Studying martial arts certainly has its sufferings, especially if one dedicates his life to it. In this light, one would be well-served to remember the famous words of Lebanese-American author, painter and poet Khalil Gibran.
From The Black Belt Book of Life: Secrets of a Martial Arts Master.
In the wisdom of time
with its messages ageless,
the pinnacle of all is that
Character Must Precede Prowess.
The first essential step to a spiritual life is character. One may deceive one’s friends, relatives and even oneself, but the Power within is not deceived.
For he who is honest is noble, whatever his fortunes or birth.
Having been studying and working diligently, Judy “Striker” Gompf is poised to achieve her Purple Belt ranking in the near future. Her basic KIA fundamentals, fighting skills, and kata proficiency are progressing extremely well. We look forward to witnessing her next test and then on and beyond, working up the ladder to The Wall.
Striker, a mother of two children, has multiple collegiate degrees. Serving the SoCal area, she is a “Veterans Approved” agent for Keller Williams Realty (her business card is below).
Karate Institute of America Orange Belt Aidan “Smasher” Ligtvoet is expanding his wide interests to include horsemanship and settling in to the cowboy lifestyle. Here he is at the rail with his new equine buddy while he’s all duded up in boots, jeans, kerchief and riding helmet. Dig those glasses, too. Looking cool, man!
Catching a rear side look at a young man and his horse. Smasher is extremely smart, loves horses, and will make a great equestrian. He’s attentive to every little detail and has done a lot of reading and research into horses and how to care for them.
One of the proverbial questions asked in martial arts is, “Who can punch harder, muscle guys or skinny guys?” The answer may surprise you. As in all cases, the answer rests in technique and speed. Which would you prefer to get hit with, a medicine ball or a bullet fired from a .45 caliber pistol?
On the Fight Science YouTube channel their answer is:
In reality the issue of whether bigger guys can punch harder relates more to the ability to move your body mass quickly over short distance.