Asking Questions
Sometimes, at the end of class when I ask for questions, nobody raises their hand. I take this opportunity to remind everyone of the importance of asking questions and say, “There is no such thing as a dumb question, only dumb people who don’t ask enough questions.” If you hear this, please take it personally. No, I’m not calling you dumb, but you should be asking questions! Ask me, ask
Letting go and learning
One of my favorite zen stories is A Cup of Tea in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones:Nan-in, a Japanese master during the Meiji era (1868-1912), received a university professor who came to inquire about Zen. Nan-in served tea. He poured his visitor's cup full, and then kept on pouring. The professor watched the overflow until he no longer could restrain himself. "It is overfull. No more will go in!" "Like this
Grounding Yourself During Turbulent Times
This article was written by one of our senior students, Chaya Silberstein, for QuantumTouch.com after spending some time with our kids at summer camp. It’s a great article about grounding and being your highest self during difficult times. I was hanging out with some children today, and one of them, a boy, age 8, had made ninja stars out of origami. We were taking turns tossing our stars through openings in
WHAT IS ART?
I get asked a question from time to time in kids class classes and I think the dojo's adults should ask too (don't you get tired of feeling like you're supposed to know everything because you're old?): What does Martial Arts mean? Defining "Martial" and "Art" I always start by explaining the word “martial” because it's pretty simple. It this context it means “fighting”. So, Martial Arts is the Art of Fighting.
Lessons from Retreat
Flowing Instead of Forcing This year’s Kung Fu retreat was all about flowing with energy rather than fighting against it. I had a few opportunities to practice and learn about this myself. On Friday night we did the drill we usually start with, a flow drill. This whole idea is to flow into and out of techniques. It’s a great opportunity to learn how to feel our partner’s energy and get out
