Today, the day after the 45th annual All South Karate Championships, the longest unbroken annual karate tournament in the United States, I feel it is only fitting to acknowledge one of the most amazing people I have ever met. Though I have spoken of several dojo already in this blog, and there are a good deal more that I intend to mention, there is none that has changed my life more than sensei Takayuki Mikami and the Louisiana Karate Association. When someone says "sensei" this is the first person I think of, and when someone asks "Where do you train?" this is the response I give, no matter how far away and for however long I may travel.
Sometimes it's hard for me to grasp how fortunate I am to even be in the same country much less the same state as Mikami sensei. All Japan Champion, first graduate of the JKA instructor training program, founder of the JKA American Federation, founder of All South Karate Federation, and co-founder of numerous other karate organizations that reach across the globe. His list of accomplishments go on and on. Sometimes I wonder how is it that someone like me just stumbled into a dojo of that calibur.
I came to LKA in 2002 at age sixteen, wearing a purple belt and having not trained in over six months. Back then I was even smaller than I am now if it's possible to imagine. I was so skinny that with my short hair some people thought I was a little boy at first. Before LKA I thought I had quit karate for good, having left my first dojo for reasons I care not to discuss. But after just a few weeks of sensei's classes, I decided not to stop training ever again, and since then I never have. There are so many men and women at LKA whose strength and determination so far surpass mine that I have always felt kinda like a dork in comparison. Making cacophonies of sound by tripping over the weight rack when everyone else is in seiza, shouting just "KYU" instead of "five-kyu" when sensei asked me what rank I was, the examples are endless. Still, my senpai just laughed it off and embraced me and all of my strangeness.
Furthermore, it was Mikami sensei and Mrs. Mikami who encouraged me to train abroad. For all the letters he wrote on my behalf to great sensei halfway around the world, I can't help but wonder how someone can be so selfless. I mean, I'm one of his lowest ranked black belts, I almost never win any competitions, and let's face it, I'm probably the person who is most likely to trip and fall on my face walking into the dojo, but he still has enough faith in me to let me represent him when I travel. Someday I hope to figure out what I can possibly do for him in return.
Last night through some random turn of events I had the pleasure of sitting at Mikami sensei's table during the 45th All South banquet. While there I spoke with various other sensei from across the country about their dojo, and may have even made plans to visit them in the future. For what it's worth, I feel that every day I do karate is a blessing, even if now I'm sitting awake at 6AM unable to sleep while thinking about the past 24 hours.
For those of you who would like to read about the life of Mikami sensei or who would like to train at the Louisiana Karate Association please visit:
http://www.lkakarate.com/
and http://www.jkaaf.org/
Also, I'd like to invite all karate-ka (JKA or not), to this up-comming May camp in New Orleans at which three great sensei and All Japan Champions (Mikami, Osaka and Taniyama) will teach:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwCwcpwZoS8
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( 3 / 170 )I can't believe I've been writing these blog entries for a year now without even mentioning what I do for a living. Well ladies and gentlemen, I study ants. Yes, that's right, ants. I got into it when I was an undergraduate student worker in an LSU entomology lab. Now I am a research associate there. So, just what does myrmecology entail? To tell you the truth, I'm still learning myself. To the contrary of many who are unfamiliar with the discipline, things can get pretty exciting. Case in point...
That's Nikhil and me about 10 feet below ground in a pit filled with flesh-slicing Texas leaf-cutting ants. We were attempting to extract some fungus gardens as large as my torso in order to rear them in the lab. Lately we've been excavating these enormous underground nests in pursuit of a more accurate description of leaf-cutter ecology. Also, Nikhil has been pioneering techniques for using ground penetrating radar in order to map out these chambers.
It's great to have a job that takes me outside. I dare say it helps me out a lot with what I do here with Shizentai. The bright fields I get to romp through fill me with motivation to do all thinks I love in life. ...though technically the field above was the underside of a giant buzzing power line straightaway. Regardless, it's good to get some vitamin d every now and then considering that each one of these pages I make takes about 7 hours from start to completion. Though I will admit, there is also a lot I do at the lab which takes place indoors as well
Well, we all know I'd sneak some photoshop time in there somehow right? Yeah, my boss has been kind enough to allow me to draw a great deal on the job. What more could I ask for? Bugs? Check. Outside time? Check. Drawing, photography, and a shot at a higher degree? Triple check. Though this is not exactly supposed to be a permanent job, it's in a lot of ways my childhood dream come true. Therefore, this entry goes out to all the beautiful children in my elementary school who used to shake my desk and call me "animal freak." There isn't a week that goes by when I don't wonder... what do you do for a living?
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