Mystery Solved! This past year a twenty-one year mystery was solved while I was at the Master’s Camp in March. When I arrived at the camp I had no idea that this would happen and that an event that took place in my martial arts career twenty-one years ago would come into my mind. The day is Saturday, March 23, 2013, Master Mars and I are standing in the gym of the University of North Alabama waiting for the afternoon training sessions to begin. We had just been informed that were we to be present for testing later in the evening and we should not be late. After some discussion between the two of us, I began to reflect on my very first experience testing for my first degree black belt. It was a day I never forgot because of the events that took place during that test so long ago. My memory of that day is very clear. My test for Cho Dan took place in early May 1992 at the Holiday Inn in Philadelphia, PA. The day was filled with anticipation as the candidates from around Region 8 gathered for the test. I recall that it was one of the biggest tests in the region with a little over two hundred candidates testing for the rank of Cho Dan all the way up to testing for Sam Dan. There were two testing panels set up for the day in the ballroom that had hardwood floors. Were we split up into four groups, two groups of black belts, approximately fifty each and two groups of blue belts with the same number of people. The black belts testing for higher rank tested first and the blue belts were instructed to sit and watch; our test would be after the black belts. That began a long day for all of us. After what seemed like forever, the black belt test concluded and now it was time for the blue belts to take our test. The test progressed very well as we completed each part of the requirements for rank. After a while we came to the self-defense portion of the testing. We were instructed to pick the person next to us in the line. I naturally turned to my right and found myself staring into the chest of the person next to me. I looked up to see who this mountain of a man was and at that very moment I thought in my head, “On my God, I’m dead!” I did not know who this person was nor had I ever met him before until that day. I don’t even remember if we exchanged our names with each other. He was a complete stranger who happened to be standing on my right and so we were partners for the self-defense portion of the test. I put my fear out of my head and we began. Everything was going great until we had to do the knife defense. We were instructed to reach from behind the person’s back with a knife held at their throat. Here I am standing on my toes trying to get the knife around this guy’s throat. He is at least eight inches taller than me. Then I hear this booming voice coming from my partner. He says to me, “Do you know how to fall?” to which I reply yes. His next words have stuck in my mind for the last twenty-one years. He then said, “Okay I am going to throw you over my right shoulder real easy, are you ready?” I said yes and the next thing I know is that I am flying through the air and hit the floor with a great deal of force. Bam! Lights out! I do not know what happened at that point. All I remember is opening my eyes after hitting the floor and seeing bright lights. People were hovering over me and asking me if I was okay. The first words out of my mouth were, “Am I dead?” This of course brought about some laughter from those who were trying to help me. As it turned out I was okay, hurting, but okay. The big guy came over and told me he was sorry and wanted to know if I was okay. I assured him I was and we went on from there. The test ended and I never saw the big giant again after that day. Fast forward to Saturday at the master’s camp where I am finishing up with my reflections of the previous test those twenty-one years ago. Someone walks by me and for some reason the voice sounded vaguely familiar. I know him from the master’s camp and he is a friend. But something different stuck in my mind about his voice on this particular day. It was Master Scott Merrill. I instantly followed him over to where he was standing and politely asked, “Master Merrill, how are you today?” His response was “I’m fine.” I proceeded to ask him, “Master Merrill, when did you take your test for Cho Dan?” He says, “May 1992”. I follow up with an additional question, “Was it in Philadelphia, PA at the Hilton Inn near the stadium?” Master Merrill responds, “Why yes it was, I remember that day very well. I got chewed out three times that day. The second time was for throwing some guy to the floor during the self-defense and knocking him out. Why do you ask?’” I have to say that during the twenty-one years of remembering this incident in my life, I have often thought that I would like to run into that big son of a gun again sometime. Here he was standing in front of me and I laughed out loud telling him that I was the guy he threw to the floor twenty-one years ago. He gives me a big bear hug and we began to laugh, talking about that day with each other and with anyone else who was within earshot of our conversation. I come to know Master Merrill more closely since I first met him in 2005 when he came to the Master’s camp. We have had the good fortune to work on the world championship together in 2010. We have been friends all the while not knowing the connection we had to each other. It is a connection that began twenty-one years ago on a May afternoon for a one time meeting during our first degree black belt test. Wow! That made my whole day and weekend! It was the highlight of my trip to the Master’s camp. We continued to see each other for the balance of the weekend. As fate would have it, on Saturday night during the testing, we were asked to reach around from behind our partner and put a knife to their throat. I thought, Oh no, not again and I looked around for Master Merrill. This is only the second time in all of my testing experiences that I have been asked to demonstrate this self-defense technique. The next day when I saw Master Merrill I told him about having to do that technique again and we both laughed During the last twenty-one years I have dedicated myself to training in Tang Soo Do. I have had many good experiences and blessings while doing so and they continue to this day. You never forget your first test for black belt. Throughout the last twenty-one years I have had a mystery in my head that I could not solve or close until this past March. It goes to show that the connections and relationships you make in the World Tang Soo Do Association will last a lifetime. You never know when you are going to come across someone with whom you tested with in in the past. Thank you Master Merrill. Mystery solved! Tang Soo! Master Joe Scota
Posted on: Thu, 31 Oct 2013 12:32:09 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015