Last week we were invited to participate in Karate Day 2020, an event held in Okinawa annually, but due to COVID restrictions, was turned into an online event. (For more pictures and info you can view our facebook page). Anyway, this is not a writing about the event, but more the mystical powers we apparently gave off (thankyou Cobra Kai) and what occurred afterward. Since being aired online, we were immediately contacted on the same day by other organisations / corporations / groups (can you think of any other word) to join their federation of 'Awesomeness' and or whatever it is they were trying to promote. I'm not against any I'm-So-Awesome-Society where there are over 100 other clubs who belong to it, I'm certain there are nice people who belong to such groups, but is there really a need? 'Perks' included partaking in Australian seminars with other members for when 'famous' sensei (oops, I meant Kyoshi, Hanshi, Sushi) come out, another perk included discounts to such and such services, and finally, we could have even be certified at lah di dah and get qualified. Never thought I could laugh, cry and cringe at the same time, but anything is possible these days .....OK that was case number one.
The following day, we received a phone call from someone who wished to be cross graded by us. Ummm, sorry - huh? Is this a joke? Cmon, you gotta be kidding?? Nope - they were as serious as a double dose of pancreatic and prostate cancer. Different style, never met you, we don't grade people from outside our dojo......but that didn't matter to Mr I Wanna Cross Grade. No, we don't want your money.... Felt like I was on the other end of the line to a telemarketer.
What other surprises can we expect in the coming weeks, months, or years from now by simply being out there on the net? All this extra baggage makes me wonder what our sensei over in Okinawa have to deal with on a regular basis. The randoms that they encounter must be excruciating to deal with, yet at the same time, I'm sure they have the patience to do so. Then again, they are most likely desensitised to such lunacy and are 10th Dan Masters in this rare art. Whatever happened to simply just training?
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