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What was your "defining moment" that drew you to knighthood/chivalry?

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Joshua Santana:
I know that this late, but I did have a defining moment of Knighthood.

I remember that I was formerly a kung fu and tai chi practitioner (and a crazy one at that!), but I didn't keep my priorities straight.  This got me into trouble and a month's suspension from seeing teacher.  During this time, I tried to train but I was slowly loosing it, I was loosing the will to train.  I even was close to stepping into depression until I randomly decided to youtube chivalry.  Surprisingly, I watched a video that discussed and answered the question 'What is Chivalry."  I first thought that this was just a philosophical approach to the idea, but I was wrong.  I was immediately drawn into the idea and did some research and even found my role model, mentor and new found friend Sir Karl Kindt via a news video that showcased him.

After some time, I then discovered that i always believed that being the gentleman was the way to live life, what i didn't know that being a gentleman (or the concept of being a gentleman) cane from the Virtues and Principles of Chivalry!  This hit me like a thunderbolt, I always dreamed of being a Knight and I discovered that we inherently have that freedom, to live life as a quest.

Then on March 7, 2010 I swore myself and christened myself a Knight.  The past year was hard yet rewarding, I now look back and see that the hard work of adapting myself and my behaviors to the Code of Chivalry was worth it.  After passing my first Oath renewal, I have tasted the good chivalrous life. I used to be shy and secretive, but now I am confident in myself and have new courage to even tell a college classroom that "I am a Knight."  This has and always will be the best decision of my life, even recently I have been changing my habits both at college, work and home. heck, when one of my co-workers was having an emotional breakdown, I just stopped what i was doing, ran to the bathroom, pulled up a couple of tissues, ran back and gave them to her.  She thanked for me for it, even though I could have got into trouble for that , but my supervisor was impressed!  If that is not Chivalry, then I don't know what is! (lol!)

Sir William:
That is an excellent story, Sir Joshua.  Well done.

Lord Dane:
Hmmm... I've always had an interest in medieval history & knights. Hard to say when exactly I wanted to pursue that interest but I've always loved fantasy, epics, medieval lore, mythology & been an avid gamer most of my life. Plus, I've studied Japanese martial arts & swordfighting most of my life. Eventually, I became an instructor in both Aikido and weapons so my familiarity with swords and bo-staff kind of evolved into medieval pursuits. My love of Asian martial arts turned into one for Western martial arts & I studied all I could. Professionally, I am in law enforcement and became a weapons & tactical trainer so fighting forms/combat training and weapons are a natural part of 'knighthood'. I've always loved the lore of knights and history of the Crusader era. Born & raised Roman Catholic, it gave me more perspective & helped me gain an interest in biblical times, archaeology, and the mystique of the Crusader monastic orders as well as medieval lore. From that came more interest in my own family history, heraldry, etc.

However, I didn't really dive into my medieval passtime at ren-faires & knightly pursuits until meeting my wife in 2007. Since 2008, I've turned my medieval passtime into a passion & have done it ever since (w/ my wife). No regrets & look forward to much more involvement in it. However (as I get older), I am realizing that the notion of Chivalry & knighthood is more a concentration of how you live your life & measured by that same standard religiously. Making knighthood not just a passtime but a real part of who you are & strive to be as a person. 

Self-improvement is all about learning from your mistakes, listening to others, and experiencing life through your own trials. Learning to accept your frailties, and stengthen your abilities is part of this process. Always strive to better yourself morally, mentally, and physically makes you live up to a more noble ideal and reflects the concepts of Chivalrous virtue. It's an ideal I would love to make happen in my life.

Sir Sorbus:
I was brought up to be a gentleman, a Christian, and a scholar.
15 years old, and my best friend was a bit unstable. He was a good guy, very intelligent, and like me in so many ways that people thought we were brothers, and we let me, but he was too confident, arrogant, and attention seeking for his own good. I was calmer, and shyer. We rubbed off on each other. I kept him in line, and out of trouble, and he made me more adventurous and talkative.
But then he and I fell for the same girl, and whilst he were friends on the surface, he stopped trusting me underneath, and saw any advice I gave as a ploy to break them up, and claim her for myself. It wasn't. I wished them the best, even if I did love her, but he didn't believe me.
So, my controlling influence out of the way, he became very outgoing and troublemaking. I stayed friends with him, trying to bring it back to how we were, and he got in with a bad crowd simultaneously. As a result, my trying to look after him whilst he really didn't care about me anymore meant I ended up in a gang, and did some things that I am not proud of. Nothing illegal, I was very careful about that. But, oh, the road of good intentions.
He became extremely paranoid and over-protective of this girl. She is the type to need her own space, and couldn't take his suffocating of her, so she broke up with him, and he naturally blamed me, and finished going off the rails.
He dropped out of school, started getting deep into drugs and alcohol, ran away from home, and hung out with a bunch of less-than-desirable people. It was at this point that I painfully turned my back on him, and tried to undo the damage that looking after him had caused. With the guilt of thinking I had destroyed the life of my best friend under my belt, and weighing me down, I started searching for a way to redeem myself.
It took about a year to find new friends, but I eventually did, and together, we formed the Order of New Chivalry. We are doing all we can to restore knightly virtues and general chivalry to the world, and whilst we're off to a slow start, we're still strong, and have a lot left in us yet.

On the side note, the girl also went off the rails for a bit due to that, among other things, but both he and she are turning themselves around now, however slowly.

So yeah. That's my story, in a nutshell. I'm trying to make up for a past filled with good intentions and bad outcomes. I was brought up on chivalry as a young boy, but whilst good, I never really embraced it. Then I had a rough few years, and came back stronger than ever, if a little sore.

Sir Edward:
I've found that sometimes people have to hit rock-bottom before they cab bounce back upward. That downward momentum can be difficult to stop, but there are opportunities to turn it around.

I'm glad to hear that everyone involved is improving, Sir Sorbus. I truly believe that one's past does not have to define who a person is, that you can reinvent yourself, and what you choose to do today matters more than what you chose to do in years past.

Forming an Order of chivalry is a wonderful way to improve the lives of everyone involved!

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