The Men Who Showed Up
Father’s Day comes and goes every year, but the lessons fathers and father figures teach don’t disappear when the decorations come down.
At American Academies of Martial Arts, we’ve watched that play out for years through the relationship between Mr. G. and his son Josh. Anyone who’s spent time around the school has seen the impact they’ve had on each other – and on the people around them.
We’ve watched Mr. G. encourage Josh through challenges most people can’t imagine. We’ve watched Josh earn ranks that took years of real perseverance. Victories celebrated, setbacks worked through, and somewhere in all of it, a living example of what patience and unconditional support actually look like in practice.
If you’re curious about their backstory, you can read about it or watch the linked YouTube video here:
How Our Kung Fu School in Bellevue Builds Character and Confidence
One story Mr. G. shared recently has stayed with me.
He was dropping Josh off at his mother’s house one evening when Josh asked quietly: “Dad, why are you sending me back?”
What followed wasn’t a conversation about schedules. It was a reminder that every kid, somewhere underneath everything, just wants to know they matter.
Mr. G. explained that he wasn’t sending him anywhere. The basement was torn up from a home project, and he thought Josh would be more comfortable elsewhere for the night. Then he told him something worth remembering:
“I spent years fighting just to be able to see you. Then I spent even more years trying to get custody after you got hurt so we could make sure you got the help you needed. Even if I need some time for myself, I’m still never ditching you.”
Kids need to hear things like that. They need to know someone is in their corner.
Not every child grows up with that. Some lose a parent. Some never know one. Some have a parent who’s physically there but somewhere else entirely. When that happens, the gap is real, and sometimes another person steps into it. A grandfather, an uncle, a coach, a teacher, an instructor. Someone who didn’t have to show up but did anyway, and changed things just by being consistent.
One of the mothers in our school shared a story that made me laugh because it felt so familiar.
“My husband started teaching our son to mow when he was 9 years old. I was terrified — what was my baby doing out there with sharp blades and gasoline? Never mind the fact that I did the same thing at that age. Without his dad stepping in to start this training, he would probably be clueless about mowing until I deemed him old enough… which might not be until he was 25!”
There’s real truth underneath that. Father figures for children often teach confidence through experience rather than reassurance — here’s the machine, here’s how it works, now try. They help kids learn to solve problems, take responsibility, and do hard things before they feel ready. In Kung Fu, we teach the same ideas: stand up for yourself while respecting others, be strong without being cruel, develop courage without recklessness. Those lessons land differently when a child has already seen them modeled by someone they admire.
Nobody does this perfectly. Not fathers, not mothers, not coaches, not instructors. Perfection was never the point.
The point is being there. On regular days and hard ones. When you’re tired. When you don’t know what to say. The people who change lives aren’t always the ones with the best answers — they’re the ones who kept showing up, and let that be enough.
Throughout June, all fathers of current students are invited to take regular classes at American Academies of Martial Arts free of charge. Dads, stepdads, grandfathers, and any important male figure in a child’s life are welcome on the mat.
You never know whose life you might influence just by being present.