"Failure is not the opposite of success; it is the stepping stone towards it." This one really spoke to me. It can be so easy to get hung up on failure be it in training, work or personal life. But each failure, each attempt at whatever it is we are trying to do, takes us another step closer to our goal. This reminds me to keep putting in the effort, even when I may not be getting the results I want right now. What are your thoughts?

Good morning, I was mildly horrified to see myself included at the beginning of the official video of a number of Saturday classes. I have used Zoom almost exclusively setting up my wife for work and can get it functioning. In order to no longer make myself part of the production I assume that I need to keep the video portion of my input feed shut down until the class begins? Also, do any of you know who that bent old guy sneaking around my “garage-do” was? I must have a much (much) older and dramatically widened sibling who snuck in there when I was not looking. In my mind, I feel ageless and my internal feed of self-images has me more securely anchored in my 40’s, still active and 20 pounds lighter. Even if almost no system of my body still works properly, I am committed to learning Nami Ryu but I do not have to inflict images of myself on the rest of you! Thank you for not lodging complaints lol…

"I have not failed. I have discovered twelve hundred materials that don't work." Thomas Edison. I must admit there are times in class when I get hung up on feeling like I am constantly failing. That i just can't seem to execute the kata properly, am not able to displace my training partner ect. My goal is to remind myself I am not failing, just found a way to not do the kata. 🙂 That mindset helps me to relax and refocus. How do you all manage that occasional sense of frustration or failure in training?

Hi everyone. I hope you're all having a fantastic Summer (depending on where you are in the world). Thought I'd drop a line and let you know that I'll be scheduling the video call for June. For those of you who are new to the community, this is a 1-hour call open to all members. Part of it will be training along with me, and the other part is for you to ask any questions you'd like to ask about training. Our session in May was on a weekday. I'm considering scheduling this month's session on a Saturday morning (California time) in case that allows more of you to attend. Please comment below and let me know.

Hi Sensei, random etiquette question related to bowing while in seiza. I am guessing that as in standing we bow a bit lower than the other person if they are more tenured. My understanding is we do not touch our forehead to the ground unless it is part of an apology to the other person, correct? Also, we should not allow our body to lift off our legs as we bow forward, right? If that happens I believe that means we have bowed to far. Final question (for now 😁) i see when you bow you place your left hand first then right and bring back the left hand then right. I can't recall, is there combative or etiquette reasons for that or specific to a school so everyone in sync? Thank you.