Why a Broken Bokken?

I am sometimes asked why we named our dojo, The Broken Bokken. The basic story is a simple one. Verna Micik (Shodan), a white belt then, broke a bokken during a training session. She felt so bad cause she thought she did something wrong. Verna has always trained vigorously (former military). From there, her son Rick (also now a Shodan), thought we should call the dojo, The Broken Bokken. I liked it and it stuck. Little did they know, or me, what the name would come to represent.

Now, looking back at the name of the dojo, it is so appropriate, but on a deeper level. This is one of those stories where there are 'no accidents'. When you think about it, the Bokken is a wooden Samurai Katana used for training prior to engaging in the practice with a live blade. It is safer, period. As most of my readers know, the Samurai's sword was considered his soul, his spirit and was held in very high regard. In Japan, this identification exists through today.

A broken bokken, to me, symbolizes the delusional state of humanity's perception. Their soul or spirit appears broken, fractured, split into the delusion of individuality, black and white, us and them. A broken bokken also symbolizes the wounds we have as we travel through life. It can be the loss of a loved one, someone yelling racist remarks at you or even as simple as slipping on the ice and feeling stupid. Emotional wounds that hurt us, and if not healed properly, alter and shape the way in which we go about our day. These wounds can make our life feel heavy and full of pain.

As a Karateka, a dojo is not only a place where we practice the martial arts, it is a place of transformation and healing. It also means 'hall of enlightenment' in some circles. So, those of us who have 'broken bokkens' come to the dojo to heal, to grow and to shape new lives. Here, the wounds of our lives can be healed as we gain new perspectives about ourselves and life in general.

Most importantly, it is to help us see past the illusion that we are even broken, because on a deep level we are perfect just as we are. Nothing is actually needed. It is just that we live in this delusion that we are broken, that our spirit is damaged and we need restoration, salvation, enlightenment.

It is through the vigorous physical, mental and spiritual training of a traditional dojo (those who still house a shrine) that we can begin to see this wholeness and that we were never broken in the first place. But there are those of us who are hard-headed, like me, who need to get bopped on the head a few times with a real bokken to see this!

So, this is what the Broken Bokken Dojo is about and how we came about.

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen

Shamans at Work?

Did you ever have a series of events that were so synchronistic that you knew it was not pure coincidence or chance? Last week I had three events occur over a three day period that blew my mind away! If you want to know what those are keep reading...

About two weeks ago I had asked in my 'prayers' to have new seeds for my next book. I have had a lot of ideas, but nothing really was coming through that struck me as inspired thought, so I just let it go. Well, I had a two day conference to attend in Appleton, Wisconsin and was staying at a downtown conference center. Across the street from the center is a Bookstore full of used and new books as well as crystals, alternative healing paraphernalia, incense and various religious icons. Cool store.

While I was browsing the used book section, I 'chanced' across the book, "Mending the Past and Healing the Future with Soul Retrieval" by Alberto Villoldo, PhD. Dr. Villoldo has studied with the Peruvian Shamans and learned their healing practices. Now, the Shamans of Peru never interested me much before, but for some reason I bought the book. I took it back to my room and read it over the course of the evening. I liked it and noticed he had a previous book, called, "Shaman, Healer and Sage."

The next day after the conference I stopped at another used bookstore on the way of out town. (Yes, I am a book junkie) Now, to be honest with you, Dr. Villoldo's other book was not on my mind at this time. As I was wandering the bookstore, I stopped and then the thought came to me, "I wonder if his other book is here?" As soon as I asked, the book literally 'popped' into my sight. It was the only book I could see. This was a very weird experience. Of course I bought the book.

It gets better now. So the next day, I had to speak at a conference. A colleague of mine had asked me to fill in for him as he couldn't accept the speaking engagement. So, I did. I was on a panel with two other counselors from tribal clinics explaining how substance abuse effects the elderly. As we were introducing ourselves, one of my fellow panelists, began to explain how she is a counselor but also does energy work. She went on to explain how she had traveled to Peru and studied, with, you guessed it, Dr. Villoldi's people. I was blown away!

Afterwards I had to share my story with her and pulled the two books from my bookbag. We both got those 'chills' from this extraordinary moment. We talked about our experiences and our different healing practices...she is also a Reiki Master like myself and I shared with her my 'Mind-Sword' healing practices.

The events all flowed so seamlessly. Where it is going from here I do not know. All I know is I have had some great ideas for my next book that feel like the 'right path'...now I just have to put it to paper.

In Gassho,
Shinzen


picture from flikr.com...lloyd powell...thanks

Healing Arts and Martial Arts

As most Martial Artists are aware, Healing Arts and Martial Arts have traveled hand in hand throughout the centuries. It goes back to that old saying, "if you know how to break it, you must know how to fix it."

One of my most favorite Healing Arts is called, The Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT for short. It was developed by Gary Craig who studied Thought Field Therapy with Dr. Roger Callahan. Thought Field Therapy is a healing art that combines Traditional Chinese Medicine and modern Psychology. A series of Pressure Points are 'tapped' with the fingers while focusing on the problem. Amazingly the problem reduces or disappears altogether. Thought Field Therapy has different algorithms or series of pressure points to tap for different problems. For instance, their are different algorithms for anxiety, grief, pain and anger. Gary Craig developed a universal algorithm that works for almost all situations...and named it the Emotional Freedom Technique.

As a Martial Artist, I have used EFT for my own headaches, anxiety and anger. It really does work. The website for you to explore is www.emofree.com. You can learn all about EFT via videos and you can download the entire EFT manual for Free! EFT is considered an Energy Medicine as it works with the subtle energies we as Martial Artists understand and use.

I encourage you to try it out. I use EFT in my clinical practice with wonderful results. I have seen migraines disappear, hip pain disappear, anxiety reduce and panic obliterated. It simply works. Give it try and if you have any questions just ask me.

In the future I will go over other healing arts I use and provide links to their websites.

Hands palm to palm,
Shinzen