The Three Lives of a Practitioner

About the Book

The Three Lives of a Practitioner, is a chronicle that I put together, of a cross section of my life. So,why the hell do I want to do this? Maybe this crossed your mind. I don´t know. I think basically, it’s because I want people to know what is going on in the world out there, behind the veneer they constructed. Oh, some know but only a minority. I found it difficult to do, that is putting things together, in my writings, to stay focused because of the many conflicts I was up against, as a practitioner of the martial arts, and the application of the system called, shiatsu, as trained by two Asian senseis. In writing down these conflicts that I was confronted with in most my life, it was truly hard for me to remember every small detail. So when those areas came up to detail them, I took liberty and added what I would do today as a practitioner of my art. In so doing, being careful to stay within the truth. As noted above of my many conflicts I had to confront with, let me share with you something about conflict, for the sake of introduction. Conflict is necessary for all life, we can’t escape it. There are forces out their conflicting with us everyday, and some we can’t see. For instance, gravity, the wind that blows up storms, the magnetic forces to name a few. Everyday there’s things that happen that bring on painful conflicts to us. We could be part of some one else´s conflicts. Moreover, we might be faced with a life or death situation be it a health problem or maybe your facing an attacker who wants to do you in. Never may that happen. What would you do? My advice for you is, (If you can), run like hell. In my case, my senseis or teachers, Mr. Yamanoha and Mr. Hayashi taught me, (when I was R and R on Okinawa and later Japan during the Korean War), options that I can use if need be. They called these options, conflict shapes that I have available, the geometric figures of the triangle, circle and square. These geometric figures represent the anatomy of effective self-defense forms I can use and offensive tactics, and they explained to me their meaning in relation to the tactic used. These figurative shapes of the triangle, circle and square, I remember my teachers saying, to use them in a way of protecting your life and stressed to me, many a time, to study them and know which shape predominates, and use it in the protective spirit…wisely. The explanation of these shapes is discussed in the book. I still practice them today and teach them to my students to apply them in their lives. When discharged, I was approached by a system´s security agency. At that time they were organizing groups to fix things up and to monitor known militant activists and others who were a threat to our system. With many of my notes in long-hand and tapes I recorded, of a cross section of my life with many a conflict that materialized when I incorporated an effective tactic, and reasons for them, god, there’s so much to tell…where to begin. You know it’s difficult to look back in time on a specific event and capture its spirit. Further-more, the feelings and attitudes of the people then living was important unless you lived back at that time, going through the experiences with them for good and evil. I’ll do my best and fictionalize where need be for protection. God! When looking back to where I began and to see myself as I was at the beginning as a practitioner of my art, and sifting through many events I’ve made in time and to bring myself to where I am today, god, it’s truly amazing and to me, remarkable! Why am I still alive? Yes they could have snuffed me out professionally, and they have the means to do so. What the hell, I know why, this gut feeling of mine. You see, I have what they want and something they can utilize, if they can change my mind. Shit, nobody tells me to do this or that, I make up my own mind. God! Look, I’m getting a little

About the Author

Born in New Haven Conn., however, was raised up in Boston Mass. I am a Korean War Veteran. Two Asian Senseis taught me the arts of the martial way. I finished high school after separating from the Army. Later in life, I took lessons in writing with the Long Ridge Writers Group. My instructor was J. Anne Helgren; she was very encouraging and helpful. I love to write, and live within my writing. Committing my ideas into writing is top priority…I write a lot like an active verb. I am retired and teach the Asian art of Aikibujutsu.