At a recent birthday party in my honor, my family played a slide show about my life, and naturally, there was a segment on karate through the years.  There were various impromptu shots taken of training in the dojo or outside, at some old gasshuko beach session.  A couple, however, were of me in karate gi, making a pre-determined karate pose – you know, the kind we hate to have taken, haha.

Once in a great while, karateka will be asked to strike a favorite pose for a photograph.  It can be kind of an awkward moment and folks will place some thought into what movement from what kata or kumite posture they think best captures their skill or knowledge level (haha).  Good or bad, it’s caught for posterity and most karateka looking at it (critics, all) will have an opinion.  Personally, I have never given much thought about what pose I would use.  About 17 or 18 years ago, my fellow sensei and I decided to have professional photos taken of our karate club – by professional, I mean a photographer who specialized in taking sports clubs photos (like baseball, soccer, etc).  When it was my turn to pose, I ended up getting down into a kiba-dachi stance with a tate-shuto-ke; “flash” and the photo was done.  We were given a bunch of 2″ X 3″ photos and cards (like baseball cards) as a result of the shoot, most which, I promptly gave to our students and filed the rest away to collect dust.  Some years later, we were cleaning house and I came upon another photo taken of me in karate stance way back in 1974 when I was in California.  It looked familiar to me, but mostly, I mused about how much younger and different I looked as a young man in his early twenties.  Well, watching the slide show prepared by my son, I realized that he (or my wife) had dug up both the 1974 and the 1994 photos and watching these appear on the screen, just a few seconds apart, I finally noticed what had seemed so familiar about the two shots.  I had automatically assumed the exact same pose for both photos, taken almost exactly twenty years apart!  Either an indication of great consistency over the years 😉 or perhaps, a supreme lack of imagination.  More likely, just what felt most natural to my mind and body.

Flash forward to today (an additional seventeen years have passed since the second photo was taken) and I find myself playing with my grandson (16 mos old) after a Monday night karate class.  I am still dressed in my white karate gi pants.  He has already watched quite a bit of karate training in his young life and probably inspired by seeing my gi pants and hearing the sound they make when I move, he surprises me by squatting into a low and wide very good imitation of the kiba-dachi stance.  I laugh and playfully mirror his stance and then, I’m surprised to see him raise one hand into a toddler’s version of the tate-shuto-ke.  At which point, I look at my own hand, extended in the tate-shuto-ke and realize that he is playfully copying my hand motion – I have, once again, automatically assumed my “favorite pose” for my toddler grandson, without any thought.  It reminds me that so much of what we do comes to us unconsciously, and it sometimes takes a photo (or grinning toddler) to realize that.  I am also reminded that so much of what we share with others is transmitted by not just by what we say, but by what we do.  Whether we like it or not, we are always setting an example for those who are close to, or look up to us…or are instructed by us.  At the same time, the actions they are watching/following, have an internal effect on ourselves.  Actions that are repeated again and again, with commitment, with power and with focus, eventually make their way from outer manifestations into the very core of one’s being.  Those actions that are generated through strength and stability, in turn, can infuse one’s soul with the same – I truly believe this.  It is always our hope that any good habits gained through diligent training within the dojo, will translate into the same throughout one’s daily life and within one’s inner being.

Here in the midst of the often hectic and stressful holiday season, please take the time to pause and enjoy and refresh with friends and family.  I wish you all, a blissful Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year – reminder: no training on the next two Saturdays – Dec 24 and Dec 31.