Master Thirumoorthy Gunasekaran

I grew up in a small town called Vriddhachalam, in the southern part of India, in a typical Indian middle-class family. My dad worked hard to provide us the most needed things — shelter, food, clothes, education. My mom is a homemaker who looked after us. I have two younger sisters; they are grown up now and have their own families.

Like any Indian middle-class family, I was taught to believe that education was the only means to survive better in life, and I put everything of myself into it. I studied hard and got a seat in a prestigious engineering college in 1999 — but I was weak physically, mentally and spiritually. I needed something that could make me strong.

So, for the first time in my life, in 1999 I started showing serious interest in something other than education. I never thought this was going to be a significant part — a significant way — of my life.

1999

During my college days I started learning martial arts in the Japanese style Shito Ryu, under the guidance of Master Devaraj, from 1999. I began learning karate in August 1999 and got my first black belt in May 2003. I practised in that style for more than seven years.

Martial arts made me strong both mentally and physically. It gave me immense joy and energy. Life started becoming fresh and interesting. I participated in many karate tournaments in India and I met many karate instructors there. They all had something in common — they appeared very strong and lively. I learnt several techniques and attended many tournaments. I had a very rich experience, which I cherish always.

But I didn't have a clear purpose, or a connection between life and the art.

2003 · Chennai

I joined an IT job in 2003 in Chennai and my financial wellbeing started growing. But I didn't know about myself, and I had a lot of questions about everything in life. I attended a lot of popular yoga gurus' workshops and listened to a lot of spiritual discourses. That didn't help much.

2007 · Fremont, California

I came to Fremont, California in 2007 for an onsite trip, and started looking for a martial arts studio for training. I met Master Bell at the Healing Arts Center, Fremont, and he looked very graceful, balanced, strong, tall and handsome.

He asked me simple questions — “How are you? What are you looking for?” — and meeting him was a profound experience by itself. I somehow got the inside connection that this person could help me in my life.

I started training in Tang Soo Do with him from March 2007, and I started to understand more about myself. Master Bell revealed to me the inner spiritual aspects of martial arts, and taught me the strong philosophy along with the art. Each single movement in the art is practised with the Mind–Body–Spirit balance concept.

I began to become centred in myself, which gave me stability, balance, clarity and peace. I understood the connection between life and the art.

It is more than punching, kicking, doing some forms or breaking boards. It is a beautiful system to elevate human consciousness — awareness about oneself, and about life.

Martial arts remain a myth to most people in the world. People see it as all about developing fighting skills, participating in tournaments and getting stronger physically and mentally. Most schools promote the same.

Martial arts is a way of life. Getting a black belt shouldn't be just an accomplishment — rather, it signifies personal growth.

After training with Master Bell, I learned about myself through the art. The art helps me explore the profound purpose of my being. The art is strategically in tune with life. After years of training in martial arts, I learned the tools to elevate myself to a very balanced place within myself, a way to deal with day-to-day challenges — in a nutshell, a way to live gracefully, and to teach the same to people.

The years that followed

Apart from martial arts, Master Bell also taught me Yoga and Chi Kung, which complement each other. With deep stretches in yoga, the mind, body and spirit come together in a beautiful balance, and I experience profound peace and my inner self.

Chi Kung is a profound system for becoming aware of the life energy, and for rejuvenating one's energy to maintain inner harmony. After I started practising Chi Kung, I became very aware of my habits — eating, sleeping, breathing, thinking. And I became conscious of my conversations with the people around me.

Through these healing arts I studied my own human makeup, and other human behaviour, in an experiential way. My character has become a lot stronger in terms of integrity, honesty, humility, discipline, peacefulness, being well balanced, loving and caring, patience and tolerance, and being responsible for all my choices in life.

My perspective towards life changed a lot. I learnt to look at the big picture of my life, and learnt to look inside myself to find solutions for life situations. My life has become very simple, through a systematic way of living. I became very productive at my work. My relationships with my family and friends have become realistic and stable. I learnt to share my love, happiness and clarity with them.

2019 · back to Chennai

Today, as a fourth degree black belt with more than 28 years of experience in martial arts, I have come to my best place so far in my life — 45 years old, a trained human being, and knowing my roles in life as husband, father, son, brother, teacher and manager. Being responsible and committed to all these roles and choices makes my life more purposeful and meaningful.

After several years of training with Master Bell, I moved back to Chennai in August 2019. People started to reach out to me for clarity, wisdom and peace — the same way I reached out to Master Bell.

I'm looking forward to sharing these healing arts, to build a stronger community.