HIS Karate-Do

I remember this old saying from when I was a kid, entitled, The Paradox of Time: “Time, it runs when I’m late, it crawls while I wait.” It’s trite, but true. Similarly, there are many such paradoxes in karate-do… proving that God has a real sense of surprises or irony. It’s just that oftentimes, things are not as one would expect. For example: —When making a fist, the strike point is concentrated in the first two knuckles (for beginners, one knuckle or thumbpoint etc, for advanced practitioners)… but the strongest fist is accomplished by squeezing hard and tight on the last two fingers. —When kicking, the more important leg is the supporting leg/foot/ankle, not necessarily the kicking side. —A basic rule of interaction is: respond to strength with soft technique, respond to soft with strong technique. —Very often, when one is fresh and strong, one’s bad habits/techniques manifest themselves. When one’s strength/energy have been depleted, your best techniques are free to emerge. —It’s often when you’re most tired and don’t feel like going to class that you experience your best training and make the biggest breakthroughs. —Conversely, at times you’ll be energized and in a rush to go class and [...]

Some of the photos that I took from last weekend’s Kancho Kanazawa seminar are finally uploaded to the gallery. (Pardon the poor quality of the shots – backlighting, high ISO setting, and distance all contributed to some pretty difficult conditions for photography.) At any rate, I’m sure the spirit of the training will shine through the grainy pictures and convey the great time had by all. 🙂 First time accessing the photos? Please visit this page for instructions.

Today, I know I speak for all of us ministry members when I say that we all had a really great time at “training” this morning. No, we didn’t do the usual donning of the karate gi, our stretching, warm-up gyaku’s and geri’s, kihon, kata and partner drills… we did our periodic yard work at Momilani Rec Center, followed by a terrific potluck. Sempai’s Robert, Rodney and I brought our weedwhackers and methodically worked the growth along the pavilion’s corner… while everyone else used many rakes to fill many trash bags with the leaves and detritus that littered the large green spaces of the Momilani Rec Center lawn. It was hot out there, we made much use of our legs, knees and backs, and time just flew. Before we knew it, the potluck dishes came out, and we enjoyed a rare time spent with our karateka ohana, sating the appetites we had worked up, drinking our cold refreshments, and just talking story amid much laughter. I am struck by the image of raking and sweeping, as recurring themes in the martial arts. You’ll see it in many of the martial arts movies… monks raking or sweeping the temple grounds. I’m [...]