QUESTIONS & ANSWERS
Want to know more about whose words you are reading?
(Spoiler alert: I’m not a psycho killer or a bot who bypassed the reCAPTCHA)
WHO IS THIS WEBSITE FOR?
The nerds. The fighters. The philosophical guys debating whether the stoic life is really the best life.
Want an extra dose of brutal honesty? This website is also for me.
Yep.
I believe knowledge can be illusive. It is always around us and we have so very, very many opportunities to capture it...but we often don’t.
What doesn’t get properly recorded often gets forgotten or improperly altered. Consider this blog as my desire to ensure these ideas are never lost, be them my own thoughts or the considerations and accomplishments of others.
WHO ARE YOU?
The name is Ford. Justin Lee Ford. You can consider me a geek about all things martial arts (and yes, that means I’m also a Karate Nerd—extra no-points to anybody that gets that reference!)
I’m not going to say I’m a twelve-time point fighting world champion or a wise old Dao Yin Qi Gong master.
Why? ‘Cause it doesn’t matter, even if it were true.
Anybody on the internet can say anything, true or else. If you are reading my words, let them steep in your mind and ponder whether there is truly any merit to them. Let my words inspire your own research, be it a trip to your local library or a deep dive into your own psyche and beliefs.
HOW HAS YOUR TRAINING EVOLVED?
Hmmm, that’s actually a bit tough to answer in brief summary. At the foremost of my growth is this idea:
Just as a writer should strive to remove the unnecessary word count, just as a sculpture removes the excess undue to the authentic image, our goal should be movements that express without excess.
In understanding this, mastery becomes not a question of what you can learn, but what you can unlearn.
This is a difficult dichotomy to respect when your goal is also to be able to comprehend, train in, and write about a wide swath of martial art styles and concepts.
Difficult doesn’t mean impossible though, does it?
WHAT MARTIAL ARTS MOMENT HAD THE MOST IMPACT ON YOUR LIFE?
My first trip overseas. When I was nineteen, I traveled to China to have an adventure in Henan province. The relationships built, the journey trekked (literally and figuratively), and the stories crafted are forever irreplaceable.
Since then, I have traveled many more times, both domestically and internationally, however my first international trip has yet to be topped.
Many things were against me being able to go on the trip. For me, the journey represented a willingness to make $#!% happen and to let go of what I was already comfortable with. As a young head instructor running a martial arts studio, I also had to learn to trust my team to take care of everything while I was away.
In many ways, it was a big personal step.
In many ways, it altered my friggin’ life.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START A CAREER IN MARTIAL ARTS WRITING?
This is going to get personal, mmkay?
I met the man who became my writing mentor when my first opportunity for a paid writing gig appeared. His name was John Corcoran and he was lauded as the most prolific editor in martial arts literature.
Did you notice that I said “was”?
Unfortunately, John passed away before I could meet him in-person and thank him for all he had done for me. His death in mid-2019 supercharged my passion for martial arts literature. I had always been a bibliophile, but now I had experienced somebody who believed vividly in the well-written word and how powerful it could be. Sometimes that’s all we need, a sensei or sifu who not only shows you what to do, but also what you can do.
They say “success without a successor is a failure”. I’m not vain enough to try and say I worked the longest or closest with him.
Our time together was brief, but I’ll be damned if I let his legacy end.
Maybe that’s simply what it means to be a good student and pal.