|
|
|
Back Drifting Alaska’s Kenai River
Back Drifting Alaska’s Kenai River Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To read this entire feature FREE with photos cut and paste this link: http://jetsettersmagazine.com/archive/jetezine/sports02/fish/alaska/drift/kenai.html If...
But I Hate the Gym! - Gym-Free Fitness (Part 1 of 2)
"I know I should exercise," a good friend of mine was lamenting
to me late last week, "but I really hate going to gyms." I have
to admit, my initial response to this was incredulity - even in
my much heavier days (when I had a BMI of 35, very...
Football, Professionalism, and T.O.
Professionalism is the professional status, methods, character, or standards one must possess to be considered professional. Professionalism is something that Terrell Owens lacks. Owens is a lonely, yet, ignorant human being. He makes a bank-load...
Golf Swing Improvement Secrets To Stop The Insanity
Golf swing improvement can be elusive for most golfers. I have read many articles and studies on the huge number of golfers quitting the game every year. They are tired of putting in the time, buying equipment, taking lessons, and purchasing...
Which Birdie Has Your Husband Got His Eye on - On the GOLF COURSE
Why is it that women/wives etc intend not to take much interest
in their spouse's past time of playing golf. How many ladies
have sat back and denied themselves a game due to the fact that
they feel that this game is not for them?
Don't...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Martial Arts in Each Season: Nature in Training
We of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan, the people who inhabit the wild lands north of The Bridge, are at the crest of winter. Which isn't saying much, because no matter what time of year, up here, winter has a way of creeping gleefully nearby, like an antic, poised to drop in on even the most summery of days - like an August wedding (mine), and remind all who live here that we live, first and last, at nature's pleasure, and not she at ours.
I love nature and the outdoors. Here, you would be hard pressed not to, since nature is ever present and wild, and cannot be constrained. We live here among the big forests, the blue-black waters of Mother Superior.
At my Center, we are about to dive into our first kangeiko, which is intensive winter training. The windows will be open, and the cold will surely come. The indoor sanctity of the dojo will be broken by the outdoors, the rude ways of the howling, northern winds.
It occurs to me - we spend so much of our time trying to protect ourselves. When it is hot outside, we try to
cool down; when it is cold, we try to keep our warmth. In Japanese martial arts tradition, kangeiko and its summer counterpart, shochugeiko, are ways of marking one’s training, and giving over to nature. When the sun is raging, and summer's heat is on - train fully, sweat, give over to the experience and hold nothing back; in the depths of winter's cold, do not tighten and try to stave it off, but accept the cold, relax into it and break through to a new understanding.
But in this training, I believe, we find a mirror to life itself. Beautiful, chaotic, demanding - nature. Nature just is.
About The Author
Paul Smith is the Founder and Director of the Aikido Center of Marquette (www.aikido-marquette.com), located in the Upper Peninsula, Michigan. He is an avid outdoorsman, and is also the webmaster of www.a1-outdoors.com, a website serving as a resource for outdoor sports gear and information.
|
|
|
|
|
|