IKS Thoughts: Gerry Tanguay

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 black belt Gerry Tanguay. 

I have studied the martial arts for nearly twenty years and it has been one of the most fulfilling experiences and activities throughout my life - holding prominence above nearly everything else while sharing a twin throne in my life with the visual arts.

The Independent Karate School has given me fond memories of the martial arts, however one man in particular is responsible in helping me establish the most basic concepts and skills that I now possess.
Meijin Victor Nastasia, whom I still habitually refer to as Hanshi.

When I first began to study the martial arts with Hanshi I most likely did not realize how much he would teach me, both in regards to the martial arts as well as many other facets of daily life. Looking back now I am able to see that his lessons helped in providing the foundation necessary to become a confident and capable adult with the ability to take control of a situation and work through it successfully.  At this point in my early years of studying kenpo with Hanshi my views on the martial arts were rooted mainly in The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Karate Kid.

Every week I would go to class, Monday afternoon at four o’clock, excited about practicing kenpo and excited to see Hanshi again. Eventually I was asked to help instruct, a responsibility which I took very seriously as I assisted on Tuesday nights. As a result of instructing I became more aware of how to speak and how to present myself to others through body language and precision. I had begun to truly understand the position of a role model and why it was important to be responsible not just inside the dojo while practicing or instructing but also outside of the dojo in everyday life. It is impossible to teach a student respect if you do not actively show respect yourself.

On Saturday, October 19th 1996 my outlook on the martial arts and instructing would be elevated to a new level after one of the longest and most intense experiences of my life. That afternoon I received my first degree black belt, finally accomplishing a goal that I had set for myself many years before. The excitement lingered for quite some time, however, I noticed that there was something even more powerful overshadowing my joy. I realized that my responsibility had easily doubled and that I would now need to work even harder on my own material so that my teaching skills could also progress to the next level.

I looked to Hanshi at this point more than I had before. I looked to his experience in helping me to overcome new challenges and to find tricks to improve my instructing. I also began to notice that I was more self-reliant. I had begun to form my own methods for dealing with large groups or in teaching small classes. I had more experiences to pull from and I found that I was now able to share not only Hanshi’s lessons but also my own. The man that I am had emerged from a young martial artist.

As time progressed I began to realize the true responsibility of a martial artist. Our responsibility is to become the best possible person that we are capable of and in doing this to commit ourselves to an ideal in all aspects of our lives. We do not simply put all of ourselves into practicing the martial arts, we put all of ourselves into any project or task that is set by us or for us. We do not stand by while others do work; instead we are the first to begin working. We take the initiative in life so that we may become an example to everyone else of how a person should live and act. We show respect to everyone, we exemplify discipline and courtesy, we teach the way of peace.

Around this time I watched The Karate Kid for the first time since I was a young boy. I was surprised to notice how well the film portrayed the principles of budo through Mr. Miyagi. I noticed that many of the ways which Mr. Miyagi described the martial arts were consistent with the ways that I had come to view them through my training at the Independent Karate School.

This realization had come over the course of many years and as I began to live my life by the principles that I had learned through kenpo I found myself about to embark on a new journey, one that would take me away from the Independent Karate School for what seemed like an eternity.

I left for Montserrat College of Art in the fall of 2001, excited for what was ahead but wary of some of the things that I left behind. Although my college was relatively close to the karate school, my class schedule made it difficult to make my way back except during some summer breaks. Despite my guilt over being absent from the dojo I knew that I needed to focus on my college work.

I graduated from Montserrat College of Art in 2005 with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Illustration. I remained at the school for one extra semester in order to complete the art education program which would leave me certified to teach the visual arts.

As I finished this program participating in a full-time practicum I once again found that Hanshi’s lessons remained ingrained in my being. I used the skills that I had developed in the martial arts and adjusted them to fit perfectly into the world of elementary art education. My supervising practitioner often commented that my public speaking skills, classroom management skills and ability to connect with the students on their level without changing who I am or how I speak to them was far above average for even first year teachers. I told her that I would not have had nearly as much experience in teaching if not for the Independent Karate School and Hanshi Nastasia.

The completion of my practicum brought an end to my time at Montserrat. I left prepared to enter the ‘real world’ as so many often call it. After settling back into life outside of college I found that there was something missing in my day to day life. I had continued to practice the martial arts throughout my time at college; however there was still the fact that I had been away from the school itself and all of the people who make it the home that it is.

I walked into the dojo one afternoon in order to rectify this absence in my life. As I entered I saw the man who is present in ninety percent of my childhood memories, a smile spread across his face as he walked over to me and we spoke for some time. That afternoon I fell back into the school as though I had not been gone, it was truly a feeling equivalent to that of returning home from an extended journey. The feeling that something was missing subsided and I came to feel complete once again. I am no longer simply the man that had emerged from a young martial artist; I bring to the school my experiences in kenpo and in teaching, I bring my knowledge of the visual arts and an ability to relate it to what we practice in the dojo. I am an instructor. I am an IKS black belt.

I take great pride in my responsibility as an instructor and uchi-deshi for the Independent Karate School because I have spent most of my life learning, sharing and instructing here. The school has been built as a home for all of us who attend, for all of us who share a common interest and belief in the principles of the martial arts. This would not have been possible if not for the inception of the Independent Karate School thirty years ago.