First of all, I pray that everyone is having a great start to a great new year – 2010!\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t take a single day for granted, the year is what you make of it.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 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\u00c2\u00a0in February.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll let you folks know the place and time soon.\u00c2\u00a0 Should be lots of fun and we’ll have prizes and games as usual.<\/p>\n
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.”\u00c2\u00a0 As with everything else, there is a basic truth in that saying.\u00c2\u00a0 As I recall, the cells have varying lifetimes, ranging from\u00c2\u00a0blood cells – which, I think,\u00c2\u00a0last around 90 days, to one’s\u00c2\u00a0brain cells, which you’re stuck with, pretty much, for your\u00c2\u00a0life-time.\u00c2\u00a0 Everywhere you look, there are all kinds of cycles around us: the daytime\/nighttime cycle, the tidal cycle, the seasons of the year, and so on, ad infinitum.<\/p>\n
I find that to be a\u00c2\u00a0fascinating concept – the seven year cycle.\u00c2\u00a0 If true, it would mean that after training for at least seven years in karate-do, you would have been practicing the art for the whole life of your present body\u00c2\u00a0;)…except for the brain cells.\u00c2\u00a0 Of course, nowadays, it’s thought that we learn and acquire knowledge through the creation of innumerable new synapses versus just the the\u00c2\u00a0neurons that these connect to.\u00c2\u00a0 Perhaps one reaches a new level of understanding with the passing of each regrowth\u00c2\u00a0cycle.<\/p>\n
What’s this thing about “Keep stirring on low heat”?\u00c2\u00a0 I’ve said\u00c2\u00a0many times\u00c2\u00a0before, that steadily practicing\u00c2\u00a0karate basics is kind of like\u00c2\u00a0stirring a pot of pudding or gravy on the stove top.\u00c2\u00a0 It starts off watery and even though you stir and stir (over a low heat), it takes anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes before the pudding\/gravy begins to thicken into that familiar rich,\u00c2\u00a0creamy texture.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Until it is ready to thicken,\u00c2\u00a0it doesn’t matter how fast you stir or how hard you stir…it won’t happen until it’s ready to happen.\u00c2\u00a0 Karate is like that; you train and train, with what appears to be little improvement for years.\u00c2\u00a0 Then, one day, you make a little progress here, get a little faster\/stronger there, or make a breakthrough in better understanding of a particular technique.\u00c2\u00a0 It usually means that some part\u00c2\u00a0of your\u00c2\u00a0body,\u00c2\u00a0mind or spirit hs taken a small step forward along the path…in it’s own timing.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The main rule is not to quit keeping the low heat and\u00c2\u00a0to continue stirring…or punching or kicking or just plain trying – and voila!\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0You reach pudding…or gravy…or Satori.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0Hang in there folks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
First of all, I pray that everyone is having a great start to a great new year – 2010!\u00c2\u00a0 Don’t take a single day for granted, the year is what you make of it.\u00c2\u00a0 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.\u00c2\u00a0 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\u00c2\u00a0in February.\u00c2\u00a0 I’ll let you folks know the place and time soon.\u00c2\u00a0 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.”\u00c2\u00a0 As with everything else, there is a basic truth in that saying.\u00c2\u00a0 As I recall, the cells have varying lifetimes, ranging from\u00c2\u00a0blood cells [...]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=140"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140\/revisions\/141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hiskarate.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}