Aikido, the modern martial art!

The holiday season is quite a ride for nearly every one of us.  Some folks soar high with festive joy and open hearts delighted by the 'spirit of the season' and the busyness of holiday activities.  Some people feel an emptiness that comes from years of disappointed expectations.  These folks tend to quietly sit back patiently waiting for the season to pass.  And then we have our homeless families who struggle from day to day to get their basic needs met -- food and shelter.  I worked for a couple of years as a community social worker so I do have direct experience with how devastating lost and lonely our poverty level families and singles feel amidst all the pervasive holiday excitement.  I personally find the holiday season to be a bit challenging.  I will spare you the details of my past and simply say that each year I need to stay extremely mindful of the emotional roller coaster ride that I experience during the holidays.  This season is rich with heartwarming stories and provides a venue for consciously sharing Love and Good Will with our families and friends.  At the same time I am very sensitive to those folks so are struggling to simply keep some hope for a better tomorrow.

We are One people!  We ALL have an effect on each other.  I ask those of you who enthusiastically embrace the Sacredness and Joyousness of the Holiday Season to shine ever more brightly lighting the way for those who feel a bit lost.  And I encourage those who feel distant from the spirit of the Holidays to use your energies to help assist local social service agencies to ease the challenges facing our homeless in the long cold nights and days of winter.  And, for you who are in need reach out for help, resources are available.  You are not alone!

For the past 18 years our dojo has contributed to the Viola Blithe Community Center's Holiday Food and New Toy Drive.  As I am writing this, I am waiting for one of their drivers to pick up our donations.  Our dojo members donated 170 lbs of food, 60 new toys and $150 / cash!  Thank you to the students and instructors for your generosity!

http://www.violablythe.org/

When we share our Love ... the whole world receives a Blessing

Posted by Skys Sensei.

Our dojo will be celebrating its 20 year anniversary in June.  Over the years thousands of children have come through our programs.  The children who step on to our mat today are significantly different than those who preceded the many technological advancements of today's culture.  The line from an old Bob Dylan song comes to mind, "The times, they are a changin'."  I'm frequently saddened and very concerned about the well being of our precious children

Many of today's kids seem to lack a joyous, spontaneous relationship to their own bodies.  Years ago we had to reign in many of our kids from their overly confident desire of taking on physical challenges beyond their abilities.  One of the favorite activities was setting up obstacle courses where the kids would roll over large exercise balls and stacked up meditation cushions.  We'd have to keep a very close eye on even our youngest kids since most of them would be attempting to keep up with the their older classmates.  And, all of the children would be enthusiastically lobbying for making the obstacles higher and higher.  Many of the kids could float over stacks of cushions nearly as tall as they were.  Yes, we also had children who were physically timid yet they were few.  Today we rarely set up such an obstacle course and when we do the challenges are far less demanding.  Many of the kids are fearful and overly concerned about embarrassing themselves.

I am so proud of our dojo community!  In the past 9 months we have made donations to three service organizations:

Last December we donated an overflowing barrel of new toys and food to a local grass roots community organization called Viola Blythe Community Center.  We have been participating in their "Annual Holiday Food and Toy Drive" for something like 15 years.

Also last December in one week's time we collected almost 100 pairs of shoes to donate to Soles4Souls - a charity that provides shoes to adults and children in need.

Check it out: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7127776n

www.soles4souls.org

And just yesterday we dropped off 81 pairs of glasses to support to the Lions Club Eye Glass Recycling Program.

Posted by Skys Sensei.