My many thanks......

Shou Shu has given me a new breath of life. Before now, I have always walked a ravors edge that simply left me feeling empty. A few years ago I started to study the art of Shen Ku. Its not a combat art by any means, just one with a base that embraces survival. Shen Ku has a few meanings;"Secret Stranger", "Dark Visitor", and "Phantom Passanger" to name a few. All these meanings have a substance that concerns being in the shadows. Below is a passage I wrote before I started to practice Shou Shu;

"How far have you traveled in this world we live in? How many things of wonder have you seen? How long have you traveled and how much have you suffered at the hands of others....or have you suffered because of your own actions. The things we do change our lives, even if we never see it. Actions are like pebbles cast into a lake. They cause a splash and send small ripples radiating all around...eventually the water becomes still again and all appears normal. However, those pebbles sank to the bottom...so what lies beneath the surface has been forever changed. It will never be as it once was...for better or worse. How many paths have you followed in your travels through this life? How many decissions have you made that have caused you to take the wrong path. More than you will probably ever realize. Theres no telling how far we could actualy be or what we could have accomplished if we didn't make mistakes. Its impossible to tell just how much pain and suffering we've caused along the way. I suppose the mistakes we have made were to teach us to change. Life is a tangled web we weave, how long can we live before we are caught in our own web. Will we find redemption for the sins we have comitted, will we be forgiven for our mistakes...or will our souls perish into darkness as our final breath is released. I've lost track of the paths that I have taken...they have led me down many dark trails. Each time I see a light ahead, something catches my eye and draws me away from the path of light....I find myself once again on a trail of darkness with a handfull of friends and only a flickering light of hope to remind me that my travels are not in vain. Everyone has a purpose, I know I do...I'm simply to blind to see what it is. I will...as we all must, continue...for it is not in me to perish or give up. Hope has kept me alive this long and will continue to do o, through the length of my life is but a drop of water no larger that the eye o a needle in the sea of time. I will struggle down these paths untill I find the one that was created for me. As I think of it...fate and destiny are not certain, perhaps I will need to leave all these beaten paths, followed by countless souls through-out time, and cut my own path through this wilderness of webs. I am my own being, I seek enlightenment not only for myself but for the good of others as well. I have free will to do what I feel is right...and no man, woman, nor beast may judge me! I am walking in shadow...the shadow that rest between light and darkness...the warrior renounces anything in his experience that is a barrier between himself and others. It is a difficult thing to accomplish, its hard to accept the sins we have committed. Even harder still it accept forgivness and renounce guilt. Strive we should, never give into dought and never nurture a dark seed planted by another...only sow and reap what what is seen to be right to yourself."

To look back on it...I'm happy to feel that I don't see myself as living in shadow anymore. Shou Shu is the new path I have chossen, and it appears to be a path that leads to the light. The things that I slowly learn at Sheng Chi, are feeding an understanding that makes that glimmer of hope appear alot stronger. This is the first time in many years that I feel I'm on the right path. Shou Shu, and thoughs who teach it and guide me have my many thanks for providing me with the oppertunity to live in the light again.