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.