Feb. 22nd, 2012
Wednesdays in the Church of Sweat
Feb. 22nd, 2012 12:49 pmThere are a lot of religions represented in the pretty excellent people I know, so it's no surprise that I've been hearing a lot about Lent (despite not having been a practicing Catholic for lo, these many years). It's actually a concept I respect and a practice that gets a lot of traction in my ritual brainspace.
At TKD the other night, one of the black belts was saying we wouldn't see as much of him over the next six weeks because he'd be spending more time at church. We all nodded our heads and then I thought, huh, I'll probably be spending *more* time at TKD in the coming weeks. Because, for me, it's a lot like church. (Wednesdays are particularly heavy on the "blood, bronze, and fire" quotient.)
There's an opening ritual (bowing to the flags and such), sacred space (the floor), a set order to how we proceed through practice, a give-and-take between solo and partner work, and a definite raising of energy. At least once during the class, we do *something* that has *somebody* saying, "oh, god." That counts, right? Ha.
At TKD the other night, one of the black belts was saying we wouldn't see as much of him over the next six weeks because he'd be spending more time at church. We all nodded our heads and then I thought, huh, I'll probably be spending *more* time at TKD in the coming weeks. Because, for me, it's a lot like church. (Wednesdays are particularly heavy on the "blood, bronze, and fire" quotient.)
There's an opening ritual (bowing to the flags and such), sacred space (the floor), a set order to how we proceed through practice, a give-and-take between solo and partner work, and a definite raising of energy. At least once during the class, we do *something* that has *somebody* saying, "oh, god." That counts, right? Ha.