Thursday 9 January 2014

Reposted from facebook: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

When you walk into the dojo you get a sense of history and of tradition. When you step on the mat there is tension between you, the place, the other students and the teacher. Not a negative tension, or a bad atmosphere. It is the impulse to improve yourself. It is the memory of a memory of traditions that were born in dangerous times and remembered in times of peace to better ourselves. 

That is our strength. That is how a dojo should feel. It should sharpen your instincts as you make the first rei and not let up until it is done. That is what makes you feel good. That is what helps you in life. It's also what hones your self defence skill without you realising it.

It is a journey towards sensitivity you would not expect of other people. I think ultimately if you can translate that sensitivity to all of your relationships, all of your actions and all of your perceptions, you are winning at life. That is an enormous task fraught with misconception, with youth, with mistakes and with ego along the way.

Where does this tension that seeds such a huge boon to ones life stem from?

It stems from you. If you feel it slip, look to yourself. Stand taller, run faster, train in earnest, give more and observe etiquette. There in lies the bits that are hard to unravel with our minds so fixed on ourselves. So then; fix our minds on the needs of others.

Without you our budo is lost and it is a precious thing that the world will need. It teaches love and, contrary to appearance, demands no allegiance or servitude. It asks what you will give freely.

So fellow budoka, let me take this opportunity to thank you as we head into a new year together; stronger than ever.

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