I was in Tennessee when a Tornado Touchdown

It had been 10+ years since I had last seen Sifu David (Sifu translates to teacher in Chinese), a word associated with martial arts, equivalent to a Sensei in Japanese. When he was last in town, we briefly caught up, and by the end of the conversation, he asked if I’d like to come out to Nashville, Tennessee for his school’s annual Christmas Lock-In. I was delighted and excited to get to hang out with his students, and him, an opportunity to share some words with them about life and leadership.?

The date for the lock-in was set for Saturday, December 9, 2023, but none of us could prepare for a tornado touchdown that would occur that same evening.??

When Sifu David picked me up from the Nashville airport, our first stop was to visit his friend, also an instructor, and owner of a kung fu school, Sifu Wally. Sifu Wally, David, and I share similar training in Southern Praying Mantis Kung-Fu, in addition to other disciplines we've learned through the years. It was a good time, hearing all the stories between David and Wally. I even knew some of the people they were mentioning. Before we left, Sifu Wally and I ‘played hands’ for a bit https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yvKAU1XLTJU

Afterward, we had a nice meal together, then it was off to David’s school Shaolin Concepts Self-Defense.?I met many of his students, young and old. It was a lot of fun and it was also very exciting to get to share with them some of the things I’ve been learning and liking through my training.

For the next couple of days, we trained, hung out, talked, ate some good food, and looked forward to the Lock-In.?

Saturday had arrived, and as we made our way to the school for some training, we heard on the local radio, that there was a strong possibility of a storm and tornado warnings. I didn’t think much of it, as where I grew up, in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota we had thunderstorms and at times tornadoes, but rarely did they ever touchdown. A term to describe when a funnel cloud, has enough pressure and weight from the downdraft of cool air and is forced to touch the ground, birthing what we know as a tornado.

After training, then some really good sushi for lunch. David and I headed back to his home to get some rest before the night’s festivities. A few hours later, I woke up to David on the phone with somebody. It was reported that there was a probable chance his school was hit, or that the shopping mall the school was in, already had.?

From that point on, I’ll save the details, but it was a combination of phone calls, unsure what was going on in Hendersonville, where the school was, to finding out that the mall did get hit, to us finding a way in to help board the window and clean up what we could, to having our own version of a lock-in keeping watch of the school and other shops in the mall for looters, kicking back with some drinks, food, flashlights and glow sticks filing the room.?

The headlines in a news report the following day read:

“Tornadoes ripped through Middle Tennessee on Saturday afternoon and evening, killing at least six people — including at least one child — in Montgomery and Davidson counties and leaving more than 160,000 Middle Tennessee residents without power.”

“The Big Play game center roof collapsed in Hendersonville.”?

Big Play, is in the same building as the school.

I had never seen a tornado, or at least the damages that can occur as an aftermath of one. I would never wish this on anyone, but it truly was a natural phenomenon that I can now say I have experienced.?

Afterward, I thought of a couple of lessons gained from this experience:

1. We can never know what to expect, that is why we must train for preparation.?

Training in martial arts, boxing, practice of meditation, can help us to access the situations we find ourselves in, moment to moment. It could have been a very scary, stressful situation, and it probably was, but we handled it…as things unfolded naturally.?

2. Learn to pivot, flow, or go with the flow of things, by shifting your mindset.

The main reason for my going out to Nashville didn’t happen…as we originally planned, but we still had a memorable night, and this was still a great trip!?

3. Safety for the people we care about is and should be priority #1!?

Were we sad? Were we upset? Were we disappointed? Yes, at least a little; but Sifu David, his friends and family, students, and me are all safe. That’s most important. Had the tornado shown up a few hours later, during the lock-in…who knows what could have transpired??

As Sifu David said as he dropped me off. “Well, you didn’t get the experience that you came out to get, but it’s still an experience we’ll remember.” Precisely what I was thinking.?Thank you to David and everyone who took care of me the few days I was there, I appreciate the opportunity to meet and train with you all.

Despite Shaolin Concepts Self-Defense having "minimal" damages compared to other areas of town, the building is being condemned. Sifu David and his students must now relocate and find a new place to train. His students were even training with low light, candles, and flashlights as long as they could. They started a Gofundme page. If you’d like to support their rebuilding however you can please check out the link here.?

https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-kungfu-going-help-relocate-shaolin-concepts?utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_content=facebook_cta_variant&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook If you like to know more about the school here is link to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063788063125

Thank you and as I learned in Nashville while I was there, some things in life are just bulls$%^&. Excuse my language.?