by Sean Wong
Over the past quarter century of being involved in the martial arts, it has been a privilege to have met some great athletes and great human beings from a wide spectrum of cultures, martial art, and backgrounds. From those who have been extremely success in business to those who have been success in sport I have found them to have very similar qualities. Despite the different focuses in life, even those whose successes are intrinsically intangible have the same qualities. That quality is summed up by a saying from Sensei Estrada of Michigan, “Train Like a Tiger.”
When I was first introduced to the curriculum of Meibukan, I traveled to Michigan to meet Sensei Paul Babledelis who was at the time with Meibukan. Through him I met a American Shorin-Ryu pioneer named Sensei Estrada. I was rather amazed by the dedicated and complete commitment he had for Karate. His experience as a warrior teacher was one that I had never come by before. Like a fish out of water, I felt that I was completely in a new and unfamiliar world. This was not my first time feeling this way as I recall visiting Sensei Morris in England in 1986 to train in combat Ju-Jitsu. The same occurance would also happen when I would visit the Master Meitetsu Yagi at the Meibukan Hombu Dojo for the first time.
It was a conversation with Sensei Estrada that made it clear to me why I was experiencing this. On my last hours in Michigan, he shared a valuable parable with me. It was simply, “Remember like a tiger but not like a sheep. Tigers can train with anyone but sheep can only train with sheep.” It was so clear to me what had been missing on my Karate journey. I had been so used to training in an isolated group of martial artist, that I hadn’t realized that world of martial arts is huge. Was I able to train with everyone? Humbled I realized that that the answer was no. It was at that time when I realized that I was only cheating myself and my students. In a way living a lie.
Today, I make it my goal as a teacher that everyone who makes it to Black Belt can feel confident that their experience in my dojo is as close to a worldly one as possible. No matter where they go, they can adapt and learn from everyone. Obviously, they cannot be an expert in everything, but they can hold their own in a variety of combat and dojo situations. Our Black Belts have become valedictorians, police officers, national champions, and Canadian record holders, but you would never know who they are because, in climbing the ladder of success they realize that one must first become a good person. This is the trait that seems to permeate in success on both an extrinsic and intrinsic level.
