Just a quick reminder that tomorrow is the first Sat training of the month, which means that everyone is invited to train for the two hours from 09:00-11:00 am. I’ll gear the training towards techniques/drills that everyone can do together as well as spend more time on kata. It also gives kohais from the first class a chance to train with their sempais from the second class.

I have sometimes mentioned that the more time one can spend in practice, the better one gets (duh!). In the old days, we trained up to 5-7 times a week. Not only that, but the training was often 2-3 hours each. It doesn’t take rocket science to figure out why this was good for us. Those who have been with the ministry from the beginning (like Sempai Rodney) can remember that during our first couple of years, everyone trained for two hours (no wonder they learned a lot), until the group got too large and the rank gaps got too broad and we had to split into two classes. The first Sat of the month, the kohais have the opportunity to put in an extra hour to learn a little more karate-do (exams coming up soon!). Of course, our sempais are always welcome to join/help in the early class as well.

Talking about opportunities…I would encourage everyone to never turn down the chance to do something, no matter how small it seems. Just yesterday, I was taught a lesson in that and in faithfulness. As I’ve always said, it’s worthwhile to me to teach, no matter how small the group is on a particular day; also, that karate training is full of ironies. In our Thursday work-group that meets once a week to practice karate at Schofield, there are five to six students. Yesterday, I did a rare cancellation: one student had a medical appt, one had to watch her kids since the husband had a med appt, one was sick, one’s back was acting up, and one just started getting a sore throat. It seemed logical to cancel class and I did send an email late in the day to Sensei Peter and Sempai Wes to inform them – though both had not yet been able to break from their busy schedules (they’re both Army employees) to attend a Thursday session to date. Lo and behold, after I got home, I got calls from both of them – they had showed up at the same time, only to find out that there was no class! Neither had gotten a chance to see my late email, but had faithfully showed up to help me train and teach. It’s a lesson to me, that when you least expect it, the student, or sempai, or sensei…will inevitably show up. For me, and for all of us, I encourage you to always have faith and always take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way. You’ll never know what comes of it.