I learned on Saturday morning that one of my favourite private clients, Alan, passed away at 84.

I first met him through a senior citizens’ self-defence course I taught for the City of Oshawa in 2008. The classes were held at the Legends Community Centre. Alan learned that I taught Modern Arnis classes at the same community center during the course. Upon learning this, he asked me if he could try it.

I responded: “Heck yeah!“

Alan started Modern Arnis in February 2009, and the students immediately fell in love with the guy. Born in Scotland, he had this tremendous Scottish brogue and a love of life that was charming to all of us.

Due to his experience in Karate in the 1970s, he quickly caught on to Modern Arnis and progressed to Low Green Belt. Also, he attended several seminars with Master Chuck Gauss. Let me tell you, he loved playing with sticks, and I had fun relating the Modern Arnis material to his karate background.

Alan in action at a seminar in 2010.

In 2010 he attended two weekly classes and took a private lesson from me every other Saturday. He fell in love with Modern Arnis! Whenever I saw him, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. The joy that he exhibited was infectious to all who encountered him.

In the spring of 2011, his training came to an abrupt but, thankfully, temporary halt.

One night, he arrived to class late and not dressed in his arnis pants and Bamboo Spirit t-shirt. Upon seeing this, I knew that something was up.

He said to me: “Brian, I can’t do this anymore. I’ve got to stop now.“

Me: “What’s up? Can you explain what’s going on?“

Alan: “I can’t keep up with these youngsters.“

Mind you, he was hard on himself, and he was doing fine in class. He, unfortunately, got caught up in the “Comparison Game.” I tried to persuade him to stick it out. To my chagrin, he had made up his mind. Or so it seemed.

Before he left, I said to him: “Would you consider the possibility of continuing the private lessons with me?” He replied that he would give it some thought.

I did not hear from him for six months.

Then one day, he stopped by to visit my class at the Legends Centre. He explained that he was there to watch his grandson play a hockey game. During this conversation, I reminded him that I was still available for private lessons.

“Oh, yes, I would like that. Let me talk to Marg about it.“

I wasn’t sure that he was serious about resuming training, thinking that he was being nice. Surprisingly, he contacted me through his wife via email and expressed interest in getting together again.

We ended up having 20 private lessons for the remainder of 2011. As a result, this was to mark the next stage of our friendship. During these lessons, I learned more about his life.

According to him, at the age of 10, Alan’s family moved from Scotland to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where his father worked in the mines. If I recall correctly, he developed an interest in wrestling while living in Rhodesia. He loved telling me that there were only two seasons there: the dry season and the wet season. Every story was always told with delight.

Warned about the impending turmoil in Rhodesia after turning 21 years of age, he decided to move back to the UK, where he met his wife. They then immigrated to Canada sometime in the 1960s.

In any case, Alan and I continued training together through 2012.

He confided to me that our training sessions were always the highlight of his week. We traded many jokes and observations about life in general during these sessions. His sunny optimism and humour always shone through. Every single time.

At the beginning of 2013, he asked if he could bring a friend named Noel over to watch our private lesson. Noel had been a karate buddy of Alan’s back in the 1970s and was looking to get back into training. Because he liked what he saw, Noel decided to join us for private lessons.

Thus began the next phase of my relationship with these two guys, both sons of the British Empire. Getting together with Alan and Noel was always the week’s highlight.

Alan and Noel working on a defense against a choke in 2019.

From 2013 through last year, we got together, on average, more than 30 times a year. It was always a joy teaching these guys. They had such a zest for training that was amazing for their age, and I wish that everyone was like them. Alan, in particular, couldn’t get enough of the training.

He never took himself seriously, asked many questions during our lessons, and always had fun whenever we got together.

Consequently, “that was such a great lesson!” is a phrase that I heard many times and was always accompanied by a smile.

As my wife said: “Alan was a true gentleman, a lovely person, a wonderful martial arts classmate, and an all-around wonderful man. He is very dear in my heart and will be missed greatly.”

Godspeed, Alan, and we’ll cross sticks again someday.

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