Thursday, June 23, 2011

Thought about something a coach had told me once and my path.

I was thinking today about what my first boxing coach had told me a long time ago. Asa Gordan was 80 years old (can't remember exactly his age at the moment) and I were talking about why he is still involved in boxing. I was just curious to know, he was very good about sitting down and explaining life to us long after we had finished training, many times we would go out to eat after and just sit and listen to stories and learn all we could from him, but back to the question, He told me that he had a boxing trainer who told him that he was a "Keeper of the Art" and to just keep teaching and passing the art on to the next generation. So that is something, he was doing and asked us ( Richard Trammell and I ) to please do the same. Richard and I have made the commitment to do so. Not only was he a very good boxing coach, he also owned a men's clothing store and ventured into many other successful business' throughout his life.
He would also talk about manors and respect, which is not being passed down. Looking back, He taught us how to be men. For that I am thankful for getting to train and have him as a part of my life.
Not only have we ( Richard and I) kept the promise to keep the art of boxing going that he taught us, We are also keeping to our roots as martial artist and keeping this art alive. We are also the "Keeper of these Arts" is which we have learned and trained in over the years, It is who we are. I was speaking to some young men last night about how long I have been interested in the Arts and remembered back in 1st and 2nd grade getting the same book at the book fair of Japanese Karate, it had a ton of pictures of  him kicking, punching, it also had in the top corner when you flipped through the pages fast of him doing a Kata, something about that just hit me hard and I knew I would someday be doing this. I loved watching "Sugar" Ray Leonard, Haggler, Hearns and many other martial artist growing up (yes, boxing is a martial art). God put me on this path to be a "Keeper of the Arts" and to pass it on. So I ask you reading this, to please be a keeper of the art and keep it alive, even if it's just to your child as long as it is passed on. Osu..

 Kelly Leo, Head Trainer and MMA coach at Full Throttle Fitness, North Georgia's Premier Combat Sports/ Fitness Gym.

2 comments:

  1. Awesome post Champ. Wish Asa was still here. We learned a lot from him.

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  2. Great post Kelly! I believe that all of the various arts get watered down from those who think that taking short cuts or will walk into a place and think that because they may (or may not) have better than average talent that they should have more attention given to them.

    To help translate to anyone who still doesn't have a grasp of the concept of "keeping the art" after reading this blog post, I challenge you to think of the words "old-school" and I believe you'll find just about the same definition.

    Thanks again Kelly for such a great post! It's great to see that there are more of us out here in a society filled with people seeking drive-thru training, instant results, and instant success who miss out on the big picture.

    I am Brad Bowelle, and I AM A KEEPER OF THE ARTS..

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