IKS Thoughts: Rich Mohrmann

Editor's Note: Prior to the 30th anniversary celebration that we had, I asked people to submit to me their thoughts about the school to share with the headmasters.   I have gathered these essays and will be adding them to this blog as "IKS Thoughts" over the next several months.   Today's submission was made by IKS Black Belt Rich Mohrmann.

When asked what the IKS means to me, the answer is both simple and complex.  The IKS is a home away from home, a second family, a place of learning, and of fitness.  That simple answer does not do it justice.  Those are all true about the IKS but it is much more than that.  I have no doubt that the IKS played a crucial role in helping make me into the man I am today.

When I first joined the IKS, I had no idea what I was getting into.  I was there as a seven year old ready to learn karate and eager to be just like the ninja turtles that I had seen on television.  As I went through the ranks over the years, I didn’t realize how much I was learning.  The stances, katas, combinations, and kenpos are excellent training tools for being able to defend myself but at the IKS, the actual karate techniques are nothing but a tool for learning what the martial arts is truly about.

As I matured in the art, I was given the opportunity to test for my black belt.  Although this day was over twelve years ago, I will forever remember the words spoken to me by Hanshi Nastasia.  “You’re going to look like a Black Belt, talk like a Black Belt, and act like a Black Belt,” he said.  It was setting the standard of maturity that was expected.  We learned that Black Belt was not the goal of a martial artist.  It was the beginning of where you really began to learn what the art was about.

The Martial Arts is not about who can do the widest split, or kick the highest, or break the most concrete blocks.  It’s about being a person that is a benefit to the society we live in.  In my near twenty-one years in the martial arts, I’ve never had to defend myself but I have on multiple occasions used the real world skills that the IKS has helped build in me.  I’m fortunate enough to have had two wonderful parents who raised me well and the IKS took what I learned from them and built upon it.  Concepts such as respect, dignity, honor, and hard work are what the IKS is built on.  The headmasters of the school all embody it and live it in their personal lives.  They act as role models to their students.

Even in my late twenties, the headmasters are individuals that I can speak with about decisions and challenges in the real world and they are always happy and willing to offer sound advice about making the best decision.  An upbringing of this has found me sitting across the table from younger individuals giving them similar advice that I never could have imagined myself speaking to.

The headmasters at the IKS always want to work with parents to help guide their children.  They will act in coordination with parents to help a child learn right from wrong and how to be a better person and will always yield to the parents’ rule.  The IKS helps a child not only grow into a good person but a successful person.  A lot of the skills I learned at the IKS I use today in the modern business world such as public speaking.  I vividly recall Hanshi Nastasia having my take over a class and then sit in the back coaching me from where no students could see him.  They also teach the children that college is required to be successful in this world and have developed a scholarship that grows almost every year.

I know when the day comes that I have children; I will absolutely want the IKS to be a part of their lives.  The IKS helped me to become the man I am today.  Having seen other karate schools, there is truly no other like the IKS.  They will take a child and not only teach them to defend themselves, but teach them how to be a benefit to the community.  They’ll give you the skills you need to be successful in life and in a professional career.  The IKS has been an excellent influence in my life and continues to do so.  Anyone who walks through those doors and takes to heart what they learn there will be all the better off for it.

My sincere thanks go to Hanshi Victor Nastasia, O’Sensi Louis Desmaris, and Sensi Pete Desmaris.  You have all helped me to be who I am today.  Thank you.