Missing in action

When I was a Karate student, long, long ago, I attended every class I could.

When I became an instructor, my presence was always required.

Of course, people have lives and often cannot attend every class. Other than that, or injury or illness why would one miss a session?

Our current club had a Saturday class for a while, but it folded due to lousy attendance. We don't get most people there in the evenings, either.

At Jiu-Jitsu, I keep seeing members that I've never seen before, and I've been there over a month. There are some regulars, but also many who are there half of the time or less.

I just don't get it. People always say they love their martial arts classes and yet many are irregular.

Maybe I'm just obsessive.

Foots

Just finished martial arts 5 days in a row. Now I get a couple to recover before any more training.

Darn tired and some stiff muscles, but nothing worse than that.

The only exception is my feet. Anytime there is intense training, my stupid toes get hurt.

They get caught on mats, bent the wrong way, it's always something. I think it's related to age. They don't bend as well or as far, and get repeatedly hurt. In the last year there have been quite a few breaks. The nails are starting to get weird.

If that's the worst thing, then I'm lucky.

It just isn't tough. "Man, you should have been there. The training was so intense I hurt my toe."

Nasty stubbings are just not what you think of when you think of unarmed combat.

How old?

In the last 3 days I've been to 3 Jiu-Jitsu lessons. My 55 year old body is feeling it some.

Last night did me in. The groundwork was particularly grinding. I've got some lovely stiff muscles. My neck feels fine, but is making crackling noises.

I came down the stairs this morning like a man twice my age.

No problem. Jiu-Jitsu now has a four day break.

However, tonight I'm off to a two-day Karate seminar.

By Sunday my walk should be more like a 10,000 year old man.

Private

Tonight was different. I've been kicking and punching and such for 3 decades, and tonight was my very first private lesson. I've given a few, but never received one.

Just me and an instructor, rolling around on the mat. No off time. No breathers.

The teaching was first rate, and the practise drills most useful. I could also ask lots of questions, which doesn't really work in a group setting.

I'll be doing this again, maybe every two weeks for a while.

I don't really have a long-term goal in Jiu-Jitsu, other than to go as far as I can. Short term, I want to get a Blue Belt, which is the lowest non-White rank. Upon reaching Blue, a student has access to twice as many classes each week.

I don't really covet the Blue Belt itself. I was a Blue Belt already, back about 1984 or so. Been there done that.

A Jiu-Jitsu Black Belt would be cool, but they are notorious for taking about a decade to achieve.

We'll see.

Week

This week I'm going to be busy.

Tonight it starts with Jiu-Jitsu.

Tomorrow, a private Jiu-Jitsu lesson. That might be intense.

Thursday for a change it's Jiu-Jitsu. If I am not dead tired afterwards, I'm going to train with the Roberts Creek Karate Club on the way home.

Friday, it's off to Chilliwack for an advanced Karate Class. Won't finish until the ferries are done for the night, so Helen and I will be staying over.

Saturday another class in Chilliwack. This time it's for all levels.

Sunday I don't think I'm going to leave my comfy chair.

Two

So Gracie Jiu-Jitsu came from Judo. How does it differ?

Judo’s big focus is in throws. Tons and tons of throws. To handle being thrown so much, students spend many hours practising how to fall. There are also arm bars, chokes, and groundwork, but the trademark is throws.

Jiu-Jitsu does not emphasize throw or falls. They put people down with non-throw takedowns. They also don’t practise taking falls.

Pretty much in Jiu-Jitsu, you want your opponent to go down and to go right along with him. You will try and go down on top, but are happy enough being underneath.

Judo is a martial art that is also a sport. The biggest score is to throw an opponent onto his back. The biggest thing a Judo person wants to prevent is being thrown onto their back.

They are different.

I am learning Jiu-Jitsu. This summer we’ll probably be in Victoria visiting family for the better part of two months. Victoria has an outstanding Judo club. I intend training there three times a week.

They are different, but both are fabulous.

And they use the same outfit.

It's Judo

The big rage these days in martial arts is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I thought I knew where it came from, but I was very wrong.

The version that became the most famous is the one showcased in the early days of Ultimate Fighting. A guy named Royce Gracie dominated all the early UFC tournaments, defeating vastly larger opponents with apparent ease (they have since introduced weight categories).

The branch of the Gracie family that he is part of therefore got the most publicity. They have since trademarked their system with the name Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. Their founder was Helio Gracie, who trained well into his 90s, and passed away two years ago.

Most people assume from the name, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, that it came from Japanese Jujitsu. It did sort of.

Helio Gracie learned his art from his older brother Carlos. Carlos's side of the family has its own style.

Carlos learned it from Mitsuyo Maeda, who moved to Brazil from Japan. Maeda did not teach Jujitsu. He trained at the Kodokan in Japan, which is the home school of Jigoro Kano. Kano taught Judo, which he derived from Jujitsu. In the early years Judo was often called Kano Jujitsu. When Maeda moved to Brazil, the Brazilians already knew of Judo by the name Jiu-Jitsu.

So what we have is Helio created his own Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, after learning from Carlos who also created a type of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Carlos learned from Maeda, who was a Judo man. Maeda learned it in Japan at Kano's school, who created Judo from Jujitsu.

It's all really very simple.

Challenge

So I'm going nuts training in martial arts.

Why push so hard?

The fact is, I'm no spring chicken. I'll be fine in Karate. I already have some level of proficiency at it. There are tons of really old guys who excel at Karate very late in life. Like me, they started much younger.

In Jiu-Jitsu, I'm a brand-new beginner. The founder of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu trained well into his 90s, but he started when young. I'm starting very, very late. If I hadn't been involved in wrestling years ago, I probably wouldn't try.

I can learn a technique as fast or faster than the young students can, but will I ever be able to make it a part of what I do, or part of how I move? Can you imagine learning to ride a bike at the same time you plan on retiring? How hard would that be?

Martial arts involve knowledge, but also require that the techniques become a part of the practitioner. That will be my real challenge in my new martial art.

That, and the muscle pulls.

Busy

I think I was wrong.

In the summer, I work pretty hard at my physical activities. The expectation was that I'd slack off during my work year. Understandable, but not happy about it.

I think the opposite is happening.

Monday has nothing. Oh, well.

Tuesday, off to Jiu-Jitsu.

Wednesday half the time, nothing. Half of my Wednesdays have a Jiu-Jitsu session.

Thursday, more Jiu-Jitsu, and then Karate.

Friday has Shotokan Karate.

In a couple of months Saturday will have Jiu-Jitsu. Now on Saturday I run.

Sunday, I run, but I could go to Karate.

That's 1.5 days with nothing. There are 4.5 days with one workout. Tuesdays will have 2.

Six and a half workouts per week. That's about my limit, and could be well over it. I'll be watching closely for injuries. Last night a friend expressed an interest in full contact sparring. I did NOT offer to play.

I want to be able to do this week after week. There will be enough minor bumps and muscle pulls without taking risks. That must sound funny when almost all of the workouts are violent.

I don't mind reasonable risk.

Fate

Sometimes the universe just seems to want you to do something. The universe can be pretty patient, but it just doesn't give up.

When I was a little kid nobody had ever heard of Karate or Kung Fu. Aikido, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sambo, Muay Thai? You've got to be kidding.

The only mysterious Asian fighting method that was in the Canadian consciousness was Judo.

I was a bookish kid, and had mastered Victoria's bus system to get to the main Public Library. The best place to catch the ride home had a bunch of doors nearby that had stairs inside that lead up to things like dance studios. One lead to the Victoria Judo Club.

While waiting, I often wondered about what when on up there. Once, I went up and peeked. Nothing came of it.

Years later, when in the Army, one of our Sergeants tried to get us involved in Judo training. He made it mandatory, and we quit as soon as we were permitted. He was a new Black Belt with the Victoria Judo Club.

My mom now lives in a care facility. I go there every day whenever I'm in Victoria. Right next to her building is the new home of the Victoria Judo Club.

Last summer I was thinking of training in Judo there. Unfortunately their website was down, and they had no information posted on their door. I let it slide.

In September I started attending Jiu-Jitsu classes here at home. It is quite Judo-ish.

Next summer, we will again be in Victoria. Today I looked up the Judo club's website again.

One of the club's high-level instructors has the same surname as the Sergeant who tried to get me started years ago. The club's chief instructor is the same guy who started things up back in 1957. If I'd signed up after wandering up those stairs as a little boy, he would have been my teacher.

Same club, same people. They tried to lure me up those stairs, and they've even followed my mom to her care home.

I don't see as how I have a choice.

Founder

When our club started, it was really due to the efforts of Athena McLash. She holds the rank of 1st Kyu, which is the level of Brown directly below Black Belt.

She wanted to train and eventually to get her Black Belt. To train, she needed a teacher. I agreed, and we started the club.

Athena set a realistic goal of testing for her Black Belt after training for a year. In the year since, the club has gone through many changes.

It just doesn't seem to be working out, at least not on schedule. Her attendance is spotty lately, and I don't see a successful exam for her before Christmas.

Not really a problem. Life's deadlines change all the time. She has a very busy life outside of Karate.

It would be sad if she stopped training altogether at the club she created.

Boo boo

Bumps and bruises? A person in Karate can go months without having anything happen at all.

Doing partner work usually comes along with some kind of mark. Arms bang together. Usually nothing hurts, but wee bruises can happen. Sometimes big ones. Free sparring usually involves a few bumps. Normally nothing to worry about.

Jiu-Jitsu is harder on poor, old me. The grinding, the stretching under pressure, the strength against strength. Things bend funny, or too far, and there's always heavy abrasion against the mat.

I have a most interesting dark brown bruise thing on my hand. I have no clue how it happened. It doesn't hurt, and looks rather like a very small localized dark tan.

The toe I broke in the summer can't seem to decide if it wants a toenail or not. It feels fine, but looks a tad strange.

Martial arts people soon get over fear of pain. If you didn't, you wouldn't stay long. The pain is all pretty trivial. Most can't even be realistically described as pain at all. It is more a form of mild discomfort. Pretty wimpy if one quit training due to fear of discomfort.

The biggest problem an injury is likely to cause me would be if it were serious enough to interfere with training.

If my back gets injured, or my neck, or a hip, or a knee and I might be out for a while. I've never had a knee or hip injury. Sometimes my back goes out, but it's never been due to training. My neck sometimes feels fragile, but it's never cost me any training time.

At my age, an injury could mean more time off than a younger person would suffer.

But even so, I'm more likely to be out from flu or a bad cold.

Squish

The place that I go to for Jiu-Jitsu is interesting. It is an authorized Gracie Academy.

The place is run by a long-time Hapkido 4th Dan Black Belt. He teaches a lovely Hapkido class right before it is Jiu-Jitsu time. About half of the Jiu-Jitsu people are also in Hapkido.

In case you don't know, Hapkido is very similar to Jiu-Jitsu. Tons of take-downs, pins, locks, throws; that type of thing. The students doing this Korean art wear a rainbow of belt colours similar to Karate.

In the Jiu-Jitsu class, there are currently only two colours. Most wear White. A few, including the instructor, wear Blue. As a result, lots of people there have two ranks; Hapkido and Jiu-Jitsu.

The only two students about my size are both Blue Belts. One of these is also a Hapkido Black Belt. Neither is present all that often.

Usually, I get partnered with somebody smaller. Usually, this doesn't matter. Once in a while, it does.

Jiu-Jitsu, like Hapkido, Judo and Wrestling is mostly a grappling art. This means a lot of the time one is on the ground, either on top of a partner or underneath. When on top a basic tenant is to squish the person below. Body weight is pressed down onto the sucker on the bottom. Most people have inherent trouble doing this. It just seems so mean.

Imaging a guy like me, built to haul around 180 pounds, on his back, with a hundred pound person on top who doesn't apply much weight trying to hold him down. Sometimes I feel nothing, and have to keep saying, "weight off your knees. Bear down." Even when they do, it doesn't do much.

Now imagine me on top. One thing I took away from wrestling is an automatic ability to squish people. Even by holding back a bit, the person on the bottom breathes funny.

Last night the technique was particularly size specific. The instructor quickly paired people by mass and we stayed together all night. One of the big Blue Belts was there. We were put together. He was the Black Belt guy.

It was like getting a private lesson all night. I got to apply my full mass, and to receive all of his.

At the end of the class, the instructor took the three Blue Belt students, and put them under 3 of the beginners. I was on top of my Black Belt. In front of the class, we had to use the evening's mix of technique to keep the Blue Belt down. They could only use the escapes we'd been working on. The goal was to keep them down for 30 seconds.

When time was called, mine was still in place.

Subdued...

It was some time in 1983. We'd had several seminars with visiting high-level Black Belts before.

This time it was with some guy named Sakurai. All we knew was that he was Japanese, and was the chief instructor for eastern Canada.

We started arriving at the gym, and it all felt very different. The instructors weren't smiling. Sakurai Sensei was travelling with a one-man entourage who outranked our own instructor. Foster Sensei and Sakurai Sensei's travelling companion were having a quiet, serious conversation.

Across the room stood an Asian gentleman. That had to be him, except he was wearing what looked to be a white belt. Students began stretching; unusually subdued. We kept firing glances at the unknown man across the room. After a time somebody announced, "That belt isn't white. It's worn out".

Suddenly it made sense. The black satin on his belt was completely worn away, except for the tiniest shadow of black at either end. Holy crap.

The class began. Sakurai Sensei would later become an excellent speaker of English, but back then his speech was somewhat challenging to understand. There was no smiling.

We did our best. We pushed our hardest. Still, it was obvious that Sakurai Sensei less than impressed.

I have no recollection of what we worked on, but I do remember exhaustion. By the end people were ready to drop. I remember feet worn down to blisters. I remember sweat.

I remember he scared the hell out of us.

Big Breaker....

Tonight is my 7th class at Jiu-Jitsu. So far, I've only done one finishing move, an arm bar.

Tonight there will be another, called the Americana. It's a kinda shoulder popping thing.

Last class put me a quarter of the way through my first 23 class rotation. Tonight, I'll be almost 1/3 of the way along.

Maybe you can tell; I'm eager to do the entire set of classes. I won't be any good at it the first time through, but I want to see all that is there.

On another note, it might be hard to get partners tonight.

Most are sporting, and don't mind working with me. I'm one of the bigger people in the class. Some don't like big partners. Tonight I'll be even bigger than before.

I'll be wearing a brand new uniform. I look twice as big.

Godzilla in a judo suit, doing shoulder dislocations....

Maybe they are wise to avoid me.

I would if I could.

Sports

I only watch two sports these days.

If there is boxing on, I'll have a look see. It's been an interest since way back when Ali was fighting. Sadly, boxing has gotten pretty rare on TV, even though I have a zillion channels.

More often, I watch Mixed Martial Arts. I have several channels that offer quite a bit of this stuff. I love it.

A normal fighter in MMA punches like a boxer, kicks Muay Thai style, and grapples like either a wrestler or a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu guy.

There are variations of course. Not many have backgrounds in Karate, at least not amongst the sport's elite.

The most successful MMA athlete with a significant traditional Karate background is George St. Pierre. He is the current world welterweight champion, and has defended the title 6 times. He hasn't lost a match since 2007, and has a total record of 22-2. He has a background in Kyokushin Karate. More recently he has worked on boxing, Jiu-Jitsu, and especially wrestling. I love watching him fight, but can find no evidence of Karate in his style.

The other big MMA name that came from Karate is Lyoto Machida. His record is 17-2. He held the Light Heavyweight title for a while in 2009-2010. He is a JKA Shotokan guy. When he won the title, he famously yelled, "Karate is back."

Machida isn't only a Karate guy. He started at age 3, earning a Black Belt at 15. He has also trained in Sumo since he was a teenager, and also in Jiu-Jitsu. The special thing about him is that he was a successful international competitor in tournament Karate, and his movement, kicking and striking all reflect this.

Machida moves exactly like a tournament Karate guy should. In tournament fighting the first strike gets the point. He fights this way. He'll zip in, strike hard, and zip out. The boxer types are often willing to exchange. Machida isn't. A boxer is happy to take one punch to land two. Machida isn't. He wants to land one and receive none at all.

He is the only MMA athlete who fights as a Karate guy.

Pros and Cons

There are some advantages to being an old guy in martial arts. The first is that I am awarded respect all out of proportion to my rank. Old guy plus Black Belt must mean a true master. Well, I am pretty experienced, but not in anything like a master way. I guess I could do some Yoda quotes to foster this image.

The second advantage is that I have been at this a long time, and have picked up some stuff along the way. I'm a brand new beginner at Jiu-Jitsu, but people keep asking me if I've done it before. Some, who've been there longer, are already acting as if I'm the old hand. When they come by, the instructors and senior students mostly say I'm doing things right.

All the assorted workouts have helped get me in pretty good shape, and my weight is much easier to control.

Of, course, it isn't all gravy.

In our Karate club we have three Black Belts. The other two never were free-fighters, and have injuries that prevent them from doing it in any case. I'm the local sparring expert. I just can't react as quickly as I'd like. I never had a really sparkling reaction time, but it's slipped even farther. Aging can be annoying.

Then there are injuries. I don't thing I get hurt more than a younger guy would, but each bump takes longer by far to heal. Had a cracked rib at the beginning of July, and it still hurt into September. There have been several jammed toes, which never seemed to bother me beyond the day they happened. An aching foot now lasts me a week at least. There have been several muscle pulls with no apparent cause. They just spontaneously happen.

One really big plus is that my dear wife is more than 100% in favour of all this martial arts activity. She used to worry that I was going to wear my body out early. Now, even if I managed to wear the sucker out right now, there is no way it will have worn out early. I’m well past early.

People also worry about how I’m going to fill my time once I retire a couple of years from now.

I’ll fill my spare time practising how to beat people up.

Hug the cactus

We all get nervous about starting a new thing, especially if it seems hard. It can be particularly daunting if we think we won't be good at it.

I've gotten a few comments lately about how impressive it is that I went back to Karate after a long absence, and that I run, and that I bike to work, and that I've taken up Jiu-Jitsu.

Many people have something they'd like to do. It's available, but somehow they just never get started.

How do you avoid the cactus? It's just sitting there. It's in the way. How do you get yourself going? It looks so painful to touch. What if things are too hard? What if things are not like I hope? So many spines. How do you avoid the pitfalls? Simple.

Sometimes you just have to hug the cactus.

Grab that sucker and hold on tight.

It probably wasn't a cactus at all. You just thought it was.

Wimp

When I got up today, it was colder.

Colder in the house. Sometimes things can look cold, too, but I couldn’t look outside to see as everything was quite black.

So I wore clothing a bit warmer than I have been for my morning rides.

It was cold. Heavy dew everywhere, and the sheen of frost in some of the corners. Every parked car I passed had windows so fogged that couldn’t possibly have held even one tiny drop more.

My exposed face instantly went into, “you didn’t remember this feeling” mode. My gloved hands went numb.

Not a breath of a breeze, but riding a bike at 20kph generates its own wind chill.

This isn’t even quite the mid point of October. It’s going to get ridiculously colder.

For the last two winters, I’ve ridden to work every single day. Weather made no difference. Rain, cold, ice; I just pedaled on.

Maybe this year it’s time to get that second car.

We’ve gotten away with out one for quite a while.  Helen and I have evening activities that should make dual cars mandatory. By luck, we haven’t had to yet.

Nothing ever happens in our neighborhood. Karate classes started....in our neighborhood. I walk. No second car needed.

I go to Jiu-Jitsu 25km away from home. On those two evenings, by some miracle, Helen the in-every-musical-activity lady has nothing happening. I get the car.

It can’t last. I need to go to Vancouver sometimes for Karate. Sometimes Helen can’t go. Who gets the wheels? Also, she is bound to get something happening on Jiu-Jitsu nights soon. Who gets the car?

And it is cold sometimes in the mornings. I can never wimp out. If we get a week-long dump of snow I’m screwed. Bike plus snow equals a run-over me on the side of the road.

Have a few models of car in mind. All are super gas stingy. An electric like a Nissan Leaf would be cool, but wouldn’t work for me going to Vancouver.

Sadly, out of the four cars I’m thinking of, only one is currently available. Two from Toyota are SUPPOSED to be available in 2012. They seem to be destined for limited roll out, which probably means not available in Canada at all. Bastards. The third is a Scion, which also is really a Toyota, and is also not quite out yet. Bastards. It is very like a Smart Car in size, but with Toyota engineering and design rather than Fisher Price.

I’m waiting a bit to see if any of my dream cars hits the dealers in Canada soon. If not, I might buy car#4, which is available now.

A car for long trips, and voyages to the city, and snow days.

A car for wimping out when it’s just too miserable.

Freaking old

In 2010 I ran my first half marathon. This year I ran it again.

Last year I returned to Karate training. This year I started as a beginner in Jiu-Jitsu.

Why so much activity all of a sudden. It all happened one baby step at a time.

I'd been running solo. Sometimes over 15km. I just decided to do the organized run thing and go just a little farther. That led to the second one. I'm really glad it was easier. The first time sucked.

I returned to Karate when I was contacted by a Brown Belt who wanted a club here so she could train. She needed an instructor. I agreed.

Once I had, I noticed it made sense for me. I'm 55 years old. If I don't do these things now I probably will never be able to.

By returning to Karate, I might be able to keep doing it into my eighties. Delay and it may be too late.

It's the same with Jiu-Jitsu. If I don't start now, I likely never will. A 75 year old as a beginner in grappling might just break instead of bending. I barely bend now.

I doubt I'll get very high in Jiu-Jitsu rank. The headquarters website says getting a Black Belt with them takes between 7 and 15 years. There are a lot of very physical tests along that road for a guy who might be 70 by the time he reaches the Black Belt test. I am just hoping to get a spiffy enough colour to be allowed into the advanced classes.

Any other physical dreams kicking around? I'd love to study Judo, but we have none around here. Iado is very cool, but again there is none nearby. Marathon? I think those people are nuts. I would love to train for a month or so in Japan with my Karate Sensei someday, and that is quite do-able.

Might age stop any or all of my physical activities? Of course, but there is no sign of it yet.

I'm on a roll.

Coffee

I miss coffee, but not the kind made at home or picked up at Starbucks.

Up in Fort Saint John we used to do coffee after each Karate class. There was one place for after evening class, and another for after Saturday class. Some folks who couldn't train would still show up for coffee.

We got to know each other, and share stories, and opinions. Students could ask questions in an out-of-class atmosphere. It was great.

When I started up the Sechelt Karate Club I started coffee, too. It wasn't as regular as it had been up north, but was still a big part of things.

The new Sunshine Coast Shotokan Karate Club (I didn't name it) doesn't have coffee. After class we just go home. I can't really push for socializing, as I am often carless these days. In the last year, we've had coffee twice. Both were when the class was held at Bolognese Sensei's house. She invited us to her kitchen for a cup.

It was great.

Jiu-Jitsu is cool, but there is a class right after mine. If the senior people go out after training, I haven't heard about it. We White Belts are all long gone by then. One doesn't get to join the seniors until having earned a Blue Belt. That's a year off for me.

Maybe coffee time should be included in the middle of class time. Train, then a break, then train again.

A silly idea.

The climb

I've been out of the belt advancement game for a long time. My last rank exam was the one that got me my Black Belt in 1986.

Now that I'm a beginner in Jiu-Jitsu, I'm right back into it.

There is a system of stripes awarded for training done. I don't care about that at all.

There are also the exams that lead into the pretty coloured belts. In Jiu-Jitsu there are fewer colours than in Karate. They only use White, Blue, Purple, Brown and Black. White is what one gets by walking in the door.

The ranks are also intended to last much longer. Pass the exam after 3 months in Karate, and you get a spiffy Yellow Belt. Jiu-Jitsu's first test might not happen for well over a year.

The first hoops is to complete all 23 of the basic lessons three times each. I can already see what will happen to me. The completion could take as little as a year. I bet I'll have done all 23 three times, except for one. Through the entire rotation again to pick up the missed one. Bet I miss it again.

Won't that stink? Doing each of the 23 lessons ten times each, except for one of them that only get completed twice.

If it happens to anybody, I bet it happens to me.

Sooner or later, Blue will come. This gets one permission to attend the more advanced class. I really don't care if my belt is White or Blue, as they mean pretty much the same thing. Being barred from the higher class is an issue.

So I am jumping the hoops again. So I am hunting the next colour again.

I'm getting too old for this.

Making a brand new friend...

I'm sure you've heard the expression, "making a friend."

That's what I'm doing with rope, duct tape, plastic pipe, and sheets of foam. I'm building him from scratch.

When he's complete, I'll pop him into a gi and proceed to beat the living daylights out of him.

He's a training dummy.

The one-hour Jiu-Jitsu classes I attend just don't have enough practise time for my old, fossil brain. The moves are very, very complicated. We work with a partner after each demo is done, and take turns doing the technique on each other. We are lucky to get three repetitions before we get called back to see the next complicated move demonstrated.

I usually have it all in my brain at the end of the class, but it doesn't stay there long. More practise is badly needed.

Someone needs to volunteer to be my victim. Unlike at class, I have no breathing partners. This is where Mister Ropeandtapeandfoam comes in.

The do sell commercially-made wrestling and judo dummies. They run up to $500, with a few hundred dollars more in shipping costs.

Found a webpage that had a number of suggestions on diy, and I'm going that route.

The ropes are now cut and assembled. The next step will be to get a bunch of PVC pipe, cut it up, and slide it on to the ropes. Instant skeleton. Mister Ropeandtapeandfoam doesn't need to be able to stand on his own. I will be more than happy to support his drunken stance until I slam him down with deadly force. Once down, I will use my great skill to force a submission.

I wonder how I'll get him to tap out.

...and he certainly does need a better name.

Dressup

Everything has a costume. Hockey and even ballet.

I run in expensive shoes, a t-shirt, shorts and a hoodie. Each item is chosen for it's suitability for running.

My bike riding has a costume. I chose items that will work regarding reflectability, warmth, and rain resistance. I wear biker fingerless gloves and a bright jacket with zipper-closed air vents.

Karate has levels of costumes. The plain, white, cotton suit is simple but complicated. The expensive heavyweight ones look better, and last longer.

For Jiu-Jitsu, I need a new white outfit. To untrained eyes the outfit would seem the same as a Karate one. It isn't. To survive all the rolling around, yanking and pulling, it needs to be heavier and have reinforced stitching. There is also a pecking order. The young people tend to wear light ones, probably due to parents keeping costs down. All the adults wear heavyweight. A few people wear the even-more-expensive official Gracie Jiu-Jitsu uniform.

Do your activities require particular wardrobes?

Better concentrate

Do you know how difficult martial arts are?

Take Jiu-Jitsu. At the recent one-hour class, we focused on two main techniques. One standing, and one on the ground, and a few variations.

On the ground, did we just roll around?

From the specified starting position, it goes hand move, grab wrist and upper arm, chest on arm, reach around the head, grab, shift foot, other hand out, pull up, push down, reach around the head, grab your own wrist, shift knee around opponent's head, shift leg beside opponent's head, lay back grasping arm, correct arm's angle, thrust hips up. I am not making this up.

The instructor demonstrates several times (thank goodness), and then we go do it with a partner. With the short class length, we only get maybe two practise tries each for each technique or variation.

Then the instructor shows what comes next, and we work on that.

When he's demonstrating, I try and absorb the instructor with my eyes.

In no time at all, we are done.

Arm bar

I've been in Karate forever. Every so often somebody claims some Kata move is really an arm bar. They demonstrate their move, and it ain't no arm bar that would ever bar an arm.

I was involved in coaching wrestling. Arm bars are outside the rules and so are strictly forbidden.

This was my lesson number four in Jiu-Jitsu. Got to do my first real arm bars tonight.

About time.

Old Dude

I am 55 years old, and have chosen my retirement date. I am going in last few months of the upcoming, 2012-2013 school year.

This means I have less than two school years left.

My brain has started playing little games with this. For example, when this year started I had two Septembers to go. Now that September is done, I only have one more. Next September is the very last one I'll work. I like that.

It is almost Canadian Thanksgiving. I have two Canadian Thanksgivings left in my work career. After this weekend, I'll only have one more.

I have two Xmas breaks left. Two long Januarys, two Spring Breaks. As each happens, there will only be one left.

When I reach the last part of the coming school year this will change. Because I plan on retiring before the end of the year in 2013, I currently only have one left of each of those months.

What does this mean? Well, I have one June left. When I complete this coming June, I will have none. My Junes will be gone, as will my Mays. I will already be in my last year.

I love my job, but I love not doing it even better.

Picking

In Karate there are often partner drills. Most of the time the class is put into two lines, and you get who ever is next in the other line. It's pretty random. No choosing involved.

Sometimes the class gets all spread out and mixed up, usually during free fighting practise. The instructor yells, "Grab a new partner," and everybody does.

The question becomes who to grab. As an old guy with a worn out Black Belt, I let others do the picking. I throw up my arm, and look around.

Some people are eager to fight a Black Belt. Some ignore me like I have bubonic plague. I leave it to them.

In Jiu-Jitsu there is even more partner work than Karate has. "Grab a partner," is a frequent call. However, I'm not a scary Black Belt there. I am a White Belt.

I am, however, a sweaty old guy who outweighs almost everybody there several tons. Jiu-Jitsu is a wrestling-type activity. I'm sure you get the picture. Again, I let them pick me. Might they want to avoid the sweaty old big guy? Wouldn't you? I would if I were a hundred pound 15 year old.

Anyhow, it's all the same.

I always get somebody to play with.

A new style

Something is wrong with Martial Arts.

About 75% of beginners are young, with the remainder being adult. I don't think this would be a surprise to anybody, but the retention figures are quite different. A higher percentage of adult beginners stay beyond the first few months than do kids.

Some adult beginners are what should be called middle-aged, or older. They seem to like it the best of any age category, but there is a difficulty. Mature people often have problems that interfere with physical activity. Often it is backs, or hips, or things of that nature. Martial Arts are not really the best thing if one has such a problem.

I believe this is a niche waiting to be filled. A modified program of training should be created aimed at the 40+ crowd. Of course, whipper-snappers would be welcome, too.

Slights changes in position, and in execution would make all the difference. It would also require an instructor who understands all of this. Instead of the most effective punch, regardless of body stress, it would be managing body stress, and doing the most effective punch within that limitation. That sort of thing.

It would still have all the trappings of normal training. Uniforms, rankings, testing, and courtesy. I have been toying with the idea of trying to implement something like this. I'm sure that if I did, it would be recognized by the JKA. My own instructor, Sakurai Sensei has always been supportive of alternative training for those who need it.

I must continue to think about old-farts' Karate.