When we go to the doctor’s, we might undergo any of a wide range of diagnostic testing and examinations. All of these methods are designed to determine the state of our health. We take for granted that a drop of our blood might reveal things about our internal organs, or a low-grade infection, etc. We stand in front of an X-ray machine or have a CAT scan taken or even experience an MRI…accepting the fact that x-rays or ultrasound waves or magnetic resonance will somehow probe through our bodies and create pictures (sometimes even three-dimensional moving images) of our normally invisible insides. Then there’s the old-fashioned, tried and true methods used by physicians ever since the beginnings of medicine… a stethoscope, a little hammer, a tongue depressor, a little focused light, a few appropriate questions… guided by the basic knowledge gained in medical school, and developed by years of practice and observation. Whatever the method is, whether it employs high technology or just old “country doctor” wisdom, or a real gift of discernment… these externalities can be a true window into the internal. Karate-do can be like that. Most students, whether young or old, will inevitably, after a period of [...]

REMINDER: No training, Saturday August 26, 2006.

Sometimes, going to training week after week, through season’s change, from year to year, even though we faithfully come to train, we can become so comfortable in our regimen that we begin to take the practice, sharing and learning of karate-do as a pretty mundane activity. Sure, other folks might exclaim with some excitement and interest, “Oh, you practice (or teach) karate!?” To which you explain that it’s just a ministry activity you do in your spare time. Strangely enough, the students of the small classes I teach at Wheeler Air Field don’t look at their karate training from such a mundane perspective. A couple are veteran engineers, one’s a biologist and division chief, another is a fish/wildlife program manager, while one oversees broad-reaching natural resources programs. A fairly diverse group of professionals in their respective fields, ranging in age from their early thirties to mid-fifties… yet united in a fresh and continuing appreciation for the gift of karate-do in their lives. Each works long days immersed in meetings, reviewing technical diagrams/papers, overseeing budgets, contractors, and a myriad of issues. Despite their busy schedules each looks forward to those times (at most, once a week) that they can don their [...]