Martial Arts Did Not Change My Life: Part 2

I am a very good candidate for someone who could argue that martial arts saved/changed their life.

When I was young, I did not fit in. I did not understand these other creatures I was walled up with for seven hours a day, five days a week. When I tried to be myself, I was invisible, when I tried putting on a mask and fitting in, I stood out like a sore thumb. I was laughed at, pushed around, picked on, knocked down, and belittled by other students. I was blamed for the trouble by teachers and the principal. I was told by my father (bless him, he thought he was being helpful) I needed to "not wear my feelings on the cuff of my sleeve," which felt in my mind like, "it is your fault you are being picked on."

My parents signed me up for karate lessons at the Paducah Parks and Recreation Department with Sensei William Darnell. Sensei Darnell taught Tae Kwon Do, Isshunryu, Zen Kenpo, and Flowing Circles. He also taught me all sorts of other things. When I struggled with a self defense technique, (I remember this 28 years later), and I said, "I can't do it." He said, "Yes you can, and don't you ever use that four letter word in here again." Then he stuck with me until I got it right.

My mother supported me, took me to classes, asked to see what I had learned. My father finally found an avenue through which he could connect with me. When things took a turn for the worse for me in school, my lessons learned in martial arts classes were there like a light at the end of a dark tunnel. What I learned from my Sensei, the knowledge that my mother was there quietly supporting me (she always was, I just didn't see it before) and finally having that connection to my father were a guiding light in my dark times.

It would be easy (and marketable) for me to look back and say "Martial Arts changed my life, and probably saved my life," but if I did,

That would be an insult to my first instructor, and every one I've had since.
That would be an insult to my father.
That would be an insult to my mother whom I miss terribly.

The lessons taught to me by William Darnell using a tool known as martial arts, the knowledge of my parents' support, seen thanks to the lens of martial arts, the confidence I gained through my hard work and dedication facilitated by the tool of martial arts, are the things that saved my life.