The dojo is one of the safest places in the world?
Does this statement seem to contradict itself?
How is all the striking, grappling, and throwing safe?
Hitting and being hit.
In the dojo, the dojo members, and the teacher help you be your
best.
They push you to the limits, but are always ready to catch
you if you fall down.
The dojo is a place you can make mistakes, learn about
yourself, reflect without judgement, while getting as many chances as you need
to get it correct.
Outside of the dojo, martial arts, there is only once
chance.
What about the mindset of the dojo?
Watching a class, one would notice a lightness about it,
laughing, taking the art seriously not ourselves.
Laughing is a way of purifying the senses.
Our five senses, the decisions we make from them and past experiences,
but how do we know they are true? In the martial arts, what appears true often
isn’t and outside the dojo, this truth and falsehood can be fatal.
By laughing and keeping it light, one can bypass
expectations and ego, seeing possibilities for what they are, learning that the
dojo is the safest place in the world.
Purifying the senses through laughing.