Who is your "mentor" in MA??

[karatekid1975]

I trained in Jujitsu tonight, and my jujitsu instructor's wife is in TKD. We invited them to dinner, and we just trained (Jujitsu AND TKD) and had a great talk about MA over dinner (this isn't the first time we trained like this).

Right now, I can't think of any famous MA'ist that would beat them as far as my mentors. They have so much info when it comes to MA. Both are pretty dang good, too.

Anyways, I want to know who is your mentors (famous people don't count) and why. I'll go into details later with mine.

[Pacificshore]

Hey Laurie,

Excellent question by the way I would have to say that my main mentor has been my original Kenpo instructor who was my college roommate, and friend. He was the one to see me all the way through to my black belt, in fact as far as the family tree goes, I'm his first black belt. Being that we ended up roommates, it was hard to get out of training without a good excuse

So no matter what time we had to train, he was always there to get me and the other guys going. Man I hated those 6AM workouts To this day we still keep in touch even though his occupation landed him in Iraq for about 8 months. In fact he just recently returned

As for other mentors I'd have to say many of my training buddies. We all worked together back in the day to acheive what we have today. Many of us still keep in touch, and on occasion still see each other. In fact, one of my training buddies recently opened his own dojo, and I've been fortunate enough to be able to provide support towards his success.

Well that is my story, and I'm sticking to it

[karatekid1975]

Good story, Gene I have to admit that my mentor is ninjanurse. We worked hard last night on technique for forms, and she blew me away with the knowledge she has (she always does LOL), and I got second in a tourny today for that workout. I beat out a few black belts that I didn't think I would beat, but I did (I'm only a red belt 2nd gup/kyu). I also beat out the same lady that beat me last tourny, too (she was a green belt at the time). I give her (ninjanurse) the credit.

I was also told that one of my other instructors was blown away with the "change" in my form. She was like "wow!" This is the same person that scored me low in the last tourny (because I was sloppy). She asked my boyfriend what did I do to change my form. He told her, "coaching from a dear friend." I thought that was awsome

[Pacificshore]

Wow .....congrats on your success at the tourney All the hard work you put in does pay off in the end, as well as forever when it comes to the world of martial arts. It is also great to hear that ninjanurse has made a great contribution in your training Whether or not I can make the trip back to NY in the spring, I'd definitely would enjoy meeting up with you all and training sometime in the future

[June1]

I HAD a mentor, but due to something that he is doing that I believe to be morally wrong, I've lost respect for him, and don't consider him to be a role model anymore.

I do have another MA role model, though: one of my old senseis who left the country to travel the world. Right now, she's in China, and we keep in contact through e-mails. She has not only helped me with karate, but with making goals for my life, and giving me a well-needed nudge to start them.

[gheinisch]

I have to give credit to my very first and most important mentor and that would be my Father. He didn't teach me a thing about the Martial Arts but he did teach me how to be successful and have the drive to accomplish what I set my mind too. He would always tell me and my brothers, "that no matter what you do in life, weather it's digging a ditch or designing a building to do it to the best of your ability, never go home feeling guilty of the job you've done that day. " Good advice, and advice that I live by today. Going on five years of never missing a day at work, even though there were plenty of days I didn't feel all that great.

Secondly it would have to be my current Martial Arts instructor. He has been training in the Martial Arts for over forty years and has freely given his time over the past six years to train myself and others in the Art that he truly loves. At no charge I might add. I recently achieved rank of Shodan after almost six years of training. He thought I wouldn't make it as far as I have but I was persistent. Thank my Dad again for that one. I started at the age of 34 and was not in the best of shape but through determination and hard work I've achieved a lot. Our instructor is a great teacher and an even better person. There are some people who can teach but aren't great Martial Artist and there are those who are great Martial Artist but have a hard time conveying that information to someone else. Hanshi is both! He reminds us that we are family and if anyone ever needs anything all they have to do is ask. We'll never be able to repay him for what he's given us. Knowledge!! I feel blessed to have him as a mentor.

I guess those are the two people who have had the greatest impact on my life.

[orion82698]

I'm still searching for my mentor. I envy you all!

[karatekid1975]

orion82698, you'll get one. Like gheinisch explained, a mentor doesn't have to be martial artist. My non-MA mentors would have to be my parents and my Grandmom. They taught me values (or tried to at times LOL), and made me who I am. Well with that and the values of MA, made me what I am today.

[JackDragon]

My Mentors, there are quite a few

My Father, who taught me the principuls of self - dscipline and honour as I grew up

My Sensei, Paul, Who has taught me that Karate is a state of mind, not a way to fight someone

My Fellow Karateka's, Korran and Corey, both showing the path I need to follow and always telling me on day I will be as good as them!

MY Role models are people who I have never met, but they are as follows;

Sensei Bill Evans; The man who taught my Father Wado-Ryu from Sei-Bu-Kan in Portsmouth.

Gichen Funaksohi; Without him, where would we all be?

Miyamoto Musashi; Enuf Said

[IcemanSK]

I have two. One is my 1st instructor, Master Yun Kil Kim. He made me think I could do anything. When you're a shy teenage boy, you need all the help you can get.

The other was my kickboxing trainer, Kevin McClinton. He trained several World Champion boxers & kickboxers before I ever had heard of him. By the time I met him, he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. I trained under him from 1994-1999. I've never sweat, been worked or laughed so much in my life. I was in the room the day he died. I miss him every day. My screen name is the ring name he gave me, Iceman, & the initials SK for Superkick, his ringname & name of the gym.