"Even simplicity has depth." This one makes me smile because quite sometime ago some friends were joking about music that I liked saying it was simple. My response was even simplicity has depth. It got them thinking and seeing things a bit differently. 🙂 This can apply so much to what we do in our training. Anyone on the outside looking in may see our kata and think they are very simple. But once you begin training you learn there is so much going on. Kata are far more than a simple cut. There is a lot of depth to what we do. And once you think you "know it", dig deeper you will find more. 🙂

I could not get into Saturday class. Anyone else have an issue?

"The ultimate aim of martial arts lies not in victory or defeat but the perfection of the character of its participants." When we train, especially with a partner, it is easy to fall Into the trap of wanting to win with each practice. However if we focus on just winning we may ultimately lose the lesson. Focus on improving and learning rather than winning and you will grow inside and outside of the dojo.

In class this week we were working on a displacement exercise. We were each using a jo ( a short staff). One partner held the jo horizontally in front of them and the partner would attempt to move the person by using a cutting motion with their jo. My partner was a pretty big guy and he kept pushing using muscle so he wasn't moving me well. I pointed that out to him and he said confidence is strong faith is soft. He reset and then did the technique well because he didn't use myscle, he followed principles. It was a really good lesson. We may have confidence because we are strong but if we have faith in what we are doing, we wiil be soft and relaxed.