Goshu-Ryu SunCoast

Joey Porter – Shodan

I came to the Yoshinkan Sunshine Coast Dojo at the age of 12, having already trained in another Martial Art and achieving a Junior Black Belt I was well aware of the hard work ahead in taking on another Martial art especially one as technical as Aikido presented. Kicking and punching in Taekwondo almost seemed to come naturally, but after my first night at the Yoshinkan Dojo I knew that I was now well out of my comfort zone and was questioning whether I was being over ambitious challenging myself like this as it was going to be a whole new world of Martial Arts for me. I watched the higher belts being thrown around the room, slammed to the floor and arms going directions I didn’t think was physically possible. I remember thinking, “Are these guys insane?” or am I insane for thinking I can do this?

It wasn’t long after I started learning the very basics that I realized Aikido was as much about trust as it was technique at this stage in my training. This was an unfamiliar area of training for me, being only 12yo and a third of the age and physical size of most of the other students, the thought of having to put complete trust in the adult student while taking ukemi was quite a scary thought. However, I quickly realized that my size wasn’t necessarily a disadvantage but could instead be used as an advantage, as long as I always found my center with a solid Kamae I could use my speed and agility to receive ukemi safely and comfortably. This is when I understood that Aikido can be such an effective Martial Art regardless of my size or age. Having a group of high-level experienced and helpful students around me (special shout out to John deVries) increased my confidence not only in all aspects of Aikido and my budo aspirations but in life itself.  Sensei Ryan is not only an awesome, dedicated and patient Sensei, he is also an impeccable Martial Artists whom I really look up to.

Reaching Shodan is certainly an exciting milestone and I guess in some ways I feel a sense of relief that I have finally mastered the very basic fundamentals of Aikido, the word Shodan literally means level 1 or beginning degree, so from here I can now look forward to learning and mastering more technical aspects of Aki-Jujutsu and even more so now under the new modern and modified version of Mori Shihan’s Goshu-Ryu.

 I don’t believe that training really has much to do with rank, black belts, trophies or rewards, Martial arts to me are not for acting out my dreams as Martial arts movie stars, It has to do with my own life and not only how I would protect myself in a lethal situation, but how I can protect the lives of others around me too. I don’t believe you can become another person; you need become yourself- your true self – then you can become a great teacher and master. This is my Budo path.

Thank you to everyone involved in my journey so far.

Osu!

Joey Porter