Another Journey Around the Sun

 

Yesterday I completed my 73^rd trip around the sun and that means today I begin another circuit.

 

Age is just that age. It does not bring wisdom perhaps a bit of knowledge that few seem to follow, whatever.

Age does mean you have seen ages move from one to another. I would like to talk abet about one of those occurrences.

 

 When I began in the mid 1970s my Isshinryu journey, class was mostly focused on training, lectures not so much.

There was little information about the arts around, at first I found the karate magazines, then slowly some books. Very few as that went, I tended to believe everything in them and accepted those articles were the way things were.

 

Then in time there were more magazines and more books. I noted that events I attended and participated in were not the same as  described in those articles. That was the beginning to understand the need to filter what I saw.

 

Then more time, training in many styles, many more magazines and purchasing almost every book I could find.

 

I began to gain a better filter of what I read, realizing that those articles and books might be what the author saw from their perspective. Yet also began to understand that was not necessarily reality either.

 

Then there were VHS tapes to DVD disks and suddenly almost everything you ever wished to see was available for a few dollars.

 

Then the internet happened, discussion groups allowed you access to MA’s around the world. For example a Japanese translator explained many of those books incorrectly called keri as geri and so forth. So many of those books became suspect, and then more and more.

 

Time moved on and YouTube freed almost everyone to share everything. A Cornucopia of video, tood, bad and ugly became available.

 

The internet moved past discussion groups, where people tried to describe in detail what they saw. Instead they were replaced by Face book and far less discussion and more button clicking like.

 

Most of the magazines are gone. The best of them such the Journal of Martial Arts or Meibukan are but memories.

Likewise most of the books are also gone. In retrospect most of them were one time publications not republished. And so much information was no longer available.

 

Of course the publishing industry has changed, more books print as ordered publications and sold over the internet.

 

There are individuals who are keeping up intelligent martial discussion, but it also seems fewer than in the past.

 

Part of this came from my blog which I created for my students to have available what I have seen,experienced for their future needs. But believing information ought to be shared I have done so with over 600,000 having visited it but there has been little discussion about what is their either. So many like to view.

 

I suspect it will be more difficult in the future.

 

I have always worked hard to see whatever I could see. Now I am awash with some things, but things that mean less to me.

 

So another journey begins.