2 days ago, I met some gentleman in person who initially reached out online. Some random karate fella travelling to Brisbane from out of town on business. Balancing between work and conferences, he thought he would have enough time to squish in a few sneaky training sessions with someone he’d never met before. What a lunatic huh? So, we meet, polite greetings and pleasantries exchanged, and in no time – Kabooom. A bit of forearm and leg conditioning had begun. Barely even remember the guy’s name and here we are kicking and pounding each other. Ahhhh the joys of karate, bringing people together.
Instead of instructing or teaching per se, suggestions and discussions between each kata pursued. It was not a teacher – student relationship, instead an observer looking in like a curious kid asking their parents – Why? Yeah…but why dad… kind of thing. There’s always a place to learn from each other only if we are willing to listen and be open to new ideas. Quite a breath of fresh air seeing people do karate with very similar principles even if some moves were executed differently - Same but different, different but same. Such karateka I have found too far and few between.
To be able to chat about all thing’s karate and exchange different understanding of techniques is always gratifying. Additionally, to visibly express the same excitement over an old piece of hardwood and random objects for hojo undo purposes, solidified that I wasn’t the sole loony on earth. Over the 2 nights, only about 5 hours could we spend on training and even less for sightseeing - a mere 5 minutes. Was a very short time, but certainly memorable. Thanks mate!
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