Don’t worry.

You are not alone.

Most of us feel this way from time to time.  Some of us, minute to minute.  It is completely natural to feel the effects of what I call the “Impossible Law of Imbalance”.

This “law” is merely a realization of reality and our place in it.  Think of life as a compass.  Let us give it four directions (although there are many more) represented by North, South, East and West.

You can then label different areas of your life i.e. Family obligations = North, Career = South, Personal Fulfillment = East , Finances = West etc. etc.  Now focus all your energy

Now, have fun realizing the “Impossible Law of Balance” in action.   Whenever we devote our time, resources and energy to one direction of our life, inevitably another area will suffer because of it.   If I command the North, then the South will suffer.  If I spend all my time at the office, my family is neglected.  Or, if I focus on always making money and working on my personal career, I may end up wealthy and very unhappy with no family.  If I spend all day playing with the kids and being a great Dad, I may not be able to pay mortgage because I am not working enough.  Do you see where these become overwhelming  and stress-building issues for the modern 21st century person who wants it all?

How many time has guilt been there because we spent too much time in one area and let go of another.  I know of too many people who are trying their best to control all areas of their life and appear perfect to the neighbors.  Well, guess what!?  It is ‘t possible.

Sure, we may think we are in control of everything and everyone, but in reality we are failing in at least one area of the compass.   My North is strong, but my South is failing.  My East is taken care of but my West is unguarded and falling apart.

Try hard not to make the choice and allow guilt and shame to creep in and depress us.  We only have so much time in the day.  We only have so much energy.  We only have one mind and body.  Take it easy and know that wherever our focus is placed, that area will surely get better.  And on the other side of life, another section will naturally fall apart (entropy) because I could not be there art the same time.  Let it go.  Let it go.  Let it go.

Trying to take care of and balance all directions of our life is admirable, but impossible.  Realize that we may need to take a break from one area (or ask for help) in order to fix something in another that we know needs our attention.

Breathe.  Take note of what needs to be accomplished today, and go with the flow; without guilt, without shame.  It is all we can do.  The happiness and contentment comes easier to those who realize that absolutely nobody is perfect.  No life is perfect.  Time and life is limited.  It is actually going to be alright, no matter which direction on the compass of life we choose to run towards and explore.

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross- May 2012

Did you know your son had a true breakthrough today?  Did you know your daughter was a leader among her peers last week?  Did your child tell you that he passed several challenges we gave him?  And that he found the inner strength to succeed to the next level?

At The Dojo, we don’t break boards, we break bad habits.

If a parent works outside of the home, it is often difficult (or for some, nearly impossible) to come in and watch classes at The Dojo.  Therefore, they do not always see what we teach, day in and day out.  I often speak with parents who are pleasantly surprised at all of the important topics we cover in class.  They are even more surprised when I tell them how their son or daughter excelled in a certain way they had never seen. Most of the time, children will not discuss what went on during their martial arts class.  It is not because they are being purposely disrespectful, it is just that most kids don’t like to be hounded with questions from parents about their day.  And most children have trouble even remembering or effectively communicating things that occurred just an hour beforehand.

Unlike other activities such as group sports, The Dojo instills many life skills that will ensure a successful life for those who train until the black belt status.  There is no sitting on a bench, hoping the coach calls out little Johnny to finally hop in and participate in the game.  The Dojo coaching team teaches each and every student vital ethical and moral lessons that will polish one’s character until it shines.  Like a candle in the dark, teachers tailor to each individual’s needs;  how to rely on their skills in times of darkness or fear.

Aside from realistic training to prepare today’s youth in the event of a confrontation, we drill cause and effect dynamics.  We show how positive and negative choices affect our lives, as well as those lives around us.  We train students to focus the mind and body on any task at hand to optimize performance for positive results.  We show students how to be polite at home and in public.  We show students how to let go of fear and anger and work toward inner peace of mind and happiness. We also show all ages how to develop a winning spirit despite any odds.  All this, while having fun and exercising in a supportive environment.

The above principles are seriously lacking nowadays.  Group sports and most (if not all) other after school activities simply cannot cover the large range of life-enhancing benefits one will find here at our training hall.

You may not know this, but just in March and April, we have addressed and practiced exercises on the following topics at the dojo:

How to identify a bully and what really causes a bully act that way?

How do we escape a bully, both physically and mentally?

How do we treat others we live with respect and kindness?

What is self-control?  How can we work on it at home and at school?

How to use our voice to be seen and heard in a crowd

Where does happiness come from and how can we hold on to it?

How do we keep from getting greedy with our things?

How do we share our things with others?

How should we talk to our parents?  Good words vs. confrontational ones.

Why do we procrastinate on chores and homework?

What is jealousy and how can we celebrate others successes?

What foods are healthy and why is health so important?

How do we escape multiple attackers using strategy?

How can we learn to speak in public and not be scared or nervous?

What is a stranger and what can we do to avoid him?

Where do we go if we get lost in public?

Why do we say yes ma’am and yes sir?  How will manners help us in the long run?

These are just some of the lessons we learned.  If your child missed some of these classes, he or she needs to come more often.  Coming in once every two weeks just won’t instill these values as well as someone who faithfully attends twice a week.

Just because you cannot see what we are teaching, rest assured we are in fact giving children and adults the tools they need to succeed and become a leader.  We take this responsibility with utmost seriousness.  If you ever have the time, or choose to make the time, you are most welcome to come in and observe your child’s class.  They will love you for seeing what they are training to do, on and off the mats.

Thank you for all you do for your kids,

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross

Six Important things to remember while on the mat

that will make everyone’s experience better:

1. Safety first.  You are working with a human being who is trusting in you to be careful.  The slower your technique is, the more highly skilled the teacher knows you are.  Practitioners who go fast tend to be sloppy, lose muscle memory opportunities, and hurt others.  This shows a complete lack of mastery and understanding of human anatomy.  The calm and cool students are almost always the more skilled in the long run.

2. Watch where you push, knock-down or throw your opponents.  If you throw your friend into someone else, you lack not only control but the ability to see danger and obstacles peripherally.  Be ultra-aware of everything on the floor!

3. Although it may come from a really sincere place, do not ever lecture or re-teach your training partner what the instructor just showed.  Call over an instructor or coach. Unless you wear an instructor’s patch, you are not allowed to teach.  Plus, nobody wants to work with someone who talks him or her to death.  Students pay to train, not talk.

4. We all like to train with friends who don’t really challenge us.  Try something new.  Avoid using the same, comfortable training partners time after time.  Train with a new or challenging partner.  Your skill will really increase more and your comfort zone will expand.

5.  Classical Budo classes should be a high priority, especially for Level 3 students heading into Green and Brown levels.  Without question, those who train in weapons and or Budo classes end up far more skilled in the long run.  You must also know some weaponry to attain a black belt.  The roots of our nine systems are detailed in Budo class.  Can one ever be a ninja without knowing about weapons and history?

6. Please do not vary from the shown technique. It is very disrespectful to vary from what the teacher is showing.  Making up new stuff or adding variations just makes one get further away from the core principles.  This shows a lack of patience in the student.  Repeat the technique over and over again and show discipline by sticking with what the instructor shows.

Yes: There should be many challenging classes along the way.  Frustration means you are being internally tested, perhaps on the edge of an unexpected breakthrough to a whole new level!

Embrace the challenge and summon out the warrior within to move through it with patience and fortitude.

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross – 2012

Sadness is defined as : emotions experienced when not in a state of well-being.  Depression can be defined as:  A condition of mental disturbance, typically with lack of energy and difficulty in maintaining concentration or interest in life.  Well, my gosh, which of us has not experienced that at one time or another?!  LOL

Sadness is a variant in emotion, but true depression is a real mystery. With all the advances in science in the last few centuries, we are still at a loss as to what exactly causes it.  Because of advances in genetics and scientific brain mapping, we are getting closer to finding the answers.  This is great news.  Perhaps one day there will be a “miracle drug” that will take all the pain away?  But not yet.  Unfortunately, more people are currently going to their medicine cabinet to take  prescription drugs than are going  to the movies each week!  There is someone within just one or two degrees if us, who is currently suffering from depression on one form or another.  Anybody can tell you that dealing with a friend or family member who is depressed can be draining, frustrating, challenging and…well, depressing.

But what constitutes true depression versus just plain occasional sadness?  When does a slump become a disease?  Who is to label us “clinically depressed”.  Is it possible we are just having a rough time lately?  As you can see, depression is a tough diagnosis.  There are no easy answers.

There are many commercials on radio and television telling us that if we feel sad, we need to see a doctor immediately, so he or she can prescribe us this new wonder drug.  Cymbalta, Lexapro, Paxil, Pristiq, Prozac, Seroquel, Xanax, Zoloft.  No, these are not the names of alien planets, they are common prescription drug names.  Names that we know all too well in the year 2012.   If we all fall prey to commercial suggestion, ,we may one day all be hooked; forever dependent on the system, making pharmaceutical  companies very rich.  I have seen some doctors act more as business brokers than physicians working in the best interest of the patient.  We must be very careful.  We must exhaust every option before we decide to pop some pills in hopes of a fix-all panacea.  Depression is not something to be taken lightly.

So what can we do about depression?  Of course, the logical thing to do is actually to seek a professional.  At least express to a few people how we are feeling and begin discussing our thoughts.  Being quiet is the worst thing we can do.  Some people react better to talking things out with a psychologist.  Some will react better to stimulants.  Some just need to be listened to and supported by friends and loved-ones.  No two paths are the same.

One thing I like to do is put my life into proper perspective.  I try not let unfounded thoughts disrupt my peace of mind.  The mind is very good at creating FEAR (Future Events Appearing Real).   When I am feeling down, I realize that more often than not, I have no cause to be sad or long.  My sadness will often be a simple unfulfilled desire or dream.  How can I complain, when there are so many thousands who’s lives are legitimately so much worse off than my own.  When I think of children dying of hunger overseas, I sometimes get red-faced, realizing that most of my problems are usually very shallow and temporary.  I have food, shelter,health, opportunity and loving friends and family.  I dare not complain, unless my gripes are deep and real.  Not everybody will agree with me on this I am sure.  Again, true depression is something that should be diagnosed and treated.  I just know that many of us can be misdiagnosed that we are depressed, because we have been conditioned since our youth to be entitled to much more than we really need to be happy and content.

…something to think about.

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross – March 2012

Criticism is a necessary tool for growth.  Every teacher knows this.  But the golden rule is: It is not what you say, but how you say it that matters.  You can have five teachers help the same student, but chances are only one will connect.  This will be heard in the skillful mode of delivery, not the message.

We have all said the wrong thing to someone we care about.  Experience is accrued through our mistakes, not just our successes.  Let us be be aware that when we need to translate our message to others, we need to be careful and considerate of our audience.  Know whom you are dealing with.  Know his traits.  Know her tendencies.  Skillfully weave in the message sandwiched between at least two compliments.  Use creative analogies that stick in peoples brains.  Be positive and uplifting.  The person will not only listen more, but also feel better about him of herself in the meantime.

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross -February 2012

Gendun Rinpoche

In my years of studying various religions and world views , I learned a great technique from an old monk from Tibet.  His teaching (certainly not anything we in the West have not heard of)  has served me well for decades now.

Perhaps it will be of some use to you?

A crucial exercise to practice each and every night, to work actively toward happiness, is to rate our day from a one to a ten.   A rating of “one” would be a terrible day, where there was pain, mistakes and sadness attacking from every shadow.  A rating of a “ten” would be the best of days, where there was plenty of laughter, fulfillment and comfort in every twist and turn.  What number would you give this day today?

The reason for doing this contemplation is because we too often neglect to review our existence.  We are on auto-pilot Monday through Friday, going to work, taking the kids places, watching the same TV shows week after week.  We then spend the weekends catching up on family obligations, laundry, cleaning, and sleep.

While ranking my day, each and every day, I learn to be content.  I learn my weaknesses and bad habits.  I see how I can handle problems that appear before me in a different way.  On the positive side, I vow that tomorrow, I will do better at handling anger, stress and envy.  I  learn to let go, no matter what the number.  And I learn to be grateful.   My goodness, I am lucky to still be alive to contemplate days and numbers.

Beware of the tricks of the mind.  The lower numbers we tend to give ourselves can be skewed by our self doubt.  The mind can deceive us into thinking that our day was not as good as it actually was.  Indeed, the monk always said “Unrealistic expectation brings about much disappointment.”   Do not be too impetuous and expect days of all tens, and at the same time, do not allow yourself any ones.

I have learned over the years that I can choose to create my own higher number.  By being aware and alert of the ticking of the clock, I do not ever sweat the small stuff.  It is the small stuff that will unrepentantly eat up our opportunities to soar.  While I cannot make every day a ten, I can certainly recognize the power within to raise the numbers far higher than they would otherwise be. Raising those numbers is our primary job in life, if we are to serve others and ourselves.

We all have the ability, and the human right, to happiness…seven days a week.  Let no “one” take that from us.

You know, I never saw someone smile as much as that Tibetan monk.  Within his heart, you could tell that he had nothing but pure light in there.  He possessed a lucid and breathtaking calmness of mind.  But then, I would expect nothing less from a true warrior.

Todd Norcross – February, 2012

Todd Norcross – January, 2012

Masaaki Hatsumi

The very name Koto Ryu, means “Knock Down Tiger School”.  It is a powerful and major school in our Japanese Budo method.  It is one of the nine traditions we practice.  It dates back to about the “Tenmon” period of Japan’s mid 16th century.

Koto Ryu incorporates a type of dakentaijutsu, a subset of martial arts where striking techniques are a bit more prevalent.

Koppojutsu is the “bone method” of breaking and using skeletal structure to affect the opponent and set up throws etc.  Using proper footwork and body alighnment, we use Koppojutsu to break the opponent’s balance to bring about a harder fall and cause the opponent to over-extend and lose control.

Lineage of Koto Ryu
1. Sakagami, Taro Kunishige -Tembun era (1532)
2. Sakagami, (Bando) Minamoto Masahide -Tembun era (1532)
3. Sogyokkan, Ritsushi -Tembun era (1532)
4. Toda, Sakyo Ishinsai -Tembun era (1532)
5. Momochi, Sandayu I -Tembun era (1532) (died 1581)
6. Momochi, Sandayu II -Tensho era (1573)
7. Momochi, Tanba Yasumitsu -Bunroku era (1595)
8. Momochi, Taro Saemon -Genna era (1615)
9. Toda, Seiryu Nobutsuna -Kwanyei era (1624)
10. Toda, Fudo Nobuchika -Manji era (1658)
11. Toda, Kangoro Nobuyasu -Tenna era (1681)
12. Toda, Eisaburo Nobumasa -Hoyei era (1704)
13. Toda, Shingoro Masayoshi -Shotoku era (1711)
14. Toda, Daigoro Masayoshi -Gembun era(1736)
15. Toda, Daisaburo Chikashige -Bunkwa era (1804)
16. Toda, Shinryuken Masamitsu (Kobe) 1824-1908
17. Takamatsu, Toshitsugu Uoh (Nara) Taisho (1909) 1887-1972
18. Hatsumi, Masaaki (Noda) Showa (1968) 1931-

Some common themes in the Koto Ryu:

Battlefield school for longer distance attacks

Shorter kata scenarios

Yoko Aruki (cross stepping), and Toki (stamping on toes).

Comprehensive school of pressure points (Kyusho)

Striking bones at 90 degree angles for maximum targeting and damage

Affecting the face of the opponent with blinding distractions (metsubushi-shako ken, etc.)

Always making the eyes appear blank, so that no telepathic movement can be detected by the opponent

A unique, defensive sword approach…giving the opponent the impression that you are an amateur with the sword.

Its “sister” school is the Gyokko Ryu  “Jeweled Tiger” School.  In my opinion, just mastering the techniques (waza) included in these two schools of Budo would provide all of the tactics and knowledge to deal with almost any attacker.  These two lineages (ryu-ha) compliment each other well and round out the skill-sets necessary to survive.

Todd Ryotoshi Norcross – January 2012

I feel as if I have been given the torch of life from countless relatives who once lived before me.  On this tree of life, I am merely a leaf at the turn of Fall.  How dare I complain when I struggle occasionally.  What struggles are these compared to my great grandfather’s?

I have it made.

The 21st century is by far the wealthiest, healthiest and most long-lived technological generation to have ever existed on Earth.  Imagine yourself living your life just two or three hundred years ago, dying at age 25 because of bad teeth, or some unknown virus.

I am so fortunate to realize just how much opportunity I have been given by the linked lives of my ancestors.  Today is a great day, simply because I am here to slowly observe and participate within it.  I salute the unknown faces of those before me;  those countless, yet connected faces.  I say this in the grandest of humility and gratitude.  “May my moral actions and upheld purpose make my forefathers proud.”

Todd Norcross – January 2012

Show up, try your best…repeat.

That’s it.  You can’t get worse by training consistently.  It isn’t possible.  So, if you are a student – and may be having difficulties and stumbling blocks like the rest of us- simply follow the above formula.  Making up wild excuses why you can’t come to train is a great way to fool yourself into thinking it is everybody else’s fault, instead of  your own.  Believe me, we will spend immense amounts of time concocting crazy delusions to justify our laziness.  The great news is that this habit can be reversed with effort and consistency.  Believing in yourself is a quality that is learned, not a birthright.

Some verbs:

Show-up to classes at least twice a week.  Mix it up a bit and show-up to a class that you do not usually attend. If you are an advanced student, show-up to a beginners class once in a while to re-acquaint yourself with what is most important.  How often do you attend the “Classical Budo” classes – which are the roots of the very trees we are trying to ascend?  If you pay for the opportunity to train, why not capitalize on your investment and show-up more.  Show-up to coach a kids class and experience the untold powers of paying it forward.

Winter is the perfect time to re-charge your batteries.  The purpose of your life may manifest itself right in front of you.  The door is open, but is your mind and heart also unsealed?  Make a plan and stick to it.  Create the time for yourself and you will reap the benefits and satisfaction of days well spent.

- Todd Ryotoshi Norcross – December, 2011