Today I celebrate fifty years in the martial arts.
It has been long enough now to seem natural that it became my fate or, at least, a “way of life,” as everyone calls it. People ask me what could possibly be the attraction. I have to tell the truth and admit that I always believed that some human activities are as linked to us as the appetites 
and emotions we consider define a human being. It is true that, through historical changes, the aliens among us have warped some of these foundational approaches. But activities like dance, story-telling, religion, philosophy, love and celebration are all “arts” in ways that pre-date the commodity market we presently call society.
It is true that all too often “the winners write history” suggesting to us that the answers lie in understanding what came before written history. The next great empire will be built on the sands of still unexploited cultures where ancient insights (that really are insights) may be bulldozed beneath the machinery of necessity. It is in times like these we need tend to those things that the future may see as “useless,” things like kindness, contemplation, harmony.
Fifty years is a blink compared to these timeless pursuits.
Happy 50th years in martial arts!
I follow your blog and products, and your updates are something I look forward to.
Thank you for your contribution to my life and the martial arts community. (^^)
Congratulations! 50 years is really a long time, I wish you all the best for the next decades!
Congratulations on a life well-lived!
Congratulations on 50 in the arts!
Thank you for being kind of a Virtual Sifu for me, for more than nine out of those fifty!
Happy Martial Birthday Shifu Ted! May the next 50 years be just as rewarding!
It is an honor to be one of your students – the depth of knowledge you pass on preserves the treasures of each of the arts you teach. Thank you, Shifu.
Congratulations. Fifty years is a long time to do anything, and you have been very successful in your “path.” I gather from what you have said that you started with the Tracys in Kenpo. I started my training with Rodney Hard in St. Louis-and finished it using some of those manuals in which you had a hand.Something for which I have been grateful. Now you are leading us into pa qua, and I am a 75 year old willing to learn new tricks. It seems to me that your best teaching (for distance learners) is happening now-so keep it up, we appreciate it.
Congratulations.
Your articles over the years have been a frequent source of inspiration to me.
I’ve only got 40+ years in the martial arts [still active though in a genteel way now that I’m a “Wrinklie”] but much of what you said in this post certainly resonates.
Best Wishes for 50 more!
Not just “Fifty years.” It’s more like “Fifty Years of difficult plantings and bountiful harvests.” Your 50 years is a unique benefit to us all, but especially your wonderful students. Thank you and Congratulations!
Happy fifty years. I have enjoyed all your books and your wonderful book store throughout the years.I just wish I am able to learn from you some day.shirfu Ted.
Happy fifty Shifu Ted and wishes for fifty more, so that more roots can grow from your foundational”tree”. Be blessed!
Happy Martial arts 50th Birthday