gato gordo

I started this blog to record the many aspects that impress me from the budokas that I know from the Shinkage Ryu family. I don’t know why and how other people write, but I do fear the possibility of making the people that inspires me uncomfortable. Yet I can’t help it, so I go on writing about others and hoping for the best.

Wonderfully enough, somebody has reversed the roles. In between the observer and the writer there has always been a thin line, a grey area where the persons overlap in undefinable ways. Few weeks ago I received an anonymous email pushing me into that grey zone. My hacker friends tell me that I could figure out where the email came from, yet I don’t think I want to. I did ask around in the dojo, but the identity of the writer will remain hidden. Here under you can read what I received.

I have taken a license, though. Even if I am delighted by the text, and even more delighted by the resonances of my new given name, I am very impressed by the accompanying photo. So I’ll refuse to convert catfish into Manul. Catfish will go but el gato gordo will remain.

Whoever you are, unknown writer, I am thankful. Without more introduction…

Manul

When brother Manul joined the road that is iaido he wasn’t a young kitten anymore. He was already bearing the scars of several of his nine lives. Yet, brother Manul was still curious like a kitten. He started to explore the road with unprecedented dedication. On several occasions, this curiosity and dedication almost killed this new adventure. But whenever he got pushed back a few steps, it made him more persistent to move forwards and see where this road would take him. And as time passed by he gained both experience and skills.

They say a cat is easily distracted, unless it is hunting a prey. Iaido was brother Manul’s prey and nothing could distract him away from this road. Or so it seemed.

One day, while exploring the road he had been exploring for years, another road appeared. It was a different road, yet it had many similarities with the road he was on. For a moment brother Manul froze. His curiosity told him to explore this new road, but the dedication in him did not want to abandon the road he was on right now.

Then, this thought occurred: why should he have to choose between these two paths? As they both went in the same direction. Moreover, if brother Manul could use both roads simultaneously, he would explore faster than ever before.

As a wise Fenix once said: Kendo and Iaido are the two wings that the bird needs to fly. And from that moment, brother Manul knew with all his cat instincts: he needed to catch that bird

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *