Of all life’s skills
with which to carry,
remember this . . .
Balance is Primary!
Anyone can teeter-totter but not everyone can balance.
— Anonymous
Man always travels along precipices. His truest obligation is to keep his balance.
— Pope John Paul II
The best and safest thing is to keep a balance in your life, acknowledge the great powers around us and in us. If you can do that, and live that way, you are really a wise man.
Attainment
As we progress and seek success
in its full embodied raiment,
Accomplishments are not our life,
our Life is our Attainment.
Possessions will not follow us
when we move beyond the grave.
Monies will be left behind
in the banks where they were saved.
Accolades and laurels
may, with some history, rest,
but none of these material things
will help us pass the Test.
It is with a sad heart that I share with you the passing of Liz Avram, call sign “Quasar,” on Sunday, 27 October 2024. She died of stage 4 cancer and was 61 years young. Her husband, Dean, was kind enough to pass on the sad and heartbreaking news. It would be appreciated if Kiado-Ryu students could send prayers to the Avram family, especially to Liz’s beloved husband.
In your life journey from breath to death,
replete with all its possibility,
never forget … this is Your Life,
and it most surely is Your Responsibility.
Work out your own salvation.
Do not depend on others.
Buddha
[400 BCE]
I blame not another.
I blame my own karmas.
Guru Nanak
[15th/16th Century]
You are responsible for yourself.
You are not responsible for the world.
Saint Charan Singh
[20th Century]
Let your hands
give wings to your mind,
that you may find
an ever-greater Power of Life,
a Power preserving the
sanctity of your soul
and illuminating the radiance
of your Perfection.
If you believe that martial arts training is designed to enable you to beat up on others, I would suggest you look within yourself to assess why you feel a need to impose yourself on others. I would then suggest you look more deeply within yourself to determine the true meaning of martial arts training, that training that guides you upward to the higher ideals of nobility and self-mastery, for in the end the true test of our skill and achievement lies not in our mastery of others, but in mastery of ourselves. As the famed Pythagoras so eloquently stated, No man is free who cannot control himself, and most certainly, martial arts training teaches us to control ourselves before anything else.
Trixie—she’s cute, loving, fun, petite and, as her name implies, a “Bringer of Joy.” Makes perfect sense. However, if you were a bad guy with bad intentions, you’d think she would be an easy target. Mistake. Huge mistake. Appearances can be deceiving. So can smiles.
Trixie is, indeed, a trickster. What is inspiring is that she’s now a Kiado-Ryu Green belt, meaning that she’s half way to achieve the coveted KIA rank of Black Belt, of which only 8 females of the 65 individuals holding that esteemed title out of the 3,300 who have achieved it in the Karate Institute of America’s 45 year history have succeeded. Thus, she could be historic!