Sensei Andrew
Patterson Most Martial Artists are not aware of who Andrew Patterson is, but they should be. Andrew Patterson is a former member of neo-Nazi National Socialist Movement, and a convicted felon. Andrew Patterson is also living example of how martial arts can help a person turn their life around. Sensei Patterson was kind enough to spare some of his time to answer questions for us, so we can learn from his experiences, both good and bad. I first learned about Sensei Patterson from a news article (Found Here) and wanted to learn more about this man who had seen the dark side of living, and came back from it stronger. Stay strong my friend. How long have you been training in Martial Arts? Well, I started when I was five years old, in Judo and Kenpo Karate. It was Tracy Kenpo. I do not remember the Judo, as I did not stay involved with it for very long. I am now 32, almost 33, so that makes it about 27, almost 28 years. I have been steadily and seriously training since the age of 10, so we can safely say 17 years. What got you interested in Martial Arts? Well, at the time I started, probably movies. What has kept me interested in it is what I can do with my mind and body so coordinated together. The discipline of it and the art of it as well. I am not nearly as physically fit as I used to be, but that is not anyone’s fault but my own. If I was to pay attention more to my physical fitness through Martial Arts Training, I would be WAY better off. What is your personal greatest achievement in Martial Arts? My Students and this School. Hands down. Teaching others is the greatest reward, and achievement for me. What is the most rewarding experience in the arts for you? As said above, my Students and this School. Being able to positively influence people here and help to make a good difference in people’s lives is the best. I have been involved with so many negative things, that this has and is the greatest thing for me, personally, to help others. It is beyond humbling that people would want to learn from me and that people can have respect for me regardless of my past. Martial Arts has been pivotal in changing my life. I guess you can say that I have not really put Martial Arts to its true use until about three years ago. What lead you down the road to prison? I imagine it was a feeling of invincibility that youth maintains, for one. Anger at the social decay of the Community, and then a sense of righteousness at what we were doing. I had an absolute conviction that I was doing the right thing, that it was not only my duty as a Soldier, but my duty as a Skinhead to beat the scum out of our town. We did not target anyone who maintained a job and a positive role in society. We targeted homeless, drug dealers, and gang bangers. What we did not realize was that it was wrong, and the media would use that to make EVERYONE feel threatened. Not only that, but the people whom we targeted would ultimately self destruct with no help from us. Martial Arts was pivotal in me realizing what I was doing was completely idiotic. It took me a LONG time to finally pay attention to what Martial Arts actually taught. Instead of using it to hurt, I began using Martial Arts to heal. Not only myself, but the others around me. And I started to teach so as to help those in my Community. It has been the most rewarding thing I have done, besides being a Father to my Son. The qualities we emphasize are in our Tenets: Respect, Sincerity, Honesty, Humbleness, Loyalty. How did you get involved in the skin head movement? Life got me involved with Skinheads. Gangs, racially motivated attacks on Whites, being White not being “cool”. The racial double standard, and A LOT of events in my life. What got me into the Skinhead Movement at the time was Camaraderie, a Racial and Cultural identity, and the circumstances which I was involved in during my younger life. Gang problems, being targeted by gangs due to being White, and the free rides that non-whites got because of their Race. I was angry about that. I read a lot about National Socialism, Skinheads, etc., and I deeply identified with that. Thus, I became a Skinhead. I was not introduced, or asked, nor did I just simply start claiming that. I sought it out. I got myself involved due to the community decay, violence, angst, rebellion, etc. What was the turning point in your life when you realized you were on a path to destruction, and how did you turn it around? The major turning point in my life was when my best friend shot himself with my gun. Then shortly after, prison. I realized then that I needed to cut out the violence. Violence is rarely the answer to one’s problems. I still identified with the NSM and Skinheads, however, I chose to go about that set of politics in a different way. I turned myself away from violence simply by making a choice. I chose not to participate in it unless necessary. In prison it is quite a necessary disposition. Outside of prison, it is not. Criminality, in general, has not ever been part of my make-up. I have not done very many drugs, I don’t drink, I don’t abuse people, look for victims, etc. I was just a violent person in my younger years, and that landed me in prison. I had to change that myself. I made that decision to leave that direction. I hope that I can continue to better myself and my community. That I can steer youth in the direction of humbleness and respect. Have you had the chance to reach out to other people on the same road you were once on? No. I tend to stay out of all of the political stuff now. If someone came to me wanting support to move on, then I would not hesitate to give it. Just, usually people in the Skinhead Movement don’t get out, or they move to the “anti-racist” side of it, and that is just as violent and hateful in my experience. I am looking to be out of politics altogether. I want to live in peace, teach Martial Arts, and help those who can and want to be helped. I will help my Community and be remembered as a person who tried to help and was good to people. I do not want to be tagged with some overbearing political agenda. What advice would you give someone who is on a similar road that you were once on, and wants to escape it? I don’t know that I am qualified to offer any advice for someone going down that path. Or that anyone travelling that direction would listen to me, or anyone else for that matter. I know I would not at that point in my life. All I could say is that if you are going to attach yourself to gangs, racial groups, violence, or what have you, think of the consequences of such an action. Not only think about the consequences for yourself, but who you are going to affect with such actions and attachments. I had ruined my life, my Family’s reputation, and hurt any number of people. Not only that, but I have placed a black mark on the honor and dignity of my small Community here. Still, After all of the time which I have been trying to do right, my past actions continue to wreck my own future. I doubt that anyone going down that road cares about their future in that respect. The perceived goal of someone in that frame of mind is to do exactly to their future which their present actions are going to do. And that is to be thought of as a “Bad Ass”, a person that can’t be messed with, and a person remembered for how mean and brutal they were. A person remembered with fear and a lack of respect. What the individual does not realize is that the true measure of a person is not how many people fear them or abhor what they have done, but rather to be remembered and thought of as someone who tried to do good and right in their lifetimes. The true measure of a person is their compassion and discipline. I am not saying that I will ever be remembered this way, and by that I mean remembered as a compassionate and disciplined person. I will likely be remembered as a person who was a Skinhead and very mean. And that is my own fault. I accept that. What I am doing is trying to change that. I hope that someone would look at the foolishness which I have been a part of, and change their path. If I had to say something to someone, I doubt seriously they would listen. Only those that truly seek help and change will. Sensei Andrew Patterson teaches Patterson Kenpo in Gold Hill, Oregeon
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AuthorMy name is Andrew Patterson. I compiled the curriculum for Patterson's Kenpo Karate, and am the Head Instructor and Owner of Patterson's Martial Arts. I am also theState Representative for the International Kenpo Karate Academies. 541-292-9784 Archives
April 2017
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