Childhood memories of flattening to the floor of his home when gunshots rang out in urban Detroit streets caused young Tim Baker to grow up angry. He felt his world spin out of control. Learning about martial arts gave Baker back a sense of control – and an inner peace. Today, Baker is director of advancement services at Kalamazoo College. Arguably his greatest passion, however, continues to be the martial arts, a passion the black belt pursues side by side with his son, Iniko.
“I grew up in inner city Detroit,” Baker says. “It was a pretty crime-riddled area. It always felt like the world was out of control. They were always raiding houses and shoot-outs in the neighborhood. I can’t even count the times. My grandmother was telling us, lay on the floor! That magically keeps the bullets away. So as a kid, everything was always teetering on the edge of no control. As a result, I grew up angry. I was angry a lot.”
As he got older, Baker discovered martial arts—although he wasn’t able to afford lessons until he was in his 20s and gained employment. Once he began to learn the ins and outs of the practice, he was hooked. Martial arts made him feel like he had regained control, if not over the world, over himself.
“I wanted to be able to protect myself if I needed to, but mostly I didn’t want to be angry,” he says.
Baker learned a style of karate called Koburyu. The weapons style associated with Koburyu is called kobudo. As he progressed through the levels, he learned that with the practice came discipline and self-control along with an outlook on life of respect for self as well as others. The anger vanished as the practice of discipline grew.
As Baker progressed in martial arts levels, achieving his black belt, he brought his son, Iniko, into the practice. The two formed a bond, he says, over their shared love for Koburyu. Baker began teaching martial arts classes to children.
“So little of what being a practitioner of the martial arts has to do with the punches and the kicks,” Baker says. “You’re probably never going to fight. But since I started studying martial arts—over 20 years now—I’ve never had a physical fight. The things that you take away from the martial arts, and the things I try to teach the kids, are about becoming a good human being.”
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