Traditions

Sorry! No can let u see.

Aloha kakahiaka (Good morning in Hawaiian) all! Rainy morning in Hawaii, but that's OK, it keeps everything nice and green.  I woke up and lo and behold, what awaits me on the Internet?!? Yes, a photo of  our beloved Yokohama Dojo Instructor in a "seira fuku" (^^). Hmmm not exactly the best of ways to start off a morning! Gahahaha. I was tempted to place the photo on this blog.....but my "wiser" self prevailed. Just imagine if you will Tony in a mini-skirt (Sorry Tony, couldn't think of a better way to put it).

But on the other hand you New Yorkers are probably used to such sights. (><;) I recall seeing similar sights when I visited Broadway many moons ago.

Now this "seira fuku" thing is like a tradition among the adults at Yokohama Dojo. I cannot exactly recall how and when this "tradition" started. I believe it started at a birthday party the students threw for me one year. (^^). Two of the mommies decided to wear their daughters school outfits as part of the      festivities. It was rather impressive that they could fit into the uniforms without busting the zipper! All in good fun. Other Dojos have its own unique traditions as well. I'll leave that for another time.

There are naturally formal traditions as well. For Kimura Dojo it is the New Years Day practice. We gather at the local park (Negishi Shinrin Koen for Yokohama and Ala Moana Beach Park for Hawaii) and greet the first sunrise of the year with meditation and a good practice. At Yokohama we made a pot of hot oshiruko (sweet bean soup) and mochi (rice cakes) to eat after the practice. It is cold on New Years Day at Yokohama. The picture on Kimura Dojo Blog is one of the New Year Sessions.

In Hawaii, I greet the sunrise on the beach. Why "I" ? Fufufu. I'm the only one so far that has shown up.

Da Boss remains curled up underneath her blanket with Yuta. (^^) As a matter of fact, I don't recall her being at any of Yokohama's New Year Day practice????? Hmmmm. Oh well.

I think traditions are good to have for building esprit de corps. Formal and Non formal traditions are excellent methods of reinforcing our commitment to the activity we are involved.

Unfortunately, there are some traditions that go beyond good common sense and is just a tool for Senpais to "bully" Kohais. One of these is the abuse of the word "Osu". we all know that "Osu" is an expression used to show our commitment to hard training. That is all it means. I sometimes think that "Osu" is used too often and like anything else the "quality" of Osu diminishes. "Osu" is not to be used to accept irresponsible tasking and or acts of bullying. Sadly we see some of this in Japanese High School and college activities, not just limited to martial arts. Even more sad is to see the senior advisers to these activities allow it to continue as part of "tradition". Now that is really wrong.

There is another Yokohama Dojo tradition called "Hansei Kai" [Critique Session] 反省会which follows every Saturday night practice. For obvious reasons it is held at a location closest to the homes of the Senior members known as the "Sounenbu Toku Toku Sei Gundan" 壮年部特特生軍団. To be fair to the group, discussions are held with regard to Dojo activities and future plans and scheduling are duly made while consuming liberal amounts of sochu and beer. (^^)