Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Clark.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I started primarily because I wanted to imitate what I thought at the time was a cool jumping karate kick from a commercial I had seen on television as a kid. Over time, as I got older, grew more in the art, and achieved greater skills and rank, something inside of me made me want a black belt, and that propelled me forward.
Shortly after completing the test to achieve the rank prior to black belt, our grandmaster told me I should become an instructor, and that I would do great with this career. Looking back on it now, that’s what propelled me to where I am today.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. There are some personal challenges that came with this, from having to learn to overcome my natural shyness to start talking with other students, parents, and potential clients. That was tough and took me years to break out.
I also had to overcome those who were ahead of me attempting to sabotage my progress, regardless of whether it was intentional or not. Thankfully, those people are long gone from our system, but I had instructors and students who attempted to undermine me, for one reason or another. That forced me to learn resilience, and I persevered enough to rise above all of them and surpass most of them in rank and skill.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about South Salem Shao-Lin Kempo?
We are a martial arts studio located in Salem that specialize in Shao-Lin Kempo, a combination of karate, kung fu, and jiu jitsu, to give students a variety of defenses for a variety of situations. We teach students from a self-defense standpoint, encouraging students to defend themselves, if need be, but never to go starting the fight.
I am proud of our dedication to quality. We work to ensure that your skills are solid, and are patient with every single student who walks through our doors as they learn the skills we have to offer.
This year, our entire system is celebrating 50 years, and we have been in Salem for 30 years. We work from ages 4 on up, and are no contracts, and willing to work with wherever you are at, regardless of if you’re young or old, healthy or injured.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My instructor, Master Davis, and our system’s grandmaster, Grandmaster Pearl, have all been amazing mentors, willing to push me forward and both offering the advice the way that resonated with me. Grandmaster also was the one who suggested this career, and without his suggestion, I would not be here as an instructor of our wonderful system.
A mentor of mine in high school always cheered me on, offering words of encouragement that helped, even when things were looking tough, and I credit him with helping guide me through high school, even when it was rough and I felt like giving up on my dreams.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shao-linkempo.com/south.php
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SouthSalemShaoLinKempo/
