Well done Sir.

438170169_10234174174635074_7150525597400636740_n by kpkina, on Flickr

quote:

Originally posted by kkina:

438170169_10234174174635074_7150525597400636740_n by kpkina, on Flickr

Awesome action shot!!

Awesome, kkina!

The accumulation of all those falls over the years has had to have taken quite a toll. I probably have 8-10 more years to my black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu. My wife doesn't seem to understand why I want to do it. I think the only reason why I want to do it is because it's the most difficult black belt to achieve. We do a lot of sparring and it takes a toll on me. It's definitely a marathon.

Congrats, kkina!!!

Congratulations, nice photos too.

Congratulations!

I'm a bit younger than you, but a bit over a year ago, I started training at our local BJJ gym. It isn't my first foray into fighting arts but I've never achieved any higher rankings in previous studies and instructions.

Old injuries, age, and other life difficulties have made sticking with it quite a challenge. A large challenge has been avoiding injury while training with 20-30-year-olds. It has also turned out that my own attitudes of "never quit" and "just keep fighting" have presented more than a few challenges to staying injury-free. Those injuries heal slowly also. Still, I've always been hesitant for the ground game...and I'm a bit more comfortable going hands on if needed now.

As such... well done. You've persevered through challenges to achieve a significant accomplishment, and you deserve to feel proud, having earned it the hard way.

Very nice. Congrats.

quote:

Originally posted by bald1:
Well done especially with the full blown CHF, a malady I share with you.

I actually mentioned it in my black belt thesis...

MY AIKIDO JOURNEY

“It's not the destination, it's the journey.” Ralph Waldo Emerson was not thinking about aikido when he wrote those famous words, but he could have been. My own experience learning this extraordinary martial art certainly resonates with this sentiment.

I’ve been involved with martial arts much of my life, starting with kenpo karate, then traditional Chinese kung fu, then shotokan karate, a year of Filipino Kali, and self-study smatterings of other arts such as kenjutsu and iaido. I first came to aikido thinking it would make a fine addition to my martial toolbag. However it quickly became clear that taking up this art was not so much a flower to be picked, but a mountain to be climbed. In other words, aikido is a journey, a way of life, and a commitment to a lifetime of learning that would only stop when my very breathing stopped. The journey is the destination.

I knew from its reputation that aikido would be difficult to learn, and it has been. But I unintentionally made it even harder than it needed to be by approaching it too seriously. After all, this was Bushidō, the Way of the Warrior, and what could be more serious than that? A heart attack, maybe? Funny I should mention that….

About a year-and-a-half into training I suffered not a heart attack, but close enough with a Congestive Heart Failure. It seems I was born with misformed cardiac muscles, which I hadn’t even been aware of. Although I managed to survive, it certainly looked like my life would be inextricably altered, and that life would not include training in a dojo ever again.

It was at that point when I realized that the Universe was laughing at me, at the way I approached life, and the way I approached aikido. And the only recourse would be to laugh right along with it. Surprising my doctors and myself as well, I managed to bounce back, returning to the dojo after mere months. Yes, it took a good year to build back up to my previous performance level, but here I was, training again! But way, way less serious, though just as hard-working and dedicated.

And that’s when the aiki-miracle happened. I started learning techniques more easily. I was less stressed out when difficulties arose, or I felt certain moves were giving me exceptional trouble. After all, I had the rest of my life to work things out, so what’s the hurry? And just as important, training was becoming more of fun, and less of tedious drilling.

Here on the cusp of testing for black belt, I am keenly aware of something my Sensei often repeats, “Up to shodan, you’re not learning Aikido; you’re learning how to learn Aikido.” So here I am, at the young age of 65, taking my first step in learning this fascinating art, and in a way to be honest, life itself.

Kevin Kina

Congrats!! Aikido Ni Dan here under Andrew Sato. Been focusing more on BJJ last x5 years and got my purple belt. Congrats!!