During time totally dedicated as a karate-ka, I spent year after year attending one of the many training camps that our organization had. It was mainly a chance to sweat and endure grueling, and often intense, 2-hour sessions (twice per day, per weekend, three time a year) along side your extended family of like-minded psychos...um...spirits. If it wasn't the early 6am morning chill that got you, it was your still-wet uniform that didn't dry from the night before that did. When it was hot, you couldn't sweat enough. When it was cold, the floor sucked the every amount of moisture and grip from your chapped blistery feet. You become numb to bare feet sliding on a newly-shellacked gym floor or a coarse concrete outdoor basketball court. It became normal to push past the dizzy spell to finally hydrate after class. It became a challenge of the mind and a true test of the spirit. As a young karate-ka I kept on asking why? Why 6am? Why do fall/winter camps happen in Tallahassee and summer camps happen in South-Dade Miami??
One year it dawned on my exactly why...
It was typical hot summer in Miami and summer camp was guest taught by Master Koyama from Arizona. He was an unusually slender figure with a smile reminding me of my uncle. He was also a talker, which is so not typical of Japanese instructors who prefer to bark commands and grunt. He was philosophical but didn't present it so deeply that you would need an existentialist translator. His english was, challenging but never deter him from sharing deeper meanings. This particular year, as he started to demonstrate the techniques he wanted us to drill on, he began describing to us what he referred to as "seeket spat entiming"...at least it that what seemed to have come out of his mouth. It was many years ago but as far as I can remember, this was the about how he said it:
"...En trrrannning, musta fine seeket spat entiming..."
"..maybeee, puncha hunded times, ten more...ahhhh...feeennnish! ...seeket spat entiming"
"...maybeee, yu rahn five miles, rahn one more...ahhhh...feeennnish! ...seeket spat entiming"
"...maybeee, yu see old picture, ahhhh...seeket spat entiming"
"...maybeee, yu see nu bahn baby, ahhhh...seeket spat entiming"
It was only after we had finished that I'd asked one of my fellow senior karate-ka what the heck was a "seeket spat entiming". He responded, "I think he's trying to say sweeter spots in time". Ahhh...Osu!
His message was for us all to look for the euphoria in our lives. Even if we have to create it. Be it the sweeter moments of pushing past our mental wall of exhaustion punching 10 more after 100 punches or pushing for the extra mile in our run, it's there. Sometimes we get it from seeing an old picture that reminds us of our happy moments or find it in the tears of seeing a new born baby being held.
Nowadays, I often struggle find my sweeter spots in time. These photos I take present to you here on this site help to bring me back to those moments...