Screen Porch Blog

I just posted a blog at the screen porch literary blog, where I put all the stuff related to my literary adventures, especially my forthcoming story collection. However, I forgot to mention that I read as part of the Paper Dolls poetry reading at the library, and that I read at a Baptist church as part of Banned Books Weeks. Oh, and I'm taking a poetry class from Con Hillberry, and we are reading John Rybicki's poems right now from his new book We Bed Down Into Water; also I met with my Dawgs Poetry group and found out Elizabeth Kerlikowske just had her PhD Thesis (a creative thesis) accepted for publication by Wayne State University Press. And everybody around me is reading interesting books. And one of my students, Jordan, just told the whole class that he loved literature and lived for reading and writing. Life is so darned full, it's hard to get it all wrote down.
http://screenporchlit.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Josh, Kyle, Shihan Wayne

Josh Yoder and Kyle Watts got their black belts in Koburyu Karate. Takashi Kinjo Kaicho of Okinawa, head of our style, presided over the test in Lincoln, Nebraska in September. On the right in the photo is our Shihan Wayne Kroll, who just received his Roku-dan, sixth degree black belt, in both Karate and Kobudo (weapons arts). Josh and Kyle did us all proud and looked strong, fast and tough in their public test. I wish our Sensei Janel were pictured here, but she was unable to go to Lincoln to see the tests this year.

I am very proud to say that I have managed to work my way up to a Ni-dan, a second degree black belt in Kobudo, and that makes me feel very humble, as though I have a lot to live up to. Martial arts does that to you; as you grow faster and tougher and stronger, you are better able to study those who are even faster, tougher, and stronger than you, and so you know how much work you have left to do. (The above is not my usual writing style, you will notice, but is more like truisms or platitudes. Martial arts changes a person, even a writing style.)

Normally, I am the kind of person who might be kicked out of a martial arts class—though I am hard working, I also argue with the teacher and question accepted wisdom, and I’m not as respectful of authority as most martial artists. I’m fortunate that our art is more tolerant than most. I’d like to write about martial arts, to use a dojo for a setting for a piece of work, to use martial artists as characters, but I haven’t figured out how to do it. All good writing is subversive (that’s my theory anyhow), and if I do write about martial arts, I may end up in trouble with my people there. It’s strange that I spend so much time in a place in which I do not see unfolding the kinds of stories I can write. Not yet anyhow.

But you don’t need to worry about that. You should just come down and meet Josh and Kyle and Shihan Wayne and join us for a class, see if our art is for you. Our Karate and Kobudo classes meet Monday and Wednesday nights at Southside Dojo (http://www.southsidedojo.com) in Portage, Michigan, and all interested parties are welcome to step onto the floor and check out our style. We have kids classes too. There are other arts at Southside Dojo, including Judo, Aikido (a softer style than Steven Segal practices), Jujitsu, mixed martial arts, Muay Thai and others. The membership in our dojo is inexpensive ($25 a month, with no contracts required) and if you join us, you can try out all the arts. (This isn’t a platitude; this is a commerial!)