A girl's first encounter...
Here I am, in the big city of Thessaloniki, just starting a new adventure. Well, spoiler alert, not that adventurous after all (apart from the fact that I learned how to do laundry without completely destroying my whites), but still as thrilling and exciting as a student life can be!!!
I was just about to socialize with fellow music students, when I realised I needed to find an other activity as well, to keep my body working. So, there I am, at the university fitness office, getting all the info and tests to find something that would be a good match. Lucky for me, there were 2 demonstrations in the uni gym, so off I go! I did join both of the clubs right away, but only one kept the spark on! You can guess it: karate!!! Ok, the other one was yoga, not bad actually! ;)
I always had a good amount of curiosity in me for anything that required discipline and physical strength. I like feeling that I am pushing my physical boundaries a tiny tad further every time and I most certainly like discipline (that's what probably would attract me in a carreer in military, haha! But now it's not the time to talk about it). There I am, sitting on a low bank, in the center of the first line, right in the face of the sensei.
Oh, my sensei! What a surprise he was! A short, square guy, quite buffed, in his white gi, with the most honest eyes and smile I've seen. Like, seriously? He looks too sweet to be a martial artist. I guess I was expecting the tall guys with noodle arms and legs, kinda Van Damme-like, with scars on the face or...well, obviously I am kidding, but I had a slightly different image in my mind about this. And, then the demo starts. It was a nice mix of kata, bunkai, kobudo and talking. Nice, motivational talking. The guy knew how to captivate his audience, I was thinking to myself. I was so amazed by the quality of his demo (man, those nunchaku were moving like crazy!) and the talk he was giving in between kata. I didn't know it back then but he shared quite a lot of wisdom that day (and literally every single day one would sit down to have a discussion with him). Life lessons!
Long story short, that was a Tuesday evening, second week of September in 2005. I joined immediately and went to my first keiko on Thursday. Yes, the uni club was only training twice per week, so within a month I enrolled to the courses in the dojo and I was training literally every single day, first in the beginners groups and later on in all of them (make it an average of 3 hours per day, THAT'S how motivated I was) for the next 4 years. I returned home after my first keiko with a growing enthusiasm, bigger passion and love for what I was doing than I could ever imagine. I was standing in front of my mirror, practising my uchi uke, soto uke, all the few things he had shown us in that first lesson, to the surprise and raised eyebrows of my sister, with the biggest smile I've had on my face the past few weeks.
My journey was just starting and I knew it would take me far. I didn't know HOW far exactly - and honestly, I still don't - but, hey, am I not still here talking about it, 15 years later? That must mean something.
I can't wait to put all those feelings down on paper (or on screen!!!). It's the least tribute I can pay to everyone who has accompanied me the last 15 years in my search for my better self, all my senseis, in all fields that I am currently training. It will be a long ride, so bear with me and, if you feel like it, try and see for yourself, through your own eyes what is it that might have attracted you to martial arts in the first place. Sit down and be honest with yourself. Why did you start it? What keeps motivating you? To me it's just the fact that it is my way of life now. When I am not training, I feel less...Less balanced, less organised, less myself. You don't need the same reasons or excuses, everyone has their own. So, sit down, think about your very first ever encounter or keiko and re-motivate yourself!
Budo is a way of life! I am going to do some kata, if you don't mind, and put my mind at ease!
...to be continued...
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