Category Archives: Messages from Hanshi Wirth

The Nature of Practice

Very often during class I’ll have something to say, but I never plan to do so. I think that a demonstration, perhaps accompanied by spontaneous speech is always preferable to a logical presentation of prepared text when it comes to conveying the fine points.  I’m not with you on the mat right now, so you may not find any of this relevant, but I hope you will at least consider what I have to say.

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A Vision Given to Me

We were in what appeared to be a yard, O’Sensei and myself, on a warm and bright afternoon. He as old; I couldn’t see myself. Before us, stuck somehow to a high wall, were the credentials of many he had once elevated to positions of honor and responsibility. Without saying a word, he handed me a board brush and began to soak the certificates with his. I joined in. The ink ran down the certificates and down the wall to the ground, until the paper and the wall were all white in the
afternoon sun.