Last Tuesday I met Oshita Sensei personally! Holy cow is he ever an AMAZING martial artist! I felt such elation and inspiration. I watched him for hours, his students for hours, talked with him for quite a while and actually got a personal invitation to come back and train with him - something quite rare, apparently. Even my new friend John who was the student that introduced me, expressed surprise and said he almost never invites anyone back after just one visit. Wooo - hoooo!!! Score one for the gaijin.
Oshita Sensei is an incredible martial artist and man. His humble nature and generous heart left me determined to work even more on refining my character, reducing my ego and becoming more gracious in spirit. Much, much respect to you Oshita Sensei.
Iai do practice at Oshita Sensei`s dojo.
That`s me sitting next to Oshita Sensei in the front.
I am incredibly grateful to have had this opportunity. Oshita Sensei and Haruna Sensei were the two masters of this art I had always wanted to meet; sadly, I had just missed Haruna Sensei as he died not long before I started, but to have a chance to meet with Oshita Sensei... I have no words to describe it. Many, many thanks to all the teachers who had helped me up to this point, and whose wisdom, no doubt I shall continue to be grateful to be the recipient of.
All the way home on the train I had this goofy grin on my face. The poor chap sitting in front of me started to get uncomfortable because I kept breaking out in these uncontrollable fits of smiles and head shaking fits.. I guess he was not quite sure what to make of this foreigner. lol.
I went to Miyamoto Musashi's garden which was supposedly the place he spent the remaining years of his life meditating...and where he died. (Musashi is considered Japan's greatest swordsman.) This was in a town called Ako, the whole town is one samurai statue after another. There is the grave of the 47 ronin. It is a replica of the one in Tokyo, instead of housing the bodies of the samurai, (as they have it in Tokyo) the gravesite in Ako houses their topknots/hair. (A samurai would never cut his hair, his top-knot was a very honourable part of his attire and person.) A great place and must-see for any martial artist in Japan.
One of three areas considered to have been the final meditation/resting place of Miyamoto Musashi.
At the grave of the 47 Ronin.
Then there was the time Michiko and I got caught in a torrential (and I mean torrential) downpour with our new friend Matthew, up in Nagoya. We spent the day together wondering around the city and checking out the local castle. My god Japan has a lot of castles, though once you've seen Himeji castle, you've pretty much seen it all. In Nagoya we ate this famous dish whose name I do not remember, it's basically bean and bean roasted over an open fire. In other words, tofu smeared in sweet miso paste, scewered and roasted. Very tasty indeed! Oishi! On the way back the heavens opened up and dumped a wicked rainshower on us. Of course we came back to the van and saw that the windows were open and the inside was quite wet. Duh.
One of the english teachers brought back a bunch of DVD's from the Philipines and we made some killer salsa to go with Spiderman 2, 13 Going on 30, Taking Lives (let me interject here to say that Angelina Jolie is absolutely stunning! What a gorgeous woman, oh....my....god. She is at the top of my "if I was a lesbian" list) and a bunch more X-Files in Japanese.
I went to get a Japanese massage and acupuncture treatment to see how the techniques differ. Now, I practice Chinese style acupuncture, and even though the Japanese is just as good, as a patient, I prefer Chinese. Japanese is very quick, and barely punctures the skin, Chinese tend to go deeper and keep the needles in for quite a while depending on many factors.
I have to tell you all how surprised I was to find powdered cardamom being sold at an amazingly low price in Japan. Cardamom is the second most expensive spice in the world following saffron! I bought about 20 bucks worth for only 345 yen! Holy cow! That's less than five bucks! I didn't buy much stuff for me, but the cardamom I had to have because it's bloody expensive back in Canada. (and almond chocolate milk just isn't the same without it)
Did you guys know that Kansai is sinking? It's the famous airport for which they actually built a small Island. Unfortunately the engineers miscalculated (grossly, I might add) the figures, and now the Island is sinking at such an amazing speed, that they will be lucky if the airport makes it to it's 20th year. So sad. They are building another one to replace Kansai.
Japan is wonderful and interesting, but all on the outside. Even the most natural looking rivers and forests are made out of concrete and only made to look natural. I remember the first week I was taking a hike near Osaka castle and I leaned against the wooden fence only to find that it was pure cement, just made to look like wood. That is what Japan is like. Lovely on the outside, but totally different than what it seems to be. The spirit of the people, their discipline, their honour systems.. wow... a very unique and beautiful people, the Japanese. It is no wonder their talents are known throughout the world.
Cleanse yourself (both spiritually and physically) before entering into any temple. Remember also to clean the laddle for the next person. In Japan, you must ALWAYS be thinking of someone other than yourself.
This one is for my brother Otti; I got invited to a bbq, and surprise surprise, it was out to a race track for motorcycles and dirtbikes! How interesting! The racers were dressed head to toe in replica formula one type clothes, wicked, wicked bikes and took jumps which looked quite high. It was great, and I found a pathway up a mountain where I could get a birds-eye view of the entire racecourse while sitting next to an abandoned buddha painting filled cave.
So bizarre, when you think about that and picture it.Our friends all placed quite well. I really wished I could experience the freedom of sitting on a bike again and riding fast....(...god how I love riding "em) but I didn't dare jiggle my knee around for fear of delaying the healing time. (you know, broken joints, they're more finicky than regular bones.) And besides, the faster I get back to Oshita sensei, the better.
A week ago I went around talking to swordsmiths and seeing the different style of swords, both blunt and sharp that one could have made....let me say how much effort it took for me not to openly drool....just looking at some of the incredible craftmanship made my eyes twinkle and my soul go "ohhhhhh..." It also inspired me to be a better martial artist. Very humbling, especially after talking with Oshita Sensei.
This is my sword. Isn't she beautiful? It was custom made for me by a master swordsmith I connected with in Kyoto, based on my measurments and preferences. Believe me, I've heard ALL the comments on the colour - white, so no need to leave any more. lol.
It took a year to forge, complete and ship back to Canada. I rarely say this about an object, but this is not "just" an object... it is infused with spirit. That's right... I'm going to use the "L" word. I Love my sword. Love it.
I made Hungarian style crepes and food for the girls in the Church who seemed to really enjoy it. I continue to enjoy this adventure... travelling around higher and higher levels of formality and diplomacy. I guess that's about it for now though.
Hey, it's tough trying to spin new tales of adventure, mischief and mayhem for ya'll every two weeks! A girl's gotta sleep you know!
love, peace, and damn good qi to All, Mistress Farkas
ps. So...uh.....is anyone throwing a good old fashioned masquerade/potluck party for hallowe'en? I might be in Canada briefly around Oct/Nov.
ps. To view more photos, click here.
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