Wheelchair Bunkai

After my teeth are brushed and prayers are all said, lullaby sung to myself in my heart (yeah, really), if'm still awake I review karate bunkai (applications) in my head.

But tonight, I'm thinking about how challenging it is to perform a kata from my power-assist wheelchair, where if you touch the rim you go far, and fast. Different types of chairs need different bunkai, maybe.

Higaonna-Sensei would approve, I'll bet, as long as all the bunkai would work in the street. Karate is for everybody.

The 'F' Word (Family)

If you think I'm amazing, you should meet my siblings. They enable, coach, cajole, and butt-kick me, so I can do a lot of the amazing things I do. Now we are about to go through something very hard.

My mother's loss of her beloved husband, the greatest love story I've ever observed in my own family, is going to change our family dynamic again, among three states. We're going to work together to help her through, while finding our own ways to grieve what John meant to us, too. Because we're all really strong, we're going to butt heads. But we are also going to work together. It's going to be okay.

And that, my friends, is family. Blood, or choice, or dojo, battalion, classroom, that's family. If you need an image to work with so you recognize it later as a focal point, that's the image. Use it well.

Rest in Peace, Papa John. You are dearly loved. I am already feeling the pull of missing you. Thanks for the boxing tips.