Cleansing My Dirty Soul

One of the things I do at the dojo is whenever I notice that the mirrors need cleaned, I clean them. Joe recently thanked me for doing it, and said “Tradition talks of working on yourself as ‘polishing the mirror’. The mirrors are one of my best partners, and help me to see what I otherwise could not.” I thought that summarized very well why I do it. In Karate, the mirrors are a valuable tool for us, they are important. So when I clean them, it’s not just for appearance sake, but it’s a way for me to give back to that which gives me so much.

In Jiu-Jitsu our most valuable tool is the mat. At Sho-Rei-Shobu-Kan we are very fortunate to have an Olympic-sized mat on springs. If you don’t believe me, try grappling on the floor! Even with a fold-out mat, it’s not very much fun. So, we must take care of it, not for the dojo, but for ourselves. We bow to the mat to show respect for it, but that is only symbolic. To truly respect it we have to treat it like the partner that it is. We must try to not do, or wear, anything that would damage it. It is even more important to keep it clean, because a dirty mat is not only unpleasant to train on, but it can be a health hazard.

So, whenever you have time after class, think about grabbing a broom and mop, and doing your part in maintaining the mat. If you already do so, thank you for helping my training, and everyone else’s in our dojo family. Sensei Dave Ossian likes to say “Cleaning the dojo is like cleaning your soul.” I don’t know about you guys, but my soul can usually stand for a little cleaning.