Indian student trains with master
By Vee Matisko Staff writer
Martial arts are based on sacrifice, discipline and respect. Most Americans can not comprehend the sacrifice and discipline that it took for Vincent Rosario of Goa, India, to make a one-week trip to New Kensington to train with tae kwon do master Philip Ameris.
Rosario works seven consecutive months on a Carnival cruise ship. The remaining five months he spends in India with his wife and two children teaching martial arts, with his highest monthly salary being $100.
The first-degree black belt worked extra hours and stashed away $10 per week in a special box that he kept to accrue enough money to make the trip.
He spent almost one year's salary to come to the United States for a week. Rosario said it was well worth it. In training to get his second-degree black belt, Rosario spent the past week rising at 6 a.m. for a morning jog, then hours of training in sparring, forms and breaking techniques.
"I learned a lot of higher techniques and self-defense skills," Rosario said.
Rosario and Ameris are students of the world-renown Grand Master Hee II Cho. Rosario first learned of Ameris through an article about the seventh-degree black belt in Black Belt magazine. .
They spoke over the phone numerous times, and_ Rosario said he has learned new self-defense techniques and a deeper sense of self-respect and respect for the arts.
Martial arts in India are deeply respected and not commercialized as they are in the United States.
"It's not like here where there are different schools on every corner," Ameris said. "The discipline level is unbelievable. There is a lot more respect for the teachers and honor for the art. They work hard for everything that they get."
Ameris said that he is not criticizing the American way, but that it is very different in other countries.
Cho's teaching philosophy is more popular in Europe and other countries because he is very disciplined, Ameris said.
Rosario teaches about 200 students in India, but classes are not held in school's like Ameris' with mats and punching bags.
It is truly old-fashioned martial arts.
The classes are held outside in the sand and dirt or in "community halls" comparable to an open basketball court or high school gymnasium. But the quality of the classes is much higher.
"It's all about honor and tradition," Ameris said. "They never question their teachers."
Rosario is anxious to return to India to share his newfound techniques with his students.
Rosario taught several classes at Ameris' school, Cho's Tae Kwon Do, in New Kensington, and the children loved the way Rosario talked and his teaching techniques.
Rosario said his wife and children would be waiting for him.
It will take him two days to return to India.
His first flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago to Germany will take about nine hours. The second flight will be to Bombay, and then another hour to Goa.
Rosario said he would love to meet with Ameris again in October at the World Championships in Ireland, but traveling in India is even more guarded than in the United States because of terrorism.
Ameris said he was honored that someone would make the sacrifices that Rosario has to train with him. He also has had students from other countries, including Ireland and England.