The Recess Story
I was a 6-year-old kid in school when a classmate told me his brother could beat up my father because he was a black belt. I remember asking, “What’s a black belt?” That simple question marked my first conscious exposure to martial arts and planted a seed that would grow over decades.
My next clear exposure came in Hawaii at Schofield Barracks during the Armed Forces Day demonstrations. I watched demonstrations of unarmed combat, drills, and martial skills performed by soldiers. It was mesmerizing — seeing skill and discipline in action, and realizing martial arts was more than just movies or TV characters.
Before martial arts became popular in the United States, exposure was mostly through television, movies, and magazines. Among my earliest awareness came from characters like Kato on The Green Hornet, the James Bond movie, You Only Live Twice and cultural fascination with martial arts in the 1960s. Those glimpses added to the sense that there was something powerful and almost mysterious behind these systems of training.
These glimpses piqued my curiosity.
But curiosity alone doesn’t create skill.
In 1973, I began formal martial arts training. What started as curiosity turned into discipline, and eventually into a lifelong pursuit. Over time, I came to understand that martial arts isn’t about quick results or flashy techniques — it’s about consistency, resilience, and adaptation.
Decades later, that original question — “What’s a black belt?” — still echoes, but the meaning has changed. It’s no longer about rank. It’s about the process. It’s about showing up, training intelligently, and continuing forward regardless of age.
That’s what Iron Past Fifty is about.
It’s about continuing to train, to learn, and to improve — even as the body changes. It’s about strength, skill, and longevity, built over time through experience, not shortcuts.
Because the real goal was never just earning a belt.
It was becoming the kind of person who keeps going.
Leave a Reply