Bowing In

Introduction to me, Sensei Matt, and my journey in Martial Arts, and two questions for you.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:05

Hello, everybody. My name is Matt Gallagher, and I want to welcome you to my first episode of my podcast at 60. So before I get started with this first episode, I want to thank you for giving this podcast a shot. And if you could put up with some of the bumps and bruises and maybe some bad edits during these first few episodes, because I'm a complete white belt at podcasting. I think we'll have a good time talking about something we're passionate about. And also hopefully we'll learn something. Maybe you can learn something from me, and hopefully you reach out to me with some comments, and I can learn something from you. Okay? So let's get into the first episode. Now I want to ask you two questions. The first question is, why did you get started in the martial arts? The second question is, why are you still training in the martial arts? Now if you're a new student, you might not have gotten to the second question yet. But if you're an old dog like me, you're gonna see that your reasons for training have changed over the years. So to get this started, I'm gonna tell you why I got involved in the martial arts. I started my training in 1976 in Bayon, New Jersey at a local YMCA because I was bullied. I was a seven-year-old kid with a bad temper, and I couldn't fight. Being raised by all women, I was a little soft. My father had passed away when I was a year and a half old. Got picked on by older kids on the way home from school. That's why I got involved in the martial arts. I was a huge fan of all the martial arts movies and a huge Chuck Norris fan. And I thought if I could just learn how to do karate, I'd be able to get back and forth to school without any more black eyes, bloody noses, and which was the ultimate sin in the 70s coming home with ripped school clothes. That's why I got involved. Now that you heard my reason, why don't you take this time as you're listening to the show and think about why you got involved in the martial arts? There's no bad reason that you got in. And there's so many reasons. Self-defense, fitness, your friends were taking it, you wanted a new challenge. Maybe you used to compete in sports in high school and college, and now you want to compete in the martial arts, the culture. There's no bad reason, and everybody's reason is their own. And just take this time to remember why. So now let's go to the second question. Why are you still training in the martial arts today? I'm gonna tell you why I'm still training. Now, when I started training in the martial arts, it was because I was getting bullied. Well, I still want to be able to protect myself. My self-protection goals have changed over the years. I'm married and I have a daughter, a 16-year-old daughter. So my main reason to train now today is to protect my family. They come first, then I worry about protecting myself second. But unlike when I was a kid and started, there's more reasons now. The second reason is is for health and fitness today.

SPEAKER_00 4:18

I'm 56.

SPEAKER_01 4:22

Me continuing training keeps me healthy, keeps me agile. My daughter is an athlete. I can practice with her and train with her. She's a really good softball player. I'm still able to do pretty much everything I want to do in life because I don't have restrictions. Continually training keeps me healthy, my joints. Do I hurt a little bit more after a hard training session than I did in my 20s? Yes. But I'm still able to train and go hard. And to me, that's priceless because I know so many people that are my age that have a hard time just getting off the couch and they spend their whole life on computers, just watching TV because they physically can't do anything. That would drive me nuts. I'm a very active person. I don't know how to sit down and be still. Now I have a third reason I train martial arts. I'm a martial arts instructor. So I physically need to be able to instruct my classes. I need to be on the mats. I need to be able to do the techniques to show them, my students, that they work or how to do it. Yes, I could sit on the side and just tell them what to do, but that's not my style at all. I'm gonna fight tooth and nail, hopefully to the day I die, that I could still be physically on the mats and teaching. Because it's so much fun to me, it's so rewarding to me. Now that you heard my reason that I started training and why I still train today, do the same exercise for yourself. Ask yourself, why did I start training and why do I still train today? I am telling you, it will help you. You will see the progress you've made, it'll help you focus in your training, it'll help your motivation to keep training. When we get older and life becomes busier, and we have more commitments, sometimes it's harder to get to the dojo. Bumps and bruises. I myself had surgery a year and a half ago on my rotator cuff because I took a bad fall. But the love of the arts and not being on the mats and not being with my students helped drive me to get back. When you get hurt, when your life gets busy, if you know why you train today, it'll help you continue it.

SPEAKER_00 7:38

Okay, I'm gonna stop right now because I could keep going and I'll go off on a total different subject.

SPEAKER_01 7:46

Um I do that all the time. I just want you to take what I said today, take uh maybe a martial artist that's further along on his journey than you are. Take my insight, take my lessons. Uh, please reach out to me and tell me if it helped you. I would love that. You know, tell me your ideas on it. Maybe you have a different take on it. I'd love to hear that too. Maybe you can help keep me motivated. We're a different breed, people that go to dojos and choke each other and punch and kick each other and get slammed on the mat and think it's the greatest way uh to spend the night. So we understand each other. So let's talk to each other through this podcast. I hope you enjoyed it. I'm gonna have all the social media ways for you to reach out to me. I'm gonna put my Instagram, my Facebook, and uh my email so you can reach out to me so we can continue this. Tell me some ideas or some thoughts you would like me to discuss. I promise you, I will not stay a white belt at this for long. I hope you really enjoy this. I hope you do the exercise.

SPEAKER_00 9:12

It will help you. Trust me.

SPEAKER_01 9:16

Okay, so since we're martial artists, let's think about bowing out and end this podcast. Again, my name is Matt Gallagher, and thank you for listening to the first episode of Sensei Speaks. Bye bye.