Photos. Material memories.
We nearly worship the photos of the karateka from the past. Typical image. Most likely black and white and slightly touched by time. Group of people wearing karategi posing in front of the camera. Some smile and some keep the straight face. We look at them, study the photo carefully and say to ourselves: “well, those were days!”
But truth to be told, we are practitioners of today. No much different from those on the photos from the past. We also like karatedo. We practice, learn and re-learn, we worry and hesitate, we deal with various issues from balance to ego, we struggle to understand the essence and argue about this or that technique. We miss sessions and find excuses, and we come back eager to get more again and again. We are just people.
The photos of today one day will be those “photos of the past”. Our mission is to ensure that the principles of the art of karatedo are preserved and the art evolves, that there will be new generations of people who love karatedo and practice it with the same of even bigger passion. Our mission is to to pass our love to the karatedo, and new generations of practitioners look at our photos “touched by time” and say: “well, those were days”!
Big hug to all my brothers-in-karatedo! Keep practicing and studying the art, pass the legacy and… do not forget to make those photos!
On the photos below some days of FURIN KARATE DOJO with Matsubayashi ryu practitioners. Who are those people? What do they think? WHat do they struggle with? How do they practice? And why are they in these photos? Mystery!
