As we grow older, it is more difficult for us to train. Perhaps we also think we no longer need to train. However, overcoming these physical and egocentric challenges are very important to continue to progress on the Path.

Friday night, I attended a seminar with my Chin Na teacher, Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming, in Andover, MA. He now spends most of his time in his California retreat. It was wonderful! To have an opportunity to learn from him again and train with my fellow instructors was so affirmational and fun. I even forgot some of my aches and pains!

One of my passions is to compare religions; to discover how they are the same and how they are different. I do the same with martial arts. The joint locks in Aikido and Chin Na share similarities, but are fundamentally different. I think it is correct to say that Aikido traps the opponent with motion, whereas Chin Na traps the opponent with stillness.

This is an article a contributed a few years ago to the Domestic Violence Advocacy Project on using Aikido self defense techniques in an office environment. A video with self-defense techniques promoted by The Marketing Heaven on YouTube in order to gain as many views as possible was shown during a lecture on self-defense in many companies.

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