But you know what’s best for you, and you are doing it out of your own will.

For that, I admire your determination.

I would like to say thank you for your tutorials, especially the importance of ankle conditioning. I cannot thank you enough for that.

I wish you well in your future endeavours.

Thanks for everything though.

Again, I see a reflection of myself. A deep interest and admiration for east Asian, and more specifically for Japanese culture. You’ve accomplished what I set out to do but failed. Two years of Japanese language in college and no study abroad program have left me without the knowledge and experience that I wanted very much to make a reality. And it seems that there are a number of others out there who share the same feelings of connectedness to the island culture, as previous blogs attest. The inclusion of your escapades in Nippon to this site have given me a glimpse of the surreal, and hope for the future.

I can see your reasoning clearly. With a college degree and a promising career ahead of you, the very real risk of serious injury from a hobby (albeit THE hobby that has helped you define yourself) poses far too great a threat to your future livelihood. Not to mention you are self-preserving enough to realize that you do want to be able to stay physically active for many years to come. Still, a part of me hopes to see you one day having recovered from your injuries and set enough in life to be able to resume the tricking. Hah, a part of me hopes to have a session with you someday. Perhaps neither will come to fruition. We shall see.

Either way, with your efforts and intensity you have progressed the tricking community in many ways, I for one am immensely grateful and thankful for your having done so. Many would not be where we are today without you. Whatever your future holds, I wish you all the best. I am certain that you will make for yourself the best of anything you set out to do.

You mentioned running and swimming, those are still athletic things. You still have a desire to remain active and healthy and build progressive skills. These are two useful forms of movement!

You’re a really cool guy Dogen, you’re one of the big three (right in between Js, and you had a tutorial on J-step so…) guys I look up to, and you always will be.

So maybe your body is burnt out. I am a great believer in change, and I feel that with great care you would be able to train yourself back to health. And in some part I think that would be the best course, but I also think…why? It also strikes me that you are (tentatively) ready to move on, to apply that spirit to something else.

But I wish you the best in whatever you choose to do. I’m sure you’ll attack it with more dedication and heart than anyone else I could name.

Etre et durer.

To be and to last.

Peace.

I would like to say something about me and the influence of Dogentricks.com on me.

The first time, I came to this website, was thanks to some parkour forum, where were the links for CoG and Blocking tutorials. Those videos amazed me, because of the simple and telling way you wrote them. I’ve been visiting your site for more than 3 years from that day, reading your blog entries about your life, tricking, music, family, girlfriends, and Japan.

I respected you for your attitude on life, tricking and relationships, which are very close to mine.

Thanks to you, I and thousands (maybe even more!) started tricking. Moreover you, and your work here, have made those people better persons, giving them a new life goal, or at least a light on the end of tunnel.

I understand your passion and joy for tricking, and the more I am sad and confused with this blog entry. If this is the very end of your world famous tricking career, it is very sad and discouraging to all tricksters who know you (but still real). Who knows, maybe one day (me, or more) will write a post about you, dogentricks.com and trickstutorials like you did about Softball, Akikane and TrickBusters. I am sure it will happen.

I wish you only the best, and hope you get all your trouble cured. “Hope this helps. Peace.”

Dandanik

P.S.: Please keep going this website, at least as a source of information and forum. We will always come back!

I was once undisciplined and lacking any sort of structure to perpetuate my tricking progress, but your tricking tutorials inspired me to explore beneath the surface of this art we all love. Your tutorials have always had a unique feel to them. Honest, inquisitive, kinda exploratory. I learned to look at tricking from any and all angles by watching and rewatching your videos.

Regardless of the topic, I’ve always placed a premium on understanding how to think, and your contributions to the tricking community almost single handedly crafted the lens through which I view tricking. Thank you for all the work you’ve contributed to the community.

Uhh no matter Dogen, you`r the best.

Anyway, good luck with the rest of your life and hopefully we’ll meet up sometime along the way.