Thirty years ago this month, I walked into a dojo for the very first time.

I recall it vividly...  My friend at the time, Mark Tullett, had seen a flyer for a new martial arts club in the local library and wanted to check it out.  The flyer didn't say much about what was involved, other than it was some form of "Jujutsu".  The, bright yellow, piece of paper informed us that the training group met on Tuesday evenings at a Scout hut in Solihull (in the West Midlands of England).  It wasn't too far from where we lived so we decided to go along to the next class and see what it was all about. 

Mark gave up after about four months, and the dojo closed a year or so later due to the instructor relocating, but I was hooked and, not that I had any inkling at the time, it turned out to be the start of quite a journey.  Thirty years in seems like a reasonable milestone at which to both reflect and cast forward.

It is customary, apparently, when writing in a new medium, to set out your credentials at the very start.  Conventionally, this is to allow the reader to determine whether the writer is suitably qualified to contribute authoritatively to the topic they intend to develop, so I'll be clear from the very beginning on that front:  I don't claim any such authority at all.    While I will be primarily writing about subjects that interest me, with a focus on "martial arts", I should say at the outset that there are far, far better qualified people out there to do so than me. 

So why start writing at all then? 

I considered that question at length before sitting down at the keyboard to tap out this initial post, and arrived at the conclusion that there are probably three reasons...

First, I've been around a while now and it occurs to me that I've seen a few things that might actually have some value in sharing.  My experiences over the last thirty years in Budo may well chime with the odd other person and there may even be a few others who find them modestly interesting.  I've received black belts in a number of arts (not that that is reflective of any level of acquired expertise, of course), my search for knowledge has taken me across three continents, and my naturally inquisitive nature has led me to research and study a number of other styles and disciplines along the way. 

Secondly, my journey in martial arts has been far from traditional, if indeed there is such a thing.  I have an eclectic range of interests and I don't subscribe to the theory that you have to pick one Budo "flavour" over another.  So, while I hold all of the arts that I have encountered over to the years accountable to the test of "does this actually work in the modern, real, world", from a self-protection perspective, I also enjoy learning the traditional Budo purely for the enjoyment of learning.  Further, I have always been drawn to the more esoteric elements of the martial arts, and this has led me to encounters with some really interesting people over the years.  Unfortunately, not all of them have been genuine (let alone authentic) which, in itself, has taught me some valuable lessons that I consider worthy of sharing.   

I have, typically, gone directly to the source wherever I have been able to and, as a result, I have been lucky enough to have found some brilliant teachers and mentors who were prepared to share some of their knowledge with me.  This is particularly so in the art that I have consistently practiced for most of my adult life, Hoshinjutsu, where the founder, Dr Glenn J. Morris and, latterly, his successor, Rob Williams were generous enough (or questionable in judgement enough) to take me under their wings for which I will be forever indebted.

Thirdly, and finally, I enjoy writing, so why not write for pleasure about something that I am passionate about?  Bluntly, I don't really care if the only people that every read the musings here are my children and my students, but, if others do - and they find value in them - then so much the better.

I may be thirty years into my Budo journey but I have only really just left base camp at the foot of the mountain.  I have no idea where the summit is, but I am still enjoying the climb.  Thankfully, I am still (relatively) young, at 44 (even though my body on occasion disagrees) and that means that I have, hopefully, a long road still ahead of me of learning, teaching, and sharing some of my new experiences here as well as recounting those that have passed.