GARDENS CLEAN UP - A RITE OF PASSAGE

Spring was Sensei Don's favorite season and a great group of Wellness Resource Center members and friends gathered to celebrate him by tending the grounds. Many hands make light work and we were able to get quite a bit done. Blooming time should be much as we have come to expect. From an Aikido perspective, caring and tending the dojo and the grounds is an important aspect of training. This is the place where we clear our minds and re-focus our energy on The Way of Peace and Harmony. This space needs to be peaceful and harmonious. It only gets that way with the energy that we and others within the community put in to it. Special thanks to Sensei Carol and Sensei Mike. Thanks to everyone. It was great to spend this time together.

"Keep Moving, Keep Breathing"

April 4 was appropriately marked by a traditional class by Sensei Pleis. Training always makes for a better day and it had us thinking of Sensei Don in all the right ways.

Thursday marks the anniversary of Sensei Don's exuberant dive into the river of Ki.  What follows is a repost from one year ago.  The dojo continues to live, breathe, and grow and continues to connect us to each other and to Sensei Don.  We owe immense thanks to Sensei Mike and Carol for making that possible and many thanks to all for training.  

 

I celebrate today and am holding on to it as the last I had to share the Earth with such a noble and gifted human being, a mentor and friend to so many.  I am breathing every breath with full appreciation for how it connects me to him on this day.  

Snowstorm Waza

How do you harmonize with a snowstorm to gain understanding about Aikido? Power goes out. You’re stuck in the house.  It’s too windy to have fun outside.  Worst of all, you can’t make it to the dojo.

I’m always balancing obligations against opportunities to get to the dojo.  It’s always a negotiation and one way I know how good training is for me is that I keep making the argument.  I often wish I didn’t have to balancing anything.  That the argument would go away.  For a weekend, the snowstorm granted my wish and while it kept me away from the dojo it actually contributed to my training.  I began to wonder what I would do if the option of going to the dojo were taken away from me. What if it weren’t there or something happened in my life that prevented me from training?  

After I enjoyed the opportunity to sleep late on Saturday, I started to reflect on how I felt (physically, emotionally) without the option of going to the dojo.  Could I live like that?  I got news that the dojo was without power.  I began to worry.  How was the roof?  How was the power hook up? The mat? I was really looking forward to my next class.

Later in the week I was really feeling ready to get back but on Tuesday I had an accident while working out in a gym that required sixteen stitches in my leg.  The swelling went down, but I can’t risk messing around with the wound until the stitches are out.  I want to train. But I can’t. 

The only thing worse than having to negotiate against other obligations for training is not having the option of training.  

Organizing Response

Aikido training helps us prepare effective response to violence but how to respond to the Newtown attack?

Below are a number of links that provide some means of response.  They come from an education newsletter that is also listed at the very bottom.   Perhaps they offer a path to keep moving.


http://www.monroeps.org

The Newtown Alumni Fund is giving monies donated to the local Rotary Club Fund: (Newtown Alumni Fund, PO Box 3217, Newtown, CT 06470)

If you want to act, do something kind and share it via #26Acts, tweets about acts of kindness in memory of those lost.

And if you want to take a small step toward making our communities safer, join One Million Moms for Gun Control and write your Senators and Representatives.

https://www.edsurge.com/n/2012-12-18-opinion-compassion-courage


Sensei Don often said Aikido is a discipline of action not passivity.  Here is an essay I had broadcast on the subject of Newtown.  

http://www.ripr.org/post/hope-midst-tragedy

"Sensei" Murray

Just sharing this quote from today's New York Times's interview with Bill Murray:

". . . The more relaxed you are, the better you are at everything: the better you are with your loved ones, the better you are with your enemies, the better you are at your job, the better you are with yourself."

Well said Mr. Murray. 

See the full interview here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/movies/bill-murray-star-of-hyde-park-on-hudson.html?smid=pl-share

Since Sensei Don’s passing, my training has been a little bittersweet.  He passionately wanted us to keep the dojo healthy and vibrant, and so we have.  Yet, we’re left to redefine our training in his absence even if we would have it otherwise.

A recent Saturday class with Sensei Mike felt like that foundation of healthy, vibrant training upon which our dojo is built.  Class was energizing.  We nearly had to go to three lines.  We had brand new students and many Sempai.  Everyone was extremely positive and focused.  The energy was palpable- I felt like we were gliding on the mat. 

I can’t wait until next class to move that passion forward.