… not one to mess with! Seriously though, I wanted to share a little of my experience with the martial arts and how they’ve helped shape my family. I started with Judo back when I was in 6th grade on the island of Crete where my father, Colonel Charles G Luse (Ret.), was the Base Commander. It was a blast and I instantly fell in love with it, however it only lasted for about a year before we were transferred and I didn’t pick it up again for many years.

Later, while attending college at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, I had almost forgotten my early love of Judo when I found out that my Japanese instructor, Paul Maruyama, was on the first US Olympic Judo team in 1964 and still worked out on occasion. So, I started training again under Angelo Ruiz, a Puerto Rican Olympian himself, in a small club in Colorado Springs. Colorado Springs was a great place to play Judo because its the home of the US Olympic Training Center. Because of this I was able to spar with several Olympians and super star martial artists including Wellington “Megaton” Dias who nearly broke my toes on the ceiling with his Uchi Matta every time! I got pretty good and competed in tournaments in Colorado and New Mexico before I ended up moving around a bit and was unable to find a good Judo club.

Fast forward now to 2006, my son was 4 years old and we decided that some sort of martial art would be a good thing for him to try – not for the classic reasons of discipline and self-defense but simply because I loved it as a child and I wanted him to check it out for himself. Plus, our daughter was 7 and I really wanted to have someone around to beat up the boys without risk of going to jail 🙂 We did some research and found Master Paul McGowan at Chandler MMA.  If I tried to list all of the positive things I have to say about Master McGowan, his family and his school I would surely end up with a small book – way more than I can put in this post.  Suffice to say they are part of our family, we are part of theirs; we’ve been with them for over 9 years now.  My wife is an Orange Belt in Muay Thai and I am a second degree black belt in Hapkido and my son and I are both getting involved in a new Judo program that Master McGowan is kicking off in 2016.  Here’s the truly amazing accomplishments though… both of my kids, Lincoln and Carson, share these credentials:

• 3rd Degree Black Belt in Taekwondo
• 2nd Degree Black Belt in Hapkido
• 2nd Level Muay Thai

I know, you are probably thinking that this must be a belt mill of some kind, I assure you it is not and that’s the real point of this post beyond bragging about my kids of course is this: if you find the right school the experience can be life changing. From my perspective, the Chandler MMA program is geared around several key concepts: goal setting, discipline, physical fitness, self-defense, and fun.  For us, having our children learn the critical skills of setting, planning and achieving short term and long terms goals is probably the most valuable life lesson that they will walk away with.  The belts serve as longer term goals (months, years) with a system of “stripes” (electrical tape wrapped around the end of their current belt) used to manage short term goals.  There are different colors of stripes that are awarded by the staff for positive attitude, leading by example, skills acquisition and skills implementation (sparring) and a specific number of these stripes is required to move on to the next rank. Finally there is a white stripe that is awarded last and only by the parents. Its presented to the student after the parents have submitted a letter to the school with some sort of timely, positive feedback for the child indicating their final readiness to move on to the next rank.  These simple tools have a huge impact on the children. It wasn’t long before our children would usher in a new year with goals extending for months, and a plan to get themselves there!  How many adults do that today?

And finally for those that believe its too easy for kids to get black belts today, here’s a glimpse into what our kids (and adults) have to do on black belt testing day which happens only once per year (no exceptions, if you can’t do it you wait another year and try again). By the way, no parents are allowed during testing… The day begins at 7am with a 4 mile timed run; make it under 45 minutes or fail. Then they move on to three hours of non-stop conditioning. Yes, three hours nonstop. Oh, well, there’s a 1-2 minute break at the top of each hour and if you need to use the restroom that’s OK but that’s it.  If you can’t do it, you fail. After a good long lunch/rest break, there is three hours of sparring. Yes, three hours nonstop. Safety is a top priority here, nobody ever really gets hurt (except maybe and adult now and again as we’re allowed to go a little harder). At 5pm parents can come watch the final phase – forms demonstration. For the next two hours, candidates demonstrate their techniques – all of them from white belt to black belt.  This is after 10 hours of intense exercise and designed that way to make sure that the mind and body can execute even when it feels next to impossible due to exhaustion. For those still standing at the end, a pizza party.  It’s funny, the children are typically still running around acting crazy at the pizza place while the adults who tested can barely lift a slice of pizza to their face 🙂

If this seems a little extreme, that’s because it is.  I’ve personally done it three times and my kids have done it so many times I’ve lost count (some participate even when not testing as a show of support for those who are testing).  However, Master McGowan will not let anyone participate unless he is confident that they will pass. The final preparations for this day start 4 months in advance of the test with extra Saturday training and conditioning sessions (at no extra charge).  We also have an ultra marathon experienced running coach to plan out the running program for those who only run from Nov-Feb every year 🙂  By the way, did I mention that Master McGowan is also an Iron Man and his morning run can sometimes actually be a marathon?  It’s crazy, it’s intense, it’s no belt mill!  The following weekend we enjoy a formal evening out at a local hotel ballroom for a nice dinner, speeches from the children (yes, this is required too) and awarding of the belts and certificates.