Meditation Part 6

"True life happens when little changes occur."

-Leo Tolstoy

"When you are grateful, fear dissapears and abundance appears."

-Tony Robbins

It's been awhile since I've posted anything on meditation, so I figured I would add another- a practice I have been doing quite recently.

Throughout my life I have had a lot of jobs; from dish washer to janitor, to today being a farmer for a little while between the kibbutz I was staying on, and now while WWOOFing.

This is a practice you can do pretty much while doing anything, but when doing something particularly repetitious, it will help the most.

Let's say I am washing dish after dish- with each dish I wash I keep a thought of gratitude in mind. For me it is often, 'I am thankful for this', but for someone religious, perhaps, 'Thank you God', is another way to look at it.

When I plant a seed, or the plant once it is grow, I think, 'I am grateful this will grow', and when I pull a weed, I fervantly think, 'May this help what I am doing'.

Perhaps at first you do not actually believe the very thought you are thinking. But as you think it more and more, the feeling of gratitude you are cultivating will grow. More importantly, you can attune this process to pretty much any mode of thought and attitude you deign. Perhaps it is confidance you would like to build, then think as you work, 'I am confidant this will work' or, 'With every task I do, I become better'.

What a lot of people do not keep in mind is that every thought we have matters- literally every single one. Any thought is a electrochemical passed from not only one neuron to another, but throughout the mind.

As you think something, your brain is re-wiring itself to make these thoughts not only able to be held for longer, but easier to make.

You can do similar exercises to also change how you think. Perhaps like me you had some pretty serious anger issues growing up. Whenever I felt myself starting to become angry over nothing, that rage that would cause me to hit a wall or item, or whatever was around me, I would stop and take note of that emotion. I would think even as a young teenager, 'This isn't me. This isn't who I want to be', and then would seek why I was acting this way- what caused me, what was the impetus. Was there even any at all?

In doing so it allowed me to become conscious of when that situation arose. And eventually whenever it happened I would attempt to think of something positive, and if that did not work, I would do something I know would calm me down- such as martial arts, or writing or reading.

Years later when I suffered from depression, this technique also helped. I don't get rage fits anymore, and I haven't suffered from depression in three years. I am grateful for that, but it took work. You have to start small, like placing the first brick for building any structure. Little by little, you will see what you do come to fruition.

This is the essence of meditation- changing who we are through how our minds work. We are reprogramming ourselves, and that is the wonderful thing about the mind- the more you contemplate and work mentally on something, the more efficient your brain becomes by forming neural connections to make that task easier.

"The more man meditates upon good thoughts, the better will be his world, and the world at large."

-Confuscious

Sword Of The Stranger - A Story Of Honor

"To believe in something and not to live it, is dishonest."

-Ghandi

Normally I wouldn't write about anime- don't get me wrong, practically every morning I wake up and listen to this audio on repeat as I work out, alongside it others;

To put it simply, yes I am an anime fanatic.

But my love of animation aside, I am writing about the movie Sword Of The Stranger. Fantastic movie; not only for its visuals and the amazingly well done fight scenes, but moreso its story of honor. But I won't go into the plot and risk spoiling it for you.

Here it is in full;

Honor.

It's such an important word to the martial artist, and one largely ignored these days. And even worse, many who claim to have it misunderstand what it is.

Honor is something which can only be seen tangibly in the actions of others. People have died in the past to preserve it, either their own, or another's.

Knighthood, Samurai, aristocracy throughout the ages; all have claimed ownership.

Yet honor is not some kind of systemization of conduct and moral codes to adhere to.

To put it simply honor is keeping true to yourself.

Cultures differ, and throughout the ages what has been honorable to one, such as suicide for a knight, to honorable in another, such as the Samurai. Even in certain religious circles, such as Jainism ritual suicide has been seen as honorable, where the same would be deplorable in western culture.

It's just a fact; what is honorable to one will not be to another.

And while many might agree on certain aspects concerning their beliefs on what they define as honorable, it is not always the case.

So this is why uniform codes, such as Bushido came to exist and be widely held, but it was still and always will be a very personal choice to follow such a code. No different than if you were to compose one for yourself.

Honor, to me, is to do what you believe is right. Whether guided by intuition, emotion, or logic, upholding one's sense of self, their duty in existance to be, is what determines the quality of their honor.

And honor is very complicated. Sometimes doing the right thing isn't honorable in terms of what society would uphold. Justice for example is associated with honor, yet at the same time 'justice' is as grounded in a motive for revenge and compensation as it is to right a wrong. And it is only the latter which is honestly honorable in a sense of rightness for a situation.

Let me give you an example; say somebody came into your home and attacked your family. It is honorable to defend your family and stop them. Some would even say you should kill that person.

Yet let us tweak the situation slightly; your family is evil, doing wrong (this is just a hypothetical to make a point) and this person is attacking them to stop what they are doing. Is it still honorable to defend a group of people who are doing wrong?

Some would say yes, some would say no. It will always depend on the context of the situation, and where you stand perspective-wise concerning it.

To put it succinctly, to carry honor is to carry a sense of what is right. And you are only honorable when you are upholding what you believe to be right.

Honor should be engrained in the martial artist; it is reserved humility, and we practice it everytime we bow or thank our teachers, but also those who are our peers. This is why the school I attended where every black belt was expected to be bowed to, from white belt to other black belts even higher ranked- it was a mark of respect and acknowledgement. It was little wonder then this school instilled great moral character in its students, through a myriad of different methods. This is just one example.

Honor is tantamount to respect, and without respecting what you believe in, and working your hardest, devoting yourself to fulfilling those beliefs in action when the opportunity occurs, one cannot say they are living honorably.

It is not so simple as right or wrong, a system of ethics. Morality and ethics changes from person to person, culture to culture, and even situation to situation.

So those who walk around claiming to have a code of honor but do not follow it do not have honor in my book. If it is a part of your system of belief and honor to not steal, yet you still steal, then you are without honor for you are not being true to yourself. It is a part of my system that if I am training with someone of lesser ability, experience or skill, I will not abuse being better. That I will work with them at their own level.

And of course I cannot always do that; one occasion comes to mind where I was sparring somebody where they just kept going more and more agressively, and if I did not do o as well I would become injured. I ended up having to actually go at my ability and kick them hard enough in the head to stun them to de-escalate. I would not say that was honorable- but it was necessary for me to avoid injury. In that instance I did not follow my code of ethics, and I acted dishonorably in my own eyes.

That is what is more important than conveying honor to others, but ensuring you carry that honor within yourself and feel that, that feeling is deserved.

That is what the story of the Sword Of The Stranger spoke to me, and why Nanashi is a great example of one with honor; we can be cold, but if we enjoy life, even the little things, and never forsake what we believe is right, then we can say with honest truth to ourselves we are living with honor.

It's up to you though to determine those things, and keep yourself in check to follow those principles. That is the meaning of honor- staying true to what you believe is right. It's something you will work on your entire life, but a life with honor is far better lived than one which isn't.

"A true martial artist in my book, is someone who is going to do the right thing and lead by example."

-Duane Lugwig.

"Honor is integrity tied to action."

Make Your Tools

"One does not need buildings, money, power, or status to practice the art of peace (Aikido/Martial Arts). Heaven is right where you are standing, and that is the place to train."

-Morihei Ueshiba

"Attachments... are the greatest impediments to spiritual growth."

-Thich Nhat Hanh

So as many of you may know, I have moved from the United States to the small country of Israel. While one of my bags is mostly comprised of martial arts equipment, this is all safety and targets. I could not bring my Kendo armor, and certainly could not any of my nunchuka, shinai, knives, or bokken. Let alone bo staves and the like. All that had to be left behind.

I've practiced Kendo on and off for over a decade now. If I recall correctly, it's going on twelve years, and I have no expectation to stop being in form concerning practicing it.

Today combing through about 200 pieces of wood I finally came across a piece that is about the weight of a shinai (quite light for a bokken) and is the approximate length of a wakizashi.

Now this is not a shinai by any means, but it can become a makeshift bokken. I intend to get some cloth and wrap the hilt in such a way to turn it into a legitimate piece of training equipment. And this is what the heart of my post is speaking about; sometimes you have to make do.

You may not have training weights when you go somewhere new, but you will always have rocks you can till the ground and find, which may be even better and more useful for strength training than what you had.

When you start over somewhere that by no means giving up who you are, and what it is that you do. It just means adjusting. So you don't have a heavy bag; find a tree that can become one. So I don't have a bokken, I will now make one so I can keep practicing.

I didn't have a mirror to watch how I did my techniques, all I could do was look at my shadow in the near-noon sun and see if the Head, Stomach or Wrist cuts I were doing were straight. My shadow became the mirror that so many of us become used to, and take advantage of in our schools.

Not going to lie, its apparently impossible to take a photo of yourself doing a technique while
staying in perfect posture and position. But, this is what I mean when saying use your shadow as a mirror.

But someday your school may close, someday you may move. What, you then give up all that you did and learned?

I certainly can't, so I'm going to make do. You should consider how you can do this if you had to. Resourcefulness is something I take pride in as a martial artist. We always find a means.

"Make do with what you have; it is all you need."

For my blog on my travels in Israel: http://ajourneyinisrael.blogspot.co.il/

One's Character

"If it is still in your mind, it is worth taking the risk."

-Paulo Coehlo

This post is going to be a little different. While it might not seem like it, this story is about struggle, it is about violence. It's about style, and it's about character. And perhaps those last two are what make martial arts the most worthwhile.

I will relate this story as best I can. I tried to look it up for someone who might have written it beautifully. Having been unable to do that, or at all actually, I suppose it's up to me to communicate it instead.

I find it inspiring, I hope you will too.



One day as part of his initiation into a gang a young man, no older than sixteen was part of a robbery that resulted in the death of another person. A young man who had just started college and was working part time.

At the day of his hearing in court he was sentenced to three years in prison in front of the man's monther. Sobbing, as he was taken away in handcuffs, she stood and shouted,

"I WILL kill you for taking my baby! I will KILL you!"

It was three weeks while in prison serving his time when that mother visited him. They would talk, she was always respectful, but always warm. She would bring him food, though when he asked for cigarettes he never got a one from her.

Over time she encouraged him to start reading, to enroll in the prison's education system. To complete his high school diploma.

When he turned 18 she encouraged him to apply for the prison work program- so he could have a job when he got out.

Finally the time came when he was to be released. He was 20, and the woman shocked him by offering him a place to stay with her as long as he worked and continued to strive for an education he could be proud of.

He stayed with her for awhile. Three months became six, and then finally a year. And then two years. He had been working steady in that time, and was saving to enroll into community college. They still spoke everyday.

One day the women called him into her study.

"Do you remember that day in the courtroom?" she asked, her hands hidden from view behind her desk. Her normal smiling demeanor was gone, and a very serious look was drawn across her face.

"Yes," he replied.

"And do you remember how I told you I would kill you?" she asked. 

His eyes widened with the realization,

"Yes." he said, barely audible as a whisper. She looked him up and down,

"Well I have. I have killed you." she responded. 

"What?" he asked, not comprehending.

"I. Killed. You." she repeated, and then paused before continuing.

"That person you were; a thug, someone who murdered my baby. Now, you have a dream, now you work, and help. Who you are now is not who you were then. That person is dead. I killed you." she repeated.

The young man started to cry. She stood from her desk, her hands until then hidden, were empty and open. And she embraced him in a hug, and together they cried.

"I'm sorry," he said, and she nodded, still holding him.

"I know." she answered.



Alchemy isn't real in the medieval sense, or even in the real outside of arranging electrons and protons within an tom, but it is real in taking something awful such as mercury or lead when a person's soul consists of such quality, and changing it into gold or diamonds.

I like to liken it to skipping rocks across water. We all start martial arts as a rough stone that only sinks, and never skims the water to move ahead. With practice and training, and the experience not unlike how water treats a stone smooths it until it can move ahead. That in a way is alchemy, the transmutation of something into another.

As a martial artist it is a good question to ask, could you be as strong as this woman and do as she did?

"The true alchemists do not turn lead into gold, they turn the world into words."

-William H. Gass

"Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure."

-Paulo Coehlo