Happy (Aikido) Thanksgiving!

Hi folks,

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

So, what are you thankful for in your aikido training this Thanksgiving?

-- Jun

That my dojo is closed. I have a sunburn on my back.

I am thankful that being on the disabled list has not kept me from seeing, meeting and exchanging thoughts and ideas with so many and diverse good Aikido people from around the world. Aikido does not end when you bow off the mat... That's really just the beginning.

A special shout-out to those brave souls who dare to put their thoughts down on paper for all to see, and that advances in technology have made it more feasible to write the books. There are many more stories to tell, and more who should be telling them. You know who you are...

Happy Thanksgiving to you, Jun (keep up the great work), and to all those out there who graciously share the path with me.

I'm thankful for the great group of people I train with. We are like family and dear friends who enjoy beating each other up a little!

Osu,
I am grateful for another year. Never expected this many. May have done things differently if I had (but probably not).
I am most grateful for and humbled by my family and friends. They have my deepest gratitude and sympathy (its a Groucho thing).
Rei, Domo.

Well.. in Colombia we dont celebrate thanksgiving day as in USA,.. but anyway i`m thankfull for meeting so many good human beeings in aikido and making them my friends...

Thankful for great friends, especially my aikido family.

Always blessings, never losses-a quote from a TV show that I liked.

César Martínez wrote: Well.. in Colombia we dont celebrate thanksgiving day as in USA,.. but anyway i`m thankfull for meeting so many good human beeings in aikido and making them my friends...

Cesar,

Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day - don't dwell on the fact that old man time is catching up with you!

Dan Botari wrote: Cesar, Happy Birthday! I hope you have a great day - don't dwell on the fact that old man time is catching up with you!

Thank you Dan,.. i`m sure i will have a good day, in class I suppose I will receive the usual Koshinage-birthday-celebration… jejej

In my life...
I am thankful for the great family I have and that we are all in good health.
In Aikido...
I am thankful that Sensei is doing better and thankful that I have a great Senpai to work with and who can be as a great teacher as Sensei is.

Using knowledge gained from John Stevens Sensei's "The Secrets of Aikido," I have done shihonage (gratitude toward the four directions). Those directions are the Universe [or God], Nature, Parents and Ancestors, and ["those other human beings who make society flourish,"] as I worded it in "...Sands..." I am caught, however, in a Catch-22: I despise that the white man (my ancestors) destroyed the Native Americans and their cultures, but on the other side of the coin, I wouldn't have been created if they didn't. In fact, I wouldn't have been created if anything in eternal history had not occurred the way it did.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone, for gratitude and ego cannot coexist.

Drew

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

I am thankful for my Sensei, most of all. I am also thankful for my dojo family, and for Jun for running this site.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year, I'm Thankful to (in no order): Chuck Clark, Dan Harden, Mike Sigman, Rob John, and Howard Popkin. Extremely wonderful people who are great teachers and have shaped my training this year in ways I would never have imagined.

Mark