by Talila Golan
In 1994 I was a graduate student at UW-Madison living with my spouse at the university’s family housing. At the time I had very little interest in or knowledge of karate, or of any martial art. One day I woke up to the news of an incident in our quiet neighborhood – woman was assaulted at gunpoint in her bed by an intruder who broke into her home through the window. I didn’t know the victim but the incident shook me deeply. In my youth I was successful in fighting off assailants and I was confident in my ability to defend myself any time of day. The thought of being assaulted in my bed, surprised while sleeping, however, terrified me. Acting on this new fear I found and participated in a 2-day-long self-defense class for women, at the end of which I was recommended to train in martial arts.
UW-Madison had a number of martial arts clubs at the time. Not knowing the difference between them I chose the one that fitted best with my busy class and lab work schedule. This happened to be the UW-Madison Japanese Karate Club, which trained in the traditional Japanese style of Shotokan Karate.
I joined the UW Japanese Karate Club at a time of change. Their long time sensei had moved out of town just before I joined and a couple of months later the next instructor had moved away as well. The club was now in the care of Mr. Vassil Peytchev. Collegiate club tend to have a high turnover, and that semester many other karateka moved away as well and membership shrunk. For a while I was the only regular student, and to this day I’m grateful to Sensei Paytchev for coming in every session to teach me karate. In time, the club grew once again. With intense recruiting efforts and constant presence in the university student clubs’ events and publications, the UW Madison Japanese Karate Club became once again a vital place for training Karate-Do.
I was torn inside when it was my turn to graduate and move on. By then, karate was a huge part of my life. Amongst other things, Karate training gave me the confidence and maturity I needed for my next phase in life, both personally and professionally. I was also leaving many dear friends behind.
I moved to California in the summer of 2000 to continue my postgraduate education in UC Berkeley. For three years I trained in three different dojos. When the third dojo I joined closed its doors I gave up searching. I kept training by myself, but solo training was not enough to maintain my skills and develop them further. After becoming a mother my training shifted from karate to other physical activities.
In 2011 I moved with my family to the city of Fremont, and a year later I enrolled my daughters in an afternoon art program. Near the art school was a martial arts dojo and my daughters got excited and wanted to try it out. It would have been easy – just walk through that door and sign them into that program, but I didn’t. Instead, I did yet another search – a search for a dojo training in the Shotokan style of Karate – the style I had learned and trained in Madison. I found the Fremont Shotokan Karate, reached out, and on the following day I brought my daughters for a trial lesson.
The instructor of the beginners/basics class was Sensei Bernardo Mercado. As he showed my daughters the procedure of bowing and stepping on the dojo floor, I mentioned casually that I used to train Shotokan Karate some time ago, and that I held a shodan rank. Bernardo Sensei looked at me squarely and without saying a word he made a wide invitation gesture with his arm. I took my shoes off and as I was, dressed in street clothes and extra pounds I bowed in and stepped onto the mat. On the next session I came wearing my Gi and my black belt, and Fremont Shotokan Karate became my new Karate home.
Once again Karate is a huge part of my life. It is, in fact, Karate-Do – my way of life. The teachings of karate, which include but are not limited to, building patience, perseverance, focusing, impulse control, self-confidence, body awareness, and physical abilities, are inherent in disciplined training with supportive instructors. Sensei Peytchev had built that place for me 30 years ago, and I found it again in the Fremont Shotokan Karate dojo.
My daughters have been training with me since I enrolled them 11 years ago. I’ve seen the value of Karate training in their character development as they grow to be confident and able young women. Now that I am an instructor at the new Fremont Shotokan Karate dojo, it is my mission to provide the same kind of supportive training environment to current and future students who follow the path of Karate-Do.
Oss!
Talila