I would like to share my first experience with a bully; this event helped make me the man I am today. It also shaped my thoughts on my career choices. This one event led me to learn martial arts and with this discipline I became a more mature person. I first experienced bullying in daycare. Another child would often throw toys at me or hit me on the head when I was minding my own business. One day I decided to stand up for myself, and when he tried to hit me I threw a hotdog at him. He pushed me to the ground and started to hit me.
All the other kids were laughing at me because I had gotten beat up by a younger child. Mrs. Kim, the owner of the daycare came over and took us both to her office. When we got there she talked to us like we were her own children, made us shake hands and called our parents. One day I was watching television and I saw one of my favorite Martial Artist’s Jet Li. I will never forget how awesome his moves were. That was the first time I fell in love with Martial Arts fighting. Then I thought to myself, “If I learn the same moves | will never get bullied again.
I asked my dad if I could do the same thing as Jet Li, so he signed me up for karate classes. I was very excited and motivated to start learning. I studied Karate for about three years and earned my blue belt. After three years | wanted to learn a different style of Martial Arts. I was ten years old when I started learning Mixed Martial Arts. This was very different from karate, not only did this style require more discipline; it taught me new ways to move. As | grew in this particular style my trainer told me I was very talented. Knowing my instructor had faith in me, I told him | wanted to fight professionally.
He told me I could not do that until I was eighteen. The thought of me losing a fight back then gave me the motivation to keep going. When I turned eighteen my skills and maturity level had increased beyond normal limitations. I got my first professional fight and I am very nervous. A lot of doubt is going through my head what if I lose, what if I get killed, and what if I embarrass myself. When I was standing in the middle of the octagon, waiting for the referee to announce the fight, all the memories came back, to daycare. That is when I told myself I will not lose ever again.
So the fight was going to have three five minute rounds. During the first round we approached each other and started fighting. I threw a few punches and he threw a few punches. After two minutes in the round I faked him out and threw a right kick, kicking him in the head. My first win was by a knockout. After I won my first fight my family was screaming and jumping for joy “he won he won”. I felt great, I was unbeatable, no one could touch me. I continued my professional fighting career for four more fights, and did not lose a single fight.
I couldn’t believe that I had an undefeated fighting streak; it all reflected back to the day I was bullied and laughed at. After my last fight I decided that this was not for me, I wanted to do a different martial art style more of a Chinese style. With the money I saved from my professional fights, I signed up for Wing Chun Kung Fu. This was the fighting style I dreamed of doing and the first day fell in love with it. We learned how to meditate and the true meaning behind Chinese Martial Arts.
I learned how to apply pressure points, joint locks, and how to break bones in this style. All my life I wanted to do something like this and now I was living the dream, and still with my undefeated fighting record of course. I started thinking about my future and the things I wanted to accomplish. My dream now is to join the military, but what branch? I did a little research and it came down to the Army or the Marines. In the end I decided to join the United States Marine Corp and their Marine Corp Martial Arts Program. In this program.
I am excited to once again learn a different style of Martial Arts. I guess when I first fought and lost I realized I never wanted to lose again. I know I may be called to an active military zone and may have to lay down my life. I am willing to do that for my country. I wonder what if I had never gotten into that fight when I was a kid. I probably would have turned out a different way. Probably the opposite of what I am today, not knowing how to defend myself, or understand the discipline behind Martial Arts and the maturity that understanding brings.