Wednesday, November 07, 2007

My Karate Journey (final)

It’s been 4 years now since I stopped teaching and training, and not a day goes by without me thinking about it. Karate has been a part of my life for over 20 years, but I never let it be my life. It was a complement, not a whole. I existed outside the dojo; I was “Stinkypaw” before being “Sensei Stinkypaw”, but both were me.

I truly believe that it brought me a lot physically, mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. It made me stronger in so many different ways. For that I will always be thankful. I’ve learned many things, some I could only explain as “the mysteries of karate”, some were rough lessons, but I did learn. I was also lucky enough to meet amazing teachers, one in particular who truly is a blessing. Because of him I kept going for as long as I could, but it got to a point where I couldn’t endure anymore. I have the utmost respect for this master who contributed so much to martial arts. He is what a true master should be. I feel blessed to have had the chance to meet him and to train with him. That encounter was priceless and it allowed me to see that there are, still, some passionate teachers who do want to pass on their knowledge, and not only collect money.

Through my years of training I’ve met great people, and I’ve also met some real creeps. For that as well I’ll always be thankful, because without those people I wouldn’t have known what protecting my integrity meant. Overall, I had good teachers. They taught me well… and some lessons could not be learnt in a book, nor on a dojo floor, but only in life.

There are no bad teachers. Only poor students who are not willing to learn…

There is so much more I could write about, but after five parts, it will be enough. Now that I’ve written about karate, I won’t refrain myself to post funny anecdotes that occurred in class. When I started blogging I didn’t want it to be about karate. It was for all the other things in my life what makes me Stinkypaw… does that make sense?

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing your story. Do you find that your blog has sort of taken on a life of its own? Mine started as a way to let folks know about the progress of our move from Louisiana to Florida. Now I have new friends in Wisconsin and Canada and England who know way more about me and my life than I'll bet they want to know. Kinda cool, actually.
:-)

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing Stinky. It sounds like you have had many interesting adventures. So- do you and your husband spar at home?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing your tales. They're so interesting and timely as I've almost literally just started to learn Karate at this "ancient" age.
I look forward to learning more through you.

Anonymous said...

yep :)

lizgwiz said...

Thanks for the trip into a world I knew NOTHING about.

Anonymous said...

Yes, thank you for sharing! Is your husband still involved with karate?

PreppyGirl said...

Hey, you can include Karate on your lame list.

Just kidding or course!

Pendullum said...

Thank you for sharing in a world that i knew nothing about...

stinkypaw said...

marius: It is cool, that something so "faceless" can become such a presence in our lives. Cyber- friendships do happen.

monkey: It was an interesting trip, I don't regret one moment of it all. And yes, at times, we do throw in a few punches/kicks, but a lot less since Hubby's hid replacement, 3 years ago.

pawpads: Welcome to my world! Never too old for a good thing! ;-)

wreckless: :-D

lizgwiz: My pleasure!

lara: Not much since his hip replacement, he's not allowed to kick, so half the fun is gone!

pg: Very funny! Ha!

pendullum: Fancy seeing you here! Thanks for the visit, and glad you enjoyed my "experience".