Connections, or not

I am so lucky.

Lucky in a great house, great job, and fabulous wife. Lucky also in my hobbies.

My town now has a viable Shotokan Karate club.

As a club member, I get to be part of the International Shotokan Karate Federation. I therefore have access to big-instructor seminars. This also gets me access to dojos in countries around the world.

I have also been accepted back into the circle of my old instructor. He is a 7^th Dan, and I get to train with him when he’s in Canada. He, and all of his clubs, are members of the Japan Karate Association, which is even bigger than the ISKF.

There is a 5^th Dan JKA instructor in my town who does not currently have a club. His work hours make this impractical. He lets me train with him once in a while, and we have a student/instructor relationship. He also has contacts with the Japan Karate Association.

There is also a club nearby of a different style. They practice Shitu Ryu, which is similar to Shotokan in many ways. They welcome me whenever I go to train with them.

“Fine,” you might say, “How is all that Karate going to help you when you go to spend most of 2 months in Victoria this Summer?”

Victoria has no ISKF clubs. Victoria has no JKA clubs. There is plenty of Karate there, but none I’m connected to.

What will my Victoria options be? I could take a break. I could train alone. I could find a Karate club that would let me play. I could re-join the Iaido group that I trained with last summer. Playing with swords is always swell. I’ve wanted to do Judo for quite a while, and Victoria has a top-notch club.

Not a lack of choice at all.

I am so lucky.