I know, I know... I was going to work out some more before I was going to do martial arts again. And I kinda said a long time ago that the martial arts chapter in my life was closed for good...

But this was just too good to pass up on.
The odds of finding a traditional Japanese ju-jutsu or ninpo school in the area (anywhere) are slim, even if you live near a big city. But Genbukan opened a ninpo dojo here, less than 5 minutes from where I live.
The sensei grew up in the street where I now live, and he recently moved back here and decided to open a dojo. It has been open for a month now. Today was my second lesson.
I saw the flyer in the supermarket, checked out the website, contacted the sensei, and felt that the opportunity was just too good to let slip.

Ninpo is very technical. Even though we are all beginners at this dojo (some like me with some experience in a different background) the excercises include throws, locks, and pressure points (that spot on my wrist hurt for days...) and I am really glad that I have 4 years of jiu-jitsu experience. So locking and falling are at least something that come fairly easy to me. The rest is still difficult enough.

The nicest thing about martial arts is that on the mat I am so focused that I somehow forget everything else, and manage to think about only 1 thing for 2 full hours. So even though the physical part is difficult and sometimes tough, I feel relaxed afterwards.

I have to say it is extremely satisfying to do martial arts again. It feels 'right' to me.
My kids are finally old enough that it is not a problem for one of us to be out in the evenings. Hopefully I can keep doing this for a long time.