Was out the door at 5:30am. Starbucks? A visit to bacon breakfast buffet world?
Nope. I was on a run, with the sunlight all sideways and shadows everywhere.
Too early even for commuters to be about. Just me, and the trees.
No bunnies at UVIC, which seems strange. Deer were about, and I saw three. Only stopped for one picture as they didn't seem to need disturbing.
Did a tad over 8km, and yes, the run ended at Starbucks.
I am a 68 year old retired teacher living on the west coast of Canada. I spent over 30 years as a student of Karate until my knees stopped liking it. My current passionate activity is Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which I've been at for about 13 years.
Saturday, 9 July 2011
Friday, 8 July 2011
Best Intentions
The plan was to get to Victoria, and investigate all the interesting martial arts options.
The Judo Club's web page magically vanished, and I've been too lazy to go there looking for info. Lucky I know the locale.
The instructor at the UVIC Karate club emailed me back and said I can train with them. They meet Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yesterday was Thursday, but holiday activity called.
Victoria is full of wonderful, scenic runs. I've been here 3 days, and haven't run an inch.
I did do one bike ride, and we've walked downtown doing the exercise known as 'shopping'.
I'll keep trying.
If only I didn't get in my way.
The Judo Club's web page magically vanished, and I've been too lazy to go there looking for info. Lucky I know the locale.
The instructor at the UVIC Karate club emailed me back and said I can train with them. They meet Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yesterday was Thursday, but holiday activity called.
Victoria is full of wonderful, scenic runs. I've been here 3 days, and haven't run an inch.
I did do one bike ride, and we've walked downtown doing the exercise known as 'shopping'.
I'll keep trying.
If only I didn't get in my way.
Wednesday, 6 July 2011
Home
Can you go back? I've been back training for 8 months, and that has been good, but it is all very different. New faces, new club, new association.
Since returning, I have contacted my old Sensei via email.
What is a Sensei? It means teacher, but there is nothing in the English language that has the same importance. The literal translation is ‘one who lived before’.
It is such a status term in Japan, that it is also applied to Doctors, Lawyers, or people who have truly mastered a field, such as renowned artists. Can you imagine calling a Doctor "teacher" to honour him?
In English we have the term mentor. That fits, but it is incomplete. We call people coach as a sign of respect, but that isn't exactly it either.
The best portrait of a Sensei in western literature is Mr. Miyagi in the original Karate Kid movie.
In Karate, there are Senseis everywhere. "Look, there's Sensei X talking to Sensei Y, and later there will be a meeting of all the Senseis." These people are treated with respect, which they deserve.
If a student is lucky, they will find THEIR Sensei. Some never do. I've been lucky. I've had two. The first was Foster Sensei, who introduced me to Shotokan, and was my teacher up north. We lost touch twenty years ago, and I have no idea where he is now.
The other person I call MY Sensei, is Yasuo Sakurai. I met him when I was a Green Belt. At the time he was a 5th Dan, and was the chief instructor in Montreal. He was in BC doing Seminars. He later moved to Vancouver and took over the head roll of this provinces branch of the JKA.
He came north to teach us many times, and I trained with him whenever I was in Vancouver. He moved back to Japan over 20 years ago. He returned frequently to give seminars, and I was always a participant.
He became a friend, as well as a teacher.
Ten years ago I stopped training, and have recently returned.
I got in contact with Sakurai Sensei, and he asked me to get in contact with the head of the JKA in BC. Both gave me permission to attend his most recent seminar.
Would I be really welcomed back?
How would I do training through numerous, high intensity classes? The last time I've done this was over a decade ago. The only recent such efforts have been the two half marathons I've run. I expected the Karate training to be harder, and it was.
Helen and I were up at 5am to catch the first ferry. On the Mainland side, it's an hour and a half drive out into the Valley. We got there nice and early, and killed time with fancy coffee at McDonalds, and the use of their WiFi.
Helen dropped me at the Dojo.
Not many were there when I arrived, but a few. Got changed upstairs, and shortly after returning to the ground floor, Don Sharp and Sakurai Sensei arrived. Don saw me first. Smiles, bows, handshakes and a hug all mixed together, then the same with Sakurai Sensei.
Shortly after, the session began.
The first class was for the BC members going to the big tournament in Taiwan in August.
There were 18 of there, including Sensei. The second special class was slightly smaller (two gone, but one more arrived), and the third smaller still (about 12 left). The three sessions all blurred, so I'll treat the team training times all together.
We worked a lot on Kata. Mostly it was Heian 1-5, Tekki Shodan, Bassai Dai, and Empi. The competitors all need these ones for the tournament. It was a mix of 'correct' movement, and moving with speed.
Besides Kata, there was a lot of partner training with the hand pads on. Moderate body contact is expected, and no problem. We played dummy for one another many times, and changed partners frequently. Bam, I got a heavy shot in the ribs. It felt weird right away. It generated a sharp pain, very localized. These things happen, so I just continued. I'm sure my partner didn't even know. He didn't really hit me overly hard. Some kind of freak result.
The injury didn't affect my performance at all, but deep breaths became a problem. A shot in the same spot would have caused a real injury. Whenever Sensei sent us out to get our hand pads in later classes, I stayed out and got changed. This happened twice, and I gave up about 20 minutes of training each time, but old people don't heal fast.
My other injury was a bashed foot. I call it a stubbed toe, but it's really two of them that got conked. One might be broken. My foot hurts when it bends, or gets bumped, and generally all the time. I had to ignore it.
The other three classes were open to all the team training participants, and any JKA BC Black or Brown Belts. There were about 30 people at each of these sessions. These were more generalized training, and also excellent.
After one of these, Don Sharp called all the Black Belts over to make a few announcements regarding upcoming events and such.
He then said how happy he was to be able to train again with Sensei...Gordon. That's me. He went on to tell the assembled people a bit of my own Karate history, and at the end everybody bowed to me.
Up until that everybody had been quite polite to me, and friendly enough, but also somewhat reserved. They didn't know who I was. Suddenly everybody was smiling at me, and addressing me as Sensei.
I had come home.
Since returning, I have contacted my old Sensei via email.
What is a Sensei? It means teacher, but there is nothing in the English language that has the same importance. The literal translation is ‘one who lived before’.
It is such a status term in Japan, that it is also applied to Doctors, Lawyers, or people who have truly mastered a field, such as renowned artists. Can you imagine calling a Doctor "teacher" to honour him?
In English we have the term mentor. That fits, but it is incomplete. We call people coach as a sign of respect, but that isn't exactly it either.
The best portrait of a Sensei in western literature is Mr. Miyagi in the original Karate Kid movie.
In Karate, there are Senseis everywhere. "Look, there's Sensei X talking to Sensei Y, and later there will be a meeting of all the Senseis." These people are treated with respect, which they deserve.
If a student is lucky, they will find THEIR Sensei. Some never do. I've been lucky. I've had two. The first was Foster Sensei, who introduced me to Shotokan, and was my teacher up north. We lost touch twenty years ago, and I have no idea where he is now.
The other person I call MY Sensei, is Yasuo Sakurai. I met him when I was a Green Belt. At the time he was a 5th Dan, and was the chief instructor in Montreal. He was in BC doing Seminars. He later moved to Vancouver and took over the head roll of this provinces branch of the JKA.
He came north to teach us many times, and I trained with him whenever I was in Vancouver. He moved back to Japan over 20 years ago. He returned frequently to give seminars, and I was always a participant.
He became a friend, as well as a teacher.
Ten years ago I stopped training, and have recently returned.
I got in contact with Sakurai Sensei, and he asked me to get in contact with the head of the JKA in BC. Both gave me permission to attend his most recent seminar.
Would I be really welcomed back?
How would I do training through numerous, high intensity classes? The last time I've done this was over a decade ago. The only recent such efforts have been the two half marathons I've run. I expected the Karate training to be harder, and it was.
Helen and I were up at 5am to catch the first ferry. On the Mainland side, it's an hour and a half drive out into the Valley. We got there nice and early, and killed time with fancy coffee at McDonalds, and the use of their WiFi.
Helen dropped me at the Dojo.
Not many were there when I arrived, but a few. Got changed upstairs, and shortly after returning to the ground floor, Don Sharp and Sakurai Sensei arrived. Don saw me first. Smiles, bows, handshakes and a hug all mixed together, then the same with Sakurai Sensei.
Shortly after, the session began.
The first class was for the BC members going to the big tournament in Taiwan in August.
There were 18 of there, including Sensei. The second special class was slightly smaller (two gone, but one more arrived), and the third smaller still (about 12 left). The three sessions all blurred, so I'll treat the team training times all together.
We worked a lot on Kata. Mostly it was Heian 1-5, Tekki Shodan, Bassai Dai, and Empi. The competitors all need these ones for the tournament. It was a mix of 'correct' movement, and moving with speed.
Besides Kata, there was a lot of partner training with the hand pads on. Moderate body contact is expected, and no problem. We played dummy for one another many times, and changed partners frequently. Bam, I got a heavy shot in the ribs. It felt weird right away. It generated a sharp pain, very localized. These things happen, so I just continued. I'm sure my partner didn't even know. He didn't really hit me overly hard. Some kind of freak result.
The injury didn't affect my performance at all, but deep breaths became a problem. A shot in the same spot would have caused a real injury. Whenever Sensei sent us out to get our hand pads in later classes, I stayed out and got changed. This happened twice, and I gave up about 20 minutes of training each time, but old people don't heal fast.
My other injury was a bashed foot. I call it a stubbed toe, but it's really two of them that got conked. One might be broken. My foot hurts when it bends, or gets bumped, and generally all the time. I had to ignore it.
The other three classes were open to all the team training participants, and any JKA BC Black or Brown Belts. There were about 30 people at each of these sessions. These were more generalized training, and also excellent.
After one of these, Don Sharp called all the Black Belts over to make a few announcements regarding upcoming events and such.
He then said how happy he was to be able to train again with Sensei...Gordon. That's me. He went on to tell the assembled people a bit of my own Karate history, and at the end everybody bowed to me.
Up until that everybody had been quite polite to me, and friendly enough, but also somewhat reserved. They didn't know who I was. Suddenly everybody was smiling at me, and addressing me as Sensei.
I had come home.
Tuesday, 5 July 2011
Roll
Interesting week.
We're off work.
My bike is fixed better than ever.
Helen's cholesterol test was good.
The dentist puts on my new crowns tomorrow.
We went to a chick-flick last night, and I loved it.
Had surprise sushi for lunch.
Our broken cable box turned out to be just a little confused.
Oh, yeah. Our bank lady said we can easily retire when we hoped to.
Is that a roll, or what?
We're off work.
My bike is fixed better than ever.
Helen's cholesterol test was good.
The dentist puts on my new crowns tomorrow.
We went to a chick-flick last night, and I loved it.
Had surprise sushi for lunch.
Our broken cable box turned out to be just a little confused.
Oh, yeah. Our bank lady said we can easily retire when we hoped to.
Is that a roll, or what?
Slow Learner
Karate is fast.
I like slow.
You have to be able to do movements very quickly, but that's actually easy.
Try doing it slow. Mix the slow with the fast.
Make the slow movements a perfect match to the fast, but because you have better control you must do them better. Perfect the slow. Practise the slow. Improve the slow.
Pick up the speed slightly. The form will fail a bit. Work until it is perfect again.
Pick up the speed again. Perfect it all again.
Return to moving as quickly as you possibly can. Perfect it again, with what you learned moving slowly. You'll actually be faster than ever, and stronger, and better.
Keep returning to slow.
Learn from slow.
I like slow.
You have to be able to do movements very quickly, but that's actually easy.
Try doing it slow. Mix the slow with the fast.
Make the slow movements a perfect match to the fast, but because you have better control you must do them better. Perfect the slow. Practise the slow. Improve the slow.
Pick up the speed slightly. The form will fail a bit. Work until it is perfect again.
Pick up the speed again. Perfect it all again.
Return to moving as quickly as you possibly can. Perfect it again, with what you learned moving slowly. You'll actually be faster than ever, and stronger, and better.
Keep returning to slow.
Learn from slow.
Monday, 4 July 2011
Bratwurst
Perfect day today, weather wise. Blue skies, blazing sunshine, the works.
Couple of downsides. We wasted a mess of time outside in the yard. I call it ripping out plants. Helen calls it weeding.
The blackberries are the worst. It's like having massive bales of ninja-zombie barbed wire that crawls slowly in from every side. "Brains...brains..."
I go at them with my bo. That's a 6 foot Okinawan staff. I've modified it with an 18 inch blade on one end. Works pretty good.
The best part was bike riding. No goal, except to rack up the miles. I have a foot thing happening, so I can't run. To make up my 6km running goal, I figure I need 36km on the bike. Did that and a tad over for luck. Found out that riding on a too-small frame can cause knee pain.
How come everything can cause knee pain?
It's off to McDonalds for supper. What the heck is a McRibb. Helen has her heart set on one of those. After McSupper, we're off to see a recent Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts movie. It seems like a chick flick, but I like Tom Hanks. Pity I dislike Julia Roberts.
She used to be OK, and even decent looking, but then she got one of those lovely Hollywood lip jobs. It looks like her mouth is lined with a couple of bratwurst. Who decided that is attractive?
Must have been a German.
Couple of downsides. We wasted a mess of time outside in the yard. I call it ripping out plants. Helen calls it weeding.
The blackberries are the worst. It's like having massive bales of ninja-zombie barbed wire that crawls slowly in from every side. "Brains...brains..."
I go at them with my bo. That's a 6 foot Okinawan staff. I've modified it with an 18 inch blade on one end. Works pretty good.
The best part was bike riding. No goal, except to rack up the miles. I have a foot thing happening, so I can't run. To make up my 6km running goal, I figure I need 36km on the bike. Did that and a tad over for luck. Found out that riding on a too-small frame can cause knee pain.
How come everything can cause knee pain?
It's off to McDonalds for supper. What the heck is a McRibb. Helen has her heart set on one of those. After McSupper, we're off to see a recent Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts movie. It seems like a chick flick, but I like Tom Hanks. Pity I dislike Julia Roberts.
She used to be OK, and even decent looking, but then she got one of those lovely Hollywood lip jobs. It looks like her mouth is lined with a couple of bratwurst. Who decided that is attractive?
Must have been a German.
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Camera
I have a really cool camera. It is made tough enough to fasten on surfboards, bike helmets, motorcycles or any of that stuff.
It came with a head mount headband thing. Perfect if you want to go shopping with a camera stuck on the top of your head. It also had a kick ass bike helmet mount.
I like that one. The only problem is I like doing time lapse videos, and that doesn't work the best with the cam on the helmet. Turning the head to check for traffic messes up the video.
Today I was loose for a short while in a big box store. They sell my brand of camera, and some of the accessories. Bought two more mounting devices.
Got a nice, sturdy bike mount. Now instead of the camera being on the helmet, it'll be bolted to the bike frame. That should work better.
The other straps the camera securely to the operator's chest. The head strap just didn't seem secure if any body movement would be going on. The chest strap is much better. It is also not as strange looking as the head strap. One could walk a mall with it on and not garner any stares. Not a spy cam by any means, but less of a neon sign.
Tomorrow, I'll be off to make some videos.
I hope I get jolly results.
It came with a head mount headband thing. Perfect if you want to go shopping with a camera stuck on the top of your head. It also had a kick ass bike helmet mount.
I like that one. The only problem is I like doing time lapse videos, and that doesn't work the best with the cam on the helmet. Turning the head to check for traffic messes up the video.
Today I was loose for a short while in a big box store. They sell my brand of camera, and some of the accessories. Bought two more mounting devices.
Got a nice, sturdy bike mount. Now instead of the camera being on the helmet, it'll be bolted to the bike frame. That should work better.
The other straps the camera securely to the operator's chest. The head strap just didn't seem secure if any body movement would be going on. The chest strap is much better. It is also not as strange looking as the head strap. One could walk a mall with it on and not garner any stares. Not a spy cam by any means, but less of a neon sign.
Tomorrow, I'll be off to make some videos.
I hope I get jolly results.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)