By Matt Skoufalos
When Jason Szmania first enrolled in a karate class, he was a middle-schooler whose parents wanted him and his brother to have something to keep them out of trouble until they were old enough for high school sports. Szmania enjoyed it well enough, but by the time football and wrestling came around, martial arts had fallen by the wayside.
In hindsight, he regretted not completing his training, but never gave as much thought to going back for a black belt despite his appreciation of the discipline. It wasn’t until almost 20 years ago, when a dojo opened up down the road from his workplace in Elyria, Ohio, where Szmania was a clinical coordinator for nuclear medicine, that he found his way back.
“One of my nuclear students told me about a dojo that had opened up,” he said. “We were going together, and then he dropped out, but I kept going. I really wanted to go back to just keep active and get in shape.”
“It was a great experience I began as a youth,” he said. “I wished I’d continued that then. The class that we were going to, it was a mix of everything – stand-up fighting, wrestling, throws – that perfectly evolved into a hapkido class. I thought it might be a good thing to unwind after a long week or a stressful day. It teaches you to improve your focus.”
Despite the years that had passed between his introduction to martial arts and his reconnection to it, Szmania set himself back on the path he’d left behind as a teen pretty quickly. Not only did he earn a first-degree black belt in hapkido, but Szmania kept going all the way to his fourth-degree black belt, the mastery level. Between each successive degree, which is awarded only after a test, there are years of group study and individual training. Last year, his school surprised him with a fifth-degree presentation, an honor reserved only for a master of exceptional polish. Szmania described it as “a humbling experience” that acknowledged his years of commitment.
“Some folks have to go overseas to get that level,” he said; “I never was out to get to this level. Now I’m just thrilled that I can continue and help teach folks.”
Szmania continues to help train new students at his school, Tiger Martial Arts of LaGrange, Ohio, in grappling, jiujitsu, and hapkido, a form that combines joint locks, throws, grappling, and striking. Every weekend, he teaches two classes, usually grappling or jiujitsu; hapkido is typically by invitation only, which Szmania said is a safety consideration.
“Hapkido means ‘the art of power in coordination,’ ” Szmania said. “It’s a big brother to tae kwon do. Besides the kicking and punching, you’re putting in joint locks, ground work, and grappling. It’s one of the original mixed martial arts.”
“[Because of its intensity], we want to make sure that we’re getting the right students in there that can handle this type of teaching,” he said. “You’re only as good as the partner that you’re working with. Your partner can really help you out a lot, especially as you’re learning to throw others. We want to teach the proper techniques and the safety aspects.”
After nearly 20 years of experience in the martial arts, Szmania said he’s come to enjoy teaching as much as he did practicing the forms as a student. It squares with his lifelong love of learning, and affords a chance for him to impart lessons not only about the disciplines he’s teaching, but also the mindset that corresponds with it: of adaptation, adjustment and acclimation to new modes of being.
“As a student, the biggest thing I try to take away is showing respect while you’re learning,” Szmania said. “Really try to focus on trying to do the proper techniques and understanding the meaning of what’s going on in the class.”
“In teaching, you become the person that a lot of folks will look to,” he said. “You’ve got to be able to think outside the box. Sometimes people aren’t as flexible as they once were in their younger days; you’ve got to come up with different avenues to get to that endpoint. Don’t say no; there’s always a way to solve the problem.”
In finding his form as an instructor, Szmania leans on the work done by his predecessors, some of whom helped with a first draft of a hapkido manual that he still uses today. Last month, he had the honor to test a master who wrote that manual with another elder master from his school. Opportunities such as these were beyond his imagination when Szmania first resumed his martial arts classes.
“I’m really glad I went back,” he said. “Out of all my hobbies, this is one of my favorites. When you come home, and you’re pooped out, or you’ve got sore muscles, you feel just rejuvenated. I’ve learned a lot just going through this.”
“You start off at that white belt level, and you’re seeking all the knowledge, and trying to pick the brains of everyone there,” Szmania said. “You start to evolve, and you keep on learning. Now, teaching, you learn to adapt your teaching styles to the students you have; you have to be creative.”
Creativity and patience are equally valuable in Szmania’s role as a martial arts instructor as they are in his leadership role as radiology manager at University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center of Ashland, Ohio. Both positions demand a significant degree of concentration and coordination, the ability to communicate complicated information across a team of individuals, and a dedication to precise outcomes.
“Working in a hospital sometimes you can have several different things thrown at you,” he said. “What are your priorities?”
“I think the biggest thing I’ve learned is patience, and really taking that time to listen and grasp the knowledge that you’re being given,” Szmania said. “A lot of folks will take it in different ways, just like at work. You might be given an idea, and have four or five different solutions. Sometimes it’s trial and error. [On the mat], you might try to move on someone, and they might lock you up and tap you out real quick. You try to learn from those mistakes.”
