BUDODAD

This past Friday I was invited by my old sensei Shihan-Dai Van Bushnell and a very good friend of mine Yan Zhu to attend their annual Spring Fling Aikido clinic in Birmingham.  I was only able to attend the Friday night 3 hour session due to other commitments but was fortunate enough to see Sensei Van Bushnell be promoted to Godan (5th Dan) and be given the title of Shihan-Dai while there! Shihan-Dais’ are appointed by a Shihan as assistant in instruction and directorship and are considered a Master in their art.  Shihan Block and Shihan Jarret both promoted sensei VanBushnell there at the clinic.  That was an awesome experience to be there in person for this because he truly is a master in Aikido and deserves it fully.  There have only been two others in the Chudokai Aikido Federation that have received this title and Shihan-Dai VanBushnell is the third.

The 3 hours that I got to spend at the clinic were awesome!  We covered several techniques to include Do Gaeshi,  Ikkyo, Nikyo, and Sankyo.  Ikkyo is similar to Robuse (Arm rowing) in Yoseikan Budo as is Nikyo is similar to our Kote Kudaki (Wrist smashing) and Sankyo is similar to our Yuki Chigai (Turning the wrist inward).  We also worked on Yonkyo which is also similar to Yuki Chigai accept that you push the arm back up towards uke when applying the technique.  The entry into the techniques was a June Kate Te Dori grasp (same side) by uke while tori nagashis (steps back) with his right foot and grasps uke’s wrist with his opposite hand (e.g. if uke attacks tori’s right hand then tori uses his left hand to grab uke’s wrist) and executes IKKYO (Robuse).  From there we worked on moving from one technique to the next focusing on blending the techniques when one has failed. 

For example:

Ikkyo then turn into Kotegaeshi.
If Kotegaeshi fails then shift into Nikyo.
If uke attempts to stand up then switch into Sankyo and then Yonkyo finishing with a technique like Do Gaeshi and a joint lock.  Most importantly was maintaining uke’s balance and being fluid in the transitions.

Only being able to attend the first 3 hours of the clinic I gained a great deal of knowledge to take back to my dojo with me.  I am very jealous of those who were able to attend the whole weekend because I’m sure the quality was equal to what I experienced.  I intend to post some images for this post once USA Martial Arts post them on their web site.  So stay tuned…

From Left to Right:  Shihan Block, Me, Shihan-Dai Van Bushnell

Ok.  I can't get back to writing about budo until I tell you guys about my new RIDE!!  This past February my 97 Explorer's transmission began slipping.  At first it was only happening in the morning right when I first put it into drive.  However, one afternoon when I was pulling out into traffic it slipped and I was nearly T-boned by a utility truck!  Thankfully, the guy had some skill and he swerved and avoided me.  As soon as it slipped into gear I went straight to the Chevy dealership and bought a 2008 Chevy Avalanche LTZ.  It is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  I love it.  It has everything including the big gas guzzling 5.6 litter V8 complete with Flex-fuel and a rear DVD system.  Seriously, the only bad thing about it is that it is a V8 but I am getting roughly 16-17 miles per gallon in the city so it is not worse than my old 6 cylinder Explorer.  Take a look at some pictures:

yeah.  It's nice!

Check out the trailer hitch!

The eyes light up when the vehicle is on and get brighter when the brakes are applied!  Fracking cool!!

Wow!  I can't believe it has been over 4 months since my last post!  A lot has been going on in my life over those 4 months so I will try to sum them up quickly here for you.  First, I recently changed jobs, twice, within a three month period.  I left ASI to go to work for Westar Aerospace & Defense to work as a Senior Systems Engineer on a software project for the Aviation Engineering Directorate of the Army.  Funny thing is that at the same time I was interviewing with Westar, I had interviews with NASA.  But as we all know the government moves at a snails pace.  So, when Westar made me the offer I had to take it because I couldn't count on NASA to select me.  But, as I'm sure you guessed,  NASA selected me just one week after I started working at Westar, talk about STRESS!!  Since I had only been at Westar a week I didn't want to drop the bomb on them right before the holidays and I wanted to at least give them a couple of months before I left so I asked NASA to extend my start date to after the new year and they agreed.  So, as of Jan 22nd this year I am officially a NASA Civil Servant (not sure I like the "Servant" tag though). 

With the job changes and holidays I have allowed my blogging to slip considerably and I apologize for that.  But, I am now at a point where everything has settled down and can devote more time to writing.  Funny, but I actually miss it. Anyway, I hope to pick up where I left off and hopefully those of you who have contributed comments will continue to do so and for those of you that haven't I invite you to join in.  I would love to hear from you.

I recently purchased the Toshiba Satellite X205-SLi1 Laptop from Best Buy!  So far I love it!! It was on sale and was comprable in price to the Sony I was looking at accept for one HUGE plus!  It has the NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8600M GT graphics cards with 512MB RAM!!!! That was the kicker for me.  Same price twice the graphics....it was a no brainer!  Here are some pics and specs on it:

Processor Type * : Core™2 Duo    

Processor Number * : T7250    

Processor Speed * : 2.0GHz    

Front Side Bus * : 800MHz 

Operating System **Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit)

Memory Size *2048MB

Memory Speed PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Intel® Turbo Memory

Display Size *17.0" widescreen

Display Type *WXGA+ with TruBrite®

Technology Display Resolution *1440x900, Supports 720p

content Graphics Engine *NVIDIA® SLI Dual GeForce® 8600M GT

Graphics Memory *767MB total: 512MB DDR3 discrete memory + up to 255MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology

Hard Drive Size *240GB: 120GB HDD+120GB HDD

Hard Drive Speed 5400rpm

Optical Drives *HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti (+/- double layer) drive (in one optical drive), supporting 12 formats

Wireless LAN * ♣Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965 AGN (802.11a/g/n)

Bluetooth *Bluetooth® V2.0 + EDR

Webcam Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel

Input Devices Internet Launch button, Dual Mode Pad, CD/DVD Buttons, 104 key US keyboard with 10 Key Pad Security Finger Print Reader Modem Modem LAN 10/100/1000 Audio Headphone jack (stereo), Microphone jack (mono), S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port),

4 harman/kardon® stereo speakers with subwoofer

AC Adapter 180W (19V x 9.5A) 100-240V

AC Adapter Battery Type Li-Ion (6000mAh)

PC Express Slot 1-ExpressCard™ Slot Media Port 5-in-1

Bridge Media Adapter USB Ports 6-USB (2.0) iLINK i.LINK™ IEEE-1394 HDMI HDMI output port S/P DIF output port S/P DIF output port S-Video TV-out (S Video)

Software *TOSHIBA ConfigFree®, TOSHIBA Disc Creator, TOSHIBA HD DVD Player, TOSHIBA Security Assist, TOSHIBA Speech System, InterVideo® WinDVD® 8, Microsoft® Office Trial Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial), Microsoft® Works Version 8.5, Ulead® DVD MovieFactory® 5 for Toshiba, McAfee® Internet Security Suite (30-day trial)

Weight Starting at 9.37 lbs. Color Flare Carmine Warranty *1-Yr Parts and Labor, 1-Year Battery


Also Includes:


Flare Carmine lid color, Microsoft® Works v.8.5, Microsoft Office Trial Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial), Ulead® DVD MovieFactory® 5 for TOSHIBA, InterVideo® WinDVD® 8, TOSHIBA ConfigFree®, TOSHIBA Security Assist, TOSHIBA Disk Creator, 4-Built-in harman/kardon® stereo speakers with subwoofer, 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter, ExpressCard™ slot, 6-USB (2.0) ports, i.LINK™ IEEE-1394, TV-out (S-Video), HDMI port, Fingerprint Reader, 10/100 Ethernet, Modem, RGB monitor port, Microphone jack (monaural), headphone jack (stereo)

 

Ok.  Lets talk about something that is a concern for all of us, injuries.  Injuries are as common in martial arts training as splinters are to a carpenter.  At first a new carpenter gets splinters so often they feel like a pin cushion but as they gain experince they learn to wear gloves and to sand the surface of the wood before handling it.  Pretty soon the splinters are fewer and farer between but they never stop completely.  Even the most experienced carpenter gets a splinter every now and then.  The same is true for a martial artist.  Injuries are inherent part of training and will happen from time to time no matter how much we prepare or how much caution we use.  Injuries will happen.  You will get tired, really tired, and during  a randori session get sloppy with a technique and, with out malice, accidently "torque" a little to hard on Seio Nage or Yuki Chigai and hurt your uke. 

Now, the question is how do you handle this situation when someone you are ukeing for accidently hurts you with poor technique?  And, conversely how do you handle this as tori?  Keep in mind that we are practicing a martial art and that the techniques we learn and practice are in many sitiations designed to incapacitate the attacker.  But also keep in mind that the true measure of a martial artist is not his ability to annihilate his opponent but his ability to stop the attack without harming the attacker. 

Thursday night's training was a lot of fun!  We had a great time learning a new way to practice a side flat fall.  For beginners this was a great way to practice the fall without hurting themselves.  Thanks Sensei Matt for showing us that.  Also, for me I really liked the way we did Hiza Oshita Oshi envolving a more fluid, dynamic approach that even if you messed up the techniques the tai sabaki allowed for a quick improvisation into another valid technique.  Thanks Tim and Pete for putting up with my "stiffness" I swear that I'm really trying to relaxe!  Really!  Anyway, we worked up a great sweat and class was alot of fun!  Let me know what you think.

I had a great time at the NAY Clinic this past weekend at Braham Spring Park even though it was smoking hot outside.  I really enjoyed the atemi work we did to music (novel idea)!  Getting into the rhythm and timing that with our atemi was a lot of fun.  Also, using the gloves allowed us to actually strike something. That was a great work out.  I wish I could have attended Sundays session I know it must have been great.  Thanks to everyone who worked out with me both as uke and tori.  What did you guys think about the clinic.

Here is something that I think alot of us wonder about but have a hard time explaining.  Why is that that so many people begin martial arts training but fail to stick with it?  I know that there are a myriad of reasons such as time, money, priorities in one's life, injuries and so on but my question really is about those who seem so enthusiastic at the beginning but seem to fade away in a few months.  We have experienced this alot with new students at our dojo at the family fitness center and I am wondering why this is and is there anything we can do as senior students and as a dojo as a whole to keep them coming back?  What do you think?

Here is something that I have been pondering on for a while.  When you are uke for an individual hodling the rank of Shodan or above should you, when attacking say in a randori or kumite session, acquiesce to their techniques?  For instance, I am an experienced ground fighter with many years of wrestling experience and when I grapple with most individuals I do quite well.  This may be because of my experience in wrestling or the fact that I am 240 lbs of mostly (and I stress the word "mostly") muscle with a pretty tenacious mind set.  But I find myself in certain instances and this is mostly when I am training as uke for a Shodan or above rank,  that I "give" the technique to them when I am pretty certain that I didn't have to.  Now the reason that I am taking the time to have this conversation  here with you is that I have mixed feelings about this and am looking for some feedback.  First, a part of me feels that acquiescing is a sign of respect towards the individual and their rank and that to "give in" and relenquish the technique is to acknowledge their experience and training over your own.  However, another part of me feels that I should challenge the higher rank when I know I can in an effort to improve their training and give them (hopefully) some positive feedback on where their technique may be lacking.  I feel that once I obtain the rank of Shodan that I would want my uke to give me as much of a challenge as I can stand in a safe manner.  I could be wrong but I don't think so.   I believe that this would only serve to improve my training and that it would not insult me at any level.  What do you think?

Having recently purchased the book "Nihon Budo Ni Katsu" by Minoru Mochizuki, I have become interested in learning to read and write Japanese script known as (Kanji (Hiragana, Katakana ) ).  In my research for an online tutorial I found a pretty impressive website called Kanjistep.com (http://www.kanjistep.com/index.html).  At kanjistep.com you can find information about the Japanese language, culture and other Japan related topics.  What is really cool about the website is that they have a flashcard tool for both Hiragana and Katakana.  You have to create an account with the blogging site J-Talk but it's worth it if you are looking for a good flash card tool.