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.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Karla draws FIRST BLOOD!!!
I wasn't really sure if I was going to go to my class tonight, it was snowing for the majority of the day, not hard, but continuous. After dealing with two demanding toddlers all day I was heading out the door pretty much as soon as Rob came home. I needed my time to destress or I was thinking I was going to snap pretty good, very quickly... so off I went.
Getting to Appleton, I noticed the snow was more heavier, hopefully it wouldn't be too bad by the time I was to leave in an hour or so. Getting into the dojo I realized it was very cold inside. Normally I would stand by the heater and warm up but I needed some destressing time from my drive, so I went into the change room and sat on our couch picking up a karate magazine just to kill some time before class.
Time flies when absorbed in your thoughts. Karla came in as I was getting comfy, she didn't see me come in, so she was kind of surprised when she came into the dressing room and saw me lounging...LOL.
Our class started and Sensei, Karla and I exercised and talked our way through warmups, then Sensei asked us what we would like to do tonight. I wanted to practice Anaku... so of course, we did some review, then went into Anaku, repeated the section I was taught, discussed it, and then applied attacks to it, bunkai. Sensei added another section on and applied bunkai, then he wanted to know my input... was it working or should we go back to the old way of teaching kata. I gave him my insight that it was like, power learning... there's learning a series of movements, but when the application and theory is also introduced, you as the performer of the kata can grasp the why, the how, and the when of using these applications in a real life situation. I call this Power Learning. And I love it!!!! This got me another one of Sensei's approving smiles... and he said, "Good then we will continue doing this form of teaching/learning with you" After that, Karla was paired off with Tom to work on their Ippons, I was left with Sensei to work on my self defense releases and locks. Then we reviewed my Ippons 1-5 with attackers and then I was told to do my Kihons 1-5... Sensei, Karla and Tom worked the bunkai for Emmpi Sho. I have to say, I felt myself turning to watch... it was sooooo beautiful... all their techniques so crisp, all movements precise and with purpose, and they worked so well together. I did tell them all this when Sensei caught me looking at them and not practicing my stuff... I said I was watching them execute their movements and couldn't turn away. Sensei didn't chastise me, just said, you can watch as long as you learn something from it... and of course, he made me tell them what I learned. I love watching them perform, absolutely beautiful and definitely inspires me to be a better martial artist.
Then we moved into Kata Kumite... this was where Karla drew first blood... not on me, on our resident Brown Belt. Kata Kumite is basically controlled sparring, we don't wear any head gear, gloves or shoes, just empty hand... we execute blocks and strikes to our opponent, working slowly and then gaining speed... we're timed by a stop watch and once the timer goes off we move to the next person and continue our drill... very fun, gets the heart pumping, and we're learning the timing and distancing of our multiple attackers... Karla was working with Tom, not sure how it happened but we all ended up with blood on our gis.. Sensei noticed first. Karla had some on her gi, Sensei had a bit on his, and I was about to get some on mine, but Sensei noticed the blood. We all checked ourselves and it was Tom who had a long scratch down his arm. Doing Kata Kumite, you're doing alot of blocking and there is some body contact, not sure what happened, but that's why it's very important that everyone in a dojo respectfully keeps their nails trimmed and jewelry off, to ensure no one gets hurt by these things. We bandaged our fallen comrade and continued with our exercise. I must say, I love this new found part of my life. Absolutely takes the stress away from a day at home with my girls and lets me focus on what I love most in my life, being a part of something greater than myself.
Getting to Appleton, I noticed the snow was more heavier, hopefully it wouldn't be too bad by the time I was to leave in an hour or so. Getting into the dojo I realized it was very cold inside. Normally I would stand by the heater and warm up but I needed some destressing time from my drive, so I went into the change room and sat on our couch picking up a karate magazine just to kill some time before class.
Time flies when absorbed in your thoughts. Karla came in as I was getting comfy, she didn't see me come in, so she was kind of surprised when she came into the dressing room and saw me lounging...LOL.
Our class started and Sensei, Karla and I exercised and talked our way through warmups, then Sensei asked us what we would like to do tonight. I wanted to practice Anaku... so of course, we did some review, then went into Anaku, repeated the section I was taught, discussed it, and then applied attacks to it, bunkai. Sensei added another section on and applied bunkai, then he wanted to know my input... was it working or should we go back to the old way of teaching kata. I gave him my insight that it was like, power learning... there's learning a series of movements, but when the application and theory is also introduced, you as the performer of the kata can grasp the why, the how, and the when of using these applications in a real life situation. I call this Power Learning. And I love it!!!! This got me another one of Sensei's approving smiles... and he said, "Good then we will continue doing this form of teaching/learning with you" After that, Karla was paired off with Tom to work on their Ippons, I was left with Sensei to work on my self defense releases and locks. Then we reviewed my Ippons 1-5 with attackers and then I was told to do my Kihons 1-5... Sensei, Karla and Tom worked the bunkai for Emmpi Sho. I have to say, I felt myself turning to watch... it was sooooo beautiful... all their techniques so crisp, all movements precise and with purpose, and they worked so well together. I did tell them all this when Sensei caught me looking at them and not practicing my stuff... I said I was watching them execute their movements and couldn't turn away. Sensei didn't chastise me, just said, you can watch as long as you learn something from it... and of course, he made me tell them what I learned. I love watching them perform, absolutely beautiful and definitely inspires me to be a better martial artist.
Then we moved into Kata Kumite... this was where Karla drew first blood... not on me, on our resident Brown Belt. Kata Kumite is basically controlled sparring, we don't wear any head gear, gloves or shoes, just empty hand... we execute blocks and strikes to our opponent, working slowly and then gaining speed... we're timed by a stop watch and once the timer goes off we move to the next person and continue our drill... very fun, gets the heart pumping, and we're learning the timing and distancing of our multiple attackers... Karla was working with Tom, not sure how it happened but we all ended up with blood on our gis.. Sensei noticed first. Karla had some on her gi, Sensei had a bit on his, and I was about to get some on mine, but Sensei noticed the blood. We all checked ourselves and it was Tom who had a long scratch down his arm. Doing Kata Kumite, you're doing alot of blocking and there is some body contact, not sure what happened, but that's why it's very important that everyone in a dojo respectfully keeps their nails trimmed and jewelry off, to ensure no one gets hurt by these things. We bandaged our fallen comrade and continued with our exercise. I must say, I love this new found part of my life. Absolutely takes the stress away from a day at home with my girls and lets me focus on what I love most in my life, being a part of something greater than myself.
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