This will be the final entry of this blog.
The author of this blog, John Schmaing, passed away on the evening of April 12th, 2024, with close friends and the love of his life at his bedside. As one of John's close friends and long time student, I was asked by John to provide one final entry on his behalf, to let his readers know what happened.
John was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer, Glioblastoma, in early January this year. John's symptoms had been intense headaches and occasional "fogginess" over the past months leading up to diagnosis, becoming much more noticeable to friends and coworkers during that time.
John had surgery a couple days after diagnosis to remove what they could of the tumor in his brain, which spread like a web, so there was only so much that could be removed without compromising vital functions possibly causing paralysis. John was then left with a couple options for treatment: radiation and chemotherapy. John opted to try everything he could to fight the cancer's spread.
John endured 6 weeks of radiation treatments at a facility with an 80 minute drive each way from his home. John was no longer able to drive at this time, walking with a cane and some loss of sight on his left side. This meant that a handful of us had to coordinate to take turns driving John to these appointments, and helping him and his long time companion Mona take care of everyday aspects around their home. Thankfully John's coworkers in the school system where he worked were amazing in this endeavor.
For those of us that drove John to his appointments, it provided time for us to spend with John talking about his life, from growing up in Montana, to his time in the Air Force, his period when he owned an operated a martial arts school, and to his career in public school as a Paraprofessional and Physical Science Teacher, all while still teaching martial arts privately and in small classes locally.
John's decline over these past few months has been difficult for many of us, who've always seen him as a strong, capable and intelligent man. He could still kick a soda can off the top of my head not that long ago. He was also a prolific writer on this blog. At times I'd suggest he write an actual novel, considering how well his storytelling would manifest for those of us lucky to read it here. While unable to physically continue to practice his forms, John would meditate and imagine going through the movements, saying they were still a part of him.
His hope for the future was to make sure the love of his life, Mona, was taken care of, which she will be, and to continue to teach and refine his martial arts system, a hybrid of many he'd studied and practiced over the years: Shaolin Kempo Karate, Judo, Wrestling, Kung Fu, Taijiquan, and Ninpo. I happen to be one of the many students that studied his system, and along with a couple other masters of his system, are tasked with continuing what he started.
In this new digital age there are times where a content creator, be it blog, YouTube channel, and others seem to disappear without any notice or explanation. I hope that this gives a fitting end to my long time martial arts mentor's blog. With that said, I'll leave a link below to John's YouTube channel "John Schmaing: School of the Silent Warrior", where you can see some of the content John and some of us recorded over the past 4 years, helping us for reference on aspects of his martial arts curriculum.
https://www.youtube.com/@johnschmaingtheschoolofthe1190
Finally, thank you, dear reader, for logging in and reading John's posts over the years. I will leave you with his usual way of ending these...
Peace and Balance...
-Adam Cloutier
