Man of the Everglades – Part 1
Based on the story, Man of La Mancha inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his 17th-century novel Don Quixote.
written by Paul Yanuziello
My travels with a master:
For the last 5 years, I have been a live-in martial artist trainee under the Grand Master, Kai Ishiguro of Florida, USA. My master is magnificent, he’s in his mid 70’s now and you’d swear he was only 45.
The master travels all over the country giving martial arts seminars. He has a saying, actually, he has lots of sayings. This one, on travel and teaching, is something about giving; “you give what you love freely to all who want to show their true passion at a price. Clarity comes from engagement, not thought.”
Of course, I would drive him to these seminars, he had a club car, a two-seater. An old German sports car, a real clunker, we were always breaking down. His fans, his remote students. His followers if you like, always had to get his ride fixed up before we could move on to the next engagement.
Our last seminar was a strange one. The seminar itself went off without a hitch everyone who attended seemed to have a wonderful time. The problems all came about when sensei found out we were close to a sight that sensei said he had to see.
Sensei told me one of the seven wonders of the world was located just a few hours away from where we were staying. He really wanted to see this wonderful sight. This supposed magnificent sight was a castle with a stairway to one of the highest towers in the world. If you made it to the top you could see for miles and miles.
Well, after the seminar Sensei says to me, “Poru san we have to see the tower, it’s number seven on the list of wonders of the world.” He gave me that look that said we’re going no matter what.
“But, sensei that will take us three hours out of our way. We might not make it on time for the next seminar,” I gave him my best-confused look.
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of. Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man. But sooner or later the man who wins is the man who has won. You should have learned this by now Poru san.”
“Yes sensei, you have a good point. I really should learn these things.”
So off we would go to the big city. Just 3 hours out of our way. What’s 3 hours when you are talking about one of the 7 wonders of the world, I thought.