Part of my legacy may be my grandson Gabrielito. He is six and some odd months, pushing seven, on the rocket pad yearning to be launched into seven and beyond. The world is still a wonderous palce in his child's eyes. He looks, laughs, and marvels at what is arround him...the possibilities of the yet to be explored. When he is with me, he knows he can get away with what he cannot with his parents. I remain his Saba, the one who is there as his sole grandfather, a sort of pillar of reliability in his child's work. I will let have the chocolate, the ice cream, the goodies that are otherwise restricted. He can tease me, joke with me, wrestle with me, cuddle up to me, hug me when he is sad or overjoyed, when words can't express his emotions, and he knows I will understand. He can talk with me about his jous when I take him to share judo, or to the snake farm and have a baby Ball Python cuddle in his hands, or when I get him different fossils and he revels in talking to me for hours about them. He take me to my computer to explore with him the creatures of the deep, air, and land on U-tube, and the videos he finds so funny. He knows that I love and accept him unconditionally. I also know that he does so me.

I posted this but wanted to include this as part of my blog. Being a member of this forum, I have come in contact with amazing people. They have been most willing to share of themselves and help out others with their personal goals. A certain ascetic beauty underlay the discerned love of their helping others. Perhaps this is one criterion of success in judo. The more you help another to succeed, the more you experience success. It is also an act of becoming through constant redefinition. So for myself, It is more comfortable and easier to describe what I’m doing rather than I’m becoming. I am doing judo, I am experiencing, and interacting with you and others, I am doing life with all its mysteries and fascinations. If I attempt to capture the becoming, I find myself engaging in similes…like this person or the other. During the early sixties, I had the privilege of also learning from Mifune sensei at Kodokan. He admired people who lived honestly, courageously, justly, wisely, moderately and generously. He also admired people who valued and practiced good and enduring friendships, family, love, kindness, humility and decency. I once said that I wished I could become like him. He smiled and said “Become like yourself.” Ah yes the simile, but with yourself in mind. Master the simile and you progress to the metaphor, “become yourself.” Another mentor during my residency with her, Dr. Kübler-Ross also expressed similar sentiments to me as had Mifune sensei. I must say that I constantly find myself falling short according to my own common yardstick in all of these virtues at one time or another. This for me becomes the dividing line between the statements, “be yourself,” at the moment in time and the ever ongoing “Become yourself.” Perhaps one may also discern an encouraging lesson from the difficulties of developing the ever-changing personal common-yardstick accompanying, “Become yourself,” and the struggle to emancipate one’s self from others’ standards of measurement. So in judo, as in all forms of life, daughters, sons, students and other separate and continue the journey of the never-ending becoming.

Some people believe that excelling in judo leads directly to an excellent life overall, and to success. Others act as though popularity in the sport and virtue are one and the same thing. This may be for some, and not so for others. I personally look at it as mystery since I walk only in my sandals. Yet I also wonder about posts that speak in terms of producing champions, what seems competing against themselves, or not enjoying where they are, not being, among other things. In judo and other arenas, a problem seems that we may perceive success by the way we look at ourselves, sometimes with a fatalistic, and self prophesying lack of hope of becoming no more than we currently are. So for me, if I see my short-comings in virtues. I may have not have incorporated all as the ethics of my authenticity from mentors like Mifune sensei, or Dr. Kübler-Ross, but I maintain a hope and belief of ever becoming in my deepest identity, which will be finally forged in my communion with, and caring for others. My success is the journey, and realizing that when I stop to take personal stock, it is only a moment in progressing time. For those who feel stuck in the now, I would recommend that you bask in it and know to have faith in yourself, and not to fear a future that may lead you down unknown paths where your eyes may not now currently see.

Thank you all for being my teachers.

Stan

I came across this:

"Kano’s view was that success in contest (shiai3) was simply a by-product of training, never the point of it [7]. As an example, Minoru Mochizuki began judo in 1912 aged just 5. Later he studied directly under Kano and also Kyuzo Mifune, the notable 10th Dan. At 19 Mochizuki joined the Kodokan and in less than two years he was promoted to sandan (3rd Dan) - then an outstanding achievement aged just 21. At this point Kano told him "You have the makings of a leader.... in the future you will be a top teacher here at the Kodokan”.
Kano asked Mochizuki to report to him once a month concerning his training progress and to guide him concerning the true purpose of judo and the pitfalls of sports. This led to a series of meetings at which the philosophically oriented Kano attempted to stimulate the mind of the young Mochizuki who, at that time, could only think of winning tournaments.
As a direct student of Kano, Mochizuki Sensei, aged then just 23, made his own perceptive observation in 1930, still apt today:
One situation leading to delinquency involves a young person dropping out of his group of friends on a sports team. Some coaches are only interested in training team members in the question of winning and losing. They pay no attention to those who drop out because they are only interested in winning. In sports there is no place for the weaker or the less competent. Personally, I would rather see various sports transformed into Martial Arts, so that they become more concerned with spiritual development and the prevention of bad behaviour. They should be more concerned with developing young people who are no trouble to their parents, who get along well with their siblings, and with promoting good relations between husbands and wives."

Your thoughts?

"If I remember correctly, my school started to hold its annual New Year’s Day ceremony in 1884. In this ceremony I, as head of Kano Private School, filled a small sake cup with a spiced sake, called toso, specially made for New Year’s Day. Then, without taking a sip, I passed it on to the next most senior person. He in turn poured some toso into the cup, and without drinking, passed the cup on again. After the cup had made the rounds of the students gathered, each one pouring and passing but not drinking, it was returned to me. Then I again passed it around without drinking or pouring. On the third time, I sipped an amount smaller than that which I had poured during the first round, and everyone else did the same, passing the cup among themselves. When the cup returned to me the last time, there would still be some toso left. With this cup the ceremony ended."--Jigoro Kano

I was, and am tired of being sick. three heart attacks, seven stents, cancer and chemo have taken their toll. The passing of the cup is a journey, and not an end. Mifune Seinsei once said to me to focus on the the journey of judo and not the end. "yes, yes," I had verbalized, but underneath lay the current of the thrill of the competition, the "killer" ippon. In the end, every competition, every promotion had its own void. It was only when I was brought down by illness that Mifune Sensei's words (echoes to me by others from Yoshida, Daigo through Cho, and Matl senseis among others). I was brought low and humbled. It was then that I understood their words. So I am picking myself up and going back slowly (very small baby steps) at Vandry's studio. Geoff Dennis (Nidan) is working this old bull carefully. I am grateful to you, Geoff. I can't help but feel a tinge of shame when he get's me in a strangle hold (full mount) and my body lacks the energy dtrength, let alone perserverence to execute a counter due to the chemicals in my body. I try to tough out bouts of nausea. This is where I remind myself that I am now in it for a journey of health, at 65. Still, I seek another journey, that of the passing of tea as part of my legacy, that my life can make a difference for someone. Everyone I have learned from, and learn from has been, and is my gratitude. They have passed the cup of tea to me, which I have drunk either deeply or shallowly. While I am here, I also express my gratitude for the passage of the cup which continues to redifine me every day as I reflect upon the rich flavor of imparted wisdom and experience.

Let me tell you about William. I first met William Vandry several years ago, then briefly, as I was in the midst of illness and first considering going back to the mat. I'll never forget when he also suggested I take Selenium (William's Dad is a doctor). Although I couldn't go back then, I always remembered his caring and generosity of spirit. Tired of living in illness, I decided to come back to the mat, returned to William, and found Marshall, Geoff, Jeremy, Doc, Carter, Natalie, David, Ted, John and others. What I have experienced is a close group of friends and family who support one other within and beyond the club. This is the type of environment William has created and fostered with the aim of promoting the individual physically, mentally, and spiritually. His mentoring of students of these values are, and will be one of his enduring legacies. Enduring many hardships in life, William also overcame the horrendous experience of a bullet in the brain and blindness, to become a gold medal winner in the Pan American Games, and winning many more honors as well. He epitomizes that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Something that people learn about William when you get to know him. He has the most generous heart, and a God-given sense of giving people what they need at the time to uplift them. Thank you William. I will forever be indebted to you.

Help!! Maitta!!