Since 1991 he has made 20 albums and toured the American continent, Europe and Asia with Hagfish and Only Crime. For the past 13 years he has been the bassist for Texas favorite the Toadies. He began writing his first book “Even If It Kills Me” (YMAA Publications) while on the road in 2015 about his black belt journey in Taekwondo. Upon release it was a Silver Winner for the Benjamin Franklin Award.
When he’s not writing he can be found drinking coffee, trying to learn Rush songs, training in martial arts and drinking coffee .
He lives in Amarillo, TX with his wife Shelley and, since his bass guitars are his children, their 13 kids.
- The Partial Artist - October 13, 2021
- The Harder We Fall - September 8, 2021
- Am I My Brother’s Keeper? - September 6, 2021
I met a guy once (no, it’s not THAT kind of article) at a bookstore (see?).
He was a cashier at my favorite haunt in Dallas, Half Price Books. I had been perusing the martial arts section in my latest attempt to get on up, get into it and get involved with karate, kung fu or TKD. Hell, I would have been happy to try Gymkata at that point. There was an empty space around my waist that needed to be filled but I lacked the courage to just…try.
Which is a big deal. Putting yourself in a room full of strangers and willingly coming off like an uncoordinated jerk..who would want to do this? Well, people like us.
That’s why we’re reading this article, right?
Well, this cashier was wearing a shirt with a local Wing Chun school logo emblazoned on it. My interest was piqued so I asked where the school was located and how much for lessons—$50 a month, which meant I was out. That was another hurdle in my early pursuit of the martial arts: funding.
I was a musician who wasn’t playing at the time and made $5 an hour at a local CD manufacturing business. Hot dogs I could afford, kung fu lessons I could not. I asked the cashier if he was still training and he said no.
WHAT?
How could someone have access to kung fu and not train? He said he got burned out.
Again, WHAT?
At that time, my nirvana would have been practicing martial arts, playing bass and eating Maggiano’s with my wife. This guy had one out of three and gave it up. Then, I didn’t understand how that could be. Now, I do.
My personal aesthetics are you don’t quit, period. Whether it’s music, canning vegetables or martial arts, especially martial arts, you don’t quit. I have had this understanding drilled into me by Bill Stevenson of Descendents and Black Flag.
He never quit anything, regardless if it was a plate of the hottest curry you can find in Manchester, the strongest coffee on the planet, or playing night after night to only 10 people who don’t want to hear the ‘murder-punk rock-jazz in D’ you’ve written and released as Only Crime. Bill made sure I never quit anything I put my heart into. So in 20 years of training martial arts, I haven’t either. I believe most of my fellow devotees would agree with me. You don’t get anywhere by resting. I thought stopping was for sucks.
But is it?
Maybe the ones who take a break for a while are smart and I’M the moron. Don’t beat yourself up if you need a break from the martial arts once in a while. That’s your sparring partners job.
In weight training, you don’t lift weights everyday non-stop. The body has to be given rest, correct? Fitness experts recommend a period of inactivity between work out days to promote muscle hypertrophy, so why not with martial arts? Every day doesn’t have to be the revenge training montage from Kickboxer.
We have enough bruisers in the scene watching JCVD/Chuck Norris* flicks and taking a bull-headed approach to training to achieve their objective, which I guess is oiled up musculature? As a Taurus, I understand the bullish thinking to physical exercise, but real martial arts don’t require a gym mindset. Our fights take place in the head so they don’t have to in our hands. The brain gets tired and it’s ok to walk out the door and go for a walk, ice cream and adult beverage. But in your mental trip don’t get any guacamole, that stuff is horrible.
It’s only when I allow myself to step back and think about the whys of my martial arts that I’m reinvigorated, renewed. I find joy from taking a break, whether I want to or not. The absence creates a desire to do. If you’re reading this and going through a slump in training with little to no progress I encourage you to also take a step back and not get burned out. Sometimes we have to catch our breath before jumping off a cliff.
*Not to disparage the works of Sir Charles Norris. I’m a huge fan. Lone Wolf McQuade forever.
Covid-19 forced our school to close for awhile and after trying Zoom and Facebook Live for awhile, I decided to take a break, then stomach issues extended that break. When our dojang opened ( with restrictions ) many chose to continue their training remotely. I , however was ready to get back to training in- person. Our regular class is made up of gentlemen in 60s and 70s, although I train on Saturdays with a much younger group. I’ll be 73 this month and our class just got our first black belt, a Viet Nam vet who has only bern training for 7 years. My personal journey began four years ago. I will be testing next month, then will probably have at least three more years to black.
Congrats on not stopping Mr Albert! I will be 50 next year and hopefully testing for my 2nd degree black belt later that year. We can only do what we can do, right? I hope I have enough grit in me to be training in my seventies like you. You’re an inspiration sir.