Sensei's Final Lessons: A Memoir

Martial arts training is unique in that it aims to develop the body, mind, and spirit of the practitioner. Even more special is having the opportunity to apprentice under a true exponent from the lands where the budo were developed and fostered. In 1990 Dan Popp had the good fortune to meet Duk Yeong Kim Sensei, and what transpired was a 17 year journey of studying traditional Japanese Kendo (Way of the Sword) and Shodo (Way of the Brush). In Sensei's Final Lessons, Dan outlines various lessons learned during the last five years of his sensei's life-lessons that are not necessarily related to martial techniques and training methods, but also include concepts and ideas to continually hone and polish the mind and spirit. Lessons that Kim Sensei believed and demonstrated by example each and every day-as a dedicated follower of the budo should. This book provides a glimpse into the mind and spirit of a true martial arts Renaissance man as Dan's sensei provided him instruction in not only the martial arts, but also the Japanese aesthetic arts such as Shodo calligraphy. Duk Yeong Kim was from an era before the official formulation of Kendo - and Dan's story will give the reader some sense of what it's like to train in the Japanese arts of Kendo and Shodo and the guiding principles garnered from such training.