My First Day
I walked in through the doors of the World Hapkido Federation in September of 1989, Los Angeles CA. I made introductions and asked if I could start training. I had no idea of the late GM’s stature. I just knew he was high ranking. In fact, looking back, I don’t think he ever mentioned or self promoted himself to me. His demeanor, the countless awards, pictures, visitors to his school, and technique, spoke for themselves and I realized over the years what an honor and privilege it was to have trained under one of the premier and pioneers of the art of Hapkido.
So I was told to come back the following class time and start. I was asked “how much did you learn?” and I responded with “I learned the defenses against knife attacks, about 10 techniques sir”. His to that was sort of well, blah. Then after a moment of silence, I was told “you learn from beginning white belt, everything from beginning, 2 techniques a day until you catch up. Same time, I teach you black belt level technique, one a day”. I thought, well, how much could there be from white belt and how many knife defense techniques could there be? Turns out there were about 85 techniques. I felt a little foolish. That was how it all began, walking through the doors, asking for lessons, and getting a less than enthusiastic, almost bland, reception. Looking back, I later understood why. The late GM had thousands of students come through him, some sincere, some not so sincere, and realized I wasn’t the first, the last, and he didn’t know me from John Doe….
What was it like in your first day of class? Was it what you expected it to be, better, worse, as expected? Did you have any expectations, and if so, where they met?
