Kata I

Twin Sisters, WA at dusk.

I rise, opening: ⚔️

Earth and edge,
Glint and sky,
Spirit a-sway with the dance
Of blade-song spinning.

Time speaks to me
And beckons,
Slow,
Present hum resonating
Past the strong,
And future desolate terrain widens
On my exhale,
Focus becoming flow.

It’s poetry.

I am poetry.

Coming home to myself in new ways,
Advancing, retreating,
Settling in this moving meditation,
This discipline of tactile thought.

No more feints,
Just the honest prose of one
Who once looked death in the face
And still saw a new day dawning.

In samurai culture (which inspired the concept of the Jedi), it was understood that a warrior must also cultivate their prowess in the arts, especially painting, poetry, and tea ceremony. It was believed this was not only spiritually beneficial, but also enhanced their leadership and decision-making skills. There's a lot to be learned from the idea of the warrior poet, as I have discovered over the last month when a consistent martial arts practice enhanced my creative flow in other areas.

❦ Heather

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Admin Nonsense: If you’ve visited in the last couple weeks you’ve probably seen some strange formatting and whatnot; I’ve been tinkering. I’m hot in pursuit of efficiency, but know that I’m probably not done tinkering, yet. If you see something that looks particularly broken, please give me a shout and I’ll look into it. For those of you on the web instead of the app, you’ll want to update your bookmarks:

• Main page: http://bluemtnheather.art (and look! It’s so new and shiny!)

• Newsletter/blog: http://letters.bluemtnheather.art

I want to also take a moment to thank all the new subscribers both free and paid, for supporting this hare-brained adventure — it means a TON. Thank you for sharing, restacking, reading, and leaving comments. You’re all the best. ❤️

Jedi Business: I want to give a shout-out to Vince over at Lightsaber Path. He has done an incredible job developing an academic martial arts program of reconstruction forms (not just reenactment choreo) drawing on longsword, fencing, wushu, and other martial arts disciplines. I’ve been really enjoying participating over this last month, as it scratches that creative itch in ways the historical fencing I used to do never did. Great stuff!

I also want to give a shout-out to Vire Sabers for my custom blade. When it arrived, I grinned and giggled like a kid on Christmas morning, and it’s been everything I hoped for (including duel-ready). Can’t go wrong with Vire if you’re in the market for some Jedi shenanigans.