I think we can agree that 2020, the Year of the Metal Rat, was chaotic with many unexpected twists and turns. Once every sixty years the same year comes around, and they tend to have similar themes. Metal Rat years have never been easy, and they often brought great upheaval and change. The Ox follows the Rat in the Chinese Zodiac making 2021 the Year of the Metal Ox. Does that mean we will be experiencing more shock, chaos, and sudden change as we have in the Rat year?

Maybe!

The Metal Ox year will present its own challenges and just like the Ox itself, it will be a year of hard work, determination and building – or rather, rebuilding things to make way for something better. This year is going to be a perfect year to focus on relationships, whether we are talking about friendships or love. 2021 is going to be a year when hard work will get rewarded, but it may be necessary to double our efforts to accomplish our goals. It is said that it could be a favorable year for economic recovery and for long-term investments. The Metal Ox year is also a great year for love and making order in the family. After all, if the family life is peaceful, everything gets solved! Thus, 2021 is a year when all the problems get solved with discipline. A lot of discipline!

So, are we ready? Yes? Let's go!

But first, I need to warn you, the message this year will be a little different than other years. Most years I travel a lot and get to do some interesting things. Not so much of that in 2020. Like most of us, I spent most of the year at home. I read a lot and worked out a lot. I swam a lot in the ocean. If you didn't know, I practice yoga daily, and highly recommend you look into it as a part of your junan taiso training. Finding the right teacher is key – so do your research!

So, 2020 was mostly a year of musha shugyo – solo training. There was no Buyῡ Camp for the first time in forever and I missed the BuyῡKai in Germany. No trips to Japan, Europe, South or Central America, Florida, California, Michigan, or any of the usual places.

We had a couple of training seminars in NJ, although we had to limit the number of participants and practice social distancing. We worked a lot on bojutsu and mutou dori.

Hopefully, things will open up in 2021. You can see the proposed 2021 schedule here.

And we had some sad news. We lost Mariko Hatsumi, Hatsumi Sensei's wife. We all know the integral part she played in our Bujinkan Dojo. Farewell, Mariko Sensei!

And we lost another great man of the Bujinkan this past year, as well. Murray Taylor passed away after fighting off a couple of bouts of cancer. Murray epitomized the essence of buyῡ – comrade in arms. Another irreplaceable man has left us.

Mahalo, Joe. Hope to see you soon!

Brother Joe Marine Shusko joined me for the run. Got to get him in the water one of these years!

I was invited by the nationally-recognized and wonderful law enforcement instructor, Ron Scheidt, to help teach some of our RGI de-escalation techniques to Honolulu Parole officers. I learned a lot. Thanks, Ron!

While in Hawai'i, I was again asked to come out to Marine Corps Base Kaneohe to do some MCMAP sustainment with a couple of the Marines there. We had a great time. More about MCMAP, to follow.