Balancing Career and Karate

For those who plan to skip class indefinitely, for work-related issues:

Miyagi Chogun Sensei said that family comes first, work second, and karate (hopefully) somewhere close behind. Your career should always take priority over training, and sometimes that means missing class. That said, don't let yourself stay out for too long. Through training you work at developing a sharp edge; when you stop training, the edge dulls. When you come back, you remember what you once had and struggle to regain lost ground.

In my case, I put karate training aside several times for my career, and I guess my work-life turned out okay. Looking back, I squandered many training opportunities, and I wish I would have worked harder to seek balance. I hope that you, too, will seek balance and (while light at the moment) remain steady in your training.

Remember the Jundokan's dojo kun #1: train with steadiness and patience.