The week in review
The last few days have been a bit cathartic. The luncheon that followed the service on Thursday really was good. The service itself was what you’d expect for a religous service, but the luncheon brought out some good stories and humor. Master Wilson was always cracking jokes, though only some of them were funny. 
He always loved saying, “A horse walks into a bar. The bartender says, ‘Why the long face?’”. As I said, many of the jokes weren’t particularly funny…
Master Wilson was very much into martial arts as a medium for self-improvement. In a lot of ways he tried to teach about life, and if kicking and punching came along with it, that was a bonus. He truly cared about each of his students, and reveled in their successes and kicked their butts when they needed it. He showed students what it was to have the honor and integrity of a true martial artist. He was a dynamic presence in any room he entered, and was as outgoing as they come. I’m one of those people who make small ripples in the world around me, but he had a huge impact on the people he came in contact with.
So at the luncheon there was some laughter, and a lot of fond memories. There were also several huge tables full of desserts. He had a sweet tooth and would have loved that. The luncheon was catered by a local restaurant (he was friendly with the owners), so the food was barbequed pork, chips, chicken fingers, etc. Again, some of his favorites.
Friday night was a children’s service, and it was well done. The mats were put out for the children and their parents to sit. One of Master Wilson’s senior students (a 5th dan who started training with him 23 years ago) got things going and led the service. Master Wilson’s widow spoke as well, and their three children were there as well. Part of the service was candle-lit, and despite a little minor apprehension regarding 5-year-olds holding lit candles, there were no mishaps of a pyrotechnic nature. Afterwards, there were desserts for all (leftovers from the previous day’s luncheon). And desserts, kids, and mats led to the inevitable gymnastics and horsing around. So the kids all had fun working off huge sugar rushes, and the adults had a chance to talk.
Yesterday morning was TKD as usual. Every once in a while, was do a “Super Circuit Saturday” class. This one had been scheduled prior to Master Wilson going into the hospital. We set up lots of stations, from medicine balls to jump ropes to heavy bags, dumbells, a dip station, wall sitting, mats to run and jump over, and pretty much any type of body-weight exercise you’d like to do. We stayed at each station for a minute before moving on. Around 50 minutes or so into class, I was doing some squats with dumbells, and heard a “rrrrippp” sound. Whoops! My dobok pants split right down the crotch. I thought about it for a bit, then went into the dressing room, put on my jeans, left my dobok top on, and came back out on the floor. Everyone got a good laugh at that. My name was Chuck Norris for the rest of the day.
There are sure to be some details as to how the dojang will proceed, but for now the idea is to keep going as we have been, keeping true to Master Wilson’s teachings. We’ve got a great group of instructors, so I’m sure that we’ll continue to have great training in the future.