…leave with memories not regrets…
I had a day off yesterday and decided to use some of the time to think about the last few months and the way in which lockdown has taken its toll on me, my life and my training. March seems so long ago now. The first few weeks were surreal and in a way underpinned … Continue reading It’s such a VUCA world now…
I haven't written anything in ages... actually that's not true. I've written loads, I've about 30 draft articles that were all started in good faith, just never finished. These past few months my life has drastically changed. Yes I know there are people going through all sorts of horrors that don't compare to "just" being … Continue reading Thank you
This is not going to be directly about Coronavirus... I've bloody well gone and done something stupid to my back. Yup I'm injured. This wasn't an immediate injury... it kind of started as a stiffness and then 2 days ago I started to make moaning noises when I bent over. Not good. I'm not sure … Continue reading A time to stop and think…
When all this started the first few days were basically a novelty. Because I spend most of my time with people I rarely get to work from home but when I do it's bliss. I mean I generally make it to the couch and that's me for the day, laptop on my knees, duvet and … Continue reading Finding new habits.
If one more person starts a conversation with the words "challenging" or "interesting" times I'm likely to spontaneously combust. I get it. Life is changing and so are the rules. So this won't be an article that talks about the dreaded zoonotic disease that fills every website and email subject. Instead I want to talk … Continue reading Sysiphean times
There was a figure that went around years ago that only 1 in every 10,000 people who started a martial art made it to black belt. It's certainly something my first instructor used to bang on about all the time. In fact, he would be at pains to point out that he had taught hundreds … Continue reading Black Belt Blues
So it's a week since I went to Finland for the gasshuku in Tyrnävä. I've never been that far north in my life and it once again, on a Friday, I was in an airport. Nothing makes me happier than to be heading somewhere, and with the end of the year looming it's a good … Continue reading More than a gasshuku report
I’ve experienced my greatest advancements as a result of living through times of significant pain. To be honest, most of the time I didn’t actually ask for this growth, I knew I needed it, but for the most part I was kinda happy for things to just “happen”, at least when I was younger. Underneath … Continue reading Time to grow…
Naminoue Beach Today is registration day, that means that over 1,000 people need to arrive to the Karate Kaiken and collect their individualised registration pack. I've been trying to stick to my training regime and so because we needed to be at the Kaiken at 09:00 I headed off for my morning run at 06:30. … Continue reading Day 2-Gishiki 2019-Registration day
I'm calling Sunday my first day in Okinawa, in truth a lot of us arrived on Saturday and despite getting to the dojo and training, the rest of the day was a blur. That welcome mix of not having slept for almost 2 days and the excitement of being back in my spiritual homeland. So … Continue reading Day 1-Gishiki 2019
