The Sword Maker

Handmade Portraits: The Sword Maker from Etsy on Vimeo.

A Message From Sensei

Every year I say how thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It still is.

I am thankful for the parents who bring the kids,the kids who come and have fun and learn. I am thankful for my staff that help keep the WRC together and all the other adult members,clients and people that support it from flowers to helping out. It is a special year in we are celebrating 25 years. I have had great friends family and support over that time. Our members continue on all levels to do community service to make our world a better place. Random acts of kindness. 

Thanksgiving is one of the holidays that happens year round. What are you thankful for? Who in your life could use a little thank you any time of the year? It doesn't have to be for something big but an act of kindness, a show of respect, a hug or hand shake. When we look at being thankful in our lives we appreciate our lives more. When we don't, we feel everything is owed to us. Nothing is owed to anyone, hard work and caring helps us and the world around us become a better place. This is the way of the Martial artist. 

So if you are reading this Thank you, you are special to me.

Sensei Don and Carole

photo by:  ocean.flynn's photostream (200)

A Guest at the Table

As difficult as it can be sometimes to squeeze training time out of the chaos of modern life I have never regretted doing the juggling-while-standing-on-the-beach-ball-and-holding-a-fish-in-a-tea-cup I need to do sometimes in order to keep my training active and alive.  I do a lot of training outside of the dojo but the sum of it could never replace dojo training. 

Sometimes I consider the hole it would leave in my life if something happened to the dojo, if it disappeared.  It isn't a pleasant consideration but it is important because it opens the window to just how complicated it is to maintain a dojo community, and the extraordinary effort and expense that goes into maintaining the physical structure. 

When we reflect on this we can consider how easy it is to overlook these things because of how seamless the dojo seems to be in our lives.  It has always been there and thus it is easy to take for granted. Certainly,  the dojo doesn't exist without its students, but I do not think the sum of our contributions would amount to a dojo.  We need the dojo to bring us together and without Sensei providing us that place and the focus for our practice together, it's hard to imagine that we'd ever even meet.

No matter what we bring to the dojo, we are always like guests at a bountiful table at which we are invited to eat well and drink deep.   And we should indulge. It would be rude to do otherwise.  That's why the table has been set and why we've been welcomed in, and why we have accepted the invitation. 

But no matter how rich the meal and no matter how particular our taste, a good guest never takes his host for granted.  It's more than a matter of character.  It's a matter of training.  If you're there at the table, it's good training to remain conscious of the power and gift the dojo makes of our training.  What would we do without it? Perhaps not starve, but certainly not feast. So, when you do come to the table, eat well and eat consciously.  It's good for you.