First Post: My Quest

Hello my name is Robert Barker and this is my blog. What is the blog about? Well I'm pretty sure the title says it all but let me explain it more. I am big fan of martial arts, always have been, I've never felt better than when I'm on the mats or in the ring training, sparring or competing in one form of martial arts or another. I've tried out quite a few styles over the years and I loved them all. Currently I spend most my time training in Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, it's such a fun ever changing game and the art has so much dynamic to it. I also train in Japanese jiu-jutsu which I love for the practicality of it, self defence is always on my mind in anything I practice, 'how would this work into my self defence situation?' I'm  a fan of training for sport and competing but lets not forget, it's roots are from self defence, to truly learn a technique one must also study it's roots. Also, whenever I can if it's possible I try to train in whatever else is out there and available weather at home or traveling and visiting, as the saying goes "Have Gi, will travel"!
After a rather successful summer of traveling for work and training while on the go I was able to visit a bunch of different school, clubs and dojos, mostly all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu or grappling clubs. They all had one thing in common: the love for the art. This furthered my belief that all martial arts are tied together, not just by having similar moves and concepts but they all are built on the same principals of self defence in combat and respect to one another outside of combat. This reinforced my beliefs of this connection that I've noticed over the years training at different clubs. This got me to thinking, I've always wanted to see different martial art styles in the homeland they originate from or how the same style differs from place to place. Brazilian jiu-jitsu for instance is so varied from club to club that your own style can work perfectly against a more senior belt in one club and be completely shut down by a junior belt in another club, and that's just in the same city. To see that and think about how much is out there still to see and learn is overwhelming and exciting. And so with this I have began my planning phase to travel the world, going from country to country, city to city, club to club training in martial arts and experiencing this wonderful art, the Art of Self Defence.