Schweinefuss 1

Jonathan Schweinefuss
Professor Sheila Fielding
WRTC 103
15 September 2015
Auto ethnography of Jonathan Schweinefuss
At just four years old my mom signed me up for Mikido rough and tumble class at the
local rec center. Little did she know that Mikido would be such a big part of my life, shaping the
person I am today. Mikido, meaning my powerful way, is a self-defense system created by
Mike Hess in 1982. They teach many different arts of self-defense including karate, judo, jiujitsu, tae-kwon-do, kickboxing, arnis, and other weapons. What makes Mikido unique is their
ability to give people a vision, passion, and form of discipline in their life (Hess). From such a
young age being a student, teammate, and instructor with Mikido has positively influenced the
person I am today by teaching me confidence, responsibility, respect, and discipline.
I started Mikido at just four years old, at the local recreation center. The class at the time
was taught by Brent Hess, Mike Hesss (the founder) son, who was just 18 at the time. The class
taught Mikido basics such as punching, kicking, blocks, and exercise. The class would consist of
a warm up that got the kids to exercise without even realizing it, then move on to practice
punches, blocks, and kicks teaching kids to follow directions and not use their new knowledge
on their friends. Finally the class would end with a game that would sharpen the kids hand eye
coordination such as sharks and minos or dodge ball. I did this class for about a year then moved
on into the older kids class, as I left the class was left to another teacher as Brent was leaving for
college. The class I moved to was much closer to my house, it was in the backroom of a church

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at the end of a cul de sack, the same street my babysitter lived on. This class met twice a week
and was taught by the founder, Master Mike Hess. This class is where I learned the majority of
my self-defense skills, as well as confidence and respect. There for the next six years I learned
Karate, kickboxing, jujitsu, and weapons such as arnis, nunchakus, and bow staff. All of this
knowledge and capability, and I was only in elementary school. With great power comes great
responsibility, and I certainly had both. At ten years old I was a black belt, with that came
strength and fighting skills. No other ten year could scare me, but ten year olds are not bright
kids, they like to rough house and fight with each other. For me though if somebody wanted to
fight I had to take it easy because if not I would hurt them. I was only ten years old, but I had
immense confidence in myself and my ability to defend myself. I walked with my head held
high, I wasnt scared of anyone. As I grew up my confidence grew with me, it was strange I was
noticeably more confident than most of my friends. For example walking home late at night my
friends are and want run to get home faster, but I was confident that if anyone tried to mess with
us that I could defend us. This confidence and responsibility made me a better and a happier
person.

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Figure 1: Selfie

Some of the proudest moments of my life were competing in kickboxing competitions

with my Mikido team. At only eight years old, I competed in my first kickboxing competition,
and won! It was such a great experience, I got to travel to Virginia Beach and won in front of my
family and team mates. This great experience did not come without sacrifice though. For a month
prior to the competition my days were spent training and dieting. I was running sprints, hitting
the punching bag, and doing other stamina and boxing training for at least two hours a day. I also
had to cut weight for the fight so I had to eat healthy and not eat too much. At only eight years
old, I was going through such extreme training that most adults would hate to do, but I am
thankful for. I gained discipline and physical and mental strength. Discipline through having to
always listen to my trainer and work hard even when I was so tired I didnt think I could move.
This sport requires a mindset that many people dont have. I have to have the mentality that even
when I am more tired than I have ever been, that I can still push myself to go further, such a
physical sport but still is mind over matter. After my first fight I continued to compete for
another two years. Throughout that time I accumulated a record of seven wins and only one loss.
Each of these fights I went through the same type of training and dieting for a month before each

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fight. I wasnt alone though, the Mikido team had many kids on the team to compete, and we
became a family.

My real leadership role in Mikido began when the training gym upgraded. Mikido moved
from the back room of a church to their very own state of the art martial arts gym. At this point
Mike Hess the founder, passed on the leadership of the gym to his son Brent Hess. This past
summer I started working at the Mikido gym full time from 4:00-9:00 P.M. Monday-Thursday.
From 4-6 I helped teach kids classes from ages six-eleven. These kids looked up to me, I was
their friend, which really taught me a lot about leadership. It taught me that a good leader must
be confident, kind, and caring. I had to be assertive yet kind, exciting yet in control. It was a lot
of effort to work with kids all day but it was also very rewarding. I was teaching these kids selfdefense, a skill they will cherish for the rest of their lives. A skill that will develop into so much
more than just fighting, but also confidence, respect and determination.

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Mikido has taught me so much more than I even realized. Throughout my 14 years with
Mikido I have gained confidence, responsibility, determination, physical strength, mental
strength, and leadership strength. Mikido has made me into the person I am today, and I am so
thankful because I love who I am. I am a confident, responsible, and determined young man. I
am always willing to lend a hand. I set goals and I follow through with them because that is the
Mikido way do it well or not at all (Hess). I know that Mikido will continue to teach kids
self-defense and other amazing life skills that were taught to me. I hope to continue to be a part
of the Mikido family and help spread this knowledge and power, so that many more will learn
their powerful way.

Works Cited

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Hess, Mike B. "About Mikido." Mikido. N.p., 2011. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.