Living Collaboratively

By James Sawers Fox Valley Aikikai

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I want to touch
The rings of Saturn
I want to float
Through interstellar stardust
Another choice was a recent weekend
Celebrating ten years
Of living collaboratively
With teachers, students,
And community – Aikidoists
Training with heart and intent
Successfully testing to limits
Nages and ukes leaving
Little on the mat
A large cricket attacking guests
With doleful looks and demands
For lots of belly-rubs
An anniversary, birthday, testing
Promotions, grand weather
All great reasons to share
A mutual gathering of like minds
Two wooden posts – a hard reminder
That ten-directional eyes
Is more than just a weird saying!
A visiting west coast master
Such were all the ingredients
For another great seminar
At Kyoseikan Dojo
Where tradition meets community

One Reply to “Living Collaboratively”

  1. I guess that is should have explained that I was recently at a weekend seminar at Kyoseikan Dojo, in Grand Rapids, MI. The training and practice were just great, plus we had shodan, sandan, and yondan testing, which was fascinating to watch. Thankfully, everyone passed. We also had promotions presented and Lizzy Lynn, Shihan, flew in from California to share her deep wisdom. A very good weekend. I was also asked to write a poem commemorating this event. This is my attempt to give a great seminar its due. Hopefully, I got some of it right.

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