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Many of you enjoyed a nice three day weekend and it is back to business as usual. I am back to my normal routine with something new, something permanent.
I always used to say I wanted a tattoo, not often, but once in a while. I never thought I would ever get one. No, not because I have that fear of needles thing, but because it is permanent and I just really never knew what kind of tattoo I would get.
A handful of years ago it finally hit me, this tattoo has to be martial arts related. Martial arts is a big part of my life; I am a student and have been for a long time and I also instruct during the week. Even still, I had no idea what my tattoo would be, but that it HAD to be “martial arts something.”
This summer it finally came to me; Bruce Lee’s Jun Fan Gung Fu Institute’s logo and the Jeet Kune Do logo would be a fantastic tat! The yin-yang with arrows represents endless interaction between yin and yang and the writing around it means “using no way as way” and “having no limitation as limitation.”
This was it.
I made the appointment at Get Ink Tattoo here in Norwalk based on a friend’s recommendation and a few weeks later I was there to make this vision a reality. The artist that worked on my tattoo is the same guy that does my friend’s art, Manny Valerio. Manny immediately said, “We have to put Bruce in there.”
I liked the idea. Heck, Bruce Lee IS martial arts.
After some thought and playing with graphics, Manny came up with this design, a shot from “Enter the Dragon,” with the Jeet Kune Do logo behind him.
So, you’re wondering, did it hurt? At times. The whole experience was interesting. Sometimes the needle felt good and almost relaxed me to the point of sleep, other times it really hurt, it hurt even more during the color process, but a few times it tickled. The four and a half hours in the chair was an incredible experience and a good mental test but a week later I have great pride in my tattoo because of what it means to me personally and I never see that feeling ever going away. I am even considering getting another!
Check out Manny Valerio on Instagram for more tattoo photos. You might even see my tat on there!