![](https://upsideinside.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Zen.jpg)
I was still in England when I got interested in Zen Buddhism. I was impressed by Zen and Japanese culture written by Daisetz Suzuki Roshi. This was a very influential work in disseminating Buddhist culture to the western reader. It was so different from anything I had read before and gave a more “intellectual” grasp of the practice if such a thing were possible. I had experienced some meditation over the years
![](https://upsideinside.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Tai-no-henko.jpg)
What is basic training? It is what beginners are expected to learn. In time and as experience is gained the more advanced teaching is shown while the basic way of doing things is reduced if not abandoned entirely. This is very typical in approach to teaching but it does not explain what basics is and how important they are.
![](https://upsideinside.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Chiba-Ismail-Chiba.jpg)
The sun was intense, the heat overwhelming. It was a very hot day even for Southern California. Some phenomena called the Santa Ana. I would soon enter the dojo and get dressed into uniform for the late afternoon Aikido class. Stretching and bending, doing my best to limber up as I prepared myself. It wasn’t easy. What with jet lag in the body, a nasty bug