Steve’s Dancing Martial Arts and New Outlook On Life
by Jordan Rickard
At the Detroit Electronic Music Festival (DEMF), Steve Glennie age 22 looked a lot like Jim Morrison with shorter hair and light up nun chucks. Small crowds drew to him as he switched between complex dance steps, break dancing, and martial arts moves. The seizure of lights, techno fanatics, and the Detroit skyline contrasted strongly with the calm summer afternoon and bright red porch that I finally interviewed him on.
The first time Steve danced was at his senior prom. He decided he would go to his first and last dance for him at his high school. He watched 3 youtube videos for inspiration the night before and went to the dance the next day. “I moved and flowed with it. I could make my own dance on the spot,” said Steve. “Everyone there thought I had practiced and been trained.”
Dancing made sense to him in the same way as the martial arts he had been learning since he was 14. Starting at 15 he began training 3 hours a day every day for the next 3 years. Now his training in martial arts and dance take a considerable chunk of his time every day. Since coming to moving to Kalamazoo from Lawrence, MI he has worked on learning new dance styles and types of martial arts and weapons training. “Here I was introduced to modern dances. I quickly took hold to those. Last year I started doing the robot, break dancing, and crip walking. I took off from that,” explained Steve.
Steve was not nearly as outgoing when he was in High School. “My high school career wasn’t very constructive. Being an outcast of the outcasts… That was back in the days when I was autistic and had a lot of learning disabilities that I have overcome,” said Steve. Seeing him talking confidently on the porch or surrounded by a crowd at DEMF it would be hard to guess that he was not always this way. Steve used to suffer from numerous phobias including fear of cars, being around cars, germaphobia, and others. “At the worst point in my life I was afraid to go outside. I was afraid to go out in my yard,” said Steve.
Dancing and martial arts has helped to overcome his autism and phobias. Concentrating on his motions and thinking about the next move while under extreme exertion helps him focus during the rest of his life. “I’ve been to psychologists. I’ve been medicated. I’ve been to brain doctors, but no ever fixed what a good meditative exercise can do,” explained Steve.
Steve hasn’t completely adjusted to being watched, accepted, and admired. The community at Papa Pete’s has been a lot more accepting than the students at his high school in Lawrence. “I’m used to redneck hicks who didn’t understand what I was doing. To them, I was like a 5-year-old spinning around a stick trying to be a power-ranger… but, now at Papa Pete’s it’s kind of embarrassing. I’d rather do what I do and be unpopular than have people enjoy it. I guess I’m defiant,” said Steve.
Now he often locks up the dance floor when practicing his moves during shows especially when he uses his LED nun chucks or staff. “People in the crowd love martial arts lights. I’m glad that they do. It wouldn’t have stopped me if they didn’t, but I’m glad that they do,” said Steve. Steve would dance with a crowd or not, but you can tell that performing the moves he’s slaved over to crowd is at least a little more rewarding to him.
Now, his training, discipline, healthy living, and new outlook on life has expanded his world view. “You realize that the world isn’t just what you have to deal with, but something you can shape around you. You’re no longer a victim, but rather they’re just the lemons that you can make lemonade out of,” said Steve as he rests on the foot of the porch. He’s still sore from the 7 or 8 solid hours of dancing at DEMF. “Right now,” said Steve. “The world is a beautiful place.”
