Japanese Jiu Jitsu: A Journey - 100 and 1

I was working on a different post when I glanced at the sidebar of my blog and realized that my last article was #100.  So I guess it's an anniversary of sorts. It's also almost been a year since my first blog post.  I'm surprised to say that if anything, I have more thoughts that I'd like to record than when I started.

Some observations as the birthday approaches:

1.  This blog was originally intended to chronicle my training.  It does that, of course, but now it's far less about what we did on any particular night, and more about the take away lessons, thoughts, concepts and principles.  This blog is something more than I had originally intended, and I'm happy about that.  The act of writing has often opened up or clarified some of the things I have been struggling with.

2.  It's more work than I expected.  This is not a complaint, as it's a labour of love, but it's more time consuming than I could have guessed.

3.  I've met friends on other blogs.  I've received invaluable feedback for different sources and I'm grateful.  I've been supported, questioned and challenged on material and think that's fantastic.  I've yet to encounter anyone with any malice and it's great to hear other people's opinions.

4.  Serious martial artists have many similarities.  I regularly interact with people from styles that are significantly different than traditional Jiu Jitsu.  It has surprised me how many similarities there are when people really explore their training goals.  I now believe that we're all trying to go to the same place, we're just using different ways to get there.

5.  It's always nice to see a comment or a new follower.  Commenting on other people's blogs is nearly as important as producing quality content yourself.

6.  You can see what the most recent comments on your blog under the comments tab of a blogspot blog.  This sounds kind of dumb, but I only recently discovered it.  Sadly, I had missed out on some comments people took the time to make on older posts in my blog not knowing this.  To anyone who did make a comment and didn't get a response within a few days, I apologize.

7.  There is an incredible amount of great material out there and fantastic blogs.  It is often hard to keep up with all the quality information out there and differing opinions.

I have a great deal of respect for anyone who keeps up a quality blog. Thanks for keeping my reading list perpetually full.

To all those out there who follow, comment, or just visit, thank you very much. I hope my material continues to provide some value.

It'll be interesting to see what the next 100 brings...