Author: Shawn

I am a practitioner of the martial arts and student of the Buddhist faith. I have been a Type 1 Diabetic since I was 4 years old and have been fighting the uphill battle it includes ever since. I enjoy fitness and health and looking for new ways to improve both, as well as examining the many questions of life. Although I have no formal medical training, I have amassed a wealth of knowledge regarding health, Diabetes, martial arts as well as Buddhism and philosophy. My goal is to share this information with the world, and perhaps provide some sarcastic humour along the way. Welcome!

A Little More Than Fried Eggs…

I don’t know if anyone else remembers, and maybe I’m unnecessarily aging myself, the anti-drug commercials that used to air on television. If I had to make a guess, I’d say they came out in the mid-80’s. Basically, the message was showing a raw egg, still in it’s shell and saying “This is your brain…” The, they’d crack the egg and drop it into a hot pan, causing sizzling ands frying of the egg, followed by saying “This is your brain on drugs.” It was an effective means of passing on the message that drug use fries your brain. It worked well for the time and elicited a lot of school yard jokes as well, since memes weren’t a thing back then. Imagine that? We had to get our laughs verbally as opposed to with an electronic device. but I digress…

Some time later, they released another commercial portraying the same scenario, but they started it by saying, “Alright, let’s do this ONE more time…” thereby suggesting that perhaps the message hasn’t gotten through as effectively as it should have the first time. I often feel that this is the case with the information I share. And I don’t necessarily mean with this blog. After all, there’s no expectation on my part that the entire world will read my writing. But when it comes to explaining things about Diabetes, I often feel that I am providing the same information ONE more time.

Generally speaking, non-Diabetics rarely know much about Diabetes beyond the need to take insulin and perhaps that they should avoid sugared goods. Although there’s some truth to that, it isn’t entirely accurate and one of my greatest frustrations is when people throw Type-1 and Type-2 Diabetes into the same basket. Although both called Diabetes, they happen to be significantly different conditions with different methods of treatment. This is while acknowledging that there are other types and several sub-types of Diabetes (LADA, Gestational Diabetes, etc…) but for the purposes of today’s rant, I’ll be focusing on Type-1 and Type-2 as they are the more commonly known and consistent types. Let’s do this ONE more time…

Type-1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that usually shows its ugly face during early childhood but can also develop in adults. That’s why the old term for Type-1, “Juvenile Diabetes“ isn’t accurate. At least not anymore. Back in the 80’s when I was diagnosed, if you get Diabetes as an adult, it simply wasn’t believed to be Type-1. I’m rather grateful that medicine has evolved somewhat, even in the past twenty years.

Although there can be a number of factors behind WHY someone may develop Type-1 Diabetes, excess weight gain and eating poorly aren’t the cause. There have been links to a possible genetic component, but we definitely know that becoming overweight DOES NOT CAUSE TYPE-1! Diabetes develops when our body’s own immune system starts attacking and destroying the cells that produce insulin, known as islets. Once enough of these islet cells are destroyed, the body stops producing insulin and the need for the injections to control glucose levels kicks in. Contrary to popular opinion, the human body NEEDS glucose, even Diabetics, since it’s a source of energy. It’s the level of glucose present in the bloodstream that causes the issue.

Type-2 Diabetes is different in the sense that the body doesn’t use glucose and insulin efficiently. The body’s immune system aren’t attacking the islets, but in some cases the pancreas isn’t producing enough insulin or the body’s cells don’t respond well to the insulin the pancreas DOES produce. this is a condition known as insulin resistance. Now THIS is the type that has been linked to body weight, as being obese or failing to get regular exercise have been linked as contributing factors.

Type-2 Diabetes used to be called “adult-onset Diabetes,” in contrast to Type-1’s “Juvenile Diabetes.” But those are both misnomers now, since children have also been know to develop insulin resistance and Type-2. It can be treated with a variety of oral medications but may also require insulin, depending on the severity of the condition. Weight loss and exercise have also been proven to help in treating it. I’ve also heard of cases where people diagnosed with Type-2 Diabetes have eventually progressed to Type-1.

Ultimately, the only aspects that these two conditions have in common are their name, the possible need for insulin injections and the fact that there’s no cure. For either. Although Type-2’s symptoms can be mitigated through proper diet and exercise, it can’t be cured. If you bought one of those books that’s claim that a certain diet or lifestyle change will cure your Diabetes, you’ve been duped.

Hopefully, this provides clarity on the difference in types. I made a big show with the introduction, but a reminder and an explanation of the different types of Diabetes is never a bad thing. There’s always someone new who may read a post, that may not have been around for the previous one. So, it’s all good. The Mayo Clinic’s website is also a fantastic repository of information, if anyone is interested in looking up the different subtypes of Diabetes. ☯️

Embracing My Inner Nerd…

I don’t know if the term “nerd” is still widely-used or not. I know that for a while, being a nerd was cool. It sure as hell wasn’t when i went through school. Regardless of the term’s current standing, I’m quite proud of my inherent ability to absorb and process information, and the fact that I was always a little more on the cerebral side than some of my peers. So please accept my humble apologies if referring to myself or others as a nerd offends anyone. That isn’t the way it’s intended, but this is the way of the new world; normal things will often offend. That’s all I’ll say about that. Moving on…

I got my first taste of superhero lore when I was barely five years old, when my father sat with me and we watched the original Superman movie that was released in 1978. Ironically, only three months after I was born. But we didn’t get to watch it until it was released on video cassette (the predecessor to DVD’s, for you young’uns). I remember being fascinated by what I was seeing; a man who could fly, shoot beams from his eyes and couldn’t be physically harmed…. Superman has set the standard against which most superheroes are held.

I spent my youth collecting comic books, reading traditional books and delving deeply into the superhero genre. I was doing all of this through the years when Thanos was the antagonist in a comic line entitled “The Infinity Gauntlet,” which was followed by two sequels, “The Infinity War” and “The Infinity Crusade.” What we’ve seen in the MCU is based on The Infinity Gauntlet, even if they called it Infinity War. Despite exploring all these different stories and superheroes, Superman has always remained my favourite and despite differing reviews, I have loved ALL of the movies and series.

About a month ago, I decided to celebrate my birthday by walking into the value mall down the road and perusing a used book store. I sold off the remainder of my comic book collection a few years ago when i thought we might be moving and needed some extra cash so I was delighted when I came across a batch of graphic novels just sitting there in pristine condition. I decided that a fine gift to myself would be to allow the purchase of a few graphic novels to be read for leisure. I spend so much time reading and studying things, sometimes it’s nice to let your head cool and simply read something for fun.

This is where I got my hands on this little gem. For those of you who aren’t versed in comic lore (and I can admit that I no longer am), DC comics decided to refresh itself in 2011 and scrapped all its current existing title for their top characters and revamping them based on the outcome of a key storyline. They called it the New 52 and it saw a number of well-known characters be re-invented and have an altered appearance, altered power set and in some cases, slightly different origin story. I haven’t read a great deal of them, but I remember mixed reviews.

Most companies occasionally feel that change is good, especially if things have gotten stagnant or boring. But most of population don’t like someone messing with an old classic, like Superman. Despite that line of thinking, I have to say that I’m greatly enjoying this graphic novel. Without providing any spoilers, this storyline provide a look at a raw, rougher Superman who is at odds with the law and the status quo. Most importantly, he isn’t all-powerful and completely immune, which makes him more relatable as a hero to normal people, I think. If you haven’t been reading these, I highly recommend it as your next option. For fun, if nothing else.

I usually use my lunch hours at work to read. This is a good way to let my head cool, change gears and refresh myself before dealing with the afternoon. I usually bring a novel of some sort, science fiction or fantasy. I’m still reading the Wheel of Time. But this time around, it was good to revisit a familiar hero in a somewhat familiar environment and think back fondly to those warm, comfortable afternoons on the couch, watching Christopher Reeve show us that a man can fly. ☯️

Just A Little Something…

Not all of my posts need to be ridiculously long. No, they don’t. NO, THEY DON’T!!! No, YOU shut up! I may be a bit tired… Which is premised by the fact my post is going up at 6:30 pm instead of 6:30 am. Sometimes, the day gets away on me. We do what we can. Enjoy the short bit of inspiration. ☯️

Work Hard, Play Hard, Everything’s Hard…

You know, I wrote a post yesterday about how a person’s energy levels tend to be lower during the colder season due to the change in weather and the fact that the average working person is exposed to less sunlight due to the shorter days. And then this morning I found myself just as blah as I was yesterday. And it makes me wonder, is this life now? Waking up and existing in a perpetual state of fatigue, all the time? Some weeks, it certainly feels like it.

Throughout my life, I’ve heard the expression “word hard, play harder,” which is supposed to represent that although it’s important to put a solid effort into one’s work, it’s just as important to put the same effort or more into one’s leisure time. That’s IF you have leisure time. So, what if you don’t? The old adage about working to live and not living to work doesn’t always seem to apply, nowadays.

Typically, I tend to feel as though the weeks are flying by. When Monday morning hits, I wake to an alarm, make lunches, get dressed and ready and blast out the door. I usually like to think that I always hit the ground running, occasional blood sugar issues or mid-week slumps notwithstanding. And although some days seem to feel a bit on the long side, by the time I get home there’s supper followed by household chores and then it’s either a workout (if the energy and motivation is there) coupled with bathing the kids and getting everyone to bed. If we’re lucky, there’s an hour, sometimes two, where we can sit back and watch something on television or read a book. All of this happens prior to the blessed release of one’s head hitting the pillow for what’s ultimately never 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep. Wash, rinse and repeat until Friday…

Weekends are usually better by virtue of having 8 to 10 hours of one’s day freed up that isn’t spent at work. But having both boys at home at the same time rather nixes that freedom and whatever chores weren’t completed throughout the week need to be taken care of. Nathan is usually pretty good at accompanying me outside if I need to mow the lawn, bring recycling to the depot for deposit or have errands to run. But any “down time” usually involves bringing the boys to a park or taking them outside to play so that they burn off some of the excess energy that all adults are so jealous of. I swear, if I could find a way to bottle Nathan’s energy and take it as a supplement, I’d be downing that shit like tic tacs! But I digress…

My point here, besides passive-aggressively complaining about how busy I am, is that no matter how busy you get, significant effort should be put into ensuring you have some down time for yourself. And to be clear, this can include time with your spouse and family as long as you’re able to relax and let your head cool. I’ve previously written about the importance of having time specifically by yourself. And that’s still true, but the idea in today’s post is that even when it seems like there’s no time to relax, you need to find time to relax. Hand in hand with yesterday’s post, it’s an important way to ensure that one’s energy levels stay consistent and you don’t get overwhelmed. Food for thought… ☯️

When You Start Lacking Some Pep in Your Step…

We’re slowly starting to creep into that time of year when it takes the sun a bit longer to decide to grace us with its presence. Just a short month ago, I would leave to work just prior to 7 a.m. and the sun would already be blinding me on my transit down the road. However, if I take this morning as an example, I stepped outside and walked to the car and I felt the distinctive chill of the season seep through my layers and the sky was still dark. That first little while that this starts happening can be disconcerting and confusing, especially if you leave work late enough that the sun has already started to go down.

The view outside my office window

Depending on the environment you’re in throughout your day, this change in season can wreak havoc on your system. And no, I’m not just referring to the presence of pumpkin-spiced everything… I promise I’ll stop picking on those who enjoy those treats eventually; I just need to get a few shots in before the caffeine levels in my blood make me more reasonable. MOVING ON! My point is that some folks are fortunate enough to work in an environment where they can actively see the daylight. Some are not so fortunate and may work in a remote environment or an enclosed office where access to daylight isn’t always possible.

It should come as no surprise that the daylight plays an important role in a person’s health. First and most importantly, access to sunlight helps our bodies to naturally produce Vitamin D. Since I intended this post as an opinion piece and not necessarily an educational one where I’d have to cite sources and shit, I’ll keep it light. But the reality is that Vitamin D is necessary for all sorts of things like good bone health, stronger immune system and certainly not least or last, it helps with managing Diabetes. That last one is a touch important to me, as you might imagine.

Sunlight plays an integral role in the body’s function, including proper sleep patterns and managing your circadian rhythm. That’s your “internal clock,” which helps you to manage getting to sleep and waking up. So you end up feeling all sorts of fucked up, when you wake up for the day and it’s still looking pitch dark outside. Most people don’t have a regular work day where they wake up with the sun streaming through their window while soft violin music plays.

For all the reasons I’ve described above and much more, it’s important to take some preventative steps to ensure the colder weather doesn’t get you down into the dumps. Once you’re in the groove, these steps can become overall good daily habits. Here are a couple of things you can do to try and ensure you keep your energy levels on the up-and-up:

1. Starts Your Morning With Exercise.
This is the best one, and something I wish I had more drive to maintain. I will FULLY admit that I’m terrible at doing anything, first thing in the morning, other than reaching for some caffeine. But doing exercise first thing in the morning gets you or blood flowing and oxygenated and will help you to hit the ground running far better than any cup of coffee you may grab. My wife is an absolute champion at this, usually starting her morning with a rigorous exercise routine she follows. During the pandemic winter, I used to walk my spin to the bus stop then walk anywhere from 5 to 10 kilometres. The result was the cold air woke me up and brutalized me before facing my day.

2. Drink Some Water.
I’m a huge fan of caffeine for a variety of reasons. So I can’t honestly say with a straight face that I do this one, but there are studies that show that gulping down a glass of water first thing in the morning will jump start your system and help to wake you up. I have no idea if it works or not, since I guzzle caffeine minutes after waking. And don’t ask me what studies I’m talking about. I don’t have enough caffeine to remember where I read them…

3. Get Outside And Take A Walk.
If you don’t work in an environment where you can see the sun, then go to where you can access it. Get some fresh air, take a walk and get some natural light on your body (and no, I’m not condoning stripping down and sunbathing while at work). Twice a day, I’ll take fifteen minutes to take a short walk outside, get some air and move around a bit. It makes all the difference and helps greatly with productivity. Most jobs entitle you to breaks throughout the day, so you should take advantage of them.

4. Control Your Blood Sugars.
It’s obvious that you should be doing this anyway, but maintaining balanced blood sugars will help keep your overall energy levels up. Nothing saps your energy faster than having an extreme high or low, followed by balancing it out. I don’t know about the rest of you, but that usually leaves me feeling like all I want to do is sleep. Keeping your blood sugar levels balanced is not only a good idea for Diabetics in general, it can go a long way towards keeping you energized and moving throughout the day. Especially when in conjunction with everything else on this list.

There you have it. I’m no genius and none of this is reinventing the wheel, it’s simply common sense. But not everyone thinks about these things so maybe this will spark some ideas for the cold weather ahead. Especially here in Saskatchewan, the morning blahs tend to hit all that much harder once there’s snow on the ground and the weather reaches -50 degrees Celsius. That almost guarantees wanting to stay curled up in bed, despite whatever steps you may take. But life happens and facing the day is a necessity. May as well try to make it a energized and motivated as possible. ☯️

Pumpkin Spiced, Be Damned…

I consider myself to be a pretty straight-forward kind of guy. In general, I know what I like and I know where to get it. When I find something I like, I prefer knowing that I can obtain something I like year ‘round, which is why the concept of things like pumpkin spiced items only showing up when the leaves change colour and Halloween is imminent. But I digress…

The true purpose of today’s rant is to address something mentioned in that last sentence. That is to say, leaves. Autumn has the potential to be the best season. The morning air is crisp and cool, the need for constant air conditioning in the house is lessened/eliminated and I don’t find myself in a constant state of sweating anymore. certainly not least is the fact that kids have gone back to school, which provides an element of silence for a number fo hours in the house (not that I get to enjoy it, since I’m at work all day).

One would even be inclined to say that autumn is better than the winter, since there‘s no snow to contend with. There is, however, another insidious monster to deal with: the falling leaves. It’s odd how some of the things people find the most beautiful require the most work. “Oh, the falling snow is SO beautiful…” Yeah, until you need to spend an hour at 5 in the morning shovelling it out from in front of your car. “Oh, I just LOVE the colour of the falling leaves…” Again, it may look “pretty,” but your back and shoulders sure pay the price of having to clean up that “pretty” stuff…

That’s how I capped off my weekend. The photo above is the pile I accumulated in my front yard after raking it, yesterday. I was supposed to be assisted by an energetic 6-year old, who decided at the last minute to go play with friends instead of helping his old dad. Kids! I started immediately after breakfast and had Nathan flip-flop twice on whether he wanted to be involved or not. In the end, I wound up raking and collecting the entire back yard on my own. I was lucky enough to have one of those metal racks that holds a plastic bag in place, so I was able to pick up and dump leaves into the bag on my own.

I wasn’t so lucky in the front yard, however. Without the protection of the fence and trees, there was JUST enough of a breeze to keep the bag from staying secured to the rack. Every time I collected a handful of leaves, the bag slipped from the rack and I’d have no way to place the leaves in the bag. Fun. Finally, I called it quits and left the pile on the front lawn. I’ll go back to it, once I know I’ll have some help to collect the leaves or there’s no wind and I can effectively use my metal rack.

In my mind, the coming of colder weather means sipping hot coffee while writing/reading. But I guess there’s no real happy medium. Mowing lawns has you sweating in the summer. Shovelling snow has you freezing in the winter and you have leaves to deal with in the fall and yard clean-up in the spring. That’s the beauty of home ownership; it’s never boring! Now, if only my basement renovations could be done… ☯️

The Uechi Chronicles, Vol. 5: Me, Of Course…

I’ve spent the past week writing about a short, four-question interview I’ve been providing to a lot of the key people from my karate background. If you haven’t been reading these posts, they’ve included a surrogate brother, friends and colleagues. The list has by no means been exhaustive, and there are a number of key people who simply haven’t responded, as of yet. Not least of these is Sensei. But as I’ve been transferring these answers from whatever messaging platform I’ve received them to the blog, it’s dawned on me that i should likely take a moment to answer these questions myself. Here we go:

Me, in the mid-90’s
  1. Why did you join karate?
    I started studying martial arts in general at a very young age, but started karate specifically at the the age of ten. My health wasn’t the greatest. I had been diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes a few years’ prior, and had suffered through a number of Diabetic comas in a short number fo years. Due to lack of education and these accumulated complications, my doctors predicted I wouldn’t live into my teens. My body had severe insulin resistance, which, since a Diabetic needs insulin to survive, wasn’t a happy combination. Doctors had no answers and basically started prepping my family for the possibility that I would die before reaching adulthood. imagine being a 10-year old kid and being told you’re going to die. That’s what I had to deal with. I wasn’t satisfied with that potential outcome and felt I had to do something to take control of my own health.

I was also significantly bullied. I was always a bit of the “different” kid in every class I attended. And I’m not talking about the modern, “snowflake” version of bullying where people’s feelings get hurt. I used to be cornered by three of the school’s “popular” hockey players, where they’d take turns punching and kicking me until I either passed out or someone came along to help. I once had an instance where a bunch of guys grabbed me and threw me into the gym showers, fully clothed. I spent the rest of the afternoon going to classes, soaking wet. The icing on the cake was having busted my face and lips on the tile flooring when I landed.

For all those reasons, I chose to step into a karate dojo and begin training in karate. I needed to improve my health, increase my chance of surviving long enough to experience life and I needed a way to properly defend myself as I had learned from a young age that the strong will often prey upon the weak.

Left to Right: Myself, Sensei, Sensei Eva and Sensei Blaisdell

2. When did you join karate?
I would have joined karate in 1989, when I was about 10 years old. I was introduced to Sensei through Guillaume, whom you would have read about here.

3. How many years have you been training and are you still doing so?
At this point, this year marks 33 years of studying Uechi Ryu karate. It’s been a bit of a bittersweet journey, since my departure from my home Province means that I haven’t grown and progressed to the point I would have liked. If I’m being honest with myself (and with my readers), there may have been times where I’ve taken a “break” but I’ve truly never stopped.

4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
I think the first and most important thing I gained from karate is perspective. People join the martial arts for different reasons, some good, some bad. Within a matter of months, my insulin resistance improved, my blood sugars started to regulate and I started to get into shape (much to the amazement of my doctors. Once my health started to improve, I began working on being able to defend myself. Since I was somewhat certain that taking my health in hand had accomplished what my doctors seemed unwilling or unable to do, now I had to make certain I could walk confidently without having my peers take advantage of me or harm me.

Demonstrating a kata in Okinawa in 2001

It all came to a head for me when I had one of my bullies try to come at me with a pocket knife. It sounds like something out of a bad movie but unlike a bad movie, it wasn’t a long, drawn out affair involving dodging and weaving, knives flashing as high-octane music played in the background. It was all of ten seconds; five seconds for him to come at me and sink the blade into my wrist and five seconds of my throwing him and breaking one of his bones. The irony is that once we received medical attention and the smoke had cleared, I was sent home for a week for “starting a fight.” No one stood up to explain I hadn’t started it. Que sera.

I tell this story as something I gained from karate because it provides two very important details to my story. The first is that I learned quickly that I wasn’t proud of what I had done and was frightened beyond reason. Fighting someone who means to do you harm is a scary thing. But more over, I learned that I wanted nothing to do with harming others. This is where the Buddhist aspect of me kicked in, believe it or not. It was in my teen years that I recognized the existence of suffering and my need to try and eliminate it from my own life, well before I had even started studying Zen.

Training with Shintaro-san in Okinawa


By the time those different aspects of my youth had been addressed, I found myself in an existential black hole. Now that I had ensured my improved health and self-protection, I needed to discover who I was as a person and what mark I wanted to make on the world. Most of the years that followed involved trying things and trying to discover my inner self. I eventually did, but I also discovered that once I started I couldn’t stop. I’ve been doing karate and martial arts in general, ever since.

By the time I reached adulthood, I had gained/developed discipline, motivation, focus, strength, concentration and the drive and ambition to accomplish anything. More than that, I joined a fellowship that would stay with me for the rest of my life. The people I’ve met, places I’ve been and the dedicated students I’ve trained/trained with are all counted among the most important of things that I’ve gained from the martial arts. Even now, being as far from home as I am, those connections remain intact.

Sensei and I in 2002, shortly after graduating Shodan

In closing, I’m going to ask a question of myself that I didn’t provide to the others. Maybe I should have. That question simply this: what does the future hold for me? When I look back at everything I’ve been through in my 33 years of karate, I acknowledge that I wouldn’t be alive today, had it not been for my training. That applies both to my personal and professional life. Karate continues to flow through my daily life in almost every aspect. I don’t have a crystal ball and I don’t know what the future may hold.

I’m inclined to believe that my days of training hard for hours on end may be dwindling away. These days, you can find me training as a guest of the Regina Institute of Kempo Karate. The great, white hope is that eventually my sons will snap out of it and choose to step into the martial arts world, as well. My youngest is certainly showing some affinity to it. At the end of my journey, passing on this knowledge to my children will be the final step I take as I lay down my belt for the last time. ☯️

That’s Not How Doors Work…

All my life, I’ve heard the expression, “When one door closes, another door opens…” It’s meant to lead one to believe that even when an opportunity passes you by or you don’t succeed at something, there will always be something else on the road ahead. Except there isn’t. It’s important to grab opportunity by the horns when it comes knocking on your particular door. I’ve also heard another expression that says, “When one door closes, re-open that bitch. That’s how doors work.”

You shouldn’t let opportunity pass you by based on current circumstances or current world events. No matter what you may be thinking or going through, your future is worth sacrificing a little. If opportunity presents itself to do something that will benefit you, your family and your future, you should take steps towards trying to make things work, even when it doesn’t align perfectly with everything you may hope to see happen in your life. The problem is that you’ll always encounter situations where there will be opposition.

“You Either Die A Hero, Or You Live Long Enough To See Yourself Become The Villain…”

Harvey Dent (Two-Face), The Dark Knight

Life doesn’t care about your plan. That’s why it’s so important to take advantage of reasonable opportunities that may present themselves unexpectedly. We don’t always expect these changes. In fact, they sometimes present themselves in the most unexpected ways imaginable. If you choose to ignore those opportunities, shame on you. One must keep one’s eyes open for such opportunities. It’s one thing if you make the conscious choice to ignore such opportunities. But when said opportunities can benefit your overall life and family, you PROBABLY shouldn’t ignore it.

This is a pretty short post and I’m being a little more reflective than educational this morning. But such is life. Sometimes, certain things just bring it out of me. Don’t stop because of a closed door. Your pride and “rights” aren’t worth a secure future. Make certain that the choices you make are what required for the overall betterment of your life; not what you believe you should be fighting for in the moment. Wish I could be specific about what I’m getting at. It’s just something some folks need to figure out on their own. Food for thought… ☯️

The Uechi Chronicles, Vol. 4: MJ

In today’s volume of my personal chronicles, we look at someone whom I’ve known for over thirty years. Our history goes all the way back to before either of us was born. Our families have known each other for the two generations that preceded us, and she and I grew up living on the same street. As we grew into adolescence, we not only became friends and built the most solid group of friends one could possibly ask for, we were also a couple for many years.

When my martial arts training kicked into high gear, MJ started joining me to classes. She developed great skill and was usually a challenging opponent during sparring. If you remember Volume 2 about JL that was posted just a few days ago, he could tell you without a doubt. She’s the only one I’ve ever seen to drop him to the ground during sparring. I’m not saying it never happened before or since; I’m just saying it was the only time I ever saw it. These days, MJ is extremely busy raising her children. Here’s what she had to say:

  1. Why did you join karate?
    “I had an annoying boyfriend that kept bugging me to join, lol. But to be honest, it was the best thing I ever did.”
  2. When did you join karate?
    “I was 16 years old.”
  3. How many years have you been training and are you still doing so>
    “I trained for about three years when I was a teen and did a year after my daughters were born. Sensei said it was like I never left. We were very well-trained.”
  4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
    “I’ve gained self-esteem and it gave me my beginning experiences in spirituality.”

I have to say, I definitely like the answer to the first question best. I’ll be the first one to admit that I was a significant handful to deal with during my teen years. But i can certainly be grateful that my youthful stubbornness helped MJ to find some benefit to everything we trained in. Everyone’s reasons for joining karate may be different. And everyone’s outcome may be different. the key point is to make a positive out of it. ☯️

The Uechi Chronicles, Vol. 3: Guillaume

Today’s volume of the Uechi Chronicles is near and dear to me, because it involves someone that’s been an important influence and shoulder to lean on throughout my youth. Guillaume is my Sensei’s son and having basically been raised and grown up around Sensei’s home, Guillaume and I had the opportunity to develop a life-long friendship that’s endured despite years of time and distance. He and I have been friends through all of the important firsts in our lives and I’ve forgotten more stories about us than I can remember.

I first starting spending time with Guillaume when I was around 10-years old. I went over to Sensei’s house and Guillaume thought it would be a good idea to use his home chemistry set to create an explosive. You know how those kids’ sets always say the chemicals are basically harmless? Guillaume proved them wrong! As we grew older, we started to get into all sorts of bad pastimes , such as gun fights with pellet guns, sparring and beating the shit out of each other in public places and being an all-around bad influence on each other.

That’s Guillaume on the right, delivering a nice roundhouse kick to my face!

What’s interesting about Guillaume’s story is that unlike most others, he didn’t join karate by choice. As Sensei’s first-born son, he was basically pushed into it. Although Guillaume is significantly skilled and capable in the martial arts, the forced obligation to be in karate soured him on continuing on into his adult years. As a result, he rarely practices anymore. This is to the detriment of the martial arts world as well as himself and other students who could benefit from his potential teachings.

He now lives in a small city called Bathurst, which is roughly an hour’s drive away from our home town. We still chat on the rare occasion but like most people, life and familial obligations have made it so that we don’t have as much contact as we used to. I last saw in him in late 2019, when I was travelling through New Brunswick on work-related matters. He currently operates as a self-employed acupuncturist and has been building his own house for some time. Despite this busy schedule, he took the time to answer my questions. Here’s what he had to say:

  1. Why did you join karate?
    “I was forced by my father to do karate.”
  2. When did you join karate?
    “I was about 3 years old.”
  3. How many years have you been training and are you still doing so?
    “I trained for about 16 years. No, the odd time I might do a kata… But I can say I spar on a daily basis. So something stuck with it.”
  4. What have you gained/hope to gain from karate?
    “It was the listening part that you had to follow. Made your ears work and not your tongue. To follow orders and commands…my father still, to this day comes to see me and I hear him say my name from a distance, doesn’t matter where I am, and as soon as I hear it, I yell back ‘yes, dad!’ The response to years of having a split second to react.”

It’s an interesting perspective and as some of you may recall, I’ve written and posted videos on the perils of forcing one’s children into the martial arts. Karate is an important journey; one that needs to be made based on one’s choice. This is why despite my preference, I’ve never forced Nathan into karate. He doesn’t seem particularly interested in anything other than wrestling in general, as a game. There’s hope for Alex, though. So who knows? Guillaume has the honour of having been Sensei’s first graduated black belt. Despite the reasons behind, I believe that leaving karate behind is an impossibility. Aspects of it still permeate his soul. ☯️