HIS Karate-Do

Well, first of all, what a great time we had at our annual holiday party – even if we did hold it in February of the following year, heh heh. I’m glad that so many of you could make it to Krazy Karaoke for good food, good desserts, good music, good singing, and most importantly, great fellowship. I do want to especially thank: Sensei Trish for leading the fun with her amusing and pertinent games/prizes, Sempai Ken for donating money (he insisted!) to add to the club funds used for prizes/gifts (I think everyone went home with something), Kohai Donna’s dad (Jimmy) for reserving this prime room and time for us at KK, and thanks to the Dumlao/Fukuda sisters for manning the hard-to-figure-out (for your hapless Sensei) karaoke electronic equipment. Thanks to everyone’s efforts and expertise, the party went really smoothly. It was really great to meet and interact with family members of the students, wear regular clothes:) and relax together. I was also happy that even our son, Matt (Trisha’s big brother) made the effort to drop by and join us. In case you’re wondering; yes, he also used to train in the lineup just like each of you, [...]

Back when I was training in Aikido, in addition to practicing how to throw our partners, apply holds and take-downs, there was a very important element of the learning process – being an ukee. The ukee was the one whose turn it was, to be thrown, the one whose wrist/elbow/shoulder was twisted until you signaled pain, the one who was flung straight down or across the mat. The ukee was the one who was privileged enough to “receive the technique”. Often, when I was the ukee, I received very weak, ineffective technique. Other times, my sempais or the sensei would apply great, effortless technique and I would try to study and understand just what made it work so well on me. The greatest honor (and greatest learning experience) was the periodic opportunity to receive technique from an Aikido master such as Tohei Sensei. Back in the 1960’s, Koichi Tohei was Aikido’s great ambassador to the United States. It was he who introduced the art to the islands of Hawaii, beginning in the 1950’s. He was probably the Founder’s top disciple and few could match his flawless execution of technique. Throughout the many hours of training, I believe that I learned [...]

First of all, I pray that everyone is having a great start to a great new year – 2010!  Don’t take a single day for granted, the year is what you make of it.  Just think, if we could all be as focused and productive each day, like we are at work (or school) on the last day prior to a long vacation or trip…we’d get so much done by the end of the year.  Secondly for those wondering about our annual potluck get-together, we purposely decided to avoid the busy Christmas/New Year’s period….right now, we’re looking at having it on a Saturday – a potluck lunch sometime in February.  I’ll let you folks know the place and time soon.  Should be lots of fun and we’ll have prizes and games as usual. Remember that old saying?…”Because the cells that make up the human body are dying and being replenished (at differing rates, depending upon the cell type) continuously, at the end of every seven year cycle, you’re a completely different person made up of completely different cells.”  As with everything else, there is a basic truth in that saying.  As I recall, the cells have varying lifetimes, ranging from blood cells [...]