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Words to Consider by Eric Shigeno
Hi, my name is Eric. For those of you who don't know me, consider yourself fortunate. But all joking aside, up until last summer ('98), I had been a fellow member of the U.C. Berkeley Karate Club. To anyone reading this who is not a member, I strongly encourage you to try it out; to those of you who are already members, I hope what I have to say will provide some additional motivation for continuing to train. It wasn't until I read the short soliloquy written by Tom Bui on my behalf did I really think about why I continued to train in the martial arts when I was at Cal. I started training in Goju Ryu under Sensei Roland Cadiente when I was in the second grade. I think it would be fair to say that I was forced into it by my parents. At the time, I was an undersized, wise-cracking runt who often found ways to allow his imagination get him into a lot of trouble. So yes, my parents desperately looked for ways to have me disciplined. And in Much the same way that they had the family dog disciplined, they immediately recognized that they were not up to the task and, therefore, turned me over to more capable hands. That's when I first me Sensei Cadiente. And believe me, during my first training sessions, I found out just how capable those hands (and feet) were. To be honest, at first, I hated it; I really hated it. I didn't see the point to standing in such awkward and uncomfortable ways. I didn't see the point in snapping my wrist at the end of a block. I didn't see the point to stretching...I guess that's my point now; back then I didn't see the point because I had a poor attitude. My attitude was reflected in how I did things, how I perceived people/things/life, how I interacted with others, etc. But once it changed for the better, I did better not only in karate but also academically; things seemed better; and I found that I could get along with others without conflict. The world seemed to get a whole lot bigger because I allowed myself to see it with an expanded sense of awareness. No longer did I focus on just me. I started to consider things from the point of view of others, not just myself. In short, I saw the point.
Some of you may have noticed that I really didn't answer my own question: Why did I continue to train in college? Here's the million $ answer (drum-roll, please): self-satisfaction. Not for health reasons. Not to build my confidence (I'm already pretty arrogant as it is). I did it for self-satisfaction. During each training session, there was at least one defining moment when I would be truly challenged; it usually would come somewhere in the middle of line drills at full-speed. Believe me, I know how hard stumbling through line drills can be when you're tired and winded; I've done them for the last four years every monday, wednesday, and friday. I also know that I wasn't alone. My fondest memory while a member of the club is of the class after finishing line drills during the 30 second break that Craig generously rewarded us with. I remember looking down the line of flushed faces and hearing that distinctive sound of rushed, heavy breathing. I remember looking Jeff and then Davide right in the eye and then smiling. They smiled back, and they both knew why I was smiling. During those particularly trying moments of training, it always seems like there are countless reasons to give up and only a few to keep going. I know what mine is. My only question is "What's yours...?" Sincerely, Eric Shigeno U.C. Berkeley Alumnus ('98) |