http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/index.htmlStarting Martial Arts...My Storyenjerry@lauritamartialarts.comCopyright 2010 Jerry Laurita2010-07-11T20:38:24-07:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 Sun, 11 Jul 2010 20:42:04 -0700martial artsjerry@lauritamartialarts.comNone2010-07-11T20:38:24-07:00http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/8e894d477dc0174db50adc6087ceaa0c-6.html#unique-entry-id-6http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/8e894d477dc0174db50adc6087ceaa0c-6.html#unique-entry-id-6
I will be posting updates on my facebook page and hopefully here on this blog.]]>jerry@lauritamartialarts.comMartial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Karate2010-05-26T08:10:47-07:00http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/ec4037c142da2e46cca73c5397cb1ef1-5.html#unique-entry-id-5http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/ec4037c142da2e46cca73c5397cb1ef1-5.html#unique-entry-id-5were or knew a Kung Fu Master. Being young and naive I thought all older Chinese Men were hidden Kung Fu Masters. I was obsessed with learning Kung Fu. I would buy any instructional Kung Fu books or videos (that I could afford). I would sit there everyday, practice a few sections at a time and try to perfect them.

I would supplement my "training" by watching Kung Fu Movies. My all time favorite Kung Fu movie is called "36th Chamber" (AKA. "The Master Killer") with Gordon Liu. What I really liked most about this movie was all of the unique and different training situations and equipment used in the movie. For the most part, I tried doing every training situation that was portrayed in this movie...I have to say, some of them are not the smartest things to try. But I did it anyway!

The first one I tried was balancing on a barrel and jumping to another one. Well, I didn't have a barrel but I did have buckets. I would try rolling two buckets, jump on one and then jump to the other one. Anyhow, I wasn't the best at jumping from one bucket to the next, so I wrote it off as sub-standard training equipment and not the real thing like in the movie.

The next training idea was putting weights on a long stick and swinging it into a gong (tree for me). Actually, I got pretty good at this one! Since I was getting so good at this one, I figured I was on my way to becoming a Kung Fu Master so I moved on.

My next session was carrying buckets of water with knives attached under my arms, so if I dropped my arms I would poke myself and lift the buckets higher. My version was buckets (plastic ones) and sticks duck taped under my arms. I didn't really like taking the duck tape off my arms, so I stopped this one.

The next training idea was to put burning incense on each side of my face and watch a moving candle with my eyes without moving my head. This was a tough one. I wasn't that talented of a woodworker to make what was needed...so I didn't do it!

The last training idea was to hang small punching bags with sand and practice head butting them. Maybe not the best thing to do, but I actually got pretty good at this (only side effect was a headache). I would hit the bag with the side of my head, my forehead and the top of my head by doing a running flying head butt. Like I said I was good at this one, I have always had a hard head (literally) but my headaches were getting worse, so I stopped doing that.

I would have to say as a kid I was a very dedicated, innovative and hard working Martial Artist. I had a lot of talent but I lacked the disciplined hard training found in a formal school to turn natural talent into greatness.]]>jerry@lauritamartialarts.comNone2010-05-23T14:09:46-07:00http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/e2f27d7aa5c4e63c6a47d9aa04e7f026-4.html#unique-entry-id-4http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/e2f27d7aa5c4e63c6a47d9aa04e7f026-4.html#unique-entry-id-4
I really loved the original Karate Kid movie, except the part when Daniel San asked Mr. Miyagi what belt he was and Mr. Miyagi said, "belt no matter, only to hold up your pants." I was devastated because at that point in time in my life I was consumed with earning a belt...any belt...and the idea of earning a Black Belt was just a dream, a dream that was slowly fading away with each day.

What made the whole thing worse was that my Grandmother leaned over (at that exact moment) and said, "See it doesn't matter what belt you are!" I know she was trying to make me feel good but I was like, "Uuhhh...that's not what I wanted to hear Grandma". I wanted to earn a belt that showed I had worked hard and deserved it, not a crappy leather belt from some store that didn't mean anything. I wasn't even looking for a Black Belt, a yellow belt would have been fine by me.

One thing I am extremely passionate about as an instructor, is making sure that I provide my students with the ability to test and earn a new belt on a regular and consistent basis. The reason I am so passionate about testing is because I never earned any belts while studying martial arts as a kid until age 14. I want to make sure that my students never have the gnawing feeling that I had...that maybe they aren't good enough or like they have to beg to test for their next belt. I truly believe the color belt system found in martial arts (when supported by a strong curriculum and disciplined hard training) is one of the most powerful tools for building confidence, teaching goal setting and as a reward system for hard work.

At the time, I was like "Thanks a lot Mr. Miyagi!" but looking back and being an instructor myself, I say "Thanks a lot Mr. Miyagi, you made me a better instructor!"

I am really excited about seeing the new Karate Kid movie. I hear through the grapevine that it is great!]]>jerry@lauritamartialarts.comNone2010-05-21T22:43:47-07:00http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/289a2f590ac6ad91a3a6ec74f5ee4b78-2.html#unique-entry-id-2http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/289a2f590ac6ad91a3a6ec74f5ee4b78-2.html#unique-entry-id-2
I continued my martial arts training sporadically at different schools and on my own. I was pretty much a Ronin (Masterless warrior) but I practiced everyday for at least 2 hours. I used to drive my parents crazy, everywhere I went in the house I was punching and kicking. I was always trying to see how high I could kick and how long I could hold my kicks out in mid air. Everywhere my Mom turned there was my foot. It drove her crazy.

Besides training, I was always coming up with imaginative ways to make different types of training equipment. One of the more stupid ideas I came up with was, after watching Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon, there was a scene where all of the karate students on Master Han's Island were doing punches into big bowls full of hot sand. So I got the bright idea that, that would make me tough if I could do that. So I got a bunch of sand, heated it up in my Mom's frying pan on the oven, then poured it into a coffee can and like an idiot started doing spear hands into it. It didn't make me any tougher, it just burned my hands. Needless to say, I never did that one again.

]]>jerry@lauritamartialarts.comMartial Arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Kung Fu, Jeet Kune Do, Karate2010-05-19T23:48:23-07:00http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/94cbf96e8779850dc4d6ac7b8b33738f-1.html#unique-entry-id-1http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/94cbf96e8779850dc4d6ac7b8b33738f-1.html#unique-entry-id-1
One of my first Karate Lessons I took the instructor sat all of the students down and told us that only 1 in 1,000 of us would earn our Black Belt (talk about discouraging. When you are kid and you hear that, it sounds like you will never earn your Black Belt). But being the stubborn person I am, I kept going back. I don't remember a lot from those classes but I do remember standing in horse stance and having other students stand on my legs and the instructor would walk around with a bamboo shinai and wack us (not to hard though) with it. I also remember the unbelievable amount of reverse punches we had to do. Oh well, that was Karate back in the early 80's.

Even though I was taking Karate, I was still not satisfied and I ended up quitting. I wanted to learn Kung Fu! So, on my own when I was at home I would watch Kung Fu movies and try and copy what I saw on TV. I would practice my Tiger Claw Kung Fu, Dragon Claw Kung Fu, Monkey Kung Fu and of course Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Basically, I could make all the hand gestures I saw on TV and tried to make up moves. I would imagine fighting in a battle like the ones I saw on TV where the hero took on 20 guys and would win. In my mind I was on my way to becoming a Shaolin Monk. But to be a monk I needed a monks robe. Due to the fact that I was just a kid and had no money, I had to make do with a regular robe. I would pull the robe tight and tie the belt knot on the side. I would also wrap my calfs with string like I saw in the movies. I was obsessed with Kung Fu. Needless to say my Kung Fu wasn't the best. I needed a Kung Fu Master. I wanted to learn hardcore Kung Fu with a Sifu (Chinese for teacher) who shared his wisdom with me but could also kick some serious butt.

One day I saw a school and it had a tiger and dragon for an emblem. It was a Kenpo Karate School. I managed to talk my mom into taking me there. The lesson was a private lesson which was weird to me. Where were all the students I thought, but that didn't matter because I learned how to bow "Kung Fu Style" thats what the instructor told me. Here is how the bow went, I would bring my right hand up in a fist to my left hand which was open and simultaneously step my left foot forward into a cat stance, push my hands out and I would say, "I come in peace but I will fight if I have to". That was cool stuff! I ended up not joining that school for some reason (I am not sure why. Probably because we couldn't afford it) But, I was hooked, I needed more Kung Fu! So my search for Kung Fu heaven continued.]]>jerry@lauritamartialarts.comMartial Arts Training2010-05-19T14:56:15-07:00http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/97fc5e13ebee7621802dbd4462d01e4b-0.html#unique-entry-id-0http://www.lauritamartialarts.com/blog_files/97fc5e13ebee7621802dbd4462d01e4b-0.html#unique-entry-id-0KUNG FU THEATER on saturday and sundays (I forget which day). Thats right, kung fu theater! I loved all of those old movies where what they said and what was being said didn't match and all of the extreme sound effects when they hit someone or flew through the air.

When I was a kid I wanted to be a Shaolin Monk living in China, training hard and fighting the bad guys. That was my dream! And that's what I spent most of my days doing, finding different ways to train and making all kinds of crazy training devices. It all depended on what movie I just finished watching was and what I was going to make and how I was going to train.

From the time I was 7 years old until about 18 years old almost all I wore was Kung Fu slippers, pants and a t-shirt. Except, when I was skateboarding then I wore sneakers but thats another story.

I remember trying to find a Kung Fu school where I lived but I couldn't find any. All I could find was Karate and Tae Kwon Do Schools but I didn't want Karate or Tae Kwon Do, I wanted Kung Fu and in my mind those styles just weren't cool, effective or any good. I knew what I wanted and I wanted to learn Kung Fu! ]]>