To all my readers, please accept my sincerest wishes for a joyous, peaceful, familial Christmas Season.
Each year at this time, I remind myself of the lyrics from the eternal John Lennon song, War Is Over;
“And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over and a new one has begun.”
Please join me in reflecting back on our deeds, thoughts and emotions of the last year and where necessary make adjustments in the forthcoming year.
Let us embrace the simple concept that giving is better than receiving. In doing so, we benefit not only the recipient, but also our own sense of self and self-worth.
My very best wishes that we may embrace this Christmas with joy and hope as the path of the forthcoming year begins to unfold.
I remain,
Sensei John Szmitkowski
Featured Video:
To all my readers who have acquainted themselves with Sanchin Kata & my karate-do comrades. You are cordially invited to join me in a cyber-group Christmas Sanchin Kata session. Let us all perform Sanchin Kata prior to retiring for the night and Christmas Eve and also perform Sanchin Kata again as our first act on Christmas morning.
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/kata-lab/
The within tale is an adaptation of an ancient Zen fable. It is; however, based upon actual events.
Growing up in New Jersey the best part of the summer involved visits to the unique boundary where the Atlantic Ocean kisses the sand. Many a memorable summer day was spent on various beaches of the Atlantic Ocean from Cape May, New Jersey to the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. My visits to the shore were not always recreational. Most visits to the beach, I practice my Karate-Do kata. Sometimes, my karate students accompany me. It was in the mid-1990’s during one such training session that the following true events leapt from the pages of Zen fable into the physical realm.
While training my students and I witnessed an encounter involving a seagull and a blue claw crab. In the original Zen fable, there was a fox, (represented by the seagull) and a rabbit (represented by the blue-claw crab).
The tide washed a blue claw crab up onto the beach. A seagull, being ever vigilant, was quick to seize the opportunity. The seagull landed on the beach and chased the crab in an attempt to make the crab its dinner. The crab used its claws to fend off the seagull. The seagull took to the air to attempt an air assault upon its reluctant dinner guest. The crab raised is claws and scuttled to and fro. The battle continued in this manner.
I asked my students, ”Who should win the fight?” They naturally said the seagull. After all, it was larger, stronger and given it had the capacity for flight, was more mobile than the crab. I informed my students that, according to an ancient fable, the crab should win. My students and I continued to watch the encounter. The fight continued with the crab fending off the sea gull. Eventually a large wave washed a-shore and carried the still fighting crab away to safety. The frustrated sea-gull flew away.
My students asked “Why should the crab win?” The answer is simple.
The seagull was fighting for its dinner, but, the blue claw crab was fighting for its life. The crab must win because it had more at stake in the confrontation. Simply stated, the winner of a physical confrontation between an aggressor and the person forced to defend against attack would be the person with the most to lose in the confrontation.
This week’s featured video:
Bonus Seienchin Kata Video – With Wild Horses!
Respectfully submitted,
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/category/kata-laboratory/
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
May 18, 2011, Shihan Wayne Norlander was taken from us.
Please join me in dedicating our training on May 18th 2016 to his eternal spirit and the spirit of all those fallen comrades we wish to remember. May their 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 Norlander after a spirited workout.
My graveside Sanchin memorial to Shihan:
Sincerity in sweat, Sensei.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
Today marks the first anniversary of the passing of Sensei Tyne, one of the two examiners who in 1976, when I was age fifteen, failed me on my first attempt to earn fifth-kyu, green belt in the adult division, but in doing so helped to forge my unrelenting spirit. Thank-you for doing so Sensei. Today’s training and kata are offered to his eternal spirit.
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.
Sincerity in sweat, Sensei.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/ My seminars are the ONLY seminars that allow you to pay at the conclusion, thus insuring your complete satisfaction!
Endnotes:
1. During the camelot years of the Academy Of Goshin-Do Karate-Do (roughly in the 1970’s), there were four Goshin-Do Karate-Do dojo under the leadership of Shihan Thomas DeFelice:
The Hombu dojo of Shihan DeFelice located in Palisades Park, NJ;
Shibu (branch) dojo located in:
Maywood, NJ under Sensei Jim Kingston,
Lodi, NJ under Sensei Jeff Tyne,
Teaneck, NJ under Sensei Steve Malmoud.
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
April 10th, 2016 marks the anniversary of the passing of Sensei Paul Recchia. Please join me in performing a kata at sunset on this date in memory of Sensei Paul and all whom we have lost. The following Hatsu Bon Poem, together with the above training, are offered to his spirit.
May Sensei’s spirit find our training and poem worthy.
Sensei Paul Recchia at age 60 years old. Circa 1975.
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.
The last time Sensei Paul (in wheelchair) was at the Issho Dojo (January, 2000) with (L-R), Sensei Walter Byrne, Sensei Kim Szmitkowski, Sensei John Szmitkowski, Sensei Jimmy DiMicelli, Sensei Bobbie Gumowski. I will never forget that this was the first time in almost eighteen months that Sensei Paul, confined to his in home hospital bed, left the comfort of his home to honor all who were elevated that day in the black belt promotion ceremony.
Sincerity in sweat, you are not forgotten, Sensei.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/ My seminars are the ONLY seminars that allow you to pay at the conclusion, thus insuring your complete satisfaction!
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
I suggest that in the seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks and months, that begin to unfold into the path that will be called “2012”, we need to walk that unwinding path with the “mind of a white belt.”
This concept is derived from a Goshin-Do Karate percept, “Observe with the mind of a white belt.” The while belt, worn by novice students, is said to symbolize purity and innocence in terms of preconceptions as to Karate. When a Karate-Ka (student of Karate) first enters the Dojo, the neophyte observes without preconceived thought or emotion. Thus, one observes every detail, even the most minute, with the pure eyes of a child. In doing so, one is able to capture the inner most aspect of a Karate-Do technique and incorporate it into one’s personal repertoire.
Prior to the advent of modern colored belts, a Karate-Ka would wear the same belt (a white belt) during his entire training. Although the Karate uniform would be laundered regularly, as a sign of respect, the Karate-Ka would not wash his belt. Over time, the white belt would become soiled. The belt would even be used to wipe the sweat from one’s brow after training. Thus, the belt would become discolored, eventually turning black from use, wear and tear. This is the humble birth of the all too coveted black belt.
In the final days that remain of the year 2015, we should shed our internal black belt. Our preconceptions, emotions and perhaps even thoughts have become “soiled” over time. In the first indicia of time that calls forth “2016!” let’s all shed preconceptions – “internal and emotional baggage.” In the first millisecond of 2016, we should commit to don the belt of a novice and view the minutest details of the unfolding year with a pure and innocent heart and spirit. Let’s all become the exalted white belt.
Please enjoy a sneak peak at the new video series for 2016 – “Underground Bunkai” featuring my senior black belt, Sensei Jimmy DiMicelli, Go-dan, Karate-Do No Renshi. Enjoy and look for more in 2016.
I remain,
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/ My seminars are the ONLY seminars that allow you to pay at the conclusion, thus insuring your complete satisfaction!
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/category/kata-laboratory/
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
To all my readers, Merry Christmas! Please accept my sincerest wishes for a joyous, peaceful, familial Holiday Season.
Each year at this time, I remind myself of the lyrics from the eternal John Lennon song, War Is Over;
“And so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over and a new one has begun.”
Please join me in reflecting back on our deeds, thoughts and emotions of the last year and where necessary make adjustments in the forthcoming year.
Let us embrace the simple concept that giving is better than receiving. In doing so, we benefit not only the recipient, but also our own sense of self and self-worth.
My very best wishes that we may embrace this Holiday with joy and hope as the path of the forthcoming year begins to unfold.
Please enjoy this video of Sanchin Kata with winter themed poems filmed in a snow flurry.
I remain,
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/ My seminars are the ONLY seminars that allow you to pay at the conclusion, thus insuring your complete satisfaction!
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/category/kata-laboratory/
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
On September 13th, five years ago, Sensei Nick D’Antuono was taken from us. That days training training and the following Hatsu Bon Poem are offered to his spirit. Should you so desire, please join us and perform a kata of your choice in memory of Sensei Nick and a fallen comrade you may wish to remember on that date. May Sensei’s spirit find our training and poem worthy.
Sensei Nick, myself, Shihan Don Nagle, Circa: 1975
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.
Sincerity in sweat, rest in peace, Sensei.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
I’m pleased to announce filming has begun on new videos. After relocating back to my native New Jersey, I’ve visited several locations that provide beautiful outdoor scenery for the next series of videos. Filming occurred not only in New Jersey, but also on Cape Cod, MA. The Cape is one of my favorite locations, beautiful and inspirational. I find that these locations allow me to present to you my very best efforts.
The plan is to complete the filming of all Goshin-Do Karate-Do Kata videos. The entire catalogue of kata will then be complete. In addition, I hope to add a few more recreated (“lost”) kata of Hanshi Frank Van Lenten’s Goshin-Do Karate- Kyokai. Using rare archival footage of Hanshi Van Lenten, I have been practicing a few of these lost kata, including, but not limited to his variation of the Kusanku kata, Kusanku Sai kata and another sai kata. I’ll also begin preliminary filming of several more videos to augment my well-received “Kata Laboratory” project. Who knows, I may even be able to film a second series in my “On The Road With Kata” video series.
All-in-all, it should be a very productive few days at the Cape.
In the meantime, you may wish to enjoy a few of our kata playlists using the links below:
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy this blog and our videos.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
We all have people in our lives that constantly strive to do nothing more than to please. No matter what the circumstances, these people will utilize great effort to please, notwithstanding how ludicrous their desires and efforts are. There is a tale from the Goshin-Do Karate-Do Dojo that shed’s light upon the ludicrous efforts of those that desire to please. This article is dedicated to all those “Yes-men”, those with the attitude of “Please, please me,” and those who (in the words of a my friend and comrade, Shihan Wayne Norlander, R.I.P.) “Drink the Kool-Aid.” Here is another tale from the archives of the Goshin-Do Karate-Do fireside chats. I hope you read and enjoy it, but, a word of caution – Don’t loose your “ass” in the process.
On the island of Okinawa, there lived an elderly peasant farmer, his wife and son. They lived a relatively isolated existence on their meager farm. One day, the peasant decided that he would have to journey to town to sell the farm’s beast of burden, an old jackass that was no longer capable of working. The farmer was nervous about having to journey to the city to sell the jackass, so he took along his young son to help him interact with the people he would surely meet along the way. The next morning, the farmer and his son harnessed the jack ass and set out on the long road to the city. Along the way, the encountered a group of young school girls. “Look at those two”, laughed one of the girls, “They are so foolish to walk alongside that animal when they could easily be riding upon it.” After passing the girls, the farmer pauses and whispers to his son that he will not look foolish and instructed him to get on the jackass. Further along the road, they encountered a group of old men relaxing under the shade of a tree. The farmer overheard on of the men. “You see, my friends, the young no longer respect the old.” The man then yelled at the son, “Get off that jackass so that your old father may ride upon him!” The old farmer immediately told his son to comply and mounted the animal as his son walked alongside. Continuing of their journey, the pair come upon a group of women and their infants. The women scolded the old farmer for riding the jackass while his “poor little child” had to walk alongside. Not wanting to look foolish, the farmer hoisted his son up onto the back of the jackass and the two rode of together. Around the next curve in the road, the farmer and son came across a farmer tending his fields. The farmer waived and called out, “If that is your animal, why treat him so badly?” “The two of you should carry him.” The two immediately got off the jackass and tied the animal’s legs to a sturdy pole and hoisted the beast upon their shoulders. In this manner they clumsily continued on their way. They started to stagger across a bridge high over a stream when the old farmer lost his balance. The jackass teetered for a moment and then fell over the bridge down into the river below. Confused and ashamed, the old man and his son made their way home. Once home, the farmers old wife scolded her husband for trying to please everyone and loosing his ass in the process.
I hope you enjoyed the within tale.
It would greatly please me if you took its message to heart. Until the next article, I remain,
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/category/kata-laboratory/
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
Four 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.
Heavy rain this morning heralds in this post of the passing of yet another Goshin-Do Karate-Do Yudansha (black belt). Sensei Jeff Tyne passed away on April 11th, 2015. During the camelot years of the Academy Of Goshin-Do Karate, Sensei Tyne, a Ni-Dan operated one of the four dojo teaching Goshin-Do Karate-Do under the leadership of Shihan Thomas DeFelice.
I first learned of Sensei’s passing shortly after posting the memorial of Shihan Paul Recchia’s passing on April 10th 2003. I waited a week before posting news of Sensei Tyne’s passing out of respect for both he and Shihan Recchia. So now, each year I have another memorial for a fallen Goshin-Do comrade to add.
As the rain pelts the window to my writing room, I look out at the cherry blossom tree in the yard. How strange is my duty? I take great pride in the fact that I am one of the few in Sensei DeFelice’s dojo to have known each and every one his his black belts. Now decades later, my duty is to simply remember them.
And so, here is the first hatsu bon memorial poem for Sensei Tyne, one of the two examiners who in 1976, when I was age fifteen, failed me on my first attempt to earn fifth-kyu, green belt in the adult division, but in doing so helped to forge my unrelenting spirit. Thank-you for doing so Sensei.
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.
Sincerity in sweat, Sensei.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
Endnotes:
During the camelot years of the Academy Of Goshin-Do Karate-Do (roughly in the 1970’s), there were four Goshin-Do Karate-Do dojo under the leadership of Shihan Thomas DeFelice:
The Hombu dojo of Shihan DeFelice located in Palisades Park, NJ;
Shibu (branch) dojo located in:
Maywood, NJ under Sensei Jim Kingston,
Lodi, NJ under Sensei Jeff Tyne,
Teaneck, NJ under Sensei Steve Malmoud.
This Friday, April 10th, 2015 marks the anniversary of the passing of Sensei Paul Recchia. Please join me in performing a kata at sunset on this date in memory of Sensei Paul and all whom we have lost. The following Hatsu Bon Poem, together with the above training, are offered to his spirit.
May Sensei’s spirit find our training and poem worthy.
Sensei Paul, age 60
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.
The last time Sensei Paul (in wheelchair) was at the Issho Dojo (January, 2000) with (L-R), Sensei Walter Byrne, Sensei Kim Szmitkowski, Sensei John Szmitkowski, Sensei Jimmy DiMicelli, Sensei Bobbie Gumowski. I will never forget that this was the first time in almost eighteen months that Sensei Paul, confined to his in home hospital bed, left the comfort of his home to honor all who were elevated that day in the black belt promotion ceremony.
Sincerity in sweat, you are not forgotten, Sensei.
To all my readers, please accept my sincerest wishes for a joyous & peaceful Holiday Season.
This Christmas is particularly special for me. In the ten years since I moved to Arizona, it is only the second one that I will spend with family in New Jersey. The thought of being there when my five year old grandson opens his presents paints a profound smile on my face.
Best of all, I have permanently relocated to, if not New Jersey, then the east coast.
My very best wishes that we may embrace this Christmas with joy and hope. I’m even thinking of a white Christmas. To set the mood, please enjoy my Sanchin Kata with winter poems video.
I remain,
Sensei John Szmitkowski
For information on my “no-risk”, kata seminars, please visit the seminar page using this convenient link https://senseijohn.me/seminar-kata/
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/category/kata-laboratory/
Sensei John is now on Facebook, under – FLY FISHING DOJO, you are invited to send a Facebook friend request.
Four years ago today, Sensei Nick D’Antuono 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 Sensei Nick and a fallen comrade you may wish to remember. May Sensei’s spirit find our training and poem worthy.
Sensei Nick – Myself (age 14) – Shihan Don Nagle (Isshin-Ryu Karate) (Circa 1975)
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.
Sincerity in sweat, rest in peace, Sensei.
Sensei John Szmitkowski
You may wish to view my other blogs – my fishing blog which includes my fishing journals and the interrelationship between martial arts protocol & ideology to fishing http://flyfishingdojo.com
and the Goshin-Do Karate blog at http://defeliceryu.com
To all my readers who have acquainted themselves with Sanchin Kata & my karate-do comrades. You are cordially invited to join me in a cyber-group Christmas Sanchin Kata session. Let us all perform Sanchin Kata prior to retiring for the night and Christmas Eve and also perform Sanchin Kata again as our first act on Christmas morning.
For a refreshing and innovative discourse on kata and bunkai, please feel free to visit Sensei John’s Kata Laboratory and “THINK * SWEAT * EXPERIMENT” using this convenient link: https://senseijohn.me/kata-lab/
Kata-RX For wellness 
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME