Fear...why I started martial arts

The reality of a confrontation is a major motivator

My martial arts journey began in 1989 with a story my brother told me. He had been traveling that year and had an unpleasant encounter with a gun-wielding mugger (do we still these guys muggers?).

The guy demanded his wallet and my brother wisely complied. He handed over the wallet but asked that the guy take the cash out and give him back the wallet as it had his ID in it. In his words, “the guy was a nice mugger and gave me back my wallet.” Thankfully, the encounter ended at that point.

The story was oddly upsetting and it took me a few days to sort out my feelings. I realized that what was bothering me was the fact that if I had been in a situation like that, I would have no idea what to do.

The idea of a physically threatening encounter filled me with a combination of helplessness and fear. I did not want to feel this way, so I resolved to learn how to defend myself.

The obvious choice was to learn a martial art.