I got slightly injured yesterday doing randori with one of my students after the regular class. We’d been sparring for a few minutes when something went wrong, and I suffered a pulled muscle. I’ll be limping a bit for the next few days.
I started practicing judo as a teenager and right from the start, I was training with girls. Not just in their presence. With them. As a result, I learned at a very young age and from direct experience that girls, as judokas, were every bit as deserving as the boys and were not to be underestimated.
I’m a part-time, volunteer educator. I say “educator” rather than “instructor” or “trainer” because my mission is not to simply impart athletic abilities or to help my students win tournaments (that’s quite secondary to me), but rather to help them become the best all-around people that they can be. Another appropriate word to describe my role, I think, would be “teacher”. I’m incredibly fortunate to have been given this opportunity, which is also a great responsibility.
“Il faudra leur dire” is a famous French song from 1987 by singer-songwriter Francis Cabrel. The melody is absolutely beautiful, the lyrics perhaps even more. The chorus, sang by a children’s choir, goes in part like this:
In many spheres of society, aided and abetted by the echo chambers of social media, things are coming unhinged. On social media, you don’t get to look the other person in the eye and see another human being with its strengths and weaknesses – a flawed human being just like you.
It is my firm view, as you may recall from a previous article, that you should only ever request a professional courtesy such as a referral or a recommendation from someone who has direct knowledge of your character or capabilities – someone who actually knows you.
We’ve all had to ask for a hand. I certainly have and wouldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t received some help along the way from people who knew me and were willing to give me a hand by putting in a good word on my behalf or helping me secure a meeting with some person or another. I’m talking of course of introductions, referrals and recommendations.
I work mostly with very seasoned professionals. We like to laugh and have some fun but we also tend to be a focused bunch and I’m not sure that “wide-eyed with wonder” are the top words that anyone would pick to describe us; not jaded in any way for sure, but imbued for the most part with the sober demeanor of people who have seen a lot and are not that easily moved or impressed.
I had an interesting experience a few days ago. I had just responded to somebody’s online comment regarding one of my articles right here on LinkedIn when I received the following message
Most companies espouse, in one form or another, a trifecta of Vision, Mission and Values. For some, such devices of contemporary management are essential “for inspiring people to change the way they relate to their work, each other and themselves by providing them with a sense of both communal and individual purpose (‘meaning’).”
Fame and importance are such ephemeral things. How often have you found yourself walking down a street or standing in front of a building named after a person likely very important in his or her day, realizing that you had no idea whatsoever – nor did you really care – who this person was?
I’m currently visiting Montreal – the primarily French-speaking city where I was born and raised – and was having lunch today, enjoying excellent shawarma at a local Lebanese restaurant while tapping my foot to the beat of Arabic music when my mind started wandering…
