Almost There
In one week, seven days, I will be a seminary graduate.
In three weeks - roughly - I will get to train at my dojo twice a week instead of just once.
I cannot say how ecstatic I am ...
It's been a bit over a year since I started up with Goju Ryu. I still have so much to learn and I've grown antsy to focus on this instead of seminary work. Not that what I was learning in seminary isn't terribly important - it is. And my Master of Divinity is crucial to the work I have been called to.
But karate is my refuge.
Karate saved my life when I was in high school and struggling with the effects of familial alcoholism.
Karate saved me in my early twenties when I couldn't see a way through what I was going to do for a living.
Karate saved my life when I was recovering from the domestic violence I suffered during my previous marriage.
Karate saved me when I remarried and our respective ex-spouses kept us in and out of court with custody battles.
Karate saved my life when I wrestled with the call to seminary.
Karate saved me - every time my life turned upside down, every time I questioned my worth, every time my insides wanted to vomit all over the world from emotional distress.
Sure, I train on my own. I've been doing that for quite a while. But there is something about being at the dojo - with the Little Dragons, with the kids, with the amazing teens who have just reached shodan, with my adult karate-ka friends who just get it.
Most of all, I have been blessed with senseis along the way that totally understand why I do what I do. There's a deep connection to this life in martial arts that I cannot explain, you just *know* when someone else is there with you. Knowing you are not alone is one of the most freeing things that a person can experience - and it empowers you to do what you never thought possible.
Jan 2 2019 cannot get here soon enough ...
In three weeks - roughly - I will get to train at my dojo twice a week instead of just once.
I cannot say how ecstatic I am ...
It's been a bit over a year since I started up with Goju Ryu. I still have so much to learn and I've grown antsy to focus on this instead of seminary work. Not that what I was learning in seminary isn't terribly important - it is. And my Master of Divinity is crucial to the work I have been called to.
But karate is my refuge.
Karate saved my life when I was in high school and struggling with the effects of familial alcoholism.
Karate saved me in my early twenties when I couldn't see a way through what I was going to do for a living.
Karate saved my life when I was recovering from the domestic violence I suffered during my previous marriage.
Karate saved me when I remarried and our respective ex-spouses kept us in and out of court with custody battles.
Karate saved my life when I wrestled with the call to seminary.
Karate saved me - every time my life turned upside down, every time I questioned my worth, every time my insides wanted to vomit all over the world from emotional distress.
Sure, I train on my own. I've been doing that for quite a while. But there is something about being at the dojo - with the Little Dragons, with the kids, with the amazing teens who have just reached shodan, with my adult karate-ka friends who just get it.
Most of all, I have been blessed with senseis along the way that totally understand why I do what I do. There's a deep connection to this life in martial arts that I cannot explain, you just *know* when someone else is there with you. Knowing you are not alone is one of the most freeing things that a person can experience - and it empowers you to do what you never thought possible.
Jan 2 2019 cannot get here soon enough ...
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| Part of my karate family from American Karate and Martial Science in Hutchinson KS. I trained here from May 2007 to Sept 2017. I am on the far right, middle row. |
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