Rosa Tribute
Posted in General on 06/05/2009 01:23 pm by Rosa Mei
Sifu Mike Martello & Sword
Mike Martello
(10/05/1966 – 06/02/2009)
Go softly, gentle warrior. My partner, my rock, my Hommie. You taught
me how to laugh and see light in darkness. Mike had Wolff-Parkinson
White Syndrome, which caused tachycardia. He always laughed and said,
“I have a wolf in my heart,” but he was so strong, we were sure he
would live til 100. Even when he was training to be a fireman in NY,
he passed the tests with flying colors, could have saved an elephant
from a burning building, but his EKG was off the charts erratic, and
they told him his heart could give out at any time. Even so, he lived
his life with no regrets. He was a genius martial artist and a good
man down to the marrow.
-Rosa
Go softly, gentle warrior. My partner, my rock, my Hommie. You taught me how to laugh and see light in darkness. Mike had Wolff-Parkinson White Syndrome, which caused tachycardia. He always laughed and said, ”I have a wolf in my heart,” but he was so strong, we were sure he would live til 100. Even when he was training to be a fireman in NY, he passed the tests with flying colors, could have saved an elephant from a burning building, but his EKG was off the charts erratic, and they told him his heart could give out at any time. Even so, he lived his life with no regrets. He was a genius martial artist and a good man down to the marrow. -Rosa
06/05/2009 at 13:53
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06/06/2009 at 02:32
Hey Mike Laoshi,
Before I went to Beijing visiting Magaly, which wasn’t that long ago, you showed me a detail in a form. You were standing in a stance and we couldn’t move you, you were like a mountain and yet relax and calm like the sea.
I wondered why I couldn’t do it, my legs would shake and my body felt powerless in that stance. You told me that I haven’t practiced my stances. You were telling me off in a way my parents would do, because you cared about my progress.
This is how I feel about you, I have lost a father. Of those four years I was so lucky to attend your school, I saw so many people living in uncertainties, afraid of living their lives to the fullest and going 100 percent for their dreams. Yet you were there, showing them all what it means to live.
I will remember you as the little guy sitting in front of the old training space, the Kattendijkdok, who actually turned out to be the only big guy with a biggest heart. Like the Indian in the movie “One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest” told Jack Nicholson: “YOU are the big guy”.
Thank you sifu, for those inspirational four years, for bringing me back to my roots, for blessing me with the girl I love so much, for being a friend and a father.
As for your teaching, you knew what you were doing from the beginning: by teaching us the basics, you have not give us your own achievement, but more important, you have given us the seed of your success, and it is up to us to take care of the blossoming of our own flower.
Thank you sifu.
Ken
06/07/2009 at 22:22
Thank you all for your beautiful comments about my brother Michael Anthony Martello.
I never got a chance to see Mike at work in his school in Belgium but always was amazed by his total dedication, the expert level of his craft, and his commitment to learning and teaching and knowledge.
He LIVED his life HAPPY.
We miss him but we know that his spirit will live on in all that he did in his work and all whom he touched in his life.
He was one of THE most beautiful people that I have ever met and I had the privilege of being his ” big ‘sis “.
I will NEVER forget my brother Mike… He was a shining light in this world.
My family will never be the same without him.
sister Rose
06/09/2009 at 09:18
當王老師和我們台北振武學院的師兄師姐們期待夏天能夠和Mike見面時
卻聽到他遽逝的消息 我們非常的心痛 他是非常認真和勤勉的好兄弟
我希望Mike的家族能夠節哀順變 也相信Mike在天國會保佑他的家人堅強生活下去