Let the games begin...

Hello friends! First off, let me say "THANK YOU" to all who have expressed their support, concern and encouragement during my down time of healing. So much has happened since June and I have been struggling to come up with words to express it all on this blog. A whirlwind would seem like a light analogy compared to what my life has been like. But, I made it through in one piece!

I don't want to write about my family life on a journal which is devoted to my budo life, but family is at the center of everything I am. It affects every aspect of my life, including my budo life. In June, not only did I make the trip to Japan to finally meet and train with my Soke and the Japanese Shihan, I also accepted a new employment position with a major retailer. I had decided to go back to my old career of loss prevention investigations, something I was doing before my wife and I decided to have another child. This new position was a senior management position and offered a nice salary package, so I decided to accept it. What I didn't know at the time was the effect such a decision would have on my family.

This new position required so much of my time, plus long distances of commute, that my family suffered greatly from my absence. My children struggled in school and my wife, who is also a high school English teacher, was facing extreme hardships in balancing her career with being a solo parent. In addition, I no longer had the time to spend on the other important centerpiece to my life - my budo training.

So, after 8 months of struggle, I made the decision to resign from that employer and go back to the occupation I had previously - one which allowed me to work the same schedule as the school schedule. Being back with my family again has put so much balance back in my life.

And, as an added plus, I now have time to go back to budo teaching and training. So, I emailed my Intel folks and let them know the good news. They welcomed me back with open arms!

Last Tuesday, I joined them for the weekly class and had a great time training with them again! We even had a new guy who had started just before my return. I kept the class light, mostly just to see what they had been doing and how our bodies moved. I was satisfied with how my body felt and enjoyed the adrenaline of light randori free play techniques. I felt no pain in my abdomen and my energy level was strong. It was a great night and a good kick off to coming back to my budo life.

So, tonight, one week since, I am excited to start the Intel class again. I have many ideas for the class, in particular a focus on fitness and conditioning. That was paramount in my recovery, so I want to give it a prominent place in my teaching and training. In addition, I want to focus on the foundation of our training, through drills and exercises. Good basics cannot be downplayed and I think this also needs to be given its due position as a center piece to the class.

As I promised, I will post segments from my Japan trip journal. I have been writing them down in a text file on my laptop. I will copy each day's notes on this blog so that you have a chance to read it. Keep in mind, however, that I started writing many things in the early days of my trip, but soon lost interest in writing. There was just so much to experience that writing seemed to get in the way. But, I will post what I have anyway.

I'm glad to be back.