Unseen
(beyond familiar ground),
untextured
by the taint of "known",
unfettered
by mere mind's conceptions,
the ground beneath the unturned stone
lies
undefined
and is.

Drawing the Blinds

By Cliff Dean

Beliefs are filters
Through which we look
To see the world
From a tiny nook.

Stand back and look
To see what blinds
We've drawn across
Accepting minds.

My Sensei

by Ken King (originally sent to the Aikido-L mailing list)

The following is about respect and appreciation:

My Sensei cares about his practice
My Sensei cares about my practice
My Sensei cares about your practice

My Sensei is not perfect
My Sensei is "right" most the time

My Sensei puts me up against a brick wall
My Sensei puts puts me in the brick wall
My Sensei helps me over the brick wall
My Sensei puts up another brick wall

My Sensei believes in a good foundation
My Sensei is a great builder

My Sensei trains hard
My Sensei trains me hard
My Sensei is very soft

My Sensei knows what he wants
My Sensei expects me to know what he wants
My Sensei rarely gets what he wants
My Sensei works with what he gets

My Sensei scares me
My Sensei inspires me
My Sensei confuses me
My Sensei enlightens me

My Sensei - Thank you

A Year in a Dojo

adapted by Wynne from "Seasons of Love" from the musical Rent

525,600 minutes
525,000 journeys to live
525,600 minutes
How do you measure
Measure a year?

In ki tests?
In shikkyo
In taigi?
In shomen-uchi?
In waza?
In hanmi?
In kote-gaeshi?

525,600 minutes
How do you measure
A year in a dojo?

In bleachers?
In pool views?
In rolling?
In funakogi?
In bokken?
In shinai?
In tanto or jo?

525,600 minutes
525,000 lessons to teach
525,600 minutes
How do you measure a year
Of a sensei in Longmont?

In mirrors?
In showers?
In gradings?
In ginger compress?
In yellow?
In orange?
In over-the-top?

525,600 minutes
525,000 sword cuts to go
525,600 minutes
How do you measure
Measure a year?

In questions?
In misogi?
In bowing?
In sitting seiza?
In endless
Variations
Of folding hakama?

525,600 minutes
How do you measure
A year in a dojo?

In pizza?
In costumes?
In mummies?
In toilet paper?
In pot lucks?
In cheesecake?
In purses that hide?

525,600 minutes
525,000 students to meet
525,600 minutes
How do you measure a year
Of a sensei in Longmont?

It's time now to practice
For the learning never ends
Let's celebrate, remember a year
In the life of friends!

The Egg and I and O-Sensei

Shugenkai Colorado’s First New Year’s Misogi - 2003

It’s dark outside

Pitch black in the sky

As I head to misogi

With my swimsuit, towel and dogi

Wondering if I’ll laugh or freeze or cry.

Will anybody be there?

Are we crazy? Are we nuts?

If we listen to our spouses

Warm and cozy in our houses

Might we lose our good intentions, lose our guts?

Short on sleep

But long on will

Seven of us show up

Certain only that we’ll grow up

For we’ve got a year ahead of us to fill.

Got the truck keys

Got the cell phone

Whoops! the wallet’s locked inside

Drove on fumes and rode the tide

Sensei’s always got a trick he hasn’t shown.

Hidden in the stack

Of risers for the step class

Sensei made a dojo gift

Something heavy, fun to lift

How I wish he had run out of gas.

Our first New Year’s misogi

Iron jo, a thousand cuts

As we listen to the Motto

There’s no doubt we’ve lost the lotto

Once we start there are no ifs or ands or buts.

Gingerly we rise

Ready bars and send them up

With a universal spirit

If you listen you can hear it

Lift and drop, lift and drop, lift and drop.

Everyone will struggle

Isn’t that what Sensei said?

To unify mind and body

The ultimate purpose of my study . . .

This bar feels like a couple tons of lead.

Hope somebody’s counting

Sweat is running in my eye

Keeping up is nigh impossible

This could put me in the hospital!

And we finish with a joyous shout “Ki-ai!”

Help me lift the coffee pot

Help me pour it, feed me too!

Whole wheat brown sugar! – pass that here

That side of bacon sits awfully near

Why won’t my arms do what they used to do?

O-Sensei gave us this strange budo

Jones-Sensei gave us King-sensei so

King-Sensei could give us iron jo

That would make us learn how to go with the flow

And help all things develop and grow.

Happy New Year all!

– Wynne Palmer, 2003