MGALouise is on the left, Bantoe Abby is to the right. Some amazing students are front and center!
Our Sister School | Studio Naga
Our sister school is in Oakland, California and is run by Mas Goeroe Agoeng Louise Rafkin. She often has wise words. Here is an essay she wrote: On “Lifetime Training.”
There will be times when each of us will “sit out” of class – or parts of class. The reasons may be many: injuries, sickness, and eventually age. I have had many such times – a knee operation took me out once for over six months – but my teacher always told me to keep coming to class, keeping moving, move whatever limbs I could.
It has been during those challenging times that I have most felt the true heart of my training – beyond competition, ego and ‘accomplishment.’
Yet helping others to reach their potential (which in some cases will hopefully exceed your own) and growing as a teacher will always be rewarding and sustaining.
This week Pendekkar Dee turned 60! Over the last few years she has been challenged with various pains that have eventuated into operations and in more than one case, joint replacements. Nevertheless, she continues to teach and guide others. She connects with her mentees, tracks them, thinks about what makes them tick, teaches them things she’ll never be able to do herself.
During her Bantoe test she wrote this haiku which says it all:
Can I borrow hands and feet?
I sit. We both train.