Dmitri's First Cutting Session

One of our new members got to cut for the first time. This is earlier than the usual time frame we allow in class, but there were too many mats, not enough people so I let him and another new student try. He works very hard but the look on his face drawing a shinken was a sight to see. He practices Tibetan Buddhism for quite awhile and brings his thoughts into it....

" Inseparable with meditation, in my view, practice with the sword fundamentally unites awareness on the level of mind, energy and body - three basic components of human existence - in a single move or engagement. In such way it helps me to refine awareness of the most subtle within more tangible or physical level of experience. Refining mindfulness accompanies the process and comes in accord with my Buddhist practice of meditation. Presence is what unites the meaning of all these principles and processes in a single word.
Cutting experience, expectedly, was an apex of applying of all these aspects. It has shown me the week points in my technique and definitely helps me to connect better awareness, mindfulness and presence with engagement. “