I taught in Dubai, United Arab Emirates in November of 2023

Teaching is always, when I think about it, a privilege and an honor. While teaching I am focused on what value I may present and offer, what benefit to the group and the individuals will I be able to offer. Teaching is about giving something of great value to someone, a priceless and timeless thing, that can never be returned, taken from the recipient, or stolen from the recipient. But far removed from the moment of teaching, and the focus of what how and to who I will be teaching, there is the honor and privilege of teaching.

It's an honor because my teachers gifted me their priceless insights and knowledge, an honor to be trusted with that, an honor for someone to want to also take part in this timeless tradition that no technology or new fad or trend can take away.

I recently had the honor and privilege to teach in Dubai, UAE for the first time. The ITO Instructor Member Wael hosted myself and the Inayan Training Organization for a week of intense training, followed by an open to the public seminar at the end of the week. I won't go into all that we taught but, if you are a member of the ITO and train in the Inayan System of Eskrima you well know.

My take away, in terms of the people, is that I found the people of Dubai to be sincere, honest, and incredibly polite. I met the normal, out of the glitz of the tourist areas, every day people of Dubai, and spent my time with a native Emirate. I got to see a little of their daily life and come to understand their culture to a small degree. I got to go to the top of the highest building in the world, and I enjoyed the Unity Museum which presents the story of the birth of the UAE.

It was fantastic seeing how people who wanted to learn a martial art of substance, something beyond a new fun technique or drill, they wanted to gain something of true skill and practicality. This was very heartening for me, as the steward of the knowledge and insights of my teachers, especially my father, I only want to teach the honorable and loyal, the truly interested.

Suro