After that seminar in January of 1990 I started training with Rob Kelly and Doug Bradford, Rob and Doug are long time students of Guro Dan and Ajarn Chai. Ajarn Chai came up to me and introduced himself and asked if I would be training that day, I said no I was just there to watch, his reply was no you will be training. Also in October of the same year I attended my first Muay Thai seminar with Ajarn Chai Sarisute and initially I was just there to watch. On Apmy life changed with the meeting of Guro Dan & Simo Paula Inosanto at a seminar in Charlotte, NC. In the years since then I have taught the martial arts non-stop. In October of 1988 I earned my black belt. One other thing I learned I had become a much better martial artist from teaching than I had been before. During the three years the school was open it was a great time for me because I found out I could run a business and teach the martial arts. With Clifton Forge being such a small town and dropping enrollment it was decided to close the school in December of 1989. Back then the students didn?t want me teaching them for a few reasons, first I was just learning to teach and run a class second the students really liked Eddie because he was a black belt and could teach and show how techniques were done better than I could at that time. During I had to learn the AFK system that Eddie taught to the able-bodied public which meant learning how to teaching kicking techniques. While the school was open I taught about 90% of the classes and Eddie taught the other 10%. Thomas and I opened an AFK school in my home town of Clifton Forge, VA in March of 1987, my rank at that time was blue belt. I had to work on movement of my wheelchair. In place of the kicking techniques I could not do and still can?t do to this day. Thomas created a sub-system to teach me with modified techniques such as katas, self-defense, and grab-defense techniques from a wheelchair. Since the AFK system is three styles in one, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do and Boxing. Thomas took up the challenge of training me. With my disability being Cerebral Palsy Mr. As for myself I started studying martial arts at the age of 22, the system I started in was American Freestyle Karate under Grandmaster Eddie Thomas of Salem, VA. Do you think they can also gain the same sense of self-perfection? I believe they can. You would be right in your thinking, but what if a person had a physical disability and trained just as hard as the physically able person. You may think from the title of this article that if you are physically able to train in the martial arts many years, a person would gain some sense of self-perfection in the art they chose to train in.
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