The Pilgrimage To Sit At The Foot of a Giant
Every year, twice a year (in February and September)I make a pilgrimage of sorts. I gather up the tools of my trade, the tools of my passion, and make a 4 hour journey north. I have made this journey for the last 10 years. This trek is very important to me. So much so that I have made the trip with friends and alone, through all types of weather and missed other important events just to get there. Some may call it silly, but they just don’t understand.
If you have the opportunity to learn from giant in a passion that you have, wouldn’t you make that trip? This is my pilgrimage to sit at the foot of a giant. This giant is 80 years old and just barely 5 ½ feet tall. That may not seem to be a giant in your world, but he is a giant in mine. His name is Guro Dan Inosanto, he is a legend in the world of martial art. Although, he doesn’t perceive himself as a giant of any sort, he is to me and many others.
Guro Inosanto has be doing martial arts pretty much his whole life. He is been fortunate to be exposed to the legends of his time at an early age. He was smart enough to recognize greatness in his area of passion. He is humble enough to sit that the feet of those people and learn all he can. He selfless enough to spend the majority of his life sharing everything he has learned with anyone that is willing to listen. Guro Dan Inosanto is the greatest martial artist and teacher of our era (and possibly any era).
Some may say it is a waste of time, some say it is a waste of money. Again, they just don’t understand. This pilgrimage has been one of the most important investments in my well-being and development in who I am becoming. I am not the only one that feels this way. Through this bi annual trek, I have met so many people that I now consider family. Though, the main reason was and always will be to learn from a legend, over the years the draw to connect with my martial art family has grown stronger and stronger.
We are all SO different. With different views on the world, but we all meet on one common ground, the love of martial art. Through the agreement of the value of martial art we have learned to listen and learn from each other with a more open mind. This gift was given to us through the example of Guro Dan and how he humbly will listen and learn from anyone.
Thank you to Guro Rick Faye for welcoming me into this family. Thank you for introducing me to Guro
Dan Inosanto and for making it possible for me and others to make this pilgrimage by opening your home. Thank you to all of my martial art family. It was great to see you again.
I will see you at my next pilgrimage
(if not sooner)