Thought: Our core values cannot be separated from our budō.

Chatted with a kouhai for a good hour after class tonight in the car, and it gave me some things to think about. 

As humans, our core values are so intrinsic in every aspect of our lives, we cannot separate them from our budō, either — at least, not completely. They colour our choices in what we practice, how, with whom… I could be wrong, but I’m starting to think that this kouhai’s difficulty in accepting certain other practices as a supplement to their current practice is due to a conflict with their core values. They have a very strong emotional response to it that seems difficult to articulate (or perhaps just difficult for me to understand).

I’m fascinated by listening to people talk about this aspect of their budo journey. Why do they choose what they choose? Why stick with some things, drop others? Sometimes it’s just logistical conditions, but beyond that, so much stems from those core values, which is why we’re all taking (at least slightly) different approaches. I like to get people talking about that, and hearing their stories, motivations, reasons, rewards.