Since I was young I was very interested in martial arts. I think it was partially because I was the only asian kid in a white town and I didn't have an asian parent readily available to give meaning to my difference. So in trying to figure out myself I tried to see what was 'asian' and one of the few answers was martial arts and food. I was slightly more fascinated by martial arts. I think it was a time in my life where I felt powerless so the idea of strength also greatly appealed to me. But I did not start training until later in life.
I think I was 18 when I first trained. I trained very briefly with a guy named Dillan who mainly wanted sparring partners. This only lasted a few weeks, but I instead ended up being introduced to weightlifting by a lifter named Keith who I liefted with for a year. This process moved me from a scrawny 120 pounds to 140 pounds in a few months.
The next year I moved to Oberlin and begin to train with a guy named Henry McCann in Isshin Ryu Karate. He was my first real introduction to martial arts and he taught me a lot, including to keep an open mind about martial arts. I studied with him for three years training in empty ball rooms and grassy quads. My last year at Oberlin a guy named Gary Yano took over teaching Karate. Henry had been a student and he moved on and got a local teacher, Gary, to replace him. The Gary year wasn't quite as good, but he did bring in another guy occasionally. I forget his name, but he was a Navy SEAL and I liked learning from him. He ended up not teaching us because I think he was a little rough with one of the students.
During my college years I also trained Aikido. The exact organization was the Aikido Schools of Ueshiba, I think. In an Oberlin program I trained six hours a day for a month and gained the first rank. It was really a great experience, although I did not continue my Aikido training.
When I finished college I was told that Gary Yano wanted to give me a black belt so I should contact him, but I found out that I really didn't care and never bothered with it. I don't really remember what rank I left with.
So when I left Oberlin I moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts. I contacted my old teacher Henry to ask him if he had any ideas as to where I should train in the Boston area. He immediately replied that I should study with Master Yang Jwing-Ming, whom I spent the next six years studying under.
Training at the YMAA, Yang's Martial Arts Association, was a great experience and I reached the 5th stripe. I met many people who taught me so much and provided incredibly examples. The main part of the curriculum was Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu and White Crane Kung Fu. I also trained in Xingyi Quan for a year and was briefly exposed to some other styles like Black Tiger and Liu He Ba Fa.
After about six years, I started my Masters (Computer Science not Kung Fu) and training became difficult. I also had a serious girlfriend so times demand were greater and my emotional need to train was reduced. I also was old enough to notice that my physical abilities were declining slightly. So I stopped training. After my Masters I was living with my girlfriend and never ended up going back to train. Part of this was the long commute to the school (almost an hour) and my World of Warcraft addiction. So for maybe six years I didn't train, and my body deteriorated.
Now I miss the martial arts so I searched for a local school. I didn't need anything as serious as YMAA, but something that would wake up my body and interest my mind. I found two schools in the area. I visited both and ending up choosing one because it had a more strenuous workout. The other school focused on technique and not conditioning, and conditioning is more of what I wanted than technique.
So now I start up again on my journey with a brain full of theory and a body full of rust!
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