Happy 2014! An individual journey continues

It's now over a year since I started to develop an interest in martial arts. The honeymoon is over. It is a shame, but true to say that in the West, martial arts remain a domain inhabited largely by weird men and kids. There are gems however. People along the way who influence you and set you off on the next stage of your journey. One of the reasons why there are so many factions within martial arts, so much in-fighting and animosity between clubs is that there is no one way. We are each on our own journey. Martial arts are not religions, but share many of the faults of religious organizations. None of this is easy to change, nor can it be. Develop your own path and move on regardless.