One of the beautiful things about Japan is that it has four distinct seasons, and each one is celebrated with genuine enthusiasm. The Japanese love the seasons with a kind of national devotion that borders on competitive. They even have special foods, festivals, and flowers for each one. I\u2019ve lived in Japan for nearly four decades, and I still haven\u2019t learned to love the brutal heat and humidity of summer. It feels like living in a sauna that someone forgot to turn off. But this time of year? Now this is awesome!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s autumn in Japan, the air is [kind of] crisp, the humidity has [kind of] finally broken, and keiko [kind of] feels effortless again. The sweat still comes, but now it cools quickly, leaving a pleasant balance between movement and stillness. Every year around this time, I find myself thinking, if only it could stay like this forever.<\/em> But of course, if it did, we\u2019d miss out on the deeper lessons that come from enduring the full cycle of the seasons, lessons that mirror the essence of budo itself.<\/p>\n\n\n
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