I named it the Zen Fencing Academy for my hero, a gentleman by the name of Joe Odom, who sadly passed away last year. He was my role model as a fencer and as an instructor. He founded a club in Pittsburgh, Fencers For Fun, as a method of keeping kids off the streets. He always came to (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) to help us out because we didn't have a coach. We always referred to him as the 'Zen master of fencing'. He was that wise old Pat Morita kind of character.
More Quotes from Dion Shively:
I've actually seen kids who have bad attitudes or temper problems come into fencing and I've seen them leave with much more self-control and self-respect. I've seen them go from really lousy kids to pretty nice people, people I could respect. I think fencing can have an uplifting effect on the soul. It's very much a Western martial art.Dion Shively
Jason has found a lifelong hobby as well as a great form of exercise. He lost 80 pounds since we opened the club.
Dion Shively
In America, when people dueled, they would use pistols. We didn't have fencing schools where gentlemen went to learn the sword. In Europe they had that, and those schools became the basis of the fencing clubs they still have today.
Dion Shively
When he was in his late 60s, he was still beating us young kids who thought we were hot stuff, but was still nice enough to work with us and help us along. So I always had it in the back of my mind that there was this Zen kind of philosophy, this martial arts aspect to fencing.
Dion Shively
The best thing about this sport is that you can do it all your life. I know people who started fencing when they were 70 years old. This is a sport where using your head really counts. 'Physical chess' is a term that's been frequently applied to fencing. Really, the mind is the most important weapon you have in this sport.
Dion Shively
How you like to style your fencing is really up to your temperament. Some people are aggressive and tend to move around a lot some people are very passive and let their opponents make the first move. No two people fence entirely alike. It's one of the things that makes it so interesting.
Dion Shively
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Based on Topics: Buddhism Quotes, Characters Quotes, Heroism Quotes, Name QuotesBased on Keywords: fencer, fencers, morita, odom
Now as of old the gods give men all good things, excepting only those that are baneful and injurious and useless. These, now as of old, are not gifts of the gods: men stumble into them themselves because of their own blindness and folly.
Democritus
At the same time, of course, Marxism arose - Rosa Luxembourg, Leninism, anarchism - and art became political.
Douglas Sirk
I take my fun very seriously, whether it's playing the drums or acting in comedy bits. The need to be disciplined about it, and not take it lightly, and not be too casual, is something I take deeply to heart.
Max Weinberg