Inspiring Peace

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Another year passes and all that happened is now just a memory. How was your year? Did it go the way you wanted or did life intervene and take you down different paths that you did not plan? I find the more I set goals and the more detailed they are unless they align with my life’s true purpose they will not come easy. Have you found that? So I stopped trying to write my New Years goals and schedules some years ago and I found that by meditating more and practicing mindfulness, aligning with life and letting it flow through me instead of trying to control every outcome, I would intuitively know what I was supposed to do. This way I was less stressed and more open to acknowledge the curve balls that life throws at you.

There is no doubt that my life’s work has revolved around martial arts. This has morphed into many forms as I have evolved through many stages of personal growth. I still train everyday, most days twice. I still go to my teachers to learn weekly, and I still spar the black belts regularly. Meditation is a large part of my daily ritual. Every serious martial artist should meditate otherwise how would we ever put the mind/ ego on notice.

2016 saw a shuffling of kid’s trainers. Some long-term trainers left and made way for a newer hungry team. We now have an awesome team of kid’s trainers. I am also proud to say that my 19 year old son Tom leads a new generation of younger trainers.  I continue to monitor the quality of the kid’s classes and train the trainers. With the help of head trainer Mr Fernando I am happy to say the kids classes are the best they have ever been. We now have over 500 children training at Balmain and 90% of the classes are wait listed. The adult classes are great too. The NSJJ HQ in Balmain continues to set the bar in teaching the Northstar ju jitsu syllabus for both adults and children.

2017 promises to be another great year. We are starting a teens class called the All Stars. This is for 14-16 years. It will be 6pm on Tuesday and Thursday nights commencing the first week of February. We filmed the entire adult syllabus and I will be working hard to get the Northstar Academy on line asap. This will be a combination of written, audio and video to support your martial arts journey.

I know it is hard to not get drawn in to worldly affairs but for such a small planet we certainly have our share of problems. It is not a case of just getting on when the cause of most problems is how we think. At the root of how we think is the individual ego constantly craving attention. There will continue to be problems in this world for as long as we continue to put accumulation of wealth the religion and shun ancient spiritual traditions. But we can start right now to make a difference. It starts with the breath. Simply pausing, then becoming aware of the breath before reacting. Now you have established an inner awareness. You now have a gap, a space whereby you can choose your response, you can choose peace and forgiveness in every interaction.

Inspiring peace through martial arts.

Happy New Year

Andy Sensei.

 

 

Northstar Ju Jitsu

Northstar Ju Jitsu is also taught by senior Black Belts at their own studios'.

These are independently run from the Headquarters .Andy Dickinson Sensei is the head of and founder of Northstar Ju Jitsu and oversees the teaching of his program.

All Black Belts are graded by Andy Dickinson Sensei.