The Lady and the Tiger

Before I got into studying paganism I was heavy into martial arts.
When I was young I didn't have too many interests outside of the
woods. But martial arts and Easter Philosophy held some sort of
allure for me.

I remember going to the library and checking out every book on
martial arts that I could find. My first one was a 50-page book on
the basics of Karate. It was very short with big pictures. Perfect
for a pre-teen to play with. My first dojo was the Imperial Dragon
Karate Academy where we studied Shotokan. It was a class of about 15
students. We did not compete, we did not advertise, and we did not
tell anyone about the things we learned in there. If we did we
were "disciplined". I trained in the dojo, I trained in the woods,
and I trained in the back yard. Every night until mom or dad called
me in. It was all I knew about and all I seemed to be good at.
Once I learned all that my Sensei had to offer he sent me out to
learn more. I followed my days at the Academy learning Kempo,
Aikido, and Ninjutsu. The latter got me a visit from my former
Sensei who did not agree with the particular "training methods" I
had taken up.

In all my martial arts studies a sound mind and a sound body was the
theory of success. And of course knowing when to fight and when not
to fight. I never did here the phrase "never use it". Instead I was
taught that when it comes to a fight it is not about pride, it is
not about ego, it is about winning and winning as fast as possible.
Having that kind of background helped me out a lot when I got into
studying paganism. For one I already knew how to meditate and focus
my mind. I had a fairly good philosophy and code and I knew how to
handle myself should my religion ever be cause for a not so verbal
dispute. And I had a rather large surplus of self-confidence.
I followed my hand-to-hand training up with a few different weapons
styles that still follow me today. Especially the sword. I was asked
to teach a few times and never really went into that. By the time I
was good enough to teach I was getting into something new and that
was magic.

But I have found that many of the rules still apply.

With my history I'm able to say that I've been forged into a very
hard headed and bold young pup. I also admit that I have a little
bit of an attitude problem. But there are really very few things in
this world that get me truly pissed off.

The main one is saying anything negative about my daughter. I'm one
proud daddy and the first person I ever hear say one cross word
about my baby will get hurt. In that I don't care how long it takes.
As long as I am breathing air ya better hope you don't cross paths
with me.

Second comes my family. With that the generational rule is that if
you mess with one of us you mess with all of us. Knock one down and
the rest will be at your house shortly. Now my family is not unlike
any other. We don't always get along. But you let someone come in
and mess around and all the family issues are put to the side for a
good old-fashioned ass-kicking contest.

Third, is my woman. In my world if anyone insults a woman he also
insults the man she is with and in this case it's just not worth it.
I don't go out a try to pick fights. I have a hard enough time just
dealing with all the asses who come along wanting to challenge me on
this or that. I seem to attract them every now and then. I don't
know if they really think they are better and want to prove it or if
they are just foolish and want to prove it. But I have no problems
with fighting when I'm challenged and I can handle myself pretty
good in just about any forum. Fight ya, debate ya, or just flat out
slap ya upside the head I got it all down pretty damned well.
Some see that as me just being an ass. I see that as me standing for
who I am and what I believe in.

When it comes to the Den and the people who come along now and then
with not so constructive criticism.... I don't really think that I
have to defend the group. The Den sort of speaks for itself.
All in all it is never really about attitude, defensiveness,
negativity, or aggression. It's more about honor and pride. I'm
proud of who I am. I'm proud of what this group is as a group. And
honor dictates that I stand up for them all and not hide away. If
that means being an ass then I am an ass.

I guess I am a double-edged sword. I can sometimes come up with the
most outrageously funny and off the wall shit.

On the other hand, cross one of those lives up there and Snowy is
not such a nice guy. But at least I am honest.


Angel Snowden-2006