I might not be the most well-known martial artist around but by those that do know me I am respected. The reason behind this is not that I’ve won hundreds of Tournaments or I am always posting photos of my kicks and or things I have archived but the fact I show respect to those I have trained with or under and always will shine light on people that put me on the path I’m on, I don’t mind admitting to anyone that when I started my training In Wado Ryu under Dave Pleszko I was naturally talented at absolutely nothing in martial arts!
In fact the first time I chucked up a roundhouse kick I pulled a muscle and could not train again for days after, my punches had no power and my footwork was slow, sloppy and very flat, but this is where work ethic comes into play I had a good one, I trained every opportunity that I could in a club, at home or in the damp and badly lit garage we had just any time I could and from this I learned that I will only get back what I put into my martial arts. I carry that attitude with me now in the way I teach that I will always give everyone 100% but therein lies where it is your turn as students to decide what it is you want out of your training and commit to it?
I love our classes to be fun over all else but we also have to have a line of discipline and etiquette I will go into this more in class over the next few weeks & in blogs but in its basic form everyone who comes to train should expect to be treated with respect and to also show respect, in our classes we have everything from White belt to working towards Black belt and further and I believe that when I am in class I set an example of how we should treat one another, if you are a student who has been training with me long enough to know the example you should be setting as others are looking up to you but you are not setting this then ask yourself why not ? Ask that question before I must ask it of you.
We have a fantastic Team of people at Verve and I feel truly blessed for it to have grown as fast and strong as it has but for us to now push forward and become better martial artists it takes work from every single one of us from me downward! The word Team will never describe one single person, only the word ego will cover that.
