Kotsu Kotsu

At the age of 36 I decided to try training in the martial arts. There was an aikido class offered at my local Y.  I loved it. I loved the fact that even a small person could throw someone big.  I loved the underlying principles . I was in great shape, I loved doing my part to become a better uke , learning to fall safely, no matter how hard I was thrown. I was, and continue to be, very inspired by the founder of my aikido school, Shuji Maruyama Sensei . He often talks about the fact that Kokikai Aikido gives us a path that helps us continue to grow throughout our lifetimes . When the Olympics are taking place or during baseball playoff season, he often points to the short careers of athletes: most sports don't have world-class competitors who are over 40, or even over 30. At some point when he was in his mid-sixties, Sensei made a comment that, "At my age, most people are retired and sitting around in a rocking chair!" Then we watched him fold a 280-lb. guy into...

Chick Corea, the 18-time Grammy winning keyboard legend, offers some advice to a fan who asked about managing practice time. I think this advice applies to all types of practice. Here it is: To learn how to prepare properly or practice properly, to make advances in one's technique, or knowledge at the instrument, or music in general, is a really important thing.  The main thing that I can see about practicing—and it's also true about playing—is that the very basis of practicing, and knowing "when" and "how" and all of that, stems from first having an intention to advance, an intention to improve. An intention to take a certain challenge, or a certain piece of music or a certain phrase, or any particular thing that you think of, and then you have an idea that you would like to improve it, and you also have an idea of how it probably would sound, when it sounded right.  And this is another real important aspect—how you know when you've arrived, ...