{"id":95,"date":"2019-01-29T10:41:51","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T16:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/?p=95"},"modified":"2022-02-16T06:25:55","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T12:25:55","slug":"twenty-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/29\/twenty-years\/","title":{"rendered":"Twenty Years&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>Originally posted April 7 2016<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Recently I was asked to reflect back 20 years to 1996. \u00a0The person asking was representing an organization I belong to and they were wanting to hear what we were doing when the organization was founded. \u00a0Answers were interesting to read at the event in celebration of the longevity and growth. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">My response was interesting to me in that I began to realize what a pivotal time this was in the development of my love for Martial Arts. \u00a0My journey began in April of 1985 attending my first Karate classes at the local Goju Kai school. \u00a0Up until 1995 I had little experience outside of this style or school. \u00a0During the summer three of the black belts and I attended our first major Gasshuku and learned several things that we did not know, that is to say several holes were exposed in our training to that point. \u00a0That fall returning to university I began to get involved in the campus Martial Arts club. \u00a0<\/span>The university I attended had a great English Language program at the time and would frequently get a number of students from Japan and Korea that would continue in the the hospitality and tourism program. \u00a0Several of these students would participate in the Martial Arts club\u00a0sharing their\u00a0experience\u00a0and\u00a0opening our eyes to the global nature of\u00a0activity\u00a0we were practicing. \u00a0We had a diverse group of Martial Arts represented, mostly doing Tae Kwon Do, however\u00a0we were all able to share what we had done. \u00a0We attended some events and frequently worked out with clubs from neighboring universities. \u00a0It was a great time of seeing different styles, new techniques and perspectives.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>In 1996 I began the year filling the\u00a0position\u00a0of Vice president with the University Martial Arts Club. \u00a0By the end of the year the group elected me president.\u00a0\u00a0This gave me more influence and more\u00a0opportunity\u00a0to meet martial arts students on campus. \u00a0I went to the Major Gasshuku again this year better prepared to handle the challenges this included. \u00a0One of the side classes was teaching a bo Kata during that week. \u00a0The Kata was more complete than what we had been doing to that point and the practical nature was more evident, at least as practical as working with a 6 foot stick can be. \u00a0This was my first exposure to Matayoshi style Kobudo the style I still practice today.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Paul, one of the black belts from my home dojo who I had attended Gasshuku\u00a0with was \u00a0continuing his education at my university. \u00a0We would see each other on campus regularly, this usually began with him kicking me in the library which gave me great\u00a0opportunities\u00a0to\u00a0practice my blocks. \u00a0Fun times. \u00a0Paul\u00a0turned forty that year I seem to remember him getting grief in the dojo. \u00a0Life has an interesting way of turning the tables on us.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">This time was instrumental in the love for the styles I continue to practice today, and often gives me pause to reflect on how lucky I have been to have such great styles and teachers help move me forward. \u00a0 It is hard to believe that 20 years have passed since this time. \u00a0Great leaps in growth and understanding have taken place since then but this was the loosening of the soil that allows the roots to\u00a0spread, as my Tai Chi teacher put it. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<div><span style=\"font-size: medium;\">Thank you all for your support of Menomonie Goju Ryu, To another 20 great years! \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Originally posted April 7 2016 Recently I was asked to reflect back 20 years to 1996. \u00a0The person asking was representing an organization I belong to and they were wanting to hear what we were doing when the organization was<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14,15,20],"class_list":["post-95","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-goju-ryu","tag-karate-in-menomonie","tag-longevity"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":147,"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95\/revisions\/147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.menomoniegoju.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}