Listener

Phil was 20 years older than I, a working man who joined the Navy in the aftermath of WWII. Phil crossed the Pacific on a Navy destroyer and spent three years in Tokyo. There, Phil studied and trained at the renowned Kodokan School of Judo. When Phil returned to these shores he opened a small Judo school, a dojo, in the basement of his home. I was one of his students. Phil was never much of a talker … he didn’t quote the masters or particularly want to talk about Judo. Phil was a listener … and that I learned from him.