This post may seem late, it is already mid January and many New Year resolutions may have since faded into dust. However, different people around the world follow alternate calendars due to their own cultural history and individuals may often need extra time to say good bye to 2010 so that is okay too.
2010 itself was a great year for the Buyu but also a sad one. You can read all about it HERE and I strongly suggest you do.
At Neshaminy Dojo we continued to review material from our training with Jack Hoban Sensei. As always we could not mimic that pace and quality of training so we scaled down and focused on what we thought were the important areas to 'keep going' in the right direction. Occasionally we would try something different but it is interesting how the Kuden (spoken teaching) is consistent no matter what weapon or scenario is being practiced.
But that was last year, and last year is gone, what will we be doing this year?
Well as per the Buyu theme we will be focusing on the 'Combat Mindset'. I believe that Takamatsu Sensei once told Hatsumi Sensei that a martial artist should keep a 'cool head'. It really is as simple as that to say, but the reality is that keeping control of your emotions at 'all' times is extremely tricky. That is where we find the difference between a professional and an amateur. A professional will always follow their ethical compass, use tactical strategy and act accordingly. An amateur will start to abandon these principles once emotional strain takes over. The professional keeps his moral compass through 'integrity', that is by doing the right thing even when nobody else is there to judge. A professional works hard to be the best they can at what they do, that is how they become a master of life's situations. When I think of the people I have trusted and respected in my life, they are the 'professionals', and it had nothing to do with their educational qualifications or career path. So this year one thing we will focus on is how to deal with pressure in our training, and how to 'see' a way forward in our training when we get stuck or feel like giving up.
Another interesting development is how Hatsumi Sensei wrote the 漢字(Kanji) for Kihon Happō this year '季翻初崩'. The one character that leaps out at me is 崩(Hō). The same kanji used in 崩し(Kuzushi) which is a popular concept in martial arts that relates to breaking the opponents balance. So my own personal interpretation of this years theme is to revisit the basic principles of 崩し. There is even a phrase 八法の崩し (Happō no Kuzushi), and like the 基本八法(Kihon Happō) it is a fundamental of the 武道(Budō) arts.
With all these thoughts in mind we move forwards into what will soon be the year of the Hare/Rabbit. Hopefully it will be a great year of productivity.
