The Journey Begins

It has been a long time since I've written on a blog of any kind. Most of the previous blogs I kept were whiny little diaries of my teen years. A marvelous read if you like cheesy hateful vignettes. Well, to cut straight into the turkey, my name is Kyle but I'm sure most of you reading this already know that. I have reached the so called peak of my youth and am just about to step into the "real world". There are a bunch of approaches one can adopt to grapple with the onset of adulthood. There's the down to earth method of actually taking responsibility and toeing the line as you try to build yourself to be an acceptable human, then there's the artsy fartsy John Mayer fan school of thought in which the person believes that "there's no such thing as the real world" and proceeds to chill out for the rest of his or her life. Which one is better you ask? Neither because you'll either become a tight wad or a lazy bum who is too laid back to even get off his couch to take a dump. (And so the toilet recliner was invented.) I suppose that's a little harsh quoting the extremes. Then again most people don't just follow one method. Which is what I plan to do. A little bit of both never hurt anyone. To survive in the world you have to do two things, or rather not do two things. 1) Don't do anything stupid. 2) Don't lose your grip on who you are.

"Oh Kyle that's stupid! I could have paid a hobo to tell me that."

Yeah well you just saved yourself a couple of dollars. Damn...he probably would've needed that. Remind me to drop by the train station tomorrow. Anyway, as simple as those two things might seem, they can be incredibly hard to do throughout the entire course of our lives. If you think about it, following those two rules will keep you on a good course and that is what I plan to do. Bold words huh?

So on the peak of the mountain I find a fork in the road. Two paths to two passions.

I've always loved writing. I've been coming up with ideas for novels for as long as I can remember. Though most of them are far fetched and downright ridiculous, I am sure I have at least one good idea in the rough. The art of storytelling is a rewarding one. There's a certain feeling you get knowing your words have made someone laugh, cry or scoff in disgust. It is a powerful force to be able to wield the pen well. So as you might, just might, have guessed, one path ahead of me leads to my dream of being an author. Or at least I hope it does. I have so many stories and characters to unleash onto paper and writing each one of them is a thrill. I doubt I'd ever be able to live comfortably without being able to write. So whether or not I choose to go down that road, it will always be a huge part of my life. I am off to college in a month and am going to be working towards my degree in Journalism. It's going to be a true test but I'm going in wil all guns blazing. And when I run out of ammo I am going to start slugging it out with my bare hands! Which of course brings me to my next path.

The other path can't be more different. I've always loved martial arts. When I was in primary school I wanted to join the Taekwando club but my parents were against it. And that sucked ass. It wasn't until 10 years later when I started my first martial art. Jujutsu. It all seemed to come naturally to me. As if I was built for it. A few years later I joined a Judo club in school and instantly fell in love with it. The gentle way as it is called, can often be quite ungentle. If that even is a word. Getting thrown around the room by your seniors hurts pretty bad. The rewards though are huge. It develops both the mind and the body and spills over to everyday life as well. "The philosophies are not confined just to the art." was what my sensei once said. If you don't believe him or me then check out the book "Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art of Persuasion". Manipulating balance. An ability i have learned and am eternally grateful for. Today, the grandest stage for any martial artist lies in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. MMA shot to fame in the 90's and though it has been rehashed and beaten down heavily throughout the years, it is now one of the fastest growing sports in the world. "If you build it, they will come." said the voice in Costner's Field of Dreams. Well, when the Ultimate Fighting Championship held it's inaugral tournament in 1993, the field was built and the players came. Fighters of different styles from all over the world came together to do battle on the momentous occasion. From the moment I discovered the world of MMA, I wanted to jump right in. Thankfully I didn't as it would have been a short life for me. This path in the fork leads to my other dream. To be a professional MMA fighter. Ludicrous? Probably. I have started training in Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and so far it has been going well. It is going to take alot of work but I am sure that it will be worth it.

So as I continue down the road of life I find myself not exactly choosing a path as of yet. Instead, I am walking right down the middle of that fork, turning my head both ways at every moment.

If you think about it though, is it really impossible to do both? To beat your own path down the other side of the mountain? I'm not going to say nothing is impossible because we all know that's a filthy lie. I mean look at the poor guy that tried to fly off the eifel tower in his large flight jacket. I do think that there is a glimmer of hope for both of my dreams, even if it is just a tiny glint. I am going to do my best in both fields till I succeed in both or one tears me from the other.

So I'm 21, on the outskirts of the real world with 2 rules to follow and 2 paths to walk.

Thus begins my journey. The journey of the writer fighter.

Join me if you like but you'd better be putting in for the pizzas and gas!