WHAT HAPPENED IN JANUARY: JAN 29, THE YEAR OF THE DOG! Happy Lunar New Year! In Asia, people wish each other a “Happy New Spring” and young ones greet their elders with “Happy Birthday” and receive bright red packets of “lucky money”. That’s the only time we actually get money since we don’t have allowances! Lions (or, more accurately, unicorns) dance in the street, accompanied by clashing cymbals, and firecrackers announce the celebrations that would last a fortnight, their scarlet remains littering the sidewalks as the scent of powder waft through the air, mingled with incense. Businesses and schools are closed as people busily visit their relatives; foods await on tables where children gleefully play cards and flowering plants transform the main street into a blooming marketplace. It is the most joyful time of the year.

WHAT HAPPENED IN MARCH: KURASHITA HANSHI’S WEEK-LONG GASSHUKU, MAR 6-12: see following article.

ANNUAL FUND-RAISER FOR ST JUDE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, MAR 13-17: Thanks to your support and generosity, we have raised $1,500.00 this year. Among our top fund raisers are: Jerry Yoskowitz, silver medalist; Lillian Silver, Ian Pelse, and Gregg Scott, all bronze medalists. Thank you for your effort and your caring!

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN APRIL: OSHIRO SENSEI’S YAMANNI-RYU SEMINAR, APRIL 21-23:

Oshiro sensei will be at our dojo, Friday April 21, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., teaching traditional kumite and kicking techniques. Voluntary donation to this class is $40. Saturday, April 22, he will be training our Yamanni-ryu students from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., then will teach an RBKD Instructors-only session at 1:00 p.m. Sunday, April 23, will be our Yamanni-ryu seminar at Bloomfield Middle School from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; the seminar is open to practitioners of all ranks and from all styles, regardless of previous kobudo experience. The training fee is $100.

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KURASHITA SENSEI AT THE

ASIAN ARTS CENTER: OKINAWA COMES TO NEW JERSEY

by Tran sensei

The day (and week) I had been planning and waiting for is finally here: Kurashita Eiki Hanshi, 9^th dan, Director of the Goju-ryu Kokusai Karate Kobudo Renmei (Intl Federation of Goju-ryu karate & Kobudo) as well as Director of the Rengokai (Association of Okinawan Martial Arts) is coming to NJ.

SUNDAY, MARCH 5: I knew everything was going to turn out all right, but still things didn’t start without a hitch: Sensei’s flight from Chicago to Newark (he had a stopover from Japan to Chicago) was way delayed due to a snow storm. Instead of arriving at 9:20 p.m. as scheduled, his plane didn’t come in until 2:00 a.m. On top of that, the airline lost his luggage!! We even thought it was stolen because Sensei wasn’t even sure the guy he gave his luggage to to check in was a legitimate porter. But he was cheerful, and in full possession of his energy at this ungodly hour, in the now deserted Newark airport. He even looked rested, after a 17-hour flight and sitting on the tarmac for another six–let’s not forget he’s 64! When I asked him if he wanted to cancel the morning class (which would start barely 7 hours away), he refused and insisted on running things as planned. That’s leadership for you.

MONDAY, MARCH 6: ...So we both had 3 hours of sleep. I got Sensei some essentials of toiletries and clothing and went to pick him up at his hotel in Fairfield for breakfast at 9:00 a.m. Sensei is very mindful of what he eats and selects his menu very carefully. He tried the American fare and liked the bagels.

He admired the Caldwell/West Caldwell area as we drove over and thought the change of season was very delightful.

Gregg Scott, Jerry Yoskowitz, Alice Freund, Miro Musulin, Justin Howard, Michael Kolwicz, Chris Ilao, and Michelle Amoreno greeted us warmly as we entered the dojo; they would be the regulars of the morning sessions. They had taken off from work (or school) and made sure they took advantage of the morning classes. They were so excited to meet and greet Sensei and gasped when they learned of last night’s snafu.

Our training schedule with Sensei would be constant for the week: mornings from 10 a.m. to 12 noon; evening sessions from 7:30 to 9:15 p.m. Thursday March 9 would be left free so Sensei could enjoy a sightseeing trip to NY City. Saturday and Sunday we would train from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a one-hour lunch

break at 12:00. Sensei went over the warmups and basics, taught the katas and jo-chu-ge (three-step kumite) and established a routine which, over the course of the next few days, he would elaborate upon and go into deeper details. As the class familiarized itself with Sensei’s methods, he expanded on the stretching exercises as well as the standing basics.

In the evening, as Gregg took over the 6:00 p.m. Youth group for me, I went to pick up Sensei for the 7:30 session. The evening class filled up; everybody came to study with the President of the Federation. It was a heart-warming sight. In the beginning, before we started, Sensei had reservations as to the size of the class and wondered about the seminar, but he quickly came to appreciate the students’ eagerness, their hard work, their amiability and helpfulness. He especially marveled at the washing of the floor at the end of class, something which wasn’t done at his dojo in Okinawa.

TUESDAY, MARCH 6: The weather kept on improving. Temperatures crept over the 30s and into the 40s and Sensei fully enjoyed this early taste of spring. The sky was deep blue with no cloud in sight. I practiced my meager Japanese with Sensei every chance I got and he helped me obligingly. His English was very good as he’s quite fond of foreign languages.

At the dojo, Sensei kept reinforcing techniques and the students got into the groove of things: how to do the warm-ups and cool-downs properly, how to keep the spine erect for easier moving, bending the knees for better grounding, and using the tanden for more power. The most difficult part was how to move softly, quickly, explosively, and in one piece. Sensei’s operative word was “soft.”

This afternoon we had good news: Sensei’s luggage had been recovered by the airlineand it was being sent back from San Antonio, Texas (!), where it had taken a side trip of its own through Continental Airlines (Sensei’s was United. Go figure) Upon learning the news, Sensei was ecstatic. Apparently a man of deep spiritual convictions, he thanked God profusely and said he always knew God was watching everything and in control of all things. He said he was now happy and complete.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 8: As the weather kept improving, Sensei corrected us on the speed and rhythm of the katas, the counting, the techniques, and the steps. Things were falling into place and everybody was enjoying the lessons, especially the casualness and the many “tea breaks.” Sensei started to know the students better individually and even had his own mnemonic way of characterizing, and thus remembering, everybody: for instance, Gregg was “the photographer,” Mike Boasso was “the specialist” (Sensei thought that, because of his short legs, Mike was especially suited for Goju-ryu), Brooke was “the silent one,” Miro “the high school senior”, Chris “the college senior”and Jerry was...”chocolate mousse” (that’s Jerry’s translated name.) On a different occasion, Sensei mentioned to me how important names are in Okinawa, and how their significance can impact a person’s life and accomplishments.

Sensei got to wear his own gi and belt today (previously, he wore mine) and everybody got to admire the Federation’s patch up close: the main symbol, the Sakura (cherry blossom) with the words “Goju” in Kanji within its center, and Sensei’s dojo’s name beneath.

During a tea break’s casual moment, Sensei revealed his martial art history: he got a brief taste of Goju-ryu in the 5^th or 6^th grade under Meitaku Yagi but didn’t officially start until his senior year of High School (1959) when he enrolled in Seko Higa’s dojo. After the latter passed away in 1966, he continued training with Higa’s son, Sekichi. And when Sekichi Higa passed away in 1999, he moved on to Kyuna sensei (an old-timer who had trained with both Higas and Sekichi Toguchi; Kyuna sensei is titled Saiko Shihan, 10^th dan, and the technical advisor for the Federation.) Sensei also trained in the Mateyoshi style of weaponry and holds 8^th dan in this tradition.

THURSDAY, MARCH 9: Today was a break for Sensei (and everybody else got to go back for a full day’s work or school) as I took him for a sight-seeing tour of Manhattan. I had booked us on the Gray Line double-decker Hop-on Hop-off bus which would go around (in our case, downtown) from Times Square to Central Park and back; on the way, we hopped off at various stops to walk around and take in the sights, such as Ground Zero, Rockefeller Plaza, and Central Park, from which we walked 20 blocks to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was a breezy day but enjoyable; Sensei really loved the city and kept marveling at the mass of people and cars. Watching all the different pedestrians was like a fashion show, he told me. All in all, it was a very successful tour of New York, one that Sensei will remember for a long time. I’m certainly glad it all worked out well since I had been stressing over it ever since I bought the tickets!

FRIDAY, MARCH 10: Today was probably the warmest day of the week as temperatures soared into the 60s. Sensei concentrated more on the jo-chu-ge kumite exercises; after the regular drill, he added the block-counter moves, then the suri-ashi (sliding step). He made sure we were very careful about ma-ai (distance) as we punched and as we set ourselves to counter: not too close and not too far. Then Sensei introduced the double moves: jo-chu (high-middle) and chu-ge (middle-low) attacks with defenders blocking with the same arm (thus retreating on one attack and shifting away on the next, alternating between inside and outside defense). This caused havoc with the students’ coordination. He also introduced the kake uke ( blocks which double as strikes).

This evening we received the addition of two visitors from the Kodokan dojo in Cambridge, MA: sensei Fred Lohse and David Nauss. The Kodokan dojo was originally started by the legendary Kimo Wall who, as a Marine in the 60s, was stationed in Okinawa and joined Seiko Higa’s Shodokan dojo. Both Fred and David were fluent in Japanese and were very appreciative of my invitation.

SATURDAY, MARCH 11: Today was the official “seminar” open to outsiders but no one came (even though I had the assurance of many people outside our dojo that they would be here). So it was just our students and messieurs Lohse and Nauss who got the full benefit of Sensei’s undivided attention for the next 5 hours. Sensei checked our katas over and over and ran the jo-chu-ge kumite drills until everyone’s arms were deeply bruised (actually more so than during the week).

Every time before we’d start a drill, Sensei would demonstrate with me; this was also his way of teaching and testing me. Sometimes he’d move a little faster, to see if I could catch up and block in time, sometimes he’d punch a little harder to see if I could deflect his arm; but always was his ma-ai impeccable and his arms as painfully hard as steel. I joked to the class about the two sides of my bruises: the ones on top of my arms were from Sensei blocking me, and the bottom ones from me blocking him!

Michelle Amoreno was probably the bravest of all, training every single day with all the big guys and getting her arms battered and yet neither flinching nor complaining the least bit. Sensei was very impressed that the whole Amoreno family trained at the dojo.

SUNDAY, MARCH 12: Today was our last day with Sensei so we paid particular attention to all his corrections. Sensei never spared instruction, either individually or as a group; he showed us how to utilize body movement efficiently for powerful and fast punching; he demonstrated bunkai (applications) generously. We got our Federation katas all straightened out. It was more than I had hoped for. When it was time to bow out at 4:00 p.m., we gave Sensei a grateful and hearty applause and presented him with a finely framed group picture of the class as a souvenir.

MONDAY, MARCH 13: This morning Sensei returned home, back to Okinawa. It was without a hitch this time: his luggage didn’t get lost in transit. And he had enjoyed his stay in NJ so much that he wanted to return next year. As he himself put it, “It was a wonderful experience.” Now that’s a very good sign.

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WORDS TO LIVE BY:

“There is a sphere where there is neither earth nor water nor heat nor air, for it is beyond the field of matter; nor is it the sphere of infinite space, or consciousness, for it is beyond the field of mind. This is the Uncreated. It is without form and without change. It is the Eternal, which never originates and never passes away. To find it is the end of sorrow.”

The Buddha Speaks

“Beyond the body, beyond the sun and stars, past everything you see and yet somehow familiar, is an arc of golden light that stretches as you look into a great and shining circle. And all the circle fills with light before your eyes. The edges of the circle disappear, and what is in it is no longer contained at all. This is the vision of the Son of God, whom you know well.”

A Course in Miracles

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RECOMMENDED READING:

LOVE THYSELF The Message From Water III by Masaru Emoto, published by Hay House, Inc., 2006. This is the third in the Message From Water series (the English version) written by Masaru Emoto. This volume is practically a photo album of water crystals taken by Masaru Emoto’s crew after prayers have been sent to that particular body of water, often from long distance. Once polluted lakes, ponds, and rivers respond in a spectacular way and create resplendent crystals where, before, they were unable to show anything but black, broken molecules. Water is very much alive and shows us our fears or hopes; our role is to listen and learn and improve ourselves through love and thankfulness. A little gratitude goes a long way...