God bless, farewell, but most of all thank you by Jeremy M. Talbott

I was 9 years old when my mom first asked me if I would like to try karate.  You couldn't imagine how excited I was at the prospect of doing this. Growing up, I always "played" karate with my friends and, being tall for my age, I had very little coordination, which made me an easy target for the school yard bullies.  Being from Springfield, Illinois back in 1980 there were very little schools to choose from so we went to the closest.  I can still remember the somewhat dank smell of the place as we entered for the first time.   I watched from the side as the adults kicked and punched, listening to the each technique cutting through the air.  Then I was approached by a tall black gentleman dressed in a traditional white uniform with a black belt tied around his waist; Sensei Ron Rollins. 

Before I knew it, I was being escorted to the main floor for my first lesson.  Before stepping onto the mat, I remember a sign that that hung above the entrance; "There is only one kind of student here, the best!  The rest quit."  Once I stepped on the mat I noticed another sign, "Nothing is free.  Everybody works and every body starts at the bottom."    Sensei Rollins was definitely the epitome of "old school" martial arts.  He was former military who served in Korea, Vietnam and in Europe.  He ran his school like a military boot camp and since kids\' classes was virtually unheard of back then I, with a few other kids, had to train with the adults and we were treated like the adults.  Sensei Rollins never gave an inch in his training regardless if you were 9 or 90. 

After almost 3 years with Sensei Rollins, I had to leave due to my family moving up north by Chicago.  Once I arrived in my new surroundings I tried to get acclimated by joining the school soccer team and swim team, but nothing could really replace my martial arts training.  I eventually found a small school and continued my training and have not stopped since then.  Whenever that urge of quitting came over me, Sensei Rollins's signs would always pop up in my head.  I never heard from Sensei Rollins since the time I left Springfield until just a couple of years ago when, through the power of internet, I was able to find his email address and send him a letter.  A letter which started off "You may not remember me but..."  To my surprise he did.  Not only that, but he knew my current instructor, Sensei Sharkey.  He was happy to know I was continuing my training.  I was happy because I could finally give him the "thank you" that I never had a chance to do so all those years ago.

The week of November 17^th I received an email which announced of Sensei Rollins's passing.  As I read the email I realized how much of an impact he really had on my training and I will miss him.  It's funny but you never know how much time you will have with people in your life.  It may be a month, a year or 10 years, but the amount of time doesn't matter.  What matters most is the quality of the time spent.  Everything you do can impact a direction of someone else's life.  Even the smallest little thing like a sign hanging above a door which tells you, "There is only one kind of student here, the best!  The rest quit." can have the biggest impact in a student's life.  So to Sensei Rollins, God bless farewell but most of all thank you.