Each month, our school turns its focus to a different element in the traditional Japanese sense. It’s a great tool for looking at life through different lenses. This month, we’re exploring the Void element. It represents the idea of emptiness, new beginnings and infinite possibilities. Pretty perfect for the start of a new year.
We are coming up on the fourth week in January. How is 2018 going for your so far? It can be about this time, a few weeks after a fresh start, that our outlook on the future can start to feel muddled. Especially if we had big hopes for a change that hasn’t yet manifested. And what if we had planned to change a habit and have strayed from the best of intentions?
Helen Keller once wrote, “I trust, and nothing that happens disturbs my trust.” What an amazing way to live in the world. To know that trust has nothing to do with our circumstances, that even we ourselves can falter and not lose faith. Nothing that happens – nothing that happens – disturbs my trust. How’s that for a mantra? Perhaps trust is a deep, unwavering knowing, a belief in our purpose, that carries us through all the ups and downs of life.
Let’s work with this concept in the dojo this week. And even outside of the dojo, in our practice at home. Whenever we falter from our intentions, or whenever things around us don’t go as we’d hoped, let’s just see what happens if we reset right there, and commit again to unwavering trust.
In the coming week, we’re committing to our practice through these techniques:
- Ukemi in all Directions
- The Principles of Pinning/Continued Work on the Koshi Sanpo
- Muso Dori and Arm Grab Escapes
- Katana Kamae and Strikes
And before I sign off, I’ve got to tell you what’s been most on my mind these winter days….
Summer Camp! We are in love with the summer camp location at Warren Wilson College that get to enjoy again this year. I’m dreaming of summer days full of kids laughing, playing Ninja Village, learning about science through adventures and hands-on outdoor excursions, relaxing by the lazy and stunning Swannanoa river (it’s more like a slow, broad creek where we play), and just soaking up that sunshine. There is a major summer camp sale this week, so be sure to check it out here.
That’s all folks! Thanks for reading. See you in the dojo!
-Sensei Nesta