43 Years of Flying Sidekicks
I celebrated my 64th birthday two weeks ago by attempting a 6-foot-high flying sidekick.
It was my first attempt at a flying sidekick in three years.
My first attempt ended with me on my butt, and I was so tickled that I cut this short video including some outtakes, along with photos of different attempts beginning in 1974, when I was 21 years old.
This crap doesn't get any easier as you get older, lose a lung, lose muscle mass, and go through heart failure. But one of the reasons I got into martial arts was to have fun.
Take a look and celebrate with me. Hooray for getting old!!!
What is the Best Way to Leave a Martial Arts Instructor?
Fellow taiji instructor Kim Ivy of Seattle put an interesting post on Facebook last week and it triggered some thoughts that probably all instructors entertain from time to time.
It's a bit puzzling to us, and it actually sometimes hurts a little bit when we spend time with a student, coach them, laugh with them, give time and energy and care, only to have them suddenly vanish and we never hear from them again.
It has happened to me several times. I have had students who achieved rank, attended tournaments with me and we had a great time, developed a camaraderie, and suddenly they are gone and never communicate, as if I was just some passing acquaintance.
As a student, I left one or two teachers without saying anything, including my very first teacher, Sin The. But in all the time I was a student of Sin The's, rising to 3rd degree brown belt, I can't recall one conversation that he ever had with me. I'm not even sure he ever gave me any personal coaching at all. It was a very impers...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
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