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Do you sacrifice to train in Bujinkan?

I do.  Sometimes it is a tough choice.

I am invited to a concert.  Crap, it's the same night as class.

I need to upgrade my computer.  But, it's time for a Japan trip.  Only enough $$ for one.

I am invited to two seminars in the same month.  Usually I have to gauge the bang for the buck to decide.

I am too tired/cold/sore/bummed etc. for training.  But I go anyway.

I am frustrated with my teacher or my progress.  "Keep going" as Sensei says.

I could make a much longer list.  It's very easy to let life get in the way of training.  The sacrifices can be small, or quite large.  And it's different for everyone.

I was having dinner with my friend Paul Masse, and he was talking about his first years in Japan.  As he put it, "Living in a broom closet.  Eating bulk rice and fish.  Wearing the same worn and threadbare clothes for years."  But he went to training.  He could have chosen not to, and bought some clothes.  I think he described this on his blog  (see my links).

One year I was in Japan talking to friend that had journied there fom Mexico.  It's funny, I speak more Spanish in Japan sometimes than I do here in L.A.  My friend told me that with the exchange rate, going to ONE of Sensei's classes was the same cost as THREE MONTHS of classes for him in Mexico.

 I have gone to class when I was:  injured; broke; on the verge of divorce; during finals; homeless; without a ride home; on Sept. 11; after the death of a family member, friend, and pets; on my birthday; in the rain; ... you name it, I've done it in over 20 years of training.

You might say I was crazy for placing training so high in my life.  But, training has helped me through all these things.  The benefits of training have informed my life and helped me to face these obstacles in a way that can not be quantified.  In a way that I value.

Do you have a similar list?
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Comments

  1. JamesNovember 9, 2009 at 2:18 AM

    I definitely feel I have sacrificed/am sacrificing a lot for training. I moved out here to santa monica 4 years ago for the sole purpose of training regularly with Michael. It was a very tough decision moving from Santa Barbara, which is the only place i've ever lived, to the Los Angeles area. though not too far from home...this area is much different in many ways. I have never liked big cities and it took a while for me to adapt. I have the opportunity to live rent free in a really nice city, but choose instead to rent a living room in a noisy neighborhood where i don't get good sleep. I can honestly say I feel sleep deprived every class i attend, but still try to go. In addition, i have not been able to go to school full time to get a degree for fear it will interfere with training, and in the four years i've been down here have not had a single job that i could honestly say i liked. I think for me it would be depressing to have nothing on a deeper level to dedicate my life to, though, and I will continue to make the sacrifices as long as I need to, for making them is a lesson in itself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousJuly 20, 2011 at 12:18 AM

    Hello, i just want to say that sometime, it's very difficult for our familly to understand why we are so immerged into bujinkan. This post maybe will can help to explain, but, if you don't live it, i think you can't really understand. Thanks to try to explain it.
    Nico.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MichaelJuly 21, 2011 at 2:15 PM

    My family can't even pronounce "Bujinkan" - and they definitely have no clue why I do it. Many people in America see martial arts as a child's hobby that is silly to continue as an adult.

    ReplyDelete

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