My humble tribute to a great man.

I am not sure where to post this and if it is in the wrong forum please move it, but as I tend to post here more than anywhere else it seems fitting for me.


Today is a sad day, the world has lost a great man. Sensei Tozunaka has gone to his next life. Though you may never have heard his name,read his works, saw his kindness or his wrath, I feel the need to give tribute to a man who helped make me what I am today. He didn't teach me to kill, he taught me live, that everything is sacred, from the ant that toils on the hill, to the air we breathe to the neighbor we embrace the smallest of things is of no greater importance than the largest of things.

I can only hope to be half the man that he was, he was my father when I had none, and my friend and my great teacher. I am feeling selfish, in his death, as I am taking it hard which is against our tenets,but this man was more than just a teacher,he was family. I should rejoice that he has moved on to enlightenment,but in my weakness I cannot help but feel the loss, akin to missing a piece of my heart.

There is a poem written by Robert Pinsky that I would like to share which exemplifies Sensei Tozunaka:


When I had no roof I made
Audacity my roof. When I had
No supper my eyes dined.

When I had no eyes I listened.
When I had no ears I thought.
When I had no thought I waited.

When I had no father I made
Care my father. When I had
No mother I embraced order.

When I had no friend I made
Quiet my friend. When I had no
Enemy I opposed my body.

When I had no temple I made
My voice my temple. I have
No priest, my tongue is my choir.

When I have no means fortune
Is my means. When I have
Nothing, death will be my fortune.

Need is my tactic, detachment
Is my strategy. When I had
No lover I courted my sleep.


I am not asking for sympathy, I just wanted to give my own humble tribute to a great man, and it is my purest wish that everyone could have met him, and been graced by his sense of calmness,it was infectious. With his passing ( my fathers 2 years back) I have lost the two greatest men I have ever known, in that, I am blessed.


May your sword be swift, your wit sharp, your thoughts ever forward.

Always in your service, until the world ends.

Itachi

i am truely sorry for your loss and he sounds like a great man

reply to post by Itachimaru


be thankful that you were able to learn from these two people. Honor them by living up to what they taught. I am sorry for your loss, but death is only the beginning.

That was a very touching tribute. I am sure they are looking down and smiling.

reply to post by network dude


Yea, I am sure they are smiling but also probably itching to take a bokken to my head for crying over them as well ( which as a stubborn child who love the question "why" I received that a lot )

Death is but another path we must all take, and the Kashima Shinden side rejoices for them, but the selfish part of me grieves. They were both great men, and my greatest teachers. Their will of fire burned in them so bright it was almost blinding at times, my words are woefully inadequate to express how much they meant to me personally as well as others in general.

Some would say that the practitioners of our art are emotionless robots, but it's actually quite the opposite, emotions run deep in us, we feel for everything, we learn to destroy so as to never want to unless in the most dire of needs, but I digress as I am sure no one wants a dissertation on my kenjutsu philosophy. So thank you all for the thoughts.

Always sad when somone dies because to me, the reality of never seeing them again is to much to swallow, and the only reason why me and others recover is due to our brain automatically repressing those feelings and emotions.



[edit on 29-4-2010 by jonnyc55]

reply to post by Itachimaru


Karate, Kung Fu...whatever art you study can be amazing for your life if taught properly with compassion and discpline. I dedicate alot of the good in my life to the few who have taught me over the last 15 years or so. To this day I still believe despite my rank I am not that great a fighter but they taught me all about life and the details in it. THAT is what I take from my studies...not the ability to put a person down (frankly I can't grapple...AT ALL)

Terribly sorry to hear that friend. I have no doubt you will love and pass on those experiences...truly to honor what you have been taught

-Kyo

reply to post by KyoZero


Exactly, although I am a swordsman and for lack of a more modern term "samurai/ninja" my art is specifically Kashima Shinden Jikishikage-ryu (divinely transmitted, honest reflection of the heart, school of Kashima) is a blend of traditional samurai arts/bushido with ninjitsu/ninpo based in the oldest kenjutsu style of Aizu Kage-ryu. All forms of martial arts impart wisdom and reflection, but none more so than the sword arts.

You learn to devastate and in doing so learn about your self as well as become loathe to ever draw your sword.

Its about balance and reflection and peace of mind and body.

To sit in stillness, and know by virtue you have won every battle without having drawn your sword therefore there is no honor in fighting an opponent beneath you.

These men exemplified these teachings, and although I may not have understood them then...I do now, and can only hope to pass on what is a dying art ( there are very few Kashima Shinden students left)

I know that some of these words come across as haughty but it has taken me a lifetime of practice to learn these and while "technically " I am a master, I am but a humble student, and lack the ability to explain it detail, it something you have to live.

To this day I still believe despite my rank I am not that great a fighter

It was once said " It is easy to hurt men, to be great, first learn to heal them

Itachi.

reply to post by Itachimaru


superb...I am a heck of a talker (for better or worse) but I can say no better

Perhaps one of these days I will U2U you and discuss a couple things...with your permission of course

-Kyo

reply to post by KyoZero


You can u2u me anytime that you feel like it, I believe my yahoo is in my profile as well if you prefer that. ^_^