Steaming into 2023

Steaming into 2023

Inryoku Volume 4 Issue 12

By Josh Paul Sensei, AOSB Head Instructor

The last newsletter of 2022! Conventionally, I’m supposed to look back, reflect, meditated, and comment on the year past, and talk philosophically about the year to come. However, in the words of the tired, old engine from the Little Engine That Could, “I cannot. I cannot. I cannot.” I’d much rather think about the Little Engine herself saying, “I think I can, I think I can.”

Because 2022, like a kyu or dan exam, was an obstacle. It was about recognizing and sorting through the pandemic’s lingering effects on mind, body, and wallet. Now, looking ahead to a new year with new commitments and new questions of recovery, I think of the Little Engine climbing a new mountain, softly chanting, “I think I can, I think I can.”

Nevertheless, if you’re feeling reflective, checkout the Inryoku archives from 2022 and earlier. This year I wrote about aikido’s effectiveness, the techniques that work, music in the dojo, practical aikido, aikido alignment, and many other topics.

So, what’s in store for 2023? We’ll (🤞) be ending the process of rebuilding and just start to build and create. There’ll be more seminars and travel (see our calendar for upcoming events), more workshops, more music, and more events. And hopefully this growing and building will be represented by many more promotions. Exams are an important part of training, and there was a terrific number of youth promotions this past month. Now, I’m looking to the adults to increase and intensify their practice. But more about exams next month.

Mostly, I’m looking at 2023 with the same confidence with which the Little Engine looked at the mountain and chanting the same mantra, “I think I can, I think I can.”