When I first moved into my current home, the fence, garage, and house itself, had probably suffered more damage than a boxer’s brain. Beyond this eyesore, I could immediately see the potential for my future home dojo and a nice timber fence full of lush greenery surrounding it. Day by day I’d be slowly working away on it – the dojo initially, before touching the battered fence, and finally the house itself (Yep – getting those priorities right).
Moving forward several months, the existing window in the dojo had been cut out and replaced with a much larger one, the garage door too with a sliding one, and the uneven and cracked concrete floors covered up with nice bouncy blue mats. I was pleased with the end result having either upcycled or reused unwanted leftover bits and pieces from friends and the community.
So dojo done… now onto the fence…or what I thought would be the start of installing a new one, ended up on hold, and opted to work on the busted up driveway instead. This was totally demolished and replaced with timber sleepers with a nice path leading directly to the dojo. The work involved with picking up every single chunk of concrete you see in the photo was tough work, yet so physically and mentally satisfying at the same time. When your mind and body is occupied with only one task, you don’t have the option to think about much else…something that suits me perfectly.
Finally we come to the fence….sorry, but there’s nothing exciting to share here, old lead laced painted fence torn down, and a cheap and simple timber paling version put up 😊 Over the next few months I planted whatever cuttings of succulents and easy to grow plants I could find at my mum’s place and simply shoved them in the soil on the edge of the newly laid path and watched them grow. Things quickly bloomed, and a tiny garden really started to take shape.
Fast forward a year, and the blue mats were now replaced with floating floors that some guy down the road was throwing out. A few years after that, new neighbours moved in, renovations began, and only several months ago, my beautiful lush fence which included a custom made beer shelf and mini garden that I had spent so much time and love on, was just torn down without notice. The temporary fence installed by the builders had destroyed most of the plants, and sadly, my dog’s favourite peeing spot. Not upset or angry at the whole ordeal, I knew it was only a matter of time before I could recommence the process of planting and painting again.
So what’s this all got to do with karate you ask? Not much actually........well there was a moment of self-reflection whilst painting the newly built wall where karate related thoughts started popping in my head. I’m certain that each and every one of us have had moments in our karate training where we thought to ourselves, yeah, I’m half-decent at what I do or yeah I seriously kick ass at that crescent kick in suparinpei.... However true it may be, just like a fence or garden which I once thought was flawless, can without warning, be removed and replaced with something totally different or unexpected. Karate and Kobudo itself I believe does not continually evolve, but our understanding of it does. The more we do the more we understand, and overtime, we can hopefully recognise and appreciate it in different ways. Has your understanding and appreciation of karate changed over time?
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