Saturday, August 26, 2023

Harvey Hastings - Isshinryu/Bando




A Genius, a Teacher, a Warrior, an Author, a Husband, a Father, a Grandfather, a Ground Breaker, a Maverick, a Larger than Life Figure that was a huge role model who helped shape my own sense of what a man Really was. I had tremendous respect for him at a time when I didn't respect much of anything. He commanded Respect without saying a word.


My favorite "Harvey Story" still sticks in my head today, 35+ Years later....


Having quit a High Profile job on wall street after becoming fed up with the system and all of it's trappings, Harvey hopped on a ten speed bicycle and started to ride on what was going to be a cross country ride...YES, on a Ten Speed Bicycle! As he was riding on Route 66 and being in the middle of the desert with nobody in sight for miles and miles, suddenly out of nowhere a car hit him, leaving the scene of the accident and leaving Harvey with a severe compound fracture of his lower extremity.


Having less than no options on the table, Harvey sets his own jagged fracture and starts to ride again until reaching a hospital some 35 miles away.


Normal people don't ride a bicycle coast to coast, let alone set their own severely fractured bones, but Harvey was anything but normal.


Rest in peace, Sensei


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