What's your excuse?

Friday Knight News

"Follow your bliss and don't be afraid, and doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be.” Joseph Campbell

I had a friend who wrestled and boxed in the navy, one winter he broke his back skiing. He was lucky and recovered and he was as still strong as an ox but he had to give up  boxing, wrestling and golf. I had another friend who also boxed in the navy but he gave up training and put on a lot of weight. He never found the will to live the lifestyle and each year he would come to the dojo for a few months until he would hurt himself over training. No matter how often people told him to ease back into it he always tried to go all out.

I've had other student's that lost body parts but they had been able to continue to train because they learned to work around their injuries. So when I hear my wife say, "You can't hurt steel," I am reminded of them. Although my wife uses this term to chide me when I insist on training despite a injury.  She does so out of love to remind me to be careful. I appreciate it because she does not ask the question; how stupid are you? I'm sure she already knows the answer to this question. She know how many times I've been injured from high falls, hit by cars, or fallen out of them, or been knocked off of them. She has heard the doctors say it must have been your training that saved your life, or you are lucky your not dead, or that should have killed you.

Sometimes there is a fine line that can be drawn in between having an indomitable spirit and being foolish. We need to know the signs to help us make our decisions. The trick is to learn to recognize where the line of demarcation rest.  As young warriors many of us martial artist can recall times where we were so tired, sore, battered and bruised that we had difficulty walking down the hallways at school, let alone going to the dojo.  I had always utilize my time between my 6 AM morning wake-up and my dojo time as a warm-up.  I needed the entire ten hours before my first of two per day martial art training sessions to loosen up.

There was no difference between the 4  o'clock class and the 7 o'clock class at our dojo except for the age of the participants.  The 4  o'clock class was geared to teenagers and the 7 o'clock class also included adults and college age students.  We always managed to soak our gi's punching , kicking and getting thrown. Eventually as the years passed I only trained in one two-hour session per day at the dojo that was coupled with my personal training at home.  Then after more years and injuries mostly from work at various jobs, I began teaching two classes a day plus private lessons I recognize the need to train around my injuries. Sometime this involved switching arts or specializing in certain areas. I had found that by working around sore muscles, and other setbacks I could not only maintain my skills I could even reach new plateaus at least in understanding.

Being able to achieve new plateaus or insights is increasingly more difficult as the years transpire as your exposure tends to color your world.  Also once we hit a certain age it becomes apparent that increasing physical performance turns into the law of diminishing returns.  Just as in the law of physics you find that after you have achieved a certain speed any extra energy added past it only returns a fractional increase.  This still does not dismiss the benefits of training. What I am advocating is paramount to a change in mindset so that we can rationally determine when we should fall back and regroup or walk it off, though it out, man up etc. The study of principles comes in handy for reaching new goals and insights.

Principle Based Warrior Arts by R. David Lawrence

At some point taking a sword to the grinding stone is no longer beneficial when putting an edge on is all that's needed.There are times when a sword may acquire a chip or nick in the blade that causes it to lose some of its aesthetically pleasing qualities. It is at this time most people decide if they are going to relegate the blade to an ornamental function retiring the blade from use but keeping it honed and polished to serve as an inspirational object. Occasionally even if the damage to the blade is severe enough that it limits the practical function of the weapon we still seek to use it due to an emotional attachment.  Keeping with the sword analogy; in  order to preserve the function of the katana it may need to be re-purpose it as a shorter blade such as a chisa katana or a wakizashi or even a tanto.

A Waitress reforged!

She followed her bliss and changed herself by doing yoga to help herself and others. Sometime injury or illness makes us change but usually it is more than just age alone to cause us to make these types decisions. No one likes the idea of people the out of shape black belt that has atrophied in every aspect of the art. It seems that more often than not diet and loss of health coupled with injuries are the primary culprit.  If a martial artist is able to maintain fitness despite injury then there is always a opportunity to re-purpose the blade even if its in a limited scope. Some of my favorite lessons of my youth were from the really old masters that couldn't jump, roll or spin any longer. However, they had kept up with training in what ever areas that were left to them. So no matter where you are in your journey just remember that you can't hurt steel as long as it receives the proper care and attention it deserves and doesn't rust.

My stories are about martial arts adventures that are intertwined with paranormal or supernatural events. The following links are to the Kindle version books from the "Dream Walker” series. Our adventurers find themselves on a quest where they are confronted with both conspiracy and mystery. Their challenge is to unite their mind and body skills together utilizing what they have learned in the martial arts with the transcendental power of dream mediation. They attempt to do this while they are trying to make a life for themselves and elude those that seek to use and control them.

Conversations with a Sage (Book 1 of the Dream-Walker)

Conversations with a Sage: This explores Xander Davidson's early encounters with the mysterious fog like Dream Walking martial art sages. He ponders if they are real or if they are only remnants of his dreams. He mainly keeps this secret world to himself as he tries to copes with abuse, growing up without support or guidance and the mystery of his family's past. 

Xander and the Assassins Gift (Book 2 of the Dream-Walker)

The Assassins Gift: Xander Davidson struggles with the conspiracy of his family and the group that is actively trying to manipulate him to join them or die. The young Dream Walkers learns an early lesson to be careful about whom they let into their circle.


Warriors of Perception (Book 3 of the Dream-Walker)

Warriors of Perception: Xander Davidson and his band of friends embark on a mission to free themselves from their oppressors. They bravely face the challenge all the while vying for the right moment to turn the tables.

Jace Lee The Shift (Book 4 of the Dream-Walker)

Jace Lee The Shift: We find a new apprentice, Adam, that is fighting for his life. He is struggling to understand the amazing skills of his mentor, Jace Lee; a younger man that has trained under Xander Davidson. All the while his mentor attempts to reconcile the fact that his skills do not match up with the other Dream Walkers.


Jace Lee No Agenda (Dream Walker Book 5)

Jace Lee No Agenda: Jace Lee attempts to find himself on a self-imposed vision quest of sorts. Instead he finds himself being stalked by the same group that had previously sought after his teacher, (Xander Davidson). Instead of mastering his odd Dream Walking skills he finds love and the potential loss of his powers.

Jace Lee and the Tutelage of Ming Wu: Dream Walker 6 

Jace Lee The Tutelage of Ming Wu: Jace Lee rejoins his teacher Xander Davidson as they cope with a possible combined threat (the mysterious), Ming Wu and the Council that has continuously monitored the Dream Walkers.