Gary
Author Comments aka Comic News
My martial arts teacher of fifteen or sixteen years died last week. In memory of him, I'll be posting comics that are based off of three jokes he's told. The first one is a new joke. It's not meant to be mean spirited, it's just meant to be funny. It comes from his brother, who's a priest, being kind and selling him a car when his car broke down. Don't read anything into any of the jokes, they were said because they were funny. The ones later this week are two jokes he used to tell a lot, and then stopped telling, because he got tired of having to tell them. He was like that. He never wanted to be a one act show. It's one of the things that made him and his aikido brilliant. Brilliant isn't a word I use lightly, but for sensei, it applies completely.
Choate sensei is someone I'm honored to have been able to train under. He was a teacher and mentor, and I'd like to think he was a friend, or even family. He's one of the few people in this world I could never have completely repaid for all he did for me. Without him, I would not be the person I am today. Not to slight anyone else in my life, but he was the most pivotal person in my adult development. I'm glad I was able to get my black belt under him, and I'm glad he was able to attend my wedding. It meant a lot to me. His passing was sudden. I had just seen him Thanksgiving weekend for a seminar, and outside of his shoulder hurting, he was fine. He was the main reason I regularly returned to Chicago, and I don't know what I'll do now. I could not have asked for nor found a better teacher. He helped any and all whenever he could. He forgave those that hurt him, time and again. He never stopped learning and growing. He was an ideal for people to work towards. He embodied what I wanted to work towards. Without him, I'll have to find my own inspiration in training, if I continue to train. Without him, I'll have to find my own inspiration in life. His death was meaningless, pointless, but so is the chaos of life. I hope he knew how proud I was to call him my teacher. I hope he knew how much he helped me and the world around him.
This week I'll be attending his services, so this is probably the last comment for the week, but the comics will automatically update. Hopefully they'll be more than just sketches, but they won't be much more than today's. I have more important things to think about this week, and I'm having a hard time focusing on drawing. I did consider just taking the week off, but I thought these jokes would be better. For those that know him, they can remember him telling the jokes, and for those that didn't, hopefully these joke can help his influence spread a little more joy.
Also, wow, my art on this comic sucks, sorry, like I said, distracted.
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