Who is your "mentor" in MA??

[bushido_man96]

My mentors are my parents.

My dad has taught me a lot about using common sense, and dealing with situations in general, fighting or otherwise. He has had a lot of fighting experience, and he is the one that got me started into the Martial Arts.

My mother has taught me a lot as well. She is tough as well, and is never afraid to speak her mind. What you see is what you get with my parents, and I try to model myself the same way.

[James Bullock]

I would also have to say my parents. When I was 13 I tried to quite karate ( i did for a day..lol) because I was fat and lazy. My dad wouldn't let me and to him I am eternally grateful. I have no idea what I would be doing if it wasn't for the martial arts.

[bushido_man96]

I would also have to say my parents. When I was 13 I tried to quite karate ( i did for a day..lol) because I was fat and lazy. My dad wouldn't let me and to him I am eternally grateful. I have no idea what I would be doing if it wasn't for the martial arts.

I had a similar incident happen when I was in the 8th grade. I tried wrestling, and I wasn't very good at it. During practice one day, I got rolled back onto another kid's leg, which ended up tearing up his knee. When I got home, I told my mom that I was quitting, because I wasn't any good at it, and I got this other kid hurt, who was probably better than I was.

When my dad got home, he talked to me about it. The one part of the conversation that I still remember to this day is that he said "you've got to keep pluggin' away." So, I agreed to finish the season out, winning one match the whole way. But, I finished it. I keep those words in mind today.

Great instructors come and go. You can almost always fall back on your parents.

[a_ninja]

my cousin. He is the one who got me started in martial arts. People think he doesnt know anything because he has never been to a school, but he does. He learned from books to start off and then he met some different people who knew different martial arts and learned from them. He is still in the process of teaching me because we dont get to see each other alot anymore. Also my karate teachers are my mentors, but that is self explanitory.

[jaymac]

I think as we go through life, our mentors change. There are always people who we look up to, ask them questions, and want to be like them. I look up to my own instructor when it comes to Martial Arts. He is very good at what he does. But being 35 year old, I can't say I really have any others. I just try to do my best everyday, my own way, and be the kind of person others may want to look up to.

[ps1]

Alot of people I once considered mentors let me down as I got older. You know, they just aren't the people you thought they were. I caught some doing drugs, others were just in it for the business, and a few betrayed me when it became convenient to do so.

I guess my mentor now, as well as my best friend in the world, is my wife. She wouldn't know a side kick from a back kick. She can't perform any kata and posesses no martial prowness what so ever. But she's the kind of person I would love to be. My wife is my mentor.

[bushido_man96]

Alot of people I once considered mentors let me down as I got older. You know, they just aren't the people you thought they were. I caught some doing drugs, others were just in it for the business, and a few betrayed me when it became convenient to do so.

I think that this happens a lot because we tend to over-romanticize those that we look up to, making them more than we are.

That is why I stick with my parents. I know them well. I know they have succeeded at things. I also know that they have failed at things. They don't cover things up for me. I always know that what I see is what I get, and that they always try their best, knowing that is all that you can do.

Good post, ps1.