Today I am going to blog about my experience on how martial arts has helped me with life in general. Over the years I have trained many students. I have not only seen them changed physically but grow into confident individuals. The majority of them lacked confidence prior to enrolling in my classes. Afterall these years I am truly honoured to have helped shape their lives.
For me martial arts has not only been great way of staying physically fit or learning how to protect myself but it is also a life long passion. My earliest memories of martial arts began when I was 4 years old. My father sifu / sensei James Chan operated one of the first martial arts schools in Canada. I remember many times as a young boy arriving home with my father to see all his students in uniform waiting on our doorstep for lessons. The excitement I felt was indescribable watching my father conduct class in our backyard. It was also funny to see the neighbours gawking out the window wondering who are these crazy people. My friends would often come over and were amazed at the equipment lying around the house…punching bags, broad swords, samurai swords, and nanchukus you name it.
Other fond memories are the rough and tumble fighters who came through my father’s school. I remember a lot of holes in the walls when students sparring got out of hand. What is nice about being a son to a martial artist is the contacts and sense of family I feel many years later. Two of the best fighters to emerge from my father’s school were Brian “The Dragon” Kelly and Larry Goldstein. Brian eventually went on to become the Canadian Muay Thai champion and operates Dragon Muay Thai in Winnipeg. Larry Goldstain went on to become an oral surgeon and was the first person along with Sensei Bob McRoberts to bring Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to Canada in the early nineties. For those of you in Vancouver who can still remember that far back they sponsored Sylvio Behring black belts John and Marco who stayed for a year before returning to Brazil.
What was interesting was according to my father both Brian and Larry had a rough background. It was through martial arts training that allowed them to blossom into their full potential. Even to this day they both tell me how my father helped them become what they are today.
