HUMILITY, RESPECT AND GRACE

BY PETER VUONO

   In 2012 I had put in abut 8 years into Kenpo Karate training. My son and I trained together at Master Steve Arsenault's Kenpo in New Bedford Ma. Unfortunately, nature and genetics caused a large speed bump and I had a heart attack and quadruple by-pass in 2012. I recovered and continued training. Mike got his Black belt in front of Larry Tatum in 2013 and I finally got it in 2014 at age 61.

  Upon receiving a belt one must do a mandatory one year of additional training which is a probationary period where one proves that he or she would not abuse their training. It was during this time that Master Steve would incorporate sparring on Wednesday nights.

  He would pick the two combatants and we were all pretty well protected with head gear. One night he paired me with Black Belt C.J. Soares. C.J. was in his teens and had much experience in sparring competition. He only weighed about 145 but he had taken on opponents who were above 200lbs. His kicks(especially his tornado) were a sight to behold and he was about as fast as a sled on ice powered by nitrous oxide injection! I, on the other had had arthritis in the knee, hips and shoulders. I was about as fast as a centenarian Galapagos tortoise on valium!  I knew I was in for a thorough drubbing!

  Then something unexpected happened. A win is scored when one scores three strikes before his opponent does. I never saw C.J.'s lightning. It never struck. He defended himself and showed a minimum of offense. Somehow, I scored 3 points first and it didn't a take a Rhodes Scholar to figure out what happened.

  C.J. "jobbed" for me. What does "jobbing" mean one may ask? It's a carny/ pro wrestling term where the job of one wrestler is to lose and at the same time make his opponent look good before the audience. C.J. curbed his abilities so as to not outshine my lack of them.

  I'll never know if it was my age, or my disabilities that he was thinking of but it didn't matter. He had made a great example of himself in that encouragement trumps discouragement every time. That is what we are all here for and in every facet of life. C.J.'s example was for me and for everyone who reads his story. His act was the epitome of humility, respect and grace.

HUMILITY IS NOT THINKING OF YOURSELF LESS; IT'S THINKING LESS OF YOURSELF"-C.S.LEWIS