"The ultimate aim of the art of Karate lies not in victory or defeat, but in the perfection of the characters of its participants."
- Gichin Funakoshi
Two months ago when we met our master at Ananya, we had no idea that she would be our bellwether guiding us using her "empty hands". Karate as a form of personal strength and to gain extra control over oneself was one of the sole motivation.
It all began at our "Dojo" (school) at Ananya this summer when we were training with kids for the Sunfeast 10K and during one of our breakfast discussions the idea of "Karate" cropped in as a cross training from a photographer who was capturing us at the volleyball matches with the kids. Who knew that she would become our Sensei who would lead all of us into this odyssey which seems like a journey in progress now.
We asked her, "onegaishimasu Sensei", Please teach me/us and that is how it all began. Tuesdays and Saturdays after the run we all diligently went through classes and practiced extensively during the last two weeks.
Today as America celebrated its independence we headed towards the first step, the Yellow Belt and all of us came out in flying colors.
What are you waiting for? You're faster than this. Don't think you are, know you are. Come on. Stop trying to hit me and hit me.
--Morpheus, The Matrix
This is what was that was going through during the endurance tests in all our minds. Our Morpheous was Sensei Manjula under whom we've trained for the last two months. We could hear her chip in when we were about to give up during the endurance training and it was then that she occurred to us like Morpheous.
Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle. In short, enter a mold without being caged in it. Obey the principle without being bound by it. LEARN, MASTER AND ACHIEVE!!!
-- Bruce Lee
This just a baby step that we all have taken and I'm sure there is a long way to go as Team Asha and Team Ananya. We have more kids taking active part with Karate and Tuesday from now on we will be doing Karate exclusively. Of course Saturdays after the run we will continue with it as well.
Aregato to Sensei Manjula, Sensei Rani and my training mates Vinodh, Narmada and Banna !
Thanks to George, Suman and Shivamma for a wonderful breakfast and lunch. Ananya is more than a home to all of us.
I'll finally end it with an anonymous quote below:
“I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times”
(Pic Courtesy: Sensei Manjula)
No comments:
Post a Comment