I am a martial artist.
I am one who longs to refine the fight, to know the art.
It is my struggle to better understand it, to refine my skill and my mind to embrace the art better, but this struggle, like the art itself, is not mine alone.
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It should not be mine alone, in that there are many who would become pillars of the art, in its many forms. Their claims are as solid as my own, and without them to challenge, the art cannot grow.
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It cannot be mine alone, in that no one of us can bear the entirety of it in their waking mind. There will be books and other tools of learning to hold the lore, for our memories are soft and malleable. There must be other minds to think it, or it will grow stale.
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It will not be mine alone. I am mortal, and to dust I will return. The art must live beyond the borders of my time in the coil. As such, it is my responsibility to not train alone. To build. To sustain.
To this end I speak of those that will follow me. Those who will bear the art forward, those who learn it now for the first time, and begin their own journeys.
I was first paid to teach others what I know of the sword in 2001. At that time, I lit my torch from one held out by another. I have sought to use that flame to light that fire in others. Flame itself cannot be destroyed, only exhausted or extinguished. It is my hope that once a torch is lit, it will carry the art long enough to light the next. In this way, we keep the memory of the past well lit.
This weekend, I had the immense pleasure of raising four of my young students to the rank of Cavalier, the senior most rank in our youth program. They have spent years learning to use the sword, to wrestle, and the virtues of chivalry. They have written out how they would live these virtues, and shown me their drive, intelligence, and cleverness in many ways. Telling me stories of the past, learning to cook, and teaching me things about the art I would never have seen without the lens of their questions.
They proved with sweat and bruises that they can, and will, use the art. To teach each other and grow their skills together. They won the approval of their fellow students with effort and conduct that was above the bar I had set for them.
I cannot know what they will do with what I have given them, but these young people have given me a greater gift than they have received - they have grown strong, both in themselves and through their friendships to each other. They have shown me that strength and compassion will go forward, and that is why the art exists.
To my students in the Cavalier Youth Program,
Thank you.
