Welcome to Martial Vitality

My First Gi and White Belt, from 1991
I began studying martial arts as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in 1991. During my military career I tried various styles, including Karate, boxing, Judo, combatives, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Filipino stick and knife fighting, Wing Tsun, and American Kenpo.

By early 2001 I had a broken wrist and a desire to change direction. I separated from the Air Force in March of that year and later stopped practicing Kenpo.

In late 2002 my wife and I moved to the DC area, and within two years I was looking for a new martial arts school. I never found a good fit, but I also fought my way through three shoulder surgeries and related problems. In 2012 I managed to try a Tai Chi class, which was fun in its own way. I finally recovered my health during 2015.

By early 2016 I decided to take another look at the local martial arts scene, and I was pleased to find and enroll in a Krav Maga school.

During that 15 year gap from 2001 to 2016, a lot changed. Mixed martial arts, reality-based defense, social media, Amazon.com, my own age, and many other factors have altered the landscape. Most of the changes appear positive, but that could be the result of naive optimism at the beginning of a journey. I expect not!

In this blog I plan to explore my new relationship with the martial arts. I am interested in many styles and techniques, but I am also fascinated by history and martial culture. (I'm currently pursuing a PhD in War Studies, in addition to my day job.) I also love books, and I have over 100 covering martial arts and Asian culture.

If these topics appeal to you, feel free to join me on this journey to rejoin the Tao, or "Way," that I left so many years ago.

Sometimes you can go home again. This is the story of how I hope to do that.

Comments

  1. BeachWoodsFebruary 2, 2016 at 11:04 AM

    Awesome! So happy for you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Richard BejtlichFebruary 2, 2016 at 5:17 PM

    Thank you for your encouragement!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Jaro BerceFebruary 3, 2016 at 8:18 AM

    Good luck on your quest Richard. I hope we would have some time sometime to discuss (if you are interested). I merged MA and Leadership in my blog: http://leadershipbyvirtue.blogspot.com/ for your information.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Richard BejtlichFebruary 3, 2016 at 9:10 AM

    Thank you Jaro. Congratulations on your book.

    ReplyDelete

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