A final lesson from my late martial arts teacher

“He believed in you…”

She wiped the tears from her face as we stood in the foyer at the foot of the steps.

In the twelve years I had trained with him outside in the driveway, I had never set foot inside of my master’s home.

It didn’t seem right then.

Now, three months after his sudden passing, there was a part of me that wished I had pushed harder in my training.

I know there’s nothing that I could have done to change anything given the challenges of being a 9-5 parent.

But it still hurt.

The Tai Chi world lost an incredible leader.

And to think I almost didn’t become his student due to my distrust of most.

It was his final lesson to me that I now understand with more depth as I’m steadily pushing forward here.

The follow up

I had introduced myself to him at one of the cultural events where he was promoting his introductory classes.

I had just returned home as a newly-minted graduate hunting for a job, and it was slow going.

Even though I wasn’t actively looking to jump right in to get involved, I gave him my contact information.

After that, he would periodically pop up in my inbox to let me know when he was holding advanced classes at his house.

I was poor, I was stressed, and I was living with my parents again.

It was after the third email that I decided to take him up on his repeated offer.

The rest is history.

The lesson?

Follow up.

Everyone has a hectic life.

Everyone is going through some stuff.

It’s not about the money. It’s about seeing potential and believing that you can make a difference in someone’s journey.

Everyone gets scammed at some point in their lives.

It’s what you do after the experience that determines how you move forward in life.

I’m glad that I didn’t let those negative experiences prevent me from continuing my training.

The way forward

As a practitioner of the art for nearly three decades now, I have an obligation to honor his legacy.

His widow left no shortage of heirlooms in my care:

• martial arts magazines

• digital recordings of forms

• weapons such as spears and swords

I’ve started attending and assisting in classes that another student (with much more bandwidth) is now leading.

Without our master, it’s up to us to rebuild the trust and authority that he embodied here.

That commitment resonates with what I’m doing here with this newsletter.

Everyday, I do my best to follow up with you, to share something meaningful.

Thanks for your patience.

Who do you have in your life who has entrusted their legacy to you?

Let me know in the comments.