvania Karate Academy (PKA). When I walked through the academy for the first time, the concrete block architecture and oppressive, sweat-fueled humidity daunted me, while the training impressed upon my naïve mind an image of the attributes that studying the martial arts are meant to instill. I had watched a fighter prepare for competition that day, and the intensity and focus observed was something that I have not forgotten. We didn’t bother to visit another school; I started training there a few weeks later.

 At that time, training at PKA involved the traditional approach to the teaching of Kempo Karate. We drilled in the basic techniques, weaponry and kata, as well as spending ample time in full contact sparring. Conditioning was also emphasized and afforded me quite a challenge as I tried to achieve the standards demonstrated by the other students. Throughout the school year, I grew stronger and more confident, although this didn’t become apparent until the following spring when winter’s thaw allowed the commencement of yet another season of baseball. That season I hit my first homerun. 

I continued studying and training in the martial arts until entering Junior High when I acquired a keen interest in basketball and had to decide whether to remain at PKA or commit to interscholastic sports. I chose to pursue both baseball and basketball. And although I had temporarily stopped my martial arts training, the benefits I had gained remained a major factor in my successful athletic pursuits.

After high school, I played baseball and basketball at Carnegie Mellon University for a couple years. My decision to stop playing competitively cannot be explained though; I wasn’t quite sure what I was seeking, I simply wanted to improve my fighting and finish the training that I had begun many years earlier. I hadn’t even realized that Mr. Garon had developed an entirely new curriculum predicated on the JKD philosophy and integrated Kempo, Kali / Eskrima, Muay Thai and the Jun Fan arts. Furthermore, I couldn’t attain a satisfactory appreciation for it until years later.

            My return to training was marked by a review of the Kempo techniques that I had learned in my youth and point sparring. I enjoyed my training and wasn’t looking for much more, especially since I had a full schedule of Civil Engineering classes and a job as a student researcher at Carnegie Mellon University’s ‘Mellon Institute’. Soon however, I advanced to a level at which I was able to begin studying other arts, allowing me the opportunity to grow in ways I never expected. I was impressed by the creativity of the different arts and inspired by the ingenuity that allowed their integration. I began to dedicate all of my free time to learning all that I could. My Instructors recognized this unbridled enthusiasm and soon I was instructing other students at the academy. Gradually I realized that the martial arts gave me much more then a way to improve my fighting skills and gain confidence in my physical presence.

            I had always been a person who had a penchant for learning with a desire to thoroughly understand what I was studying. This, in combination with my attention to the variety of ways that people assimilate what is being taught to them, allowed me to perform very well as an Instructor.   Notwithstanding, I do not assume to have the knowledge or experience to address issues on technique or ways of instruction. Although I have spent many hours improving on my technique and its application through drills and fighting “training rounds”, I have never fought in the ring. As a result, I feel that I would better serve the reader by recounting what the martial arts have done for me.

            When I graduated from the university, I began work as a civil engineer as I continued my training and instructing at PKA. Soon afterward, I successfully tested for my black belt at which time I reflected on what I had achieved and questioned where I wanted to go in both my training and my life. I cannot accurately differentiate between them now, as they seemed to have become intertwined. My work as an instructor made me realize the tremendous joy I attained from teaching and helping others. While my study in the various arts and their respective origins, incited in me a passion for understanding other cultures and societies. This eventually led me to return to graduate school to pursue the study of medicine. I had also considered returning to gain a degree in education, but in having to choose one, medicine eventually won. I believe that the fact that the word “doctor” meant teacher in Latin contributed somewhat. My intention is to work with the World Health Organization upon completion of my studies; however I regret that I have yet to select a field of specialty.

            Undoubtedly, there is a great deal more that my training and all of my teachers and fellow students have contributed to my life, but these are more personal and probably quite obvious to many who have dedicated themselves to studying and training in the Martial Arts.