Sensei... my mentor, my teacher, my friend

A week ago I had a bit of time before my class. I was waiting for my class to begin and I was standing by Sensei's office. On his office walls he has many certificates, some japanese calligraphy framed, but what caught my eye was a poem. What it means to be Sensei. I wish I had the actual poem, but unfortunately at this time I do not. Once I do, I can add it to this blog or a later one. The jest of the poem was that when people start out in the arts, there could be 100,000, as the first month goes by, a great many number drop out, by their first anniversary date there's this many and so on and so forth.. and by the end, only this many remain to make it to black belt, but it's 1 in 100,000 that make it to Sensei. Then of course it had other stuff within... stuff about character, what it takes to be a Sensei. Well tonight I dedicate my blog to Sensei.

I got to my class and after a VERY awful day fighting with myself and my own mood, I confided in Sensei, I was fortunate to have him all to myself during the warm ups. Letting him into my world as a stay at home mom, a daughter living in a different country and an overstressed wife. He listened as we did our warm up, lending a nod here and there, a look of concern there, and finally all he said was, "I'm glad you realized that you needed to talk to someone about it to get it off your chest before the negativity started to fester." That was all he said, and it made me feel better. He didn't add any advice, just lent me a ear to vent on, and was silent as I figured it all out for myself. I've read somewhere, that wisdom comes from not saying a word, just observation... he didn't have to add any words of advice, he just stood there, listening.

We carried on with going right into Anaku, where we somewhat left off on Tuesday night. We went through the section he had just taught me, then added another section on, we did the bunkai (application and theory part) and discussed any issues I was having. For the most part, there weren't any issues, I thanked Sensei once again for this new learning opportunity because it was surely working in my favour, I was definitely comprehending this new approach, more so than what I was previously to the old way of his teaching. After going through the bunkai with Sensei, I can confidently say that my comfort level with these new sections of Anaku would be like taking all my time practicing Wansu kata and combining it together. I do have some timing issues, but this power learning is definitely speeding up my progress. At this point, Tom appeared out of nowhere, I had heard the door open, but didn't look behind me, I was too busy learning this new piece. Sensei acknowledged he was there, bowed him in quickly and asked him to warm up while he finished up with me. We went through Anaku Bunkai together one more time, and Sensei left me on my own to gain revelation as I practiced.

Being that the class is an hour long, Sensei spent pretty much the remainder of the class with Tom, going through Dannen Sho and the Bunkai. He did ask me if I had any questions, which I did, he answered them and went back to Tom. I had decided to slow down a pace so I went over to the wall, and practiced my front kick alongside the dojo bannister, the railing that runs along one side of the dojo, shifting my weight to my back leg, in a slight bent knee position and executed my front kick so that my head didn't bob upward as I kicked, trying to keep my body parallel to my starting stance, very hard, but doable. Switched to the left side and doing the same for some repetitions, training my body how my body should be aligned for this kick in this form. Sensei looked over and gave me a nod.

Bowing out, Sensei had asked me how I was feeling, I told him a whole lot better than when I first came in, he smiled and said good. As we walked from the dojo mat, he said I did great and he sees much improvement.

Simple gestures, a non-judgmental ear to vent on, encouragement by example, strength of character, integrity, humility and having a positive purpose, these all are evident in Sensei. I had met another man in the last few months with the same qualities and its no surprise that he was my Sensei's Sensei. Hanshi Ridgely Abele.

I have a far way to go to even come close to being Sensei, but that is definitely someone I strive to be. Thank you for being you Sensei, because you truly are 1 in 100,000.