Studying with Ohno Sensei in Seattle

I had never been to Seattle until I was invited by Ohno Sensei. Seattle was a nice place, different from Columbus, Ga. I guess what makes Seattle so special for me is that she lives there.

I spent three weeks there being trained by her. It was very fantastic!

She taught me how to dance Japanese traditional dance, singing and playing the Shamisen.Each sesion begain and ended in a bow.

Her energy level was never ending and I was so tired at the end of each day.

To help compensate her for all the lessons, I helped her repair thing around her house, painting, and some gardening. We cooked lunch together and had some good discussions. Sensei always either picked me up and dropped me off, or made sure another student would do for me.

The two weeks ended and it was time for me to go. I felt sad that I could not do all the things we had been doing together, but at least I was able to do that much. Thanks to her I was able to advance in many ways. Not only learning more technique but how to be a better sensei. Thank you Sensei!! Iro Iro Oshite Itadaite, Doumo Arigatou Goziamashita!

Quitting the Dojo

After you have been training at a Dojo and you decide you want to quit for some reason , there are two ways to do this , the graceful and dignified way and the ungraceful and undignified way. Here are some examples of the graceful and dignified way to quit:

No. 1 Go to the Dojo tell your Sensei why you want to quit , then thank him for training you.

Now here are some examples of the ungraceful and undignified way.

No. 1 Quit dont come to the Dojo and do not say a word about it to your sensei .
No. 2 Call your Sensei on the phone and quit.
No. 3 Tell one of your Dojo coeds to let the sensei know you are quiting.
No. 4 Quit by email

The way you quit a Dojo says alot about your character, so if you have learned any thing from me please let it be this one!

黒帯び Kuro Obi (Black Belt)

I remember when my Sensei awarded me a Black Belt. I was very suprised because I thought to receive it would mean I was a great fighter with powerful skills. So I was kind of in a shock because I knew I did not have great skills and had no powerful skills! It was a joke? Guess not because the next week I was wearing a black belt. Wow!
The reason why is that in Japan, a black belt is a basic mark of distinction of a member of the Dojo that has developed enough basic skill that will allow him to get into deeper training, and it is this deeper training that is necessary to have in order to be a powerful fighter.

Here in the USA, the Black Belt seems to reflect that you are a very powerful fighter with the highest standard of fighting skills. While that may be so at other Dojos, here at my Dojo, the black belt means the same as it did in Japan, not much significance. After you receive your black belt here, deeper training starts. In my experience training people, most of them are very eager to train hard under any circumstance, then shortly after receiving there black belt , they quit.
After training folks around here for 18 years, I have only a handful of Black Belts that are still working on being that Black Belt that everyone wants to be.
So if you have received a Black belt from this Dojo and you quit after that , don't be telling every one that you are a Black Belt in Jujutsu like it holds a lot of merit. The truth is you were just a beginner.
Further more, one's training never ends. You must keep being involved , keep up your skills and further shape your spirit and character. Oh , I forgot , I have told some black belts not to come back , the reason ? Because I could not see improvement in their character. Instead of becoming better and better, they let themselves go, and got worse. You have to have superior physical technique but also become a more disciplined and principled person.

Sometimes I meet people who have studied Martial arts. When I asked them about their experience, they say that , 'Oh yea, I got a Black Belt in Karate.' I ask them if they still practice, most all of them have replied, NO! I feel that if you are not practicing or participating in some way, you are not a Black Belt much less a powerful fighter!

My next article," How to properly dismiss oneself from training".

Year End Dojo Cleaning

Your last class of the year has come and the new year is right around the corner. In our Dojo back in Japan I was asked to come and help clean up the Dojo to prepare it for the next year,I gladly accepted.

When I got to the Dojo there were students from other classes that I had not met before. It was nice meeting other students, some with same goals and others with different goals, yet we all had goals to fufill.

We begain with our seniors pointing out and directing us what to do.Some wiped down the weapon others cleaned the shelfs, windows, certificates hanging on the wall, Kami Dana, and floor.

When we were finished, we put up the equiptment , we had finished the final clean up of the year.

About that time Sato Sensei came into the Dojo, with him he had an dusty case of Kirin beer. He indicated to me that it was the Summer gift I had given him this year. He looked happy to see my surprised expression on learning that! Then Sensei offered us all a beer. We all took a beer and had a Kompai(cheers!) with Sensei, and we begain drinking the beer and talking about many things.
 Now the Dojo was finally clean and ready for the classes for next year.Our spirit for training activated for the next round of training.

AARUGHA or OOH-RAH ! Marines Spirited War Cry

The OOH-RAH , the spirited USA Marine war cry is used as a sign of enthusiasm and uplifting one self.

The origins, I read , come from the World War Two submarine diving Klaxon which made the sound AARUGHA just before if dove under the sea.

I have heard this OOH-RAH many times from one of my students who was once a marine. While attending my class,and after hearing me lecture, tell a story,or say something up lifting , the student would often say OOH-RAH in a low tone, as if to some be in agreemeant with what I said , or something like that. I guess the student felt inspired or moved.

Any way, for some reason, the student stopped coming to the class, and did not bother to let me know. I called the student ,but my call was not returned. I could not stop thinking why, after all the OOH-RAHS that I had heard from the student, I felt something was not right, so I called again , this time I succeeded.
I asked what was going on? Is something wrong?The student told me that there was not anything wrong and just wanted to take sometime off. I said O.K, but still I felt a little HOT and COLD about his attitude.
I have been teaching 17 years and when a student quits, they do not return.

Just with all the OOH-RAHing, and everything, I felt it to be very shallow in the end not to have enough OOH-RAH to let me know face to face that you were not going to be around OOH-RAHing for a while.
So what did all of the OOH-RAHing mean? If you really felt the way I do, and you agree with what I was saying, then why can't you apply the things I taught you that you OOH-RAHed about?
Do not talk the talk if you can not walk the walk!

先生 Sensei

After I got permission to teach martial arts from my Sensei, I came back to my home town and opened a Dojo and began teaching. The students would ask me what they could call me. Some of them would ask me, shall we call you Sensei? , I could not accept being called Sensei, so  I would tell them please call me Duke or Mr. Meade. Even though I had permission to teach, I felt that the word Sensei was too  precious a title to be calling someone who does not have much teaching experience , as well as other character that comes with that title.

In Japan, when saying someone's name, you must put San at the end of it to show politeness, but when you put Sensei after someones name , you are indicating lots of respect, because only the most respected people are called Sensei. Lots of responsibility comes with that title!

Only now, after 17 years of teaching , Humbly,  I can accept  being called Sensei.

Every thing is Kata 形

 When I begain learning Taichi, my Sensei would show me the form and then ask me to repeat it.I would try , but it was difficult to do. My legs would wobble from the pressure of trying to keep low and I would loose my balance and stumble. So at first it was very difficult to do, but more and more I could become to get it.
Learning the next form was a little easier then the first. This type of learning went on and on until I could do the entire routine by myself.
That was a mile stone I thought! I went from not being able to copy the movement well , until being able to complete the routine til the end .
Well I was not finished, I had just begun. The more I did the routine , the better the routine got to looking better and better. This is called polishing ones self. There is no seperation of Kata and self. You are the Kata.The more you try to make the Kata better, the better you become! The better the Kata the better you.

One of the most important things in learning Bujutsu is to try to make the Kata as perfect as you can, then you will have developed not only good Kata but through your  hard efforts you will develope a power to make anything perfect. And this ability can be applied to every aspect of your life. Your marriage, occupation, school, friends,hobbies, children, every thing is Kata.