Tag Archives: Shihan Peter Urban

Hatsu Bon For Shihan Wayne Norlander

18 May

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

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.

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

HANKO 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.

SENSEI WAYNE 7TH DAN

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.

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Practice Does NOT Make Perfect

19 Jul
We have all had teachers, instructors, coaches, and similar mentors repeatedly tell us that “Practice makes perfect.“ Such mentors uttered this phrase as a form of axiomatic inspiration whereby we were encouraged to reach the unknown height of perfection. In the past, whenever this phrase was chanted like a mantra, all those under the tutelage of their mentor would try harder, sweat abundantly, study more and otherwise reach into their inner most self to produce a level of achievement which they believed was incapable of manifesting. The time has finally come to rebel against this axiomatic dogma. It is time for every one that reads the within to firmly stand their ground. The next time some one tells you that “practice makes perfect”, look them directly in the eye and tell them they are wrong.
That is correct, look the dogmatic mentor in the eye and tell them to stop universally uttering such nonsense. After your mentor recovers his or her composure, inform them that their concept of practice is not only incomplete, but also lacks intuition. Practice does not make perfect. Rather PERFECT practice makes perfect. Imperfect or half-hearted practice only nurtures and fosters complacency and imperfection. Remember this well the next time you set out to practice (or otherwise engage in) your favorite hobby, sport, past-time, art form or other activity. In fact, remember it well as it applies to life in general. PERFECT PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. (See Endnote # 1).
 
Until the next article, I remain attempting always to perfectly practice.  
HANKO-master
Sensei John Szmitkowski
 
Here is a link for a promotional video about my Sanchin Kata & Jiriki Kata-Do DVD filmed in the Tonto National Forest. Arizona. Please see the “SANCHIN DVD & BOOK” page tab above for information on how to purchase the DVD.LINK: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-pC-tPUrYE

ENDNOTES:

1. I wish to make it abundantly clear that the concept that “Perfect practice makes perfect” is in no way my own. I have heard it many times in the Dojo of both Shihan Thomas DeFelice, Ku-Dan (9th Degree Black Belt), Menkyo Kaiden, Goshin-Do Karate-Do and Shihan Wayne Norlander, Ku-Dan (9th Degree Black Belt), Menkyo Kaiden, USA Goshin-Ryu Karate-Do. Their oral tradition attributes this concept to the late Karate Pioneer, Shihan Peter Urban, Ju-Dan (10th Degree Black Belt) USA Goju-Ryu, who was a friend to them both.
 
Coming Soon: Sensei John’s newest Blogsite – you are invited to click this link for a preview: WWW.FlyFishingDojo.Wordpress.Com. 
On-Line Store: Please feel free to visit Sensei John’s new online store containing various Jiriki Kata-Do products with the unique logo of Sanchin. The Sanchin logo depicts the three battles of Sanchin in a new contextual paradigm. You may find Sensei’s store by clicking the following link http://www.cafepress.com/sanchin_logo.
 
For more on either Sanchin Kata as meditation or my new book on Sanchin Kata, please feel free to visit the “Sanchin Book” page of this Blogsite, or my website WWW.Dynamic-Meditation.Com.
For more information on my ideology and methodology of Jiriki Kata-Do, please review the articles herein filed in the category “Kata as enlightened meditation“.

Sensei John Szmitkowski, Soke, Jiriki Kata-Do

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