Training with Sickness or Injury.

Soke often councils to train even when injured. The logic in this is clear. You may be forced to deal with a mortal threat when you are injured; you may have to perform when you are not at your best. What may not be so clearly defined is how you deal with sickness. Obviously, the polite budoka will refrain from training in the dojo when his presence may infect others with an illness. But, what should you do regarding strength and endurance training, rutai undo, or your personal budo studies? 

Recently, I fell ill and was confronted with a training dilemma. Should I maintain a consistent training regimen or should I rest and wait out a minor illness?  I think it’s more important to maintain consistency. Generally, if you can maintain a behavior for two weeks it becomes ingrained as a habit. Therefore, consistency and desirable habit formation are keys to long term success. Minor illnesses, a flu, cough, or sore throat should not constitute a sufficient impediment to interfere with the momentum built in daily practice. The warrior’s path is challenging and demands the pursuit of excellence. Dedication demands consistent effort. Soke says, “The repetition of daily training leads to the way of a great warrior.” 

In my own life, I have found that when I think I cannot, I discover that I can. Often, training will make one feel better when ill. Often, training will speed a recovery. However, judgement must be exercised and one would be ill advised to train when struggling with a serious illness. Recently, I struggled with a persistent cough and I waged an internal battle over wether to push myself physically. Thoughts immediately arose, whispering that I was too tired, that I would make myself worse, that I should just rest for one more day. I chose to go on my routine endurance run and discovered that I was stronger than I thought and even felt better during my run and suffered no ill effects afterward. Life will always present you with a multitude of reasons as to why you can’t. But, you have the ability to choose. You must decide, are the ends worth the means? If the answer for you is yes, then conquer the obstacles of the moment. You need only defeat the dragon in the moment, the immediate is all you need control. Bufu Ikkan.       

The above painting is by Soke Masaaki Hatsumi "Bushin wa wo motte tootoshi to nasu" (The martial heart holds harmony sacred) 

"Hatsumi Soke always says that one must not act for 'personal reasons' or 'based on one's own thoughts'. The next important thing is the 'heart of persistent training". The essence of the martial arts is to have no "openings'. Thorough the training, one learns how to eliminate one's physical and mental vulnerabilities. However, human immaturity means that over the long period of training, uninvited thoughts and selfish ideas creep in. Finally, there is the important 'heart of endurance'. The natural world is blessed with seasons: nature does not give us any flowers or fruit until the right time has come. Nature also changes - it is not always fine weather. Walking a stony path is the destiny of anyone who trains."

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Modern Budo--One Mind, Any Weapon

Curtesy of Jack Hoban.

Oni-Kudaki "Demon Crusher"

Was browsing Stephen K. Hayes' web site and ran across this interesting use of oni-kudaki. Enjoy.

Memorial Day

Today has been set aside as a time of reflection. Many of us will fill this day with activities involving family, friends, the back yard grill, and maybe a parade. Surely, these are all good things. Indeed, those who we commemorate on this day died so that we may enjoy this day and every other under the banner of a free republic. There are those that remain on the battlements and guard us in the dark night against the predations of wicked men. Civilized society is insulated from the brutality of evil men and the ravenous appetites of despots. But they are there, prowling on the other side of civilized society's keep, ready to burn, pillage, and do murder. Soft men in tailored suits, ensconced in the delicacies of urban society have been bred to effete manners and assume that the role of the warrior is obsolete because they live within a sterile cocoon, blind and ignorant like hatchlings given their sustenance and defended. Left to themselves, they would go blundering from safety and be rent into bloody shreds, amid their meager flapping and piteous shrieks. Today we must remember the naked reality that evil will run wild if left unpunished by warriors and that noble men have gone before to man the wall against the barbarians and have died for their brothers-in-arms, for their wives and children, for their countrymen, for the golden dream of a free republic. We owe them the homage of our thoughts and our respect. We owe them the honor of fame and the glory of monument. Let the insipid metro-man give place. Let us honor the noble warrior today and shower their memory with the laurels of our deepest gratitude.


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Osama isn't Barack Hussein Obama's trophy kill

The death of Osama Bin Laden has ignited an orgy of self-congratulatory bloviation from the left. This orgasm of adulation is jarringly strange coming from the anti-war, anti-military left. It seems that even Joy Behar has been caught up in the breathless Obama worship, remarking that the 2012 elections should be cancelled. Barack Hussein Obama’s statement regarding Bin Laden’s death contained at least 10 references to the personal pronouns “I” or “me.” Amidst all the democrat back-slapping, I’m reminded of Harry Ried’s infamous statement, “this war is lost.” Barack Hussein Obama and the democrat party opposed the prosecution of the war on terror and subverted efforts to bring Bin Laden to justice. Interestingly, Gitmo detainee and waterboard subject Kahlid Shaikh Mohammed provided key information which led directly to the death of Bin Laden. Gitmo, water boarding, and rendition were all tools utilized by the Bush administration, receiving withering criticism from Obama and the democrat party.

Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) is located in Cuba and is staffed by approximately 9000 U.S. Marines and sailors. The Guantanamo Bay area was offered to the U.S. Government as a perpetual lease in 1903 by Tomas Estrada Palma, who became Cuba’s first president. Gitmo’s current significance is associated with prison facilities located within the naval base. Within Gitmo’s state-of-the-art detention facilities are some of 9/11’s most notorious war criminals. The democrat party characterizes Gitmo as part of a complex of “secret” prisons in which, it is supposed, political prisoners are secreted, interrogated, or tortured. Oddly, Gitmo is notorious and hardly secret. The monolithic media are allowed regular access to the facility and have documented the impeccable nature of the detention facility and permissive accommodations that detainee’s enjoy regarding religious practice, exercise, and access to every modern convenience. Despite statements from B. Hussein Obama that he would immediately close Gitmo, Obama has continued the Bush policy of continuing to use Gitmo to house terrorism war criminals.

The practice of waterboarding was met with howls of protest from the left. Waterboarding is an enhanced interrogation technique in which the subject experiences simulated drowning. The technique results in no lasting physical or psychological injury. And, a physician is always present during the administration of the technique. Despite the benign nature of the technique and the overwhelming national security interest extant, B. Hussein Obama instructed his Department of Justice to investigate CIA interrogators for alleged criminal violations. The Obama administration attempted to classify the practice of waterboarding as a crime. However, Obama’s leftist witch hunt was thwarted by the thorough legal vetting conducted by the Bush administration. Information acquired through the use of waterboarding led directly to the death of Osama Bin Laden, which B. Hussein Obama directly authorized. Following his logic, Obama authorized the death of a foreign national based on information obtained by illegal means. So much for remaining true to the sacred principals that make our nation so respected in the international arena.

Obama has also been an outspoken opponent of the practice of rendition. Rendition involves the abduction and incarceration of terrorism suspects. It seems that Obama has lost his enlightened disdain for this practice. Since Barack Hussein Obama personally authorized the death of Osama Bin Laden, I assume his liberal sensibilities would not be offended by merely perpetrating an abduction.

In the end, the death of Osama Bin Laden is the inevitable result of Bush administration policies. Obama is merely a poacher. Obama presides over the worst economy since the great depression. Unemployment remains at staggering levels. Obamacare is a disaster. Obama’s Marxist policies have wrought catastrophic damage. Bin Laden’s death doesn’t change any of this. Bush led this country through the dark day of 9/11, provided principled leadership, and inspired the nation to act. Who will ever forget his 9/11 bullhorn speech: “I can hear you, the rest of the world hears you. And, the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon.”