New Year's Message

Rogues on the Run with Bernard "Pretty" Purdie on drums.

Here's some exciting news: Bernard asked me to produce his next album! In fact, we are hip deep in it. I wrote 13 songs that cover a wide variety of the different kinds of music Bernard has recorded over the years. Here's the rhythm section.

Jack, Bernard, John Korba & Paul Nowinski

Paul and Purdie - "one and-a two and-a you know what to do...!"

Musician and singer extraordinaire, John Korba

You may know that one of my favorite guitarists is the great Robben Ford. Robben is one of the premier electric guitarists today, particularly known for his blues playing, as well as his ability to be comfortable in a variety of musical contexts. A five-time Grammy nominee, he has played with artists as diverse as Joni Mitchell, Jimmy Witherspoon, Miles Davis, George Harrison, Phil Lesh, Bonnie Raitt, Michael McDonald, Bob Dylan, John Mayall, Greg Allman, John Scofield, Susan Tedeschi, Keb Mo, Larry Carlton, Mavis Staples, Brad Paisley, and many others.

Well I got to play with him again in 2017. 

My favorite guitarist – Robben Ford.

And guess what! Robben offered to play on the Purdie album! Wait until you hear his awesome contribution!

And one last music-related remembrance. One of my favorite types of music is Bossa Nova. And my favorite song is "La Garota de Ipanema" which you may recognize as "The Girl From Ipanema." Well, after the Argentina TaiKai I went from Buenas Aires to Rio De Janiero, Brazil to visit the land of Bossa Nova. Here she is – the Girl From Ipanema!

The Girl From Ipanema

And here is a rendering of the original score.

It was very inspiring to be in the place where Bossa Nova was born, for sure. In fact, on the new Purdie album there are two songs that I wrote that were inspired by the music of Brazil, so listen for them. Next year maybe I will actually meet the Girl From Ipanema in person. Put that on the Bucket List! I wonder if she'll look straight ahead or at me. Sigh...

A stroll on Ipanema Beach looking for you know who!

In 2017 I did get to check another item off of my bucket list. My Jersey Shore friends know that I am a fanatic, amateur bodysurfer. Well, in 2017 I got to meet and go bodysurfing with the former world champion, Mark Cunningham! Mark is a world-renowned waterman who lives in Hawaii. He was also the head lifeguard at Banzai Pipeline on the North Shore of Oahu for twenty years.

With waterman Mark Cunningham

We went to Makapu'u, Old Man's and I was even able to get us on to the Marine Base at Kaneohe to surf Pyramid Rock beach and do a little beachcombing. Mark is also an artist who uses materials that he finds washed up on the beach or buried in the reefs to create wonderfully unusual art pieces.

Mark at Pyramid Rock Beach on Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe.

And what a nice man! A real gentlemen infused with the aloha spirit. And don't I look professional with the DaFins he gave me?

With my new DaFins – pro model! Thanks, Mark!!

And his lady, Katye is also a sweetheart. We got to share a meal with them both. So fun! I'll leave you with a photo of Mark in action.

Mark Cunningham bodysurfing.

Isn't that about the coolest thing you've ever seen? I hope to get lucky again and share a few more bodysurfing adventures with Mark in 2018.

Whew!! Another jam-packed year. So what else is in store for 2018?

When I was in Japan Sensei was painting for us and he asked me what I wanted. As usual, I said, "nande mo ii (anything is fine)." He painted me this:

Calligraphy "Shin Dou" by Masaaki Hatsumi from author's personal collection.

It says Shin Dou. "Shin" means "God." "Dou" means "guide." [Just an aside: we think it says Shin Dou – the first character looks like it could also be "wa," which means "harmony." Such is the nature of Hatsumi Sensei's calligraphy. Nothing is ever fixed.]

Sensei has an uncanny ability to anticipate what you are thinking about – and inspire you to think at an even higher level. So if we assume that it says shin dou, what is that telling us? First, there is really no such thing as the word shin dou in Japanese. As he often does, Sensei has strung two characters together that typically don't go together. So, it is up to us to catch the feeling of this unique concept: God guides.

My best friend, the late Mark Hodel, was a wise and funny guy. He had many great sayings which I still ascribe to, such as, "never refuse a breath mint," and others. One of his favorites was: "I love my 55 year old brain, too bad I couldn't have had it in my 25 year old body."

I kind of know what he meant. My brain does work better and faster now than it ever has. Without trying to get all mystical and magical, I have to say that I often seem to be able anticipate what will happen before it happens. This is very useful in martial arts, of course. You develop a sense of what the opponent will do next and move preemtively to thwart his intentions. That is probably just the result of long experience, not the ability to really predict the future.

But, I think, years of consistent training may also instill in the practitioner a trust in "ban pen fu gyo," the old ninja saying that might be interpreted as "10,000 changes, no surprises for the ninja." Again, maybe we are not really seeing the future, but are just not surprised when what happens, happens. We trust that we can adapt and survive just about anything, because of our training. And a trust in God.

In "Ninjutsu Hiketsu Bun," an essay on the essence of ninjutsu by Takamatsu Sensei, it is written:

Having the "mind and eyes of God," doesn't mean that we are God. God guides. OK, let him (or her!). Maybe Hatsumi Sensei is just trying to encourage me to not overthink or worry, but let God guide and protect. Yet, as Takamatsu Sensei reminds us, in order for that approach to work, we have to train!

So on to 2018!

The longer I train, the more I realize that, that for me, it is not about learning the next technique or memorizing the densho. For those of us who have been training awhile, we have kind of "seen it all." But sometimes we can see something and not truly understand what we have seen. That is why I think it is important for me – all of us – to go to Japan at least yearly to observe Hatsumi Sensei's movement in person. And, that's also why I like to use the word "practice" as it applies to our training. Practice, to me, gives the feeling of working to build a deeper and more thorough understanding of what we already know – or are supposed to. Think about that for a second. When we first started budo training, everything was new, and for years, we could look forward to learning "the next cool thing." But what happens when we have "seen it all?" Well, as we have experienced, perhaps, almost everyone quits at some point. They have gotten what they wanted. Perhaps, it was an adequate level of skill and/or self-confidence. Or a rank, or a medal, or a title. And for them, that was enough. They're done. Like finishing a course at university. You get your grade and you're finished. Most of the things you learned you never use again. Eventually you graduate. You start your "real" life."

But for the budoka, I believe, the "real" life begins when you have already been taught "everything," and start to really practice. Everyday, the same basic things, Over and over. Until you understand them with that "86 year old mind" in the "whatever your age-old body."