OK - I'm done

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:44 pm

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for your patience and support as I've written up some of the memories from the trip. There will always be more stories to tell...but not in open forum.

So I'm ready for your questions, if you've got any. I'll do my best.

Dana

f.Channell · Post by **f.Channell** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 3:00 am

Dana,
I sent you a PM if you could check that out.
But I'm curious if you got any good Kanbun Uechi tales from Toyama Sensei. Or failing that, what was the one moment which impressed or inspired you most in your trip.
Fred

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 5:26 pm

But I'm curious if you got any good Kanbun Uechi tales from Toyama Sensei.

...nothing that hasn't been posted here before or that I didn't say in my journal. He said he was a nice caring person who trained very very hard. That they trained in a very small space and that he trained with Uechi Kanbun until he was 18.

what was the one moment which impressed or inspired you most in your trip.

What inspired me most were two things. One - the way the women on the tour stepped up to the task workout after workout after workout. Many of the women were dealing with bodies that were complaining loudly about the intensity of our efforts - and they never said a word. They'd just get back on the floor and do their thing.

The other thing that inspired me was the sincerity and the warmth of our welcomed by the Okinawan Teachers and the Okinawan people. It was good to train together, but it was much better to be together.

Neither of those things can be distilled into a single moment. So I guess I still haven't answered your question other than to say that there really was no one moment that stood head and shoulders above the rest. The entire experiece was that rich and that full.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 5:28 pm

And now comes the fun part... Each of you will take something home from all this. The best of you will find a way to digest the many interactions, and make them part of yourself.

The memories are expessed in terms of the specific events that replay in your brain, the new relationships that you may choose to continue, and the way you express the experience in your katarate and your life.

Enjoy. Looking forward to "debriefing" you in person, Dana.

BTW, check this out. Can you and Heather come out to play? My personal invite.

Rebirth of the Uechi Bureiko

- Bill

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 6:40 pm

Hey Bill,

yes, we'll be there. As it turns out Heather used to work with Bruce Swenson on some sort of energy policy stuff back in the day. So when we met up with Bruce H for dinner awhile back with some UVAers who was there but Bruce S and his wonderful wife. Heather and the Swenson's were happy to reconnect and they too invited us to the party this Saturday.

One funny story - at one point during the training in Okinawa I was told to retie my belt. Not because it was untied, but because it was tied too low around my hips. I was told that only men could wear there belts that low. Women should wear their belts at the waist. Because it looks prettier.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

Bill Glasheen · Post by **Bill Glasheen** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 7:28 pm

Mais oui!

Remember, Muhammed Ali used to boast how "pretty" he was. It was a taunt, meant to emotionally hijack his opponents into wasting energy trying to beat his face in. It also implied he was too fast and too good to be hit.

Actor Will Smith, who portrayed Ali in the film of the same name, commented, "He told me I was almost pretty enough to play Muhammad Ali." He also added, "Ali is my hero, and yours."

I'll take that kind of "pretty" any day.

Float like butterflies, and sting like bees!

See you and Heather Saturday!

- Bill

Jackie Olsen · Post by **Jackie Olsen** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 1:57 pm

Dear Dana ...

Thank you so much for your eloquent expressions of the memories of our trip. You are a most excellent observer & record keeper! Needless to say, I am still processing the memories, lessons and the experience.

As Bill says, replaying in my mind -- "What does this mean to me ... how does this apply to me ... what can share with others...."

I know that this experience has shifted and transformed me in many ways. Pushing the mind/body/spirit beyond our self-imposed limitations, to find that I could move beyond my perceptions.

Many know I'm in a 'wave' at work (corporate speak for being downsized after the merger/transition process). I've been making the round of interviews here & other places and have included my Marine & Okinawan certificates as part of my portfolio of MS proficiencies & resume -- for THIS IS WHO I AM.

Some of the remarks in the interviews include that I exude self-confidence & have incredible energy...I don't seem to be afraid ... flexible, think on my feet, etc. Yes, all this is/was in me. However, I do credit this experience as helping cement my qualities and bring them out at a higher level.

Heck after facing the Marines, the Demo, and over 20 some Okinawan Masters, the job interviews seem a piece of cake!

I am grateful to all who shared this with me, for the friendships made. I am grateful to Peggy for her imaginings and to Steve and the other men and women who also believed all things are possible.

As you said, Dana, nothing can be distilled into a single moment. The entire experiece was that rich and that full.

Jackie Olsen · Post by **Jackie Olsen** » Fri Jun 11, 2004 4:57 pm

Almost forgot ... was our favorite Awamori Queen (Heather) able to find out the details of that mixture Sensei Tomoyose prepared for us? I could sure use some now. Give my best to Heather. I hope her bruises are finally better!

Dana Sheets · Post by **Dana Sheets** » Mon Jun 14, 2004 10:14 pm

Hey Jackie,

Glad to hear your interviews are going well. Where ever you go and whatever you end up doing - they that get you are damn lucky!

Heather was all healed up within the next week. But no recipe for Uechi Guza just yet. Though rumor has it that the Mr. Tomoyose planted some of it in Rhode Island in the early 90's. Who knows if it survived the winters there or not?

I just recently realized how much our trip helped me open my eyes to a certain portion of training. And I know what I'd like to study the next time I visit Okinawa. It is the training beyond the training that's captured my attention.

I want to learn the different ways people learn to do Uechi. The supplemental exercises. I got to see a few with Mr. Takara, a few while watching Yomoshiro teach the Green and white belts from Tokyo. And now I'm thirsty for more.

How can help people train the hajiki in their upper rising snapping strikes, how can you help different types of students use their bodies more efficiently? How do teach a wa-tari-uke anyway?

We've taken Mr. Takara's rubber band training and run with it. Now, once a week students are grabbing resistance bands at the gym and doing their cicle blocks, their stikes, their shutos, their kicks. And their core body coordination is really improving.

Personal body awareness really seems to be the "secret" to the physical side of the martial arts to me right now. We're having a good time exploring how we can better learn about ourselves.

Hope all continues to go well for you Jackie. I look forward to the next time we can train together.

Dana

RACastanet · Post by **RACastanet** » Wed Jun 16, 2004 1:36 am

Jackie said: 'I've been making the round of interviews here & other places and have included my Marine & Okinawan certificates as part of my portfolio of MS proficiencies & resume -- for THIS IS WHO I AM.

Heck after facing the Marines,'

Yes, you have some impressive credentials.

Best regards, Rich