On budō: high ranks and teaching; low ranks and gratitude.

January 2024 (exact date unknown)

Teaching becomes often an important part of budō after many years and ranks. (An important part, not the entire thing.) Does teaching bring joy? Or is it just a sense of duty fulfilled, creating some kind of ease or relief through satisfaction of expectation (or even compulsion)? Does the act of sharing, of passing down your way, generally feel more like a burden or more like giving a precious gift? Maybe its neither. I imagine it varies from one day to the next.

As a low rank and inexperienced, on the other hand — gratitude is an important part, in my mind. I would say that actively practicing gratitude is an important part of my budō. (This is the case for me whether others agree it should be or not — but that thought makes me wonder what others do think.)

Maybe someday, I’ll teach; if I live long enough to reach that level of skill and understanding. I probably will never reach a level of understanding high enough to do so, and no one knows for sure how long we’ll live, so it’s even more important to me to express active gratitude while I’m still able to contribute and give back at all in some small ways.