Ha! So... Here is my story : At the end of the last dinner we had altogether, you'll remember the boss of the hotel came to our table, in a state of... let's say : advanced drunkenness. He started saying something like : "I've seen you guys going by in strange costumes, and doing some practice on the beach... So... What is it you're doing? Some kind of martial art or what? Who is your Big Master here?!..." At these question Ito sensei was laughing benignly and I could sense (as I was sitting next to him) that he was busy with something, so other people took turn to answer, as pleasantly as they could : "Shintaido..." "Not really a martial art..." etc. As for me I was trying to work out the real intentions of the guy - somehow my mind could not accept the fact that he was looking for trouble in his own hotel, even though I did not fail to notice his big big friend that was quietly waiting behind, in backup, for trouble to begin. The questioning intensified, as the guy was working himself into quite an excitement and frustration over not getting 'proper' response to his provocations - after boasting about his ten years of Aïkido, which apparently had taught him that "all was just a matter of discipline" (meaning: bowing to your 'superior') he finally asked Ito directly: "so you're the Master here, right? So show me... " At this exact moment Ito put in his hand the Rose, made from the paper napkin that his hands had been working on all the time. At the same time he rose, and everybody rose - and they were gone.
From subsequent interactions with the hotel guy, I'm thinking he was drawn to us, however lacking in his approach, because he remembered and longed for some part of the discipline and spirituality of his former martial arts practice.
Thanks for writing-I'm curious still re: why a rose?
4 comments:
Wow! Beautiful - thanks for sharing...
Remember Ito sensei's rose in Omaha Beach? :)
Take care
Pat
And thank you for writing. I either don't remember, or never knew about a rose at Omaha Beach--
???
Ha! So... Here is my story :
At the end of the last dinner we had altogether, you'll remember the boss of the hotel came to our table, in a state of... let's say : advanced drunkenness. He started saying something like : "I've seen you guys going by in strange costumes, and doing some practice on the beach... So... What is it you're doing? Some kind of martial art or what? Who is your Big Master here?!..." At these question Ito sensei was laughing benignly and I could sense (as I was sitting next to him) that he was busy with something, so other people took turn to answer, as pleasantly as they could : "Shintaido..." "Not really a martial art..." etc. As for me I was trying to work out the real intentions of the guy - somehow my mind could not accept the fact that he was looking for trouble in his own hotel, even though I did not fail to notice his big big friend that was quietly waiting behind, in backup, for trouble to begin. The questioning intensified, as the guy was working himself into quite an excitement and frustration over not getting 'proper' response to his provocations - after boasting about his ten years of Aïkido, which apparently had taught him that "all was just a matter of discipline" (meaning: bowing to your 'superior') he finally asked Ito directly: "so you're the Master here, right? So show me... " At this exact moment Ito put in his hand the Rose, made from the paper napkin that his hands had been working on all the time. At the same time he rose, and everybody rose - and they were gone.
From subsequent interactions with the hotel guy, I'm thinking he was drawn to us, however lacking in his approach, because he remembered and longed for some part of the discipline and spirituality of his former martial arts practice.
Thanks for writing-I'm curious still re: why a rose?
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