Watch the master, copy the master, walk with the master, be the master. The natural evolution in martial art. Meaning there's one day you get to teach to the new generation. I consider I'm still far from that but tonight, I led the training in the absence of my sensei.

I'm in my 6th year of practicing ninjutsu, and I'm the highest rank among those who were present tonight. So I've been asked to do the training. Oh, it was mostly about the basics, but apparently, they loved it. As little as it is, I feel it like a big acheivement.

When I began all these years ago, I was fat, I could barely do three push up. I was shy, never talking, no self confidence. Tonight made me realize how far I've come, and how my weaknesses made me stronger. My shyness was mostly due to a high sense of empathy, overthinking the way others feel. Beleive me, it raises a lot of social anxieties, but once you get to control it, it can become a treasure. Because I'm aware of how people feel, I could reach them better. I can feel their frustrations, their own lack of confidence, and I manage to give them a taste of what they could also accomplish.

It's with big pleasure that I share my experiences, tell them how I've faced the same difficult they face, show them how I can do up to 50 push ups in a row, show how I can defeat a guy without even caring, and with a big smile. The art of teaching serious matter, without looking serious. Simply being happy to share it. that's for me the essence of the art in martial art.

I'm deeply against violence. In a fight, I will always prefer to run away if the ony thing I have to lose is my honor. I love martial art for the philosophy behind it, for the beauty of the movements, for the deep understanding of the biomechanics of a human body. Their faces when they watch me doing things that seem so natural to me is heartwarming. It reminds me how I used to think the masters were some sort of living superheroes. And the thought that they might feel the same makes me laugh, because I stil know I'm just a regular man. A regular man that failed more times than they even tried, a regular man who never stopped trying, and who progressively become what he is because he kept pushing foreward. I'm not better than anyone, I just worked hard, and what I am is just the result.

Maybe one day, I'll be a sensei too. And today, this idea doesn't scare me anymore. Because I know I'll be able to handle it.