Well...the last Wado Ryu Rumination was in 2006. Here it is September of 2011...as we continue our journey.

As of the last writing I was at my final level of Brown Belt and testing was either going to be in the Spring or Fall. Issues for me were of the cardio nature.

My belt was finally hung on the wall with my name above it. See the picture with the yellow arrow pointing to the coveted prize. Of course...just because your belt is up on the wall...it is not a done deal. You still have to increase your output...not lay back. At Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate...they do not give you a black belt (or any other colored belt)...but you EARN it. They can take down the belt as quickly as they put it up if you are not putting out the effort.

However...I found that just seeing that belt up there being an incentive to take it up multiple notches. Training for cardio for me included....not only pushing harder in class...but working out to my own music CD...called MY BLACK BELT WORKOUT. Crank it up and work it.

A week or two before the Black Belt examination...three things happened that still haunt me to this day.

(1) I went to a daytime workout session and was pushing hard in a task of doing roundhouse kicks to a wavemaster...alternating from leg to leg. At that point there was a difference in my knees. Increased pain...but under control with ice, ibuprofen, etc.

(2) During class the week before the test...I was holding a kicking shield and one of young men kicking....kicked the edge of the shield and slid off and kicked me in my left knee. Ouch!

(3) During my last class before testing...I was in a circle of about 20-25 students running some kata's as they looked on. During Pinan Nidan...on the 2nd high block...I was pumped and blocking hard...and I heard a rip in my right shoulder...and my arm feel down and I could not lift it up. Torn rotator cuff.

NOTE: The second picture is my original instructor (from 1973) Sensei Newton Harris came to see me test. What a surprise...and what an honor.

Well...with all of these injuries...I spent a lot of time with ice, anti-inflammatory, heat, and rest. I was still hurting...but able to actually do a high block and walk...with a limp.

I went to the endurance part of the examination...and punched, kicked, blocked, did kata until the physical brink of endurance and then went beyond. My favorite quote during this part of the examination..."Mr. Boyd...those are suppose to be kicks...we don't walk during this...get those kicks up."
The key to the endurance part...is don't give up. It is not a matter of technique or style...but endurance and perseverance.

The next day on Sunday...was the day of the Federation examination...where multiple black belts who I have never seen would be walking around with clipboards and watching every move that you made. Nervous energy was being collected to be released during the examination. I mentioned to Mr. Taylor that my knee was injured and I was limping some....to which he replied..."Don't let them see you limp."

Well, somehow...I did not limp. The culmination of all the emotion, practice, and encouragement from all of my instructors, friends, and fellow karatekas...helped me get through it.

I gave all I had...plus some. I believe...I actually left out a few moves in Ku San Ku...but it was not noticed. I even gave a nice little leap in Nihanchi...even with the knee troubles. After it was all over...we were not told if we made it or not...but was requested to show up on Tuesday night at the Broad Street School. At this time...I was awarded what I started out in 1973 to attain...my Black Belt.

Well...here it is...10 years later since I started back with my dream...and I am still standing. I have the honor of receiving my 2nd degree black belt...and the honor of teaching in the school (white belt classes).

I am currently 60 years old...physically...shoulders hurts...knee (left) aches...and work is overwhelming...but I am still standing.

This last picture is with Sensei Bill Taylor...who continues to be an inspiration. What an honor to be part of a school...where you are encouraged to accomplish your dreams...and be part of a place where there are people who become your friends, comrades, encourager's, examples, and the heartbeat of Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate.

I am poised for the next leg of my journey...and must continue to set goals, practice, push myself, overcome obstacles. As Mr. Taylor told us when we got our Shodan (1st degree) belt..."You are ready to start learning now." It is not the end of the journey...it is merely the beginning as we begin to take what we have learned and put it into practical application.

This may be the last posting...or just the beginning.

To all who are involved in my journey...I send you much REI-spect.

Rodney Boyd Ni-Dan

THE NEXT LEVEL 1972 was an eventful year for me. I got married...I had me a steady job...and I got beat up on the side of the road in front of all of my co-workers...and I saw an ad for a karate class. The cost was $15.00...and was taught by someone that I knew...Newton Harris. We met in the basement of Crichlow School. I was introduced to a style of Karate (empty-hand) called WADO RYU...the way of HARMONY and PEACE.

At that time the climate was hot for karate. Bruce Lee was making a name for himself as Kato...in the Green Hornet, guest shots on the T.V. show LONGSTREET.. movies like Marlowe. Billy Jack with Tom Laughlin was all the rage as he took his foot and placed it on the right side of Mr. Posners face...telling him there was not a thing he could do about it...and then used a crescent kick Hapkido style. Carl Douglas was singing that everybody was KUNG FU fighting...and Kung Fu was the hit T.V. show showing how a pacifist could kick butt.

I signed up for karate with a few friends...and we were having a ball. We would practice kata together, stretch out...and practice kicking and punching. The school moved over to Vine Street...and we would practice for hours. In those days you could go 6 days a week...and classes would go for 2-3 hours. It was hot...sweaty...tiring...and fun. The floor was hard linoleum...and when we sweaty, it would become slippery. We would do push up on our knuckles until they bleed. When you were laying on your backs...with your legs raised in the air...the teacher would jump from stomach to stomach. As you would go down the floor with techniques...the teacher would kick you when you would least expected it.

I was young...flexible...and eager to learn...so I would not be the punching bag for some redneck from the V.F.W. on the side of the road.

At that time...I went through the ranks...up to getting ready to take my green belt exam. Through a series of circumstances...I dropped out. Money...time...desire...etc...all fizzled. By that time Mr. Harris sold the school to Mr. Bill Herzer. He was a great teacher...and an intense individual.

For the next few decades...I would always...have a desire to get my black belt. I would watch karate movies...I would go over in my mind the things I had learned...but never could get back to it. It was over 30 years before I would walk back into a dojo.

I would always tell my wife Brenda that when I was 50 years old...I would return to karate. I was saying that when I was in my 40's. When I was 48 I took my son to a Wado Tournament in Columbia...and told him that I would someday be down there competing. 3 years later I was competing.

I ran into Sensie Bill Taylor...who now owned Bushido School of Karate...at Quiznos by accident. I told him that I was turning 50 and was thinking about getting back into karate. NOTE: I remember when Mr. Taylor first came to Bushido when he was a young teenager. I rememeber well...blocking a kick and the pain.

I told him that I think I may be too old to start back...and he told me there was a lady that was 70 years old and had her black belt...and then he asked me..."What's your excuse?" That lady was Ms Colemnn..the mother of Senpai Ned Coleman. I did not have any excuses...so I was 50 years old when I started back...with a dream of having my Black Belt by the time I was 55 years old.

I am now 55 years old...and I just got my 1st degree brown belt. The next test will be for Black Belt. It may be in April...or may be in the fall. I am not currently in the cardio shape I need to be...so when I take the test will be determined by me. At Bushido the testing for Black Belt comes in three stages (1) the written test (2) the endurance test (a killer) (3) the next day the Federation test.

Well...I have come this far...and I ain't giving up yet.

Greetings fellow karatekas.

My name is Rodney Boyd...and I am currently a Ni Ku Brown Belt. I attend Bill Taylor's Bushido School of Karate in Murfreesboro Tennessee. I am 55 years old...and sometimes wonder what an old man (that's how I feel)...is doing trying to kick it with the young people. My journey to this moment...to the goal of Black Belt has been a long one.

The roots of my journey started the first time I saw a movie (actually a series of movies) about MR. MOTO...starring Peter Lorre...before he entered the horror genre'. I was amazed how this little, unimposing man who was a detective...was able to beat the bad guys without shooting them up...but merely by throwing them around. The size ratio did not compute....but the seeds of martial arts were planted in my mind.

My first physical encounter using martial arts was in the 6th grade...and was based on what I saw in the Mr. Moto movie. I definitely was not trained in the Martial Arts...and I was definitely not physically up to the task. I was a scrawny, skinny, proverbial 98 pound weakling.

I remember it was when I was in the 6th Grade at Mitchell-Neilson Elementary School...standing in the hallway outside of the gymnasium. We were milling around and talking...and a larger student was picking on me. He was kidding around...I didn't necessarily feel threatened...but all of sudden...I found myself taking this large, imposing person and grapped his arm and twisted my hips and threw him over my shoulder. Everyone was surprised...the people around me...the guy who I threw over my shoulder...but nobody was surprised more than me. I had merely imitated what I saw on a movie.

From that moment on I was fascinated...but for some reason never cultivated the desire until 1972.

More to follow

Rei
Rodney