Two years ago today, Shihan Wayne Norlander was taken from us. Today’s training and the following Hatsu Bon Poem are offered to his spirit. Should today’s readers so desire, please join us and perform a kata of your choice in memory of Shihan Norlander and a fallen comrade you may wish to remember. May Shihan’s spirit find our training and poem worthy.
Shihan Wayne Norlander with friend & comrade, Shihan Peter Urban, circa 1970’s, West New York, NJ
HATSU BON POEM
Please don’t cry before my grave
That’s not where I am
Nor am I sleeping for eternity
SEE!!
I am already part of the breezes
numbering a thousand
I am part of the light
that brightens this world
Like a diamond glittering in the snow
Like the sun that coaxes seeds to sprout
And in the Fall I become the gentle rain
that nurtures all.
When you open the window in the morning
I am the breeze
That causes your hair to flutter;
And at night, I am the star
That watches over your sleep.
So, please . . . don’t cry before my grave
That’s not where I am.
I am not dead.
I have been born anew.
With Shihan Wayne Norlander, R.I.P.
To view my Sanchin Kata-Hatsu Bon at Sensei’s gravesite (August, 2012), please click the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASAVKhh-Hhs
Sensei John Szmitkowski
To view photographs of Shihan Norlander’s elevation to Ku-Dan (9th degree black belt), please click this convenient link:http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=wayne+norlander+promotion&f=hp
From 2000, Shihan’s promotion to Nana-Dan (7th degree black belt) at the Kearny Martial Arts Dojo, Kearny, NJ, group photograph with the Goshin-Do Karate-Do Yudansha.
Kneeling (L-R): Shihan Thomas DeFelice, Shihan Wayne Norlander,
Standing (L-R): Myself, Sensei James DiMicelli, Sensei Walter Byrne, Sensei Dave Crum, Sensei Bret Moore (R.I.P.), Sensei Gil Breit, Sensei Rich Sheilds, Sensei Kim Szmitkowski.
Kata-RX For wellness 
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