A late happy new year to everyone!
I was just going through all the photos and videos from our Okinawa trip last month and like all visits, any expectations were thrown out the window. The only certainty - expecting the unexpected. The main purpose was to attend and perform at the Minei Dojo’s 50th anniversary (Photos and other nonsense can be viewed on our social media), and whenever the chance presented itself, squashing a few private training sessions in. Crossing paths with so many people old and new, endless thoughts and opinions came rushing in. Different day, different views. Let’s get right into it shall we! Oh, and if I sound negative or cranky (again), I really don’t mean to be haha.
1. Is having a good heart all that matters?
Gaja Sensei always tells us how important it is to have a good heart….Good heart first before truly accepting someone into the dojo. During the trip I met many people with a good heart, good for a chat, good for a drink. But what happens when your karate is so shite that the good in your heart is blinded by a lack of any competence? 5th dan? 6th dan? Or a Diabetes Hanshi 10th dan? Should there be a balance between good heart, being able to do, and looking after one’s health? If a person is overweight enough to prevent them from performing a move, what does that say about themselves, their cholesterol, their “heart”?
2. Clout
I have only seen my karate sensei genuinely annoyed twice. The first time due to a Japlish-Engrish miscommunication which resulted in us being super late to an “important” world gasshuku meeting. The second time was on this trip. When a person is only concerned about getting the best footage for their little youtube channel with little regard to their surroundings and the people around them, and continually pushes the boundaries, should anyone step in and have a word? The Okinawans being too nice, don’t seem to have the stern communication skills required to tell people where to go. Anyway, let’s just say even after a month, the thought of eating paella or consuming Spanish wines makes me wanna puke! Speaking of puking….. #3.
3. Health
Spewing or soiling your pants = no karate. Wouldn’t that be a shame? Not that anyone shat themselves or threw up but flying all that way to Okinawa only to miss out on the big day due to illness…. ☹ That’d be a shitter. Unfortunately, it happened to our man giant brother and a Canadian member too. Far from a life-or-death situation, but it does put things into perspective – Health always above everything else.
4. Proud
The 2 members we invited to Okinawa, one has been training with us for around 3 years and her partner, barely one. All I can say is, we were proud of them. I know we should never compare with anyone in life, but in this case, you have several foreign sensei supposedly training in Okinawan Goju for over 25 years and still performing dreadful enough to make me grind my teeth in a state of cringe and look the opposite direction. To add to the insanity, our student of barely one year had to demonstrate to the rest of the “sensei” how to use the chiishi for the on-stage performance….If the chiishi is not practiced in the dojo, what exactly is?
5. She'll be right mate
You thought Aussies had that attitude, well multiply that by a hundred and an Okinawan homo sapien is born. Obviously not all, but definitely the ones we were dealing with. Is it a bad thing? It's not an answer of YES or NO, but god damn is it different. Story short, all we wanted to do was simply pay for some of our student's gradings. Hand over the money, and that's that you would assume. Well, what I thought would be as easy as 1+1 turned out to be as challenging and humorous as a fresh gaijin trying to speak Japanese with a strayan accent ay mate. Throughout the 10 days or so over there, finalising this transaction was on par with checking the daily stock exchange. . .think we are in the black haha. . So what have I learnt or try to take away from this ordeal? Some people say I'm a control freak, a perfectionist who needs to know and make sense of things....I think it's really time for me to sit back and go with the flow. Yeah, she'll be right mate!!
6. The Itch
Just as feces fascinate flies, Okinawa is already alluring me back. It’s only been a month, but that itch to train, escape the daily stresses here, and absorb the local goodness over there simply never fades.
Let’s do it all again soon!
