The hardest thing is to not give up. Every time I post something I hope that readers, friends or strangers, will comment so I won’t feel like I am exposing myself to a dark, silent void. But instead of creating more it seems like I am creating less. It brings up doubt in me. But seeing the people work here has made me change my mind. I will no longer hope for more interaction nor will I keep checking the visitor statistics. But I will keep sharing, as consistently as possible. Miles lives in his kitchen, Ilana and Itamar in a tent in the desert. They have given up all their privacy; I can give up more of my need for approval and recognition.
Miles Kessler sensei, warrior.
I studied with Miles (and I studied Miles) for a full week as an uchideshi. An uchideshi is a live in student or, literally “inside student”: a student that lives inside the dojo and gets to study his or her own inside and the insides of the others. When you pay attention you can see Miles shift into different roles all the time. On the dojo floor his presence leaves no space and has no tolerance for unmindfulness but still he moves from gentle, patient and being a buddy, to a tiny bit of a show-off and back to the authoritarian Sensei. The fluidity of his presence is reflected in the fluidity of his aikido.