| The word "kokoro" is literally defined as "heart" but, as | | | | a bit sickening to me. He then hit the brick with his |
| with many Japanese words, can be translated as | | | | edge of hand; I thought the brick was going to break in |
| "heart of things" or "feeling". When I contemplate what | | | | front of me. He looked up with that intensity in his eyes |
| kokoro means to me, there is one person that has | | | | and face much like he did after showing us techniques |
| embodied the essence of that word-Shinan Carl | | | | during filming or training; then a smile crept onto his |
| Cestari. I first met Shinan approximately five years | | | | face. It was perfect. |
| ago. He was a thin man in a long sleeve shirt with a | | | | Shinan Cestari continued to train his body until it gave |
| wispy beard. He was not a physical imposing man. He | | | | out. His life was not an easy one but he persevered |
| spoke with intensity about martial arts, training methods | | | | and moved forward. His legacy lives on in us. We |
| and people that he had met through out his life. At that | | | | must continue to train with intensity and honesty. What |
| time, I did not realize what he was all about. I now | | | | does it mean? In my estimation, it means that we are |
| know more about him and what he was trying to | | | | teaching and training in reality; if it looks good in the |
| impress upon his students. | | | | dojo it won't work outside of it. Shinan Cestari always |
| Approximately, four years ago a few of the students | | | | said that a fight is messy; your assailant's breath, blood, |
| from the ZenShin dojo went to move some gym | | | | sweat, saliva will get onto you, dirt, sand, snow, gravel, |
| equipment from the basement of a deli to Shinan | | | | stones will get imbedded into you. Shinan made that |
| Cestari's house. We moved weights, heavy bags and | | | | clear to us; he experienced situations that most of us |
| other various equipment down a narrow flight of stairs | | | | never will (and be thankful for that). He stressed the |
| into the basement. After we had finished moving the | | | | real aspects of fighting for your life; it is not a show |
| equipment, we sat in his living room where he regaled | | | | and it is not a joke; if you need to protect yourself you |
| us with stories about training and various people that | | | | better be ready. While I did not know Shinan that well, |
| he knew from martial arts. I vividly remember watching | | | | having only spent time with him on a few occasions, |
| him on the couch smoking a cigarette and telling a | | | | he was an interesting man; he was dedicated to his |
| story about a man he had recently met. That individual | | | | study of martial arts. He held various degrees of black |
| had trained with Applegate and Fairburn and related | | | | belts in karate, jujutsu, kempo, judo and founded our |
| some of his stories about training with them. During one | | | | school of jujutsu. It is our responsibility to maintain the |
| ofthe stories, Shinan's eyes lit up and he quickly rose | | | | integrity and level of competence that Shinan set for |
| from the couch, left the room and came back with a | | | | us. It is a shame that many of our current students |
| brick. He sat back down and said that we (as | | | | never had the opportunity to meet him. He could be |
| students) should consider the brick as a training tool. | | | | gruff but charming, intense yet caring, strict and loving. |
| As he said that, he unbuttoned his shirt and started to | | | | He had heart- he personified kokoro. |
| hit his chest with such force that the thud it made was | | | | |