My trip to Black Belt at 50... and beyond!

Life goes on

2012-01-15T13:35:00.000-08:00

It's 2012 and the National Training Center of Lavallees, the change in years in heavily punctuated by discussions of goals. We were urged to finish 2011 strong and to celebrate our achievements. We were exhorted to start 2012 with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-stamped) goals for 2012.

The school itself did some readjustments so that Kyoshi himself teaches classes many times a week and there is a renewed focus on intensity and foundation details.

Typical Street Scene in Placetas, Cuba Dec 2012

I completely buy into this process and went through the planning steps. I have goals for my weight, increased flexibility, building my bugo skills, and getting my endurance up to where it should be.

Then, as happens with the best laid plans of mice and men, things went awry. The trip to Cuba over the holidays to visit relatives in their small town for a week was great in many ways but not for my training. My doctor finally got me to do a little procedure that men with my age and history should do (a colonoscopy) and that knocked me out for a few days.

Saturday, I was reaching for something (I think putting a dish in the dishwasher) and my back went into spasm. At first, I thought it would pass in a few minutes. By mid-day, I couldn't walk. Now I'm deep into working with a chiropractor and trying to control the pain. The next two weeks are looking really tough since I was supposed to travel but frankly, the way I'm feeling (and moving) right now, it doesn't make much sense for me to try to go to a trade show.

Of course, with a little luck, I might get the back straightened out and be back on the floor this week.Last year, I also had a back problem (I think it was February) that ended up costing me about a month of training. Either way, happy new year to all and I'm looking forward to this year, whether the original plan works out or not.

Sparing, More Work on my Bugo

2011-10-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

I'm interested in improving my bugo kumite. This is my main goal this year. As it was last year. Frankly, I find improvements hard to make. I'm hoping that by watching myself, I'll see and learn from my mistakes (and expand on any successes). Frankly, I'd like to be more accomplished after all this practice but I still have trouble learning to relax and flow, to circle properly, and to string together combinations. On the bright side, many of my really bad habits from a few years ago are mostly gone. My notes after watching this video:

I'm mostly moving the wrong way, I'm circling to my left but I should be going to my right.
I should be attacking more, especially with combinations. And I'm way too tense. RELAX!
I need to be more dynamic with my shoulders, hands, head, and height constantly changing. I tend to only move my feet. And my footwork lacks those clever changes in angles.
When attacked, I'm missing opportunities to hold my ground and counter. Or to just side step and counter. Instead, I'm retreating and shelling up.
My defense is pretty good although I tend to block head kicks with my arms out instead of folded in against my head. Also, I'm overblocking and defending sometimes with both hands.
Mr Vince, on the other hand, is looking very disciplined, quick, light on his feet and with a good variety of attacks. He's definitely improved in the two years between these videos. Well done.

Now here is an interesting detail. In 2009 (two years ago), I was also filmed in a training session with the same training partner. Comparing the two video clips is very interesting. What jumps out at me, frankly, is the huge improvements that Mr. Vince has made. He's faster, more varied is his attacks, and better in his defense. On the other hand, I show more consistency (as in its not clear that I've improved). But now I'm really really motivated.

And I have a plan. Every bugo match, come hell or high water, I will do these five things:

A. Circle 80% of the time to my right.
B. Throw each of these combinations at least once:
- Parry a jab down with my right, then cross, left hook, right cross
- Jab, Cross, jab, front roundhouse
- Jab, left hook, right cross, left uppercut,exit to my right
- Jab, cross, left hook, 180 kick
C. Lots of Relaxed Movement: move shoulders, change height, move head, lean both ways and try starting with hooks. Concentrate on having some explosive speed and real deceptions.
D. Attack the body, not just up top.
E. Don't kick so much. Pace myself for all two minutes.

Daniellas Run

2011-10-04T02:35:00.000-07:00

We've run Daniella's Run twice before. We noticed that it was not held last spring and we missed it (I only get out to one or two 5Ks per year).

So we were thrilled when Daniella's Run suddenly popped up again in the form of a team entered in the Live Strong, Live Long run at Gulf Stream Park this past Saturday.

Highlights were that Hunter F came along (since his family was off doing the Disney Half Marathon) along with Kate and David.

The weather was perfect and it was very cool running the last mile around the horse racing track. On the flip side, the track was a little mushy and until we figured out that we were supposed to run on this strip of hard packed-dirt, it was a bit of a slop through the mud. None of us were running for time so its all good.

As background, this run has some emotional significance to us. Daniella Folleco was a girl who went to school with my kids. We know the family. She had cancer and died. She was, and her mom is, a delight despite this terrible bad luck. The run commemorates her and to me, reminds me how incredibly lucky wePublish Post are to be healthy and all together. Her Mom was there thanking people for showing up. Other parents from the school were there running fund-raising booths. I often remember the simple ditty:

The world is so full of wonderful things,
I think we should be as happy as kings.
(I just googled this: it was written by Robert Louis Stevenson who also wrote Treasure Island and Kidnapped)

By Back Strategy

2011-09-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

The idea behind this post is that I wanted to detail what I'm doing for my back and perhaps get some feedback on it. I understand that you doctors are not allowed to comment on this sort of discussion for fear of dispensing medical advice inappropriately and for fear of malpractice stuff...funny world where the real experts are not allowed to participate.

For the two years before this, I had real bad back problems which I was primarily dealing with by visiting a chiro weekly and spending time in the hot tub. Since March, I've been taking a few aspirin daily (actually two pairs of buffered aspirin daily) and trying to do the following twice a day. When I wake up in the morning...actually, its more when I finally get out of bed, I try to start with:

Breakfall (from standing position, bend my knees and lean back while curling up in a ball and slapping the rug on both sides to reduce the momentum. I bend my knees and really curl into a ball so its pretty gentle). Then, while rolled up in a ball, I roll around on my back at different angles at some length. Most of a minute. I find it pleasant and my back will crack (in a good way) from half a dozen to a dozen times. My neck too. I change the angle on each roll and it seems to wake me up, get some blood circulating, and loosen up some of the really bad stiffness.
Lying flat of my back, feet on the ground and my knees up, I rotate my pelvis and hold it for awhile, 20-30 seconds. Three repetitions. For those of you who don't know what this means, I push my lower back down so that instead of having some arch and some space between my lower back and the ground, I try to get it totally flat. It flexes my abs and stretches my back. Very therapeutic.
Situps. I do four sets (ideally). One set of regular crunches, very easy. Maybe just 10. Then, placing one knee up and the other foot across it, I crunch with a twist pulling the far elbow towards the knee of the leg that is horizontal. I'll do this 15 times then I'll do ten more with the leg going from hyperstretched out straight to pulling the knee up to touch the opposite elbow. Then the same 15 & 10 on the other side. Then 10 straight to finish up.
More rolling and some hyperstretching. Here, I not only stretch out arms above my head, flat on my back as long as I can go, I also will pull one hand with the other getting a slightly angled stretch. My shoulders will go clickity clackity while I do this.
I pull my knees alternatively up to my chest, then both together. From there, I let my knees fall to the right, I turn my head and upper torso the other way to the left. Back cracks. Then repeat the other way.
Some pushups. Maybe I do a set of 25. Rest. Then 20. Rest. 15. Today, for instance, having fallen on and injured my wrist last night, I just hung out in plank for most of a minute. Twice. Plank, for those of you who haven't been to a yoga class, is pushup position except you support yourself on your elbows with your forearms on the floor.
Maybe more rolling. I love to roll. My dog hates it so I put her up the bed so she doesn't get too close and get squashed. The bed is too high for her to jump down from. She's tiny. Don't ask, it's my wife's choice.
I do some very light stretching (remember, this is my morning protocol and I'm still pre-shower and VERY stiff). I'll do something like a sitting toe touch but I keep my knees bent and I probably only get my hands on my ankles. I don't force at all. Anything too intense here and I'm pulling muscles. I'll also sit with my legs spread as far as they go (about 45 degrees) and I lean gently forward, then onto each leg. No bouncing or forcing.
Kicking. I often stand up and kick for maybe 50 kicks. They are about knee or thigh height. I actually put a pillow over the edge of the bed and try to just graze it with the bottom of my foot for front kicks (the wife and dog hate this part) and I'll do sets of 10 snap kicks off each leg. If' I'm feeling intense, I might add some roundhouse kicks or side kicks but for these, given my hip problems and stiffness, I really don't get above thigh height in the morning.

When I do this in the evening or midday (weekends and holidays), its the same routine but more intense.

What do you think? This is a homegrown mix of exercises that I've picked up through the years. BTW, my Dad started every morning with four sets of 25 pushups and situps. I spent much of my childhood holding his legs for the situps. I don't remember if he lowered the number in his late 60s or 70s (he died at 75) but I do have vivid memories of holding them both as a kid and as a teenager.

How would you like to feel no pain?

2011-09-02T14:29:00.000-07:00

I just read an about me and post from a blog called Memoirs of a Grasshopper. Great stuff. I'll quote some extracts from the post: What's to Gain From Pain?. My advice, go read the original....

Have you ever wondered what it'd be like to be impervious to pain? As a martial artist, it'd certainly have its perks. It's the sort of superhuman power that belongs in comic books. Amazingly for some people it is a reality.

Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis CIPA is a rare condition in which children are born without the ability to sense pain .... They are normal in every other sense. ...Children born with CIPA have no protective reflexes...Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to go to his classes....

Kicking is Back!

2011-08-24T14:29:00.000-07:00

Our school has been focusing on boxing skills, conditioning, and jitsu for the last few years. What did they leave out? Well, I'd forgotten about the kicking drills. And last night, they came back.

Six Count Kicking - Three pairs of kicks: two forward, two side, two roundhouses.
Eight Count Kicking - Four pairs of kicks: two forward, two side, two hook rounds, two double rounds.
Ten Count Kicking - Showy X blocks before and after each kick with two pairs of side kicks, two round houses, two hook rounds, two slow extension high tension side kicks, and low side and two high round house kicks.

Also, we revisited the old Two Count Basics. I looked aroudn the blog and I have some very old videos of these materials which had lost their links. I put them back in.

Enjoy!

Six Count Kicking Demos

Health, Eating, and the Truth

2011-08-24T03:25:00.000-07:00

I recently spent some time with a close friend who is a big shot in the health insurance industry. As in the chairman of the board of a major health insurance company. He shared with me that at a recent annual set of meetings of the highest level execs in the health insurance world, they finally had a panel about health and eating. The panel was made up of distinguished widely respected medical and nutritional experts who he says could agree only one thing: healthy eating was vital to managing health costs and shifting towards a system of building a healthy population and away from trying to take care of an extremely unhealthy population.

They could not in any way agree on what healthy eating meant.

I suspect that this is an exaggeration. I'm sure of the following and I think everyone else would agree. The major unhealthy eating habits that are contributing to general problems and the 20% of the population that is currently obese are:

1. Over-sweetened breakfast cereals: Frosted Flakes, Sugar Pops, Cocoa Krispies, and Captain Crunch.
2. Soda Pop: Coke, Pepsi and all the rest.
3. French Fries & Potato Chips
4. Fast food over-fat burgers

Aren't they the big four disasters? Or do cookies and deserts also make the list? Does snacking count at this level? Are fried foods generally a bigger problem than fried potato products?

I'm guessing that the experts could not agree on counting calories, meat-eating, avoiding sweetened foods and refined flour, and all the other components of how you define what we should be eating.

Master KO Andrello Master Class

2011-07-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

The dojo made a big deal this past week telling us to show up for a special 90 minute boxing seminar hosted by a sixth degree from the Upstate NY dojos. A Master Instructor was coming down who is a national kick boxing champion and a regional muy thai champion (I might not have the details right). In any case, a 6th degree who is ring-ready is a big deal so I showed up, very excited and ready to go.

Wow, great class, great instructor. She talked about how in addition to her own fights, she has cornered 150 students. She speaks with great authority and insight. Very powerful presence. Here's what I remember. I'm reviewing this since I'm going to take her class again tonight by going up to the LHP dojo (I called and spoke to Sensei Erin to see if I'd be welcome). I'll probably update it after class with whatever else I retain.

Master KO Andrello

1. Avoid the happy feet syndrome (ie moving when hitting and always combining pivots with retreats). When it's time to hit, set your feet and hit. Also, if you want to change the angles from inside, pivot. But lock your front foot in place and pivot off that foot. Don't keep shuffling since some people, especially me, tend to not just move sideways, I'll actually backup across the floor.

2. Training partners should not just be intense but should adopt the mindset of "training their fighter". The more you cultivate the idea that the trainer is training the fighter, the more you get into the mentality of how much you can do while holding pads. As part of this, instead of our typical I-go-you-go or three-and-switch, we would spend much longer periods in the trainer or fighter role. It really changes things up. Don't just put up the gloves for combinations or bark commands. As a trainer, you can be the offense which triggers the combinations and the setting up the defense. Holding pads allows you to simulate the attack, recognize the incoming combinations, and being eyes-up looking for the opportunities and overcommitments.

3. Balance and movement. She talked a lot about where your weight should be at different times during sparing and combinations. This is so important and while frequently mentioned regarding kata,I hadn't thought thought nearly enough about my weight distribution when sparring. It was particularly insightful that she stressed that when hitting, keeping most of the weight on the front foot. The power comes from having the front foot set and the weight on it. This was news to me since I had tended to think of all the power when I hit with my right coming from my back leg. But she pointed out that even when the front foot is pivoting, like on a left cross, its the weight on the front foot that makes the difference.

Kim O'Brien Andrello & BBat50

4. The sequence of attacks which triggers combinations was insightful. We would be toe-to-toe and the trainer would either lean forward and across as if you were in close or just jabbed. The response would to roll away from the attack and then come back with right upper cut, right cross, left hook. The second sequence was if the ouki had right crossed and was leaning forward and to the left. The response was again to roll away from the attack and come back with a left body hook, left hook to the head, right cross. Then we had other combinations, all rolling muy thai rolling combinations. The coach would trigger them by doing either a pivot to the right or stepping deep forward to the left. The sequences were real mind binders.

Her name is Kim O'Brien, hence the KO. I'd suspect the KO is a play on what its like to spar her or on her ring record. I wonder soemtimes if all thevery high level lady instructors in our system get two letter nicknames starting with K (KC Lavallee, KO Andrello, who else?). In person, she moves like a highly trained intense fighter and teaches with contagious enthusiasm but manages to be less loud and "out there" than most instructors. She's married to Shihan Andrello who is also a national level fighter and a sixth degree.

I'm going to look around to see if I can see any videos of her fights online. I would have liked to see her do the demos but her use of lead students very powerful. Go Jen and Melissa.

Additions: (thanks for the help "anonymous")
Here's Kim's personal site where she is a health and wellness consultant.
And an interview with a demo by her:

To Infinity...And Beyond!

2011-06-25T19:41:00.000-07:00

To infinity and beyond is a cute concept but when it comes to intense training, common sense and mature guidance are vital to safety. Unfortunately, there are a few martial art teachers who are irresponsible & dangerous.

I just read a great blog post which puts some perspective around the idea of staying away from crazyness. The blog post from Ikagi, blogging the Martial Way, starts by quoting the Guardian;

“A self-help author who led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona was found guilty of three counts of negligent manslaughter on Wednesday…Jurors in the case against James Arthur Ray began deliberating after a four-month trial. More than 50 people participated in the October 2009 sweat lodge that was meant to be the highlight of Ray’s five-day “spiritual warrior” seminar near Sedona. Three people died following the sauna-like ceremony meant to provide spiritual cleansing, 18 were hospitalised, while several others were given water to cool down at the scene.”

Matthew Apsokardu then continues:

That’s a thick, powerful resume. Given his natural charisma, is it any wonder that people in need of guidance fell into step with him? The shocking thing is how such a seemingly robust career could be built upon a lethally flawed mindset, supported by questionable credentials revolving around “tough love” and “spiritual warriorship”. The bad part is that this isn’t a one-time misstep for James Arthur Ray....The post Deadly Shugyo in Persuasive Hands is worth reading.

Mind you, I have had times when I felt that I had no limits when I ran marathons, white water kayaked, and played fully competitive 90 minute soccer games at full tilt. And when I felt that way, I probably did have that much endurance and capacity in me and the coaches understood it.

Kenpo History - Ed Parker Kenpo Karate TV commercials

2011-06-20T16:36:00.001-07:00

I've been wondering around the web and YouTube following the theme of American Kenpo which is the base martial art at Lavallees Karate School. The lineage of American Kenpo goes through the Tracy Brothers and Ed Parker. I particularly like this video showing Ed Parker karate TV advertisements from early 70s.

Stretching: Before versus After

2011-06-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

The science of stretching is increasingly important to me so I'm trying to collect what I know. The most basic concept in stretching is to understand the difference between stretches best done at the start of a workout and those best done at the end of a workout.

BTW, NOTE that I am no expert and I'm writing this to solicit feedback and record my somewhat basic understanding. It is NOT a how-to written by a medically-competent coach, trainer, or advisor. In short, follow this advice at your own risk. Expert advice is however welcome. Anyone want to guest post?

At the start of a workout, the goal is to warm up the muscles and get limber enough to have a good workout. The emphasis should be on warming up with stretching being of limited ambition and intensity. The goal is simply to get limber. The primary focus should be on warming up via jumping jacks, pushups, situps, and other basics.

At the end of a workout, the stretching should be more ambitious. The goal here is to increase flexibility. Stretching should be steady and intense and in repetitions of three, each held no more than 30 seconds.

Here's my open questions:

1. Is this basic description of stretching before and after class right? If so, how much time before a class should be devoted to stretching (as distinct from time spent warming up)? And how much after? I (remember, I'm in my 50s), require 15 minutes to warm up before class in addition to the first ten minutes of class which is also a warm up. Often, I'll do light calisthenics, a few kata, and stretches for 20-30 minutes before class. However, while I might spend 5 minutes at the end of class stretching or part of the cooldown, I never spend a full 15 minutes stretching at the end .

2. What about the other stretching that I do which is typically first thing in the morning or last thing at night? Should it be minimal or intense? Does it require a full warmup to be useful? The reality is that I spend 15-25 minutes in the morning and night doing pushups, situps, and stretching. I wish that I did this 14 times a week, the reality is that I do it about 7-10 times at the moment. Typically, backrolls, pushups, leg lifts, low front kicks, crunches, more pushups, toe touches, hip stretches (my current problem area), spreadlegs, knee splits, downward facing dog, and so on.

The Plan. Lets call it Plan A.

2011-06-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

People often ask me if I'm going to go for my third degree.I'm technically eligible in May 2013.

On the face of it, it sounds a little ridiculous. I'm getting increasingly creaky and having trouble getting back in shape after my Nov-March injury fest. Yet, hope springs eternal and frankly, I'm not quite ready to retire to the rocking chair. So in my mind, Plan A goes like this:

Next year...June 2011-June 2012: Return to running, do some short triathalons, take up yoga to improve flexibility and core strength, get fit with strong cardio again. (remember, it was just a year ago that I pumped out 14 minute two miles).

Then...June 2012-May 2013. Go through cycle, strong and fit. Ideally, I'd like to get my flexibility, cardio, and sparing to a point where I can spend a few months in the class with the instructors. That's an extremely lofty goal given where I am now. Still it's a goal. And it would be cool.

Next steps: rebuild fitness and flexibility. Start running et al...Keep dreaming.

Another Fresh Set of BlackBelts

2011-05-17T03:16:00.000-07:00

Over the last few months, culminating in the Power Weekend two weekends ago, I've watched another set of blackbelts come to fruition. It's exciting to watch every time because in most cases, I know a handful of the stories well. For many of them, it is a huge life event, the realization of a major challenge met for them.

For some, who had let their weight slip out of control, its a public display of their new discipline. And body! For others, its facing their fear of physical exercise and public performance. For others, it's just plain hard and they've not had the habit of meeting challenges so it represents a massive turnaround in their life.

If you have pictures, want to write something, or videos to contribute, please comment below or just email me at gmaail. I'm bbat50@.. I'd love some fresh writing and other input,

For almost everybody, earning the blackbelt a challenge. There's always a hiccup or special circumstances. Since I didn't get great shots or videos of this round, I'll repost one of the most dramatic videos that I do have, the one of people dealing with the board breaking. And I quote:

I'm in the red gi top in the center at the start of the video. This video starts out fun but then it takes a surprising turn. Two Candidates have trouble breaking their boards. But there's no escape. In front of everyone, these ladies show the concentration and persistent that got them this far. I found the tension and drama at the time very emotional. In rewatching the video, I'm so impressed by their calm and focus. There's no silliness or embarrassment, just work to be done and a focus on doing it. Congratulations to Agnes and Sylvia.

I'm training and keeping it under control

2011-04-27T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm back on track. Friday and Saturday (while travelling), I made it to the gym. Sunday was travel. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I've gotten up early and made it to the gym. Not massive workouts but a good foundation. Today, ten minutes of machines, 20 minutes on the eliptical, then five on the stair climber. I do the eliptical with two minutes slow, one minute very fast.

Plus, I made it to class Monday and Tuesday night. I'd say I'm doing about 75% to 80% of what I should do in class.

As part of this, I'm not spending some much time worrying about my little aches and pains. I'm cutting down on time at the chiropractor and in the jacuzzi and focusing more on exercising and stretching. I am falling back on aspirin and ibuprofin (I'm drinking lots of water) as a way of being less distracted by the problems. Also, having less swelling help. The picture is of my medicine cabinet.

My goal simply is to be at 100% by the end of May, 190lbs, back to dingo 4 x 25 pushups, 10 pullups, and working through class doing 100% at full intensity. Ambitious but also important to my health and well-being. Stay tuned. Thursday night is my first bugo class in awhile which is a humbling reality check of what sort of shape I'm really in.

Getting it Together - What Percent am I at?

2011-04-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

I'm off to a good start on my comeback trail. I'm working out daily and I made it through class last night. While some people talk about percentage as a level of effort or against their own abilities, I've often though of percentage in terms of performing everything asked for in class.

Realistically, I was at 75% meaning that I didn't do every pushup cleanly, hit every roundhouse hard and high, do my top speed on every drill get 100% of my leg lifts up properly, or do every drill to its fullest. Like I said, I was at 75%. At this time last year, as I finished up cycle, I would say that I was at 110%. I did everything in class with full energy plus a full set of katas before class and extras afterwards. To be more specific, I was having shoulder problems so except for pushups, I was over a 100%. I was in pushup avoidance mode so except at the prechecks and Power Weekend, I limited my pushups to keep the shoulder problems at bay.

Looking forward, I would like to be at 100% by the end of May.

Right now, I've decided to rely on an old friend to help me move forward. My old training partner Mo (as someone put int). Mo means Motrin which is one of a number of NSAIDs, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. The best-known and most popular of course is aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid. Aspirin has three effects: minor pain-killer, reduces swelling, and fever reduction (analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic respectively). It's also a antiplatelet to thin the blood.

The three most popular NSAIDs:
Aspirin
Ibuprofen
Naproxen

In my next post, I'll figure out all the commercial names for these active ingredients, distinguish them from tylenol and paracetamol and from steroid-based drugs. I'm doing this as an exercise in improving my understanding of what I'm putting into my body (btw, the aspirin is really helping my back!).

BBat50 is on the comeback trail!

2011-04-25T07:57:00.000-07:00

I'm determined to get back in top shape. Recently, I've become a little heavy and am regularly having trouble keeping up in class. It's time to reverse the tend of the last six months and get back in fighting shape. Here's what happened followed by what I'm going to do about it.

What happened? At this time last year, I was finishing cycle for my second degree which meant that I was in great shape. I ran an under 14 minute two mile and was ready to happily spar with anyone. Following that, I had to readjust my time trying to catch up with some family and work commitments. Also, I had some ailments so I backed off pushups since my shoulder ached. Fast forward to October when I signed up for ten week late Monday night jistu class. While cool, it interfered with my training schedule. I skipped the Monday class and the jistu class was no aerobically intense. And since it kept me out late, I tended to start missing Tuesday as well. In December, my back problems got worse and everytime I ran, I pulled my right calf muscle. Something about my hips being out of alignment. And this is pretty much how things stood all last quarter except there were more back problems, some travel, some illness, and lots of work.

So, May 2010, I was a 33" waist and 189 pounds. Today I'm around 200 and having trouble fitting in 34's,this is not good.

Starting Friday, I try to work out everyday. I'm cutting way back on chiropractor visits since they consume time and seem to be too much of a short-term fix. I'll try just stretching and exercising through it. if that doesn't work, I'll go visit an orthopedist and get his view. I'll also try to make it to a yoga class or two each week. On some days, I'll try to even work out twice. Today for instnace, I made it to the gym in the morning and should make a 5 pm class. To avoid overdoing it, I just did a little cardio this morning and did muscle groups that won't leave me too sore for class (pulls, stretches, a little eliptical). Another way to get more time is stop trying to get to the office at 8. I can work out in the morning and come in at 9 and that'll probably work fine.

So, BBat50 is back trying to get back at 190 by the end of the quarter. More importantly, I want to get in shape so that I can enjoy bugo again and stop huffing my way pathetically through it. June is particularly hard since there is lots of travel.

New Instructional Videos

2011-03-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

Mr Vince kindly volunteered to help do some new instructional videos for Bookset kata and kama set. Apparently, he's better getting requests to have slower more instructional videos than the ones currently posted (which are a little fast:

Kamaset Slow Instructional Video

Kamaset Full Speed Video

Bookset Kata Origins.

I had this interesting discussion about Jen's demo of Bookset on YouTube, I thought that I'd bring it over here. Look below the vid of Jen...

Very good form, it is much differant than the original bookset. its much shorter.But just to correct you this is a kenpo style kata.Steve Lavallee trained under Lee Thompson which is tracey style kenpo.
kls68 1 year ago
Thanks. You appear to be a true old-timer.

I thought I had heard Kyoshi talk about bookset as derived from the Chinese boxing. He mentioned which type exactly but I can't remember. Would the original Kenpo guys have brought it in or do I have it all wrong?
BBat50 1 year ago
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Cancel orPost or Create a video response Yes , your correct about James Wing Woo

introducing this form. I havent read about them in years thank you for your correction and i didnt take it as criticism. I train in a more traditional style of tracys kenpo and a more original form of bookset,tiger and crane and kenpo two man also known - 2 man tam tui ect.
kls68 1 year ago
James Wing Woo taught the form to Ed Parker. It was to be used in the book they were writing together, hence the name "Book Set." The Tracy System still teaches it. However, the kata shown here is not the Bookset that Woo taught to Parker or that the Tracy's still teach.

Don't take that as criticism. The kata shown here is very crisp, very well done, but definitely modified at some point.
kenpohop 1 year ago
KYOSHI would know better than i would but i believe william chow introduced it to the u.s. through ed parker and his first students the tracy brothers. al,will and jim tracy who then started the tracy system.

they are listed as first generation black belts under ed parker.
kls68 1 year ago
amazing! we do this kata at my school (: i train under Sensei Boyer in Alabama, he trains under Kyoshi though :D i would love to go to that school one day
matthowell14 1 year ago

Resolving Nagging Back Problems

2011-03-05T18:34:00.000-08:00

This post is an effort to collect my thoughts and formulate a plan to resolve (positively) my ongoing lower back problems. If you have some ideas for me, you can chime in. Email me (bbat50@gmail with the dot com) or just comment and if you want it to stay private, say so and I won't approve it.

Over the last few years, I've had a recurring pattern of my lower back getting very sore and sometimes going into a full spasm. Over time, I'l learned to recognize that frequently, my lower back feels "off." I learned about 15 months ago that a chiropractor can usually adjust or straighten my alignment. Specifically, my sacrum or tailbone tends to shift to one side and get stuck. It leads to all sorts of problems ranging from pulled calf muscles if I try to jog to a propensity to back spasms. Apparently, the lowest disc in my back in herniated which somehow means that the bone sits on bone which makes this sticking in the wrong position more likely. I've visited a chiropractor weekly over the last year, sometimes several times a week. A few times, I got to the point where I would go every other week.

I also had one back spasm on a trip that was bad enough to land me in the emergency room where I was treated with Flexor (drug to relax muscles), percocet (pain killer), and ice. The problem gets triggered by lots of walking (10 minutes is enough), too much sitting (air travel tends to bring it on), and sometimes, just my regular life.

I've heard a number of times: from two chiropractors, several massage therapists, a physical trainer, and a range of other people, that the best solution is core strengthening and increased flexibility in my hips. With my martial arts training, there already is a lot of attention to core strengthening so I don't really see much upside in that area. However, in terms of my hips, I am conspicuously stiff and I'm often the least flexible of the students in our class when we do hip stretches. So that's going to be my focus for awhile.

Here's my plan.
1. Try to make it to a yoga class weekly and learn the exercises to do on my own.
2. Stretch. Flat on back with knees bent, rotate lower back to where it's flat on the ground. Hold 20-30 seconds. Release. This can also be done standing with the back against the wall or in space.
3. Stretch. Flat on back. Pull one knee up towards chest. Hold the top tip of the knee, not under it. Release it a few inches, then pull it horizontally across the body. Repeat with the other leg.
4. Sitting upright in a chair, cross one leg over the other. Pull the knee of the upper leg up and across the body towards the opposite shoulder. Repeat the other way. This can conveniently be done in an office during the day without freaking anybody out.
5. Also sitting upright in a chair (or on the floor), grab a foot and pull it up and in towards the head.
6. I try to get in the jacuzzi in the early morning, warm up for 5 minutes, and then do some of these stretches in the jacuzzi. I think this helps in that otherwise, I'm other stretching cold which doesn't feel very productive or I'm spending all sorts of time (10+ minutes) trying to get warmed up enough to stretch.
In all of the stretches, I'm a little stiff on the left side. I'm extremely stiff on the right side. But I'll do the streteches evenly on both sides.

And I'm back!

2011-02-26T18:23:00.000-08:00

I made it back to class today. It felt like the first time in ages. There were two ski trips in the last three weeks. One, a trip with friends, was a total disaster: my back spasmed the first morning before I even put on my skis. It was bad enough that I actually ended up in the clinic where they treated me with flexor, a muscle relaxant and some ice and pain killers. My second trip was with the family and it went much better. I skiied with my kids for the first time. There was also a mid January trip for a family event to Boston and some other distractions. Bottom line, I came back today and it felt great. It was a hard class, a large number of bugo sessions. I was badly exhausted way before the end but all the same it felt great to be back.

Hopefully, with no distractions for awhile, I get work my way back into shape and stop being such a basketcase on tough days....

Feeling Better

2011-02-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

Monday night was a great class. Master KC was on the floor and set a specially hard pace. Loved it. I'm feeling better. I'll celebrate by posting some pictures from when I earned my brown belt. The date on them is June 2005. Feels like yesterday.

And I'm back on the Floor! :->

2011-01-26T18:08:00.000-08:00

Sunday I went to the gym, worked out, and felt fine. Of course, where I might usually do four sets of twenty five push ups, I did three sets of ten. Where I might usually spend twenty minutes on the stair climber, I did five. Etcetera.

So Monday, ready or not, back in class. It went fine. I felt good, stayed with it, and really enjoyed the workout. And to my delight, we did some tricky kata, Bo Form and Long Two, and my memory was fine. Great.

I came back Tuesday which turned out to be a little more intense. I stayed with the class for about 95% which meant there was about 5% of the class when I just watched, lightly jogging, with a glassy look while everyone else continued to do drop, three pushups, jump up, horsestance, five punches and repeat. And repeat. And repeat. Yup, I'm not quite ready for that.

All in all, I'm delighted. I should bugo Thursday and Saturday and run on Sunday and yea, I'm back in action! Of course, my schedule for February is another question which I'll have to deal with shortly.

The Year's Challenges Continue

2011-01-21T14:25:00.000-08:00

So I spent the first ten days of the new year struggling from coming back from being out of shape due to leg muscle pulls and general lack of time. Then, I wrenched my back this past weekend and have spent this week on lots of ibuprophen and back therapy stuff (rest, icy hot, jacuzzi, chiropractor etc).

It's been getting less painful everyday and today, I even found myself doing a little slow motion shadow boxing. That's a big improvement from where I was last week where I could not even imagine wanting to move around.

I'm hoping that by Monday, I'll be back in class. I'm hoping....

2011 Starts with some Big Challenges

2011-01-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

This is my second week back and I'll finally update this blog. I've been busy. In Q4 of last year, I focused on technique and spent Monday nights at Jitsu training which was not a full work out. And Tuesday nights became date night with my wife as did Friday night. And over the holidays, I had some distractions and injuries. All of this by way of saying, I'm out of shape and overweight.

My goal, by my birthday (March 1st) is to be back in shape and an even ten pounds lighter. I'm at 200 right now which is just way too much. It's a priority. At my age, I put on weight so quick and its so bad for me and so hard to shed. It's a priority.

What else is new is that Three Set Kuma Tai is back in the system and so I finally got a video up of it. Check it out.

No new pictures or other eye candy for today, just a simple Happy New Year and a statement before you all that BBat50 is back on track and will be losing two pounds per week down to 190 pounds again.

A Cool Bruce Lee Story

2010-12-13T12:59:00.000-08:00

This is quoted from a blog called http://twistingwrists.com/?p=464 with an article about Peter Ting and Bruce Lee....

Peter had a wealth of stories of street fights, military service with General Patton in WWII, and of course Aikido. One of his most requested stories was of sparring with Bruce Lee. Here’s how I remember the story…

Peter had a friend who owned a dojo in San Francisco where Bruce had been training. This friend told Peter about Bruce but warned him not to spar with him as Bruce enjoyed beating up his sparring partners. Not one to shy from danger, Peter went to the gym early the next morning to find Bruce working the bags. Peter doesn’t say a word but puts on his gloves and starts his workout. A few minutes goes by when Bruce comes over and asks Peter if he wants to spar. Anyone that met Peter knows the glean in his eye that always accompanied his smile.

Bruce asks Peter if he wants to spar with or without gloves. Peter chooses to go without. When telling the story this is where Peter starts to imitate the trademark stance that Bruce used – one hand up, one hand down, and bouncing up and down . “Bruce was going like this. Dancing all around the room.”

“And then I spit in his face.”

Bruce’s face turned red and he leaped forward with a punch. Peter then dropped him with a kotegaeshi. Peter took a couple blows in return before they stopped. Peter was happy that he proved his point. Bruce was pissed. Peter never explained himself to Bruce but later that day the gym owner called Peter. “Peter, what the hell, you spit in Bruce’s face?” “Yep” Peter replied. “After all of the years that Bruce spent in the martial arts I made him forget everything he knew just by making him angry.” I wonder if Bruce ever learned the lesson that Peter was trying to show?

Kyoshi's Monday Night Jitsu Class

2010-11-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

I've been attending Kyoshi's Monday night defensive jitsu class for the last eight weeks. Here's some notes about what we learned. It's mostly street self defense (not sport) jitsu.

Guy charges you for a takedown and you learn to put up your fence into his neck, absorb the onslaught and when the attacker runs out of momentum, to respond with a knee into him.
Guys charges you and gets into a good position for a two leg take down. The defense is a sprawl pushing down hard on his head until he collapses. From there (north-south) rotate around one way, the other way, and then roll him over and choke him out.
Guy gets the take-down so as you go, you pull him into close guard with control over his head. From there, if he goes for the neck, you pull him back and then push his arm just to the side so you can get control around his head. Or if he pulls back to punch, you get your knees up and then your heels onto him.
Guy is in your closed guard and as he tries to punch, you oompah at 11:30 and sweep mounting him.
Once mounted, you learn to ride with your weight, capture the head, move his arm across his throat, keep the choke on, dismount low, then arch up for the choke-out.
From the bottom, you do a triangle with your legs. I lacked the flexibility to do this at all in one direction, just barely in the other.
When mounted, you pin and submit with an arm lock, both hands pinning one arm, then one hand weaving other, twist the wrist slightly, move it down towards him, then into a submission.
When you have some in closed guard, they move up to punch. You let him go getting distance by putting your knees up. Then you shoulder walk back, and get your heels into him.
He is up, you on your back and he tries to get in. You rotate and hold him off with your legs. When he tries to grab them, you rotate so he can't get a grip. He gets a grip and throws them sideways, gets into a sidemount on you. You hold him off with a fence, face him, crab out, throw the outside leg over his back to keep him down, the near leg gets a knee across in front of him. And you hold his head down. You then work free the leg across so you have him in closed guard.

Showtime - More Spectacular Greatness

2010-11-07T13:47:00.000-08:00

This is fun. Here's a video of all the kids from NTC doing their stuff. They look great:

And just a few years ago, he was just a little boy. Here's him then. Sure goes quick!

A New Black Belt

2010-11-06T15:01:00.000-07:00

Today David was awarded his black belt in a spectacular 90 minute show at the Parker Playhouse. I'll put up a series of picture and videos as I get them off different cameras. Here's part of his performance:

New Black Belts!

2010-10-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite Power Weekend so far.

I got to observe my son's long candidacy for black belt as he easily cleared the final hurdle of performing well through the Power Weekend. He passed. His kata were strong, his sparing was skilled and confident, his endurance level very high, and his attitude was great.

What a great kid he is. He is one proud addition to the black belt community. I'm over the moon.

Here's the whole group in their team-building exercise at the end of the test.

And to get to that point, he went through a whole of bugo kumite! Watch out!

Power Weekend - My son on deck

2010-10-16T04:43:00.000-07:00

There are always complications and difficulties. This weekend should have been a glory cakewalk for my son. He is performing wonderfully. His sparing is solid, his kicks are great, he knows his kata cold, he is brimming with confidence, and his run times increasingly take him to the very front of the pack.

But Friday, he wakes up feeling awful and feverish. His mom (we're divorced) takes him to the Doctor. Much anxiety and decision-making. Finally, he makes it.

Here he is, breaking his board on Friday night!

Power Weekend this weekend for my son!

2010-10-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled, this weekend is Power Weekend.... the culmination of a testing cycle at the dojo tha has been going on for my son since January.

There are long sessions on Friday night and Saturday. They'll run through all the katas, self defense, break boards, spar, do a lot of push ups, and some running.

I've watched him turn on a whole level of intensity and competence and confidence this year. I'm so proud and pleased.

How did I get so lucky?

Another thought about Power Weekend is how the dojo organizes it so that people are both really pumped and a little nervous. It's amazing how differently people react to different types of pressure. One candidate, Eric, was telling me that he's really nervous about the kata. "I can talk in front of crowd of a thousand for half an hour, with no script, without batting an eye. I talk on the radio daily on my show with an audience of 60,000 people. But, ask me to perform a kata in front of four people, and despite knowing the material cold, I freeze and falter and shake. Go figure!"

I don't know about figuring but it's always fun to show up to support them and watch the show. Ouse!

Kenpo Kate Long Two Form - Some variations

2010-09-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

We are learning a new kata, Long Two. After many years, Long Two is now back in the curriculum. Below is Long Two as performed by Mr. Mike Galindo at the NTC of Lavallees Karate School in Ft Lauderdale.

Steve Lavallees East Coast Karate School Version, circa 2010
(performed informally by an instructor, Mr. Galindo)

I was poking around on Youtube looking at the variations of different Kenpo Long Two Forms. Our school's version is the simplest and least ornate. I think it's really interesting to see the differences.

Long Two
Sacramento Kenpo Kate The performer, Amy Long, is a published author on spirituality and etiquette (different books) plus a book on the Kenpo Karate Community Worldwide, Maybe I can get a guest-post from her.

Masterpan

AMERICAN KENPO'S LONG FORM 2
The performance with detailed explanation is by Professor Juan Serrano, 7th Dan

Martial Art Films

2010-08-22T18:49:00.000-07:00

I'm finally going to post my list and comments on the martial arts films that I've seen. This should be a multipart series as I remember more. Here's the ones that I can remember seeing. In order of how much I liked them....What have you liked? Obviously, I haven't seen that much.

Films / TV Programs

Kung Fu. The TV Program starring David Carradine. The martial arts craze of the 70s was fueled in large part by the 'Kung Fu' program on TV (I recently purchased the first season on DVD). The TV series ran from 1972–1975 (I graduated from high school in 1976). It was a huge hit putting a pacifist idealistic kung fu master in the rough old racist US west. It hit the trends well riding both the enthusiasm for Westerns and the interest in Eastern philosophy and the martial arts. I learned about kung fu and Eastern philosophy from it.

Red Belt. By David Mamet.
The Human Weapon. A series on the History Channel in 2007-08.
Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story

The Karate Kid. Original.

The Karate Kid. Remake 2010.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Legend of Drunken Master. Jackie Chen.
Kung Fu Panda.
Foot Fist Way.

Boxing
When we were Kings
Mike Tyson
Thrilla in Manilla
And a bunch of others on Mohammed Ali.

BTW, I wrote about my martial arts reading list a few years ago.

Stretching: Warming up versus Building Flexibility

2010-08-08T05:47:00.000-07:00

I'm thrilled by the flexibility that I've gained through the martial arts. With that said, I'm still not sure that I understand it very well so I'm going to study it over the next few weeks to see what I can learn. Got anything to contribute? Anybody ever read an informative article or book about it?

A starting point is that I've never fully understood the difference between stretching to warm up for a work out and stretching to increase my overall flexibility. What stretches are appropriate for each? How long should a stretch be held for each? When should they be done?

Warming up - A workout typically starts with some light cardio such as jog-around, shadow boxing, few dozen jumping jacks, situps and pushups designed to warm the muscles. After the body is warmed, there's a set of stretches. I know that these should be light. How long should positions be held? How much of them should you do? Any other guidelines?

Increasing flexibility - Near the end of a workout, there is a different type of stretching. This is more intense and is intended both to help recovery time from the workout (to avoid getting stiff) and to increase flexibility. The positions should be held I believe for 20-30 seconds and should be done in two to three repetitions for each area. I'm not sure where I learned this or if it is gospel truth. Questions that I have are whether you should stretch the same muscle group every day or is this like weight lifting in that you should rotate muscle groups.

PS - I wanted to grab an image to put on this post so I googled stretching. Wow, there's a lot of online writing on the topic. I should have know that.
I often "cheat" on my warm-ups by getting into a jacuzzi. In less then five minutes, I get warmed up and I have a series of stretches that I've figured out that I can do in there without falling or drowning. Is this a good or bad idea? Also, I sometimes go into it after workouts since I believe that it helps get rid of lactic acid. Any truth or opinions on this?

Studying Martial Arts at my age

2010-07-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

I just found two new blogs and a book along the same themes as this blog. I'll follow them and I just ordered the book. I'll tell you if I like it.

Michele's blog is Just a Thought. I am a student and instructor of Okinawa Kenpo and a student of Tai Chi. In April 2007, I injured my knee during a two-person bo form. I had a complete ACL tear. On May 15, 2007, I had my ACL reconstructed using a hamstring graft. This blog shares my thoughts on Karate, Tai Chi, ACL Reconstruction and the Challenges of Parenting.

BobSpar - I'm 54 and a student at a mixed-martial-arts school in the New York area. Years ago, my school taught Shotokan karate, but the school has changed; although it still contains many of the attributes of karate, including belts and respect, the school no longer teaches kata, and instead focuses on kickboxing and grappling. As I began this blog, I was recovering from ACL reconstruction surgery.

The book is called: Martial Arts After 40. Martial Arts After Forty is the first book ever to explore the needs and advantages of the over-forty martial artist. It takes an in-depth look at the realities of training in mid-life including:

• What type of exercises are beneficial and which ones are dangerous?
• What are the effects of aging and what impact do they have on training?
• How can baby boomers keep up in a class of Gen-Xers?
• What types of injuries are common after forty and how can you prevent them?

In addition to providing a wealth of fitness and training information, author Sang H. Kim addresses the fact that many older martial artists are looking for something more meaningful than just a good workout.

His positive and knowledgeable approach to taking up or continuing martial arts training after 40 is inspiring, reassuring and informative. This book should be read by every adult martial artist regardless of age.

Long Two Kata

2010-05-27T18:36:00.000-07:00

We are learning a new kata, Long Two is now back in the curriculum. Flash update, look below the video and I'm trying to describe it. Long Two as performed by Mr. Mike Galindo at the NTC of Lavallees Karate School in Ft Lauderdale.

Start - Bow in, right step forward, right inward block, chop, left open hand punch, right side fist.
Left step forward, left inward block, chop, right open hand punch, left side fist.

In a continuous motion, turn head to left, step with left to left, put hands into cat stance pose, then to the left, outward block with the left hand, punch with the right. Left corkscrew punch (the punch is forward and twisting, not a big hook shot), right punch, pull back from the hard bow with the left leg to where the legs are in a cat stance and then front kick with the left leg while left side fist punch.

Reverse: As the punch & kick finish, transfer head around 180 degrees while taking a small adjustment step with the right foot. The hands come together briefly in the cat stance pose then to the right, outward block with the right hand, punch with the left. Right corkscrew punch, left punch pull back the front right leg, front right kick and right side punch. (time 0:17 seconds for those watching the clock on the video).

Spin to the left moving left foot enough to the left so you are facing back-left on the 45 in a horse stance. Left downward block, right inward block.Hard bow left punching right, left hand above head. Horse stance, starting left open hand rolling back fist, right rolling back fist, pause, left roll back fist, right roll back fist.

Spin to the right moving right foot to right so you are facing front left on the 45 in horse stance. Right downward block, left inward block. Hard bow right punch left. Horse stance. left open rolling back fist, right back fist, pause, left right. (time 0:25)

Step back with right foot so you turn 180 to face back right on 45, horse stance. Left downward block into hard bow. Left corkscrew punch. Right punch. Kick forward right stepping forward while forward punch with left, finishing with right side fist into horsestance. (time 0:28)

Step right turning 90 so you're facing forward right on 45, horsestance with right downward block, right horsescrew punch, left punch. Right punch while kicking left, then left side fist finishing in horsestance. (0:31)

Backyard Bugo Highlighted a Glorious Day

2010-05-23T17:29:00.000-07:00

Glorious day today.

Early morning 2.5 miles with David. Then, showered and took David to Sunday school. I spent ninety minutes working and drinking very strong coffee coffee.

Then lunch at our favorite, California Pizza Kitchen. I had the waldorf salad. In the afternoon, David and I biked around Pompano Airpark with stops at the stables and Starbucks. Then, needing something to do, we had mid afternoon backyard bugo, lots of pool time, and then some light soccer in the driveway in the evening.

Post-candidate normalcy is sweet.

My son's sparing is fearsome. Fast, good kicks, and sweet combinations. As a coach, I was pushing three points:

Keep the left hand up at head height. Left hand up!
Jab straight, break the backfist habbit.
Don't stand flat, stay sideways.
When you hook, don't start by dropping your hand. This is really a repeat of number one.

A note on our equipment. We wore shins, gloves, mouth guards, and cups. That really seems enough to avoid accidental injury. It's not clear to me why we need the feet, whether the chest protector really does much, and whether the head gear encourages sloppy defense. I do see the benefit of the head guard for protection against hooks and head kicks though.

The Second Degree Black Belt

2010-05-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the Black Belt Spectacular when I was awarded the second degree by Kyoshi Steve Lavallee and Master KC Lavallee.

What a blast.

Thanks to everyone for your support.

Have you seen my cake?

Black Belt Spectacular this weekend

2010-05-13T09:08:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Parker Playhouse, Saturday afternoon at 2pm, it's ON!

The latest and greatest Black Belt Spectacular.

A vast number of new South Florida black belts will show their stuff along with the staff and other talent.

I love my new gi and of course, it's all about the T-shirt.

Are we ready? Yes. Several of us were in there practicing our routine Tuesday night, Wednesday morning, and we'll back there this evening. Osu, see you all this weekend!

Board Breaking at the Exam - The Agony and the Ectasy

2010-04-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

To get a black belt, each Candidate must break a board. To get a second degree, the Candidates need to break two boards. In groups of nine, we go up in front of a pretty good size crowd to take our turn breaking two boards.

PS - I checked with everyone in this video prior to posting it. Ose!!!! Onward to the Spectacular (May 15th).

PPS - Anybody else have an emotional reaction to this? Comments please.

Power Weekend - Awesome!

2010-04-24T08:10:00.000-07:00

I just finished Power Weekend. It was awesome! Friday night: kata, drills, and board breaking. Here's a pictture of the NTC Team and a great picture of Tony smashing through the board.

I'm jumping into the shower and taking a nap, more later.

Soreness and Stiffness - What works and how?

2010-04-23T10:11:00.000-07:00

I'm working out hard these days and, being of a certain age, I tend to be stiff and sore. Any insights into how to avoid stiffness and what soreness and stiffness are really about? I know they have something to do with lactic acid build-up.

Here's a few therapies that I use or have used. Anybody know which are snake oil and what they actually do?

Heat rubs like IcyHot or Bengay Rub
Soaking in the jacuzzi -
Electric treatment at the chiropractor
Ultrasound at the chiro
Deep tissue massage

Nutrition - Whats a good training meal?

2010-04-17T12:26:00.000-07:00

This and next week are peak performance week. I'm wondering, what is the textbook answer to "What is the right meal to eat before a big class? What's the ideal way to warm up?"

In my case, before the big sessions, like the Saturday morning candidate class and run, I go through the same routine. I'm up at 7am and I start drinking a lot of water. I eat lightly, usually two pieces of toast with Nutella and a banana. I might drink a half class of juice (orange or grape) and I avoid coffee (although I'd really like a cup!) I also spend about 10 minutes in a hot (102) jacuzzi to loosen up. I actually stretch in the jacuzzi. Then, I get dressed and get to the dojo for 30 minutes of light warm-up.The warm involves doing katas at half speed, some light calistenics, and stretching.

During class, I grab drinks which often add up to a full liter bottle by the end of class. We have about a 20 minute break between class and the timed two-mile run. I'm usually ravenously hungry at that point. So, and htis is true, I usually wolf down two frosted pop-tarts prior to the run.

So, what would be the ideal routine for a mature fellow like me who needs all the limberness and cardio help he can get.

This was an all-karate week.
Monday: Training class
Tuesday: A class mostly prepping for demo on Wednesday
Wednesday: Demo team performance plus, all the candidates, took the entire test with the students
Thursday: Bugo precheck. I had the honor of having Kyoshi standing there watching me for several matches.
Friday: Kata, basics, and self-defense precheck
Sat: Simple 2 mile run.

And YES, I finally beat the 14:00 time for two miles. I turned in a 13:52!!! For those of you haven't been following, I've been trying since I was a first degree candidate (three years ago), to break fourteen minutes on the two miles. Last cycle, I got a 14:08 and 14:09. I set the fourteen minute mile as a goal in 2008. This cycle, I had a 14:00 and 14:01. Today, with no class before hand and a cool crisp morning, was pretty much my last chance to make it. And I did. Woo hoo! David (son) hadn't come over this morning which is a shame since he's the one whose been following this closely with me. But I am thrilled. Plus I'm regularly weighing in at 188 lbs (my goal was to get under 190). So I'm a happy camper.

All systems go!

2010-04-10T12:09:00.000-07:00

I had a great candidate class this morning. I could kick with both legs (ie my hamstring strain is behind me) and I could pushups (my shoulder is better). The class was mostly katas and being a total karate nerd, this plays to my strong suit. I felt healthy and fit and ran a 14:35. Now that I can train again, I might yet work it down to under 14:00.

John & Carmen Edelson

Next weekend is mini-Power Weekend (a new concept). Thursday is a sparring check, Friday is a kata check (hmmm, where's the self defense going to fit it?), and Saturday morning is "running and more". It can't be too much more since I'm just wearing running stuff.

The following weekend is the Mega Power Weekend. And then onto prep for the spectacular. Party planning is coming along nicely.

American Bo Form

2010-04-07T03:33:00.000-07:00

This is showtime, it's spotlight week for those of us who are testing for new belts in April or candidates. I had the honor of performing the American Bo form as a solo for my class Monday night. I felt good, I was fluent, energetic, and didn't stumble. The class liked it and so did I.

The instructors however, exchanged glances after I finished, one of them got the nod, and I was taken solo into the next room for some help. It seems that Kyoshi had worked that very morning with the staff on bo form so they were very aware of some details that I was not doing right. Here's what I'm focusing on changing. BTW, I love this sort of detail work. Thanks Mr. Vince. Why? Well, as I've said before, Correct Me. If you are my friend.

1. Bo position. On many side to side strikes, in the finish position, the bo is completely straight forward and exactly horizontal. Not a little up or a little down, not a little to the left or right, completely straight forward and exactly horizontal. Also, near the start when I place the bo on my knees, this is a chance to discretely be sure that it is centered, not a little too far to one side or the other.

2. On the cat stance positions, the bo points down 45 and straight forward. Again, not even a little to the left or right.

3. There are many different positions for the overhead strike, all exactly the same in terms of the bo and the arms. On the overhead strike, it is at the end, pointed up at 45 degree, left hand down at the hip, right hand turned over like a fist. The step where you cross your legs is an overhead strike and it should end exactly liek this. While the body is is a novel position, the strike is exactly like the others. Ditto on the overhead strike when you spin around. Ditto on the first overhead strike from your knees.

4. Directions, mostly very square with one brief section on the 45. At times, the form is north, south, east, and west. Starting at one high dragon, it is on the 45 but only until downward strike which is again north (ie, the position that I started the form in).

5. High and low dragon. The bo moves down through the left hand like a pool cue for the low dragon, the shot is just past your back leg, and your stance (hard bow forward) remains that way for the up and down dragon. You only switch your stance and adjust your step on the next move.

6. The backwards steps starts with the rear left leg. When we count the three steps backwards, it's based on the left leg stepping further back (one), followed by the right leg coming back to it. Then the left leg goes back again (two), and so on. Going forward, it's the opposite, the right leg steps first (one) with the left closing in afterwards.

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The Third Black Belt PreCheck

2010-03-31T07:25:00.000-07:00

Pictured on the right is National Training Center's Adult Team of Black Belt Candidates for May. Veronica, thanks for the pic (Coach is missing )

Friday night was the third black belt check. I love these tests. Kyoshi talks through the same routine every time but he has enough conviction and charisma to make it meaningful. The pressure they apply...makes diamonds. There are no physical problems, just challenges and there is always an adjustment or a way to continue.

This time, while I didn't catch the names, he had a posse of very high powered martial artists visiting including another kyoshi (a woman), a SIFU, and a tenth degree black belt from Syracuse. That might be one of very few that I ever meet: I wish I'd caught his name.

I think there are two general types of black belt testing:

The single big test which is a make-it-or-break-it-extremely-high-pressure event
The marathon test with many hurtles with an emphasis on continued intensity and quality.

I think our school falls into the marathon category in which you need to be high quality, you need to perform well over an extended period of time, and there's room to fix things if you mess up at some point. Earning the black belt means being a Black Belt Candidate for around eight months. During this period, there are special requirements for participation (four classes per week), for training runs and timed runs, for attending candidate classes, for assistant teaching (SWAT in our vernacular) and in the last four months, there are black belt prechecks. After the three prechecks (if you pass each one), you are up for the big Power Weekend which itself is a mini-marathon of classes, tests, sparring, and board breaking.

Friday night was the third black belt precheck. Five schools, five sets of candidates, five senseis, and Kyoshi. I figure there were thirty six candidates total, eleven from our school. One for fourth degree (Mr. Edward Mercer), two for third degree (Jake and Michelle, Alex too but he's for November), three from our school for second degree (myself, Coach Boland, Sylvia, Agnes) and three for first degree (Anthony, Linda & Karen), What a blast. It was about kata, some drills, and lots of endurance. I performed appreciation form, short two, bookset, chuck form two, and American bo form. For me, it went fairly smoothly: a few lapses in concentration and despite having become somewhat slick in my bo handling, I somehow tensed up again in the performance.

Onwards and upwards....

Self Defense

2010-03-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

The Friday candidate class was one of my favorites for two reasons. It started with a run and a run time of 13:51! Yes, below fourteen! Of course, that was my son's time, not mine. Mine was a nebbish backsliding 14:21 perhaps due to not training enough, arriving late, not stretching, or running in the evening (instead of the morning). The fact is I'm over the moon with his time. He has a real work capacity which I personally think is the most important factor for success and satisfaction in life!

Secondly, we spent a lot of time on self defense and holds and grabs. So this is my chance to create a guide to all the releases from holds and grabs that I've learned over the past five years. I'd like to have a directory of them similar to my kata one. I already have two areas done (Rear Bear Hug & Rear Choke) . So I'm creating a list with the intention of getting them video'd with a pair of other kohai this week. I'm going to publish this with the intention that this remain a work in progress. Anybody remember anything not mentioned here? Any volunteers to be on camera or to hold the camera?

A List of the Release and Defenses Learned by a Black Belt at Fifty
This list is meant as a list of what I've learned and to serve as a script for filming. It can be hard to follow.

Rear Bear Hug - Several versions are shown including traditional kempo and reference point defenses.

Rear Choke - This post demonstrates our releases from chokes and headlocks from behind.

Head lock from side (ouki on left):Locked up: Step forward with right leg so the right foot is in front, double strike to groin and kidneys, reach up with left and grab top of gi or hair, pull back with left right strike open hand to chin, right hand to groin.
Not yet locked up: Protect face with right hand, reach behind ouki and as ouki pulls arm back to punch, grab far arm at bottom of bicep with left hand. Posture up stretching back, reach right hand onto their right hand on my neck, pull down and back so I'm behind, put ouki behind ouki's back, slight left foot kick to their left knee to bend them down, shift right hand to choke, lock up and choke out

Front Bear Hug
Hands Pinned: Put legs back pushing back on the ouki's hips to get some space. Knee to groin. Slide hands up between bodies until you get your right forearm into the ouki's throat until hold is broken. Switch to reference point grip, step back pulling him forward. and throw three knees.
Hands Free: Slide hands in until you get your right forearm into the ouki's throat until hold is broken. Switch to reference point grip, step back pulling him forward. and throw three knees.

Shoulder or neck grab from side (assume left):
Shoulder Hold: Spin left with left hand in chinese elbow breaking grip. Continue spin with right hand cross to face and right round house 180 to body.
Shoulder Hold Release: Put left arm up behind ouki's hold with your right hand on your own left wrist. Simultaneously step towards your left (a little behind the ouki) while pulling your left forehand into the back of his elbow hyperextending it until he releases.
Neck Hold: Throw your left arm around his arm gripping either his bicep or gi. Spin to your left bringing your right elbow into the ouki's face. Grab behind his neck for reference point grip. Step back with right pulling him forward and down. Three knees.

Haymaker punch (assume with the right)
Slip it: Left hand in guard, throwing right hand around waist, place your head in the middle of the ouki's back and grip one of your wrists with the other. You can push away from here. Or, slide the left hand to a shoulder hold, right hand up around the throat, lock it up
Step inside with right elbow to face. Switch to reference hold, step back with right foot, three knees.

Full nelson: Posture up leaning head back with hands resting on your forehead stretching & weakening grip. Lean forward hitting down with elbows onto his forearms and momentarily trapping them between your biceps and core. Grap his right hand, spin out controlling him posture down with the joint lock. Right front kick up to face or groin.

Bouncer hold (ouki behind locking your right hand behind back, left hand held at your side): Step back with left foot while shooting left hand forward. Then elbow back. Spin right breaking your right hand free, regrabbing with joint lock that pulls him forward and down. Kick up with right leg to face or body.

Wrist Grabs
Single wrist grap, same side (kenpo): With your free hand, cross over and grab the wrist of the arm holding your wrist. Break the captured wrist free by rotating your wrist out of their grip while holding this hand still. With free hand, hit upwards with forearm or wrist to hyperextend the ouki's arm. Quick back fist groin shot, back fist face shot, disengage.
Single wrist grap, same side: turn sideways with gripped hand towards the ouki, punch down breaking free, elbow up into chin, step back
Crossover (assume they're holding my right hand): Step forward with left leg with left forehand pushing below their elbow twisting my hand free and regrabbing the ouki's wrist, forcing ouki to bend over. Elbow strike to side of head, elbow down on middle of back.
Both wrists: pull up to break, step forward with right side, right elbow to face, right chop to neck. Reference point grab, step back, pull the ouki forward and down. Three knees.
Both wrists: pull up to break, clear their hands, ear clap, plumb. Three knees. (warning, don't practice an actual ear clap, just clap in front of the head).

Lapel holds, Front Pushes, Front Chokes
Front Choke: Put your two hands in almost a prayer posture but with hands clapsed together making a double fist. Punch upwards between the ouki's hands breaking hold. Hands still together, chop down on ouki's nose. Pull hands towards yourself, rotate them sideways and jab, both hands still together, into ouki's neck. Disengage.
Front Choke: Put your two hands in almost a prayer posture. Punchup between the ouki's hands breaking hold. Double chop on ouki's neck from each side. Plumb. Three knees .
Double lapel hold: Pin ouki's hands to chest with left hand and forearm, step forward with with right foot punching first under arms to solar plex, then above putting your elbow to nose. Grab behind neck with right, slide left hand to control their hand, step back with right right pulling them forward and off balance, three knees, optional choke out.
Double front choke: Strike their hands down towards lapel, use double lapel (above).
Double front choke: Grab each of their hands with my fingers towards inside, peel them off, keep hold on left hand pinning it to my chest. Step forward with right leg and strike with right elbow, grab behind neck with right, step back with right foot pulling them forward and off balance, three knees, optional choke out.
Single Lapel Grab (assume ouki's left hand): Pin it to the chest with your right hand, hit it inward with your left hyperextending it. Hit it down. Step back.
One hand on throat (assume ouki's left hand): Hit his hand down and pin it to your body with your left hand while stepping foward with right leg and open hand hit to face followed by elbow strike. Reference point grip behind his neck with right while still controlling his left. Step back with right right pulling them forward and off balance, three knees, optional choke out.
Front Push: As they make contact, brush hands to side and push back.

Fourteen Minutes! - Better by One Second! Nutrition & Diet

2010-03-07T08:13:00.000-08:00

Last week in the two mile timed run, I did a personal best for myself (well, my best for the last three years) with a 14:01. Although I knew I'd been training hard, I had some fear that the low score had been a mistake or fluke.

Yesterday morning, after candidate class, on a crisp cool morning, I matched and improved my time: By one second! It might not sound like a big deal but it was a huge effort. It helped that I ran head to head with my ten year old for most of the run and that I knew that this is one my last chances at holding my own with him (history is sooo much on his side. It's do interesting to compare my thoughts on chasing after him this spring to introducing him to running last spring.

My training strategy over the last few months has been two training runs of 2.5 miles weekly which include some sprints and then some much longer (45 minutes) cardio workouts on the eliptical at the gym. The eliptical is gentle on the bod and the longer times allow me to start working off the body fat. And on my vacations, I include a once or sometimes twice daily workout.

Which brings me to a subject that I'd like to know more about: nutrition and diet for someone who has love handles and a bulge that I'd like to get rid of. As background, I've been through this cycle once before on a much larger scale. Starting in 2002, I went on a exercise tear and an increasingly strict diet culminating in 2005 when I reached 180 pounds (down almost 30 from my starting point) and somewhat ripped. In the last year of that tear, I gave up carbs and fruits and desserts and was running with a group of guys doing five mile runs four times per week. It was fine until I got sick of getting up at 5:30 and they all switched to biking anyway (which I don't like).

For the last year or so, I've been hovering in the mid 190s. I'm taking this spring and my preparation for a 2nd degree as the chance to get back under 190. Here's the plan, what do you think? I'm particularly looking for insights into diet and nutrition.

Drink water, alot of it (and hope that I don't have to go to any long meetings).
Snack only on protein snacks, two to three per day.
Eggs for breakfast with some cheese melted on it. If I'm outside the house, I add bacon or sausage.
Chicken cesear-type salads or wraps for lunch with some restraint on dressing
Dinner is usually some some meet with a salad and maybe potatoes (whatever Carmen makes).
Saturday morning, before candidate class, I have a "training breakfast" of toast with Nutella on in for some energy. I also drink a Gatorade during the class. I don't eat anything special before the other classes and I've switched from routinely drinking Gatorade during class to only drinking water except for the candidate classes (BTW, I drink two full water bottles easily during class).
Four classes a week.
Two runs in the two mile range.
Two 45 minute cardio workouts on the eliptical.
Four classes a week. I'm trying to hit these with all the intensity that a budding 2nd degree can muster.
The sit-up and leg extras four times a week (I'm not doing pushups these days due to shoulder tendonities)
Alcohol - I'm almost a teetotaller at this point. A beer a month, a glass of wine each week.
Standard vitamins (sometimes the kids dinosaur stuff or the new wriggle worm ones), no supplements or protein drinks or energy drinks. Two cups a coffee daily.

This seems to be working, any thoughts on this?

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March 1st: This Black Belt is now 52!

2010-03-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

Lets do the numbers. I'm 52 years of age and I'd like to be in shape to be very active in all my sparing matches, pump out pushups with confidence, and be 5 pounds lighter by the end of the month. (The end-of-the-month weight goal coincides with a dojo start-of-the-year 90 day fitness challenge.) I've been doing a lot of what I should do to lose weight but it's not quite enough. On the good side, I've been running regularly and doing some longer (45 minutes) cardio sessions on the eliptical. Saturday, 2 miles. Sunday, 45 minutes on the eliptical. Monday morning, 2.5 miles.

But I continue to lack discipline and commitment when faced with goodies. Today for instance, there was a birthday cake in the office in my honor. I indulged. And another cake at home after dinner. Again, I ate. Yum. In fact, I might grab a piece before bed.

About a month ago, I was on track for doing the 100 pushups in four sets of twenty five. But, having hurt my shoulder, I've now been off pushups for a month with more time-off seeming likely. Prognosis unlikely that I'll pound through the pushup part of the test the way I'd like.

There's a good liklihood that I'll make my 14 minute two miles. But less of a chance that I'll improve my cardio in the ring. That problem has much to do with my style and staying relaxed. Progress in that area is steady but very slow. But I'll work at it.

Will I get back down under 190 this month? Will I break that silly 14:00 two-mile barrier? Stay tuned. My new Ipod should make working out a little more fun and perhaps, that's all I needed.

My Second Trip to MAUI

2010-02-27T10:50:00.000-08:00

I've never been to Hawaii and I'm not sure that I'd like being in such a laid-back place. But I've now been to my second black belt precheck at Martial Arts University International and I got a huge thrill out of both visits. For those of you who don't know, the MAUI building is used for our black belt tests.

The first visit was for the first precheck for May candidates about four weeks ago, the focus was kata. The candidates from all the South Florida dojos were there with Kyoshi Steve Lavallee and the five senseis: KC Lavallee-Ft Lauderdale, Craig Halley-Lighthouse Point, Ian Hewitt-Boca Raton, Frank Scaccia-Coconut Creek, and Dennis Emond-Palm Beach. (Did anybody get a photo of Kyoshi flanked by the five of them or other good pics? If so, mail it to me and I'll post: bbat50@gmail dot com)

Last night, the occasion for my second trip to MAUI, was a sparing precheck. Since blogs lend themselves to a confessional format and besides, why bother reading a blog if it's just a sanitized PR job, I think I'll share a few indiscretions about my sparing. And if you can slug through that, I've some great news to share at the bottom (Heh, all you aspiring journalists, note that I'm committing a classic journalistic error here; I'm "burying the lead" but heck, it's fun to have a hobby blog where I can indulge my writing quirks and not have to do it right).

1. I'm not in the cardio shape that I think a second degree candidate should be. This past week, there were two sparing classes where they turned up the intensity on us (ie spotlight matches) to get us ready for last night. In both cases, I ran out of juice way too early and the last matches and the end of matches were..... humiliating. So I approached last night with some trepidation and I devised a strategy. It was based on the fact that each match inevitably has a second half so I had better plan for it. For the first three quarters of a match, I was a counter puncher. I tried only throw hand combinations, limiting myself to maybe half a dozen kicks until the last thirty seconds of each match. I would have liked to be in shape to truly go for it but this week, I proved to myself that I'm not. This strategy worked pretty well for me.

2. My sparing skills are not what I'd like them to be. One blatant problem is that I often move stiffly and too slowly. This means that I don't connect and that I get too tired. I've found that I'm more relaxed and quicker when I'm in stance with my hands slightly extended (Chuck Liddell-style). But, the instructors keep pushing me towards a more classic style with hands much closer to my head with my knuckles pointed straight up. This improves my blocking but I'm less comfortable and tense. On the flip side, I now have a range of combinations that I'm comfortable using and I recently added the use of a combination that starts with parying their jab down with my right and with the same hand quickly crossing to their body while following with a jab to the forehead. If I'm feeling energetic, I sometimes finish with a 180 round house. Since I was mostly trying to be a counterpuncher last night, this was my bread and butter.

Here's the great news. For three years, I've been doing timed runs at the dojo with a 14 minute two miles being the target. When I was a candidate in the summer and fall of 2007, I got close with a 14:08 and 14:06 but I never made it. This morning, with no class to tire me out before the run and a crisp cool windless morning, I whipped through and KC said as I crossed the finish line: "14:01!" I'm pleased, very pleased. But, being who I am, I also know that I didn't make it in under 14:00. I still haven't heard that words "thirteen something something" spoken for me as I cross the line. Stay tuned. I fully intend to make it between now and the end of April

Improved my Defense in Class Today

2010-02-06T18:15:00.000-08:00

I love it when I learn something new in class. And with this blog, I can hammer it home in my mind. This morning was a candidate sparring class. Translation: it was a class only for people trying to earn their black belt or a higher rank black belt this year.

Master KC had some sparring drills where one side plays defense and the other side attacks. Pretty standard. The novelty today was that the defensive players were NOT supposed to back up. They were supposed to either crowd in or crowd in and angle. This was new to me and very cool.

Usually, if someone comes at me, I back up. When I'm superquick, I can back up faster than they can advance or even angle out in ways that befuddle my attacker. More often than not, I seem to back up into an optimum spot for people to kick me. With this moving-in-approach, when the going gets tough, the idea was to move in closer and then angle one way or the other. By staying real close, it's very hard for the other person to get get off a good kick or even, a good jab. When you stay close, you really only need to worry about crosses and hooks. (Our school doesn't allow uppercuts, knees, or elbows so this get-close defense works exceptionally well).

A great class this morning. The second half of class was pure sparring and at full speed, I found that crowding in a viable defense and a useful addition to my arsenal.

The other big focus of class today was footwork. I like it. I could do a lot more footwork drills. Today was simple step and slides forward and back with a little work on angling with footwork. There's room to work on how, when shelled up and on your heels, to still have good footwork. It's a challenge for me that I find myself flat on my backfoot defending and unable to move since I'm flatfooted and hunkered down on my back leg. I know conceptually what to do and that starts with, don't get into that position. I'm not sure what drill would help me isolate and solve that problem.

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Combat Kenpo - Series One and Two

2010-01-14T19:32:00.000-08:00

As 2009 ended and 2010 starts, our curriculum has returned towards traditional kenpo basics. In addition to a focus on the details for the Appreciation Form, Short One, and Long One (eg the downward Y block starts above the shoulder and the block is outside arm!), we are being introduced to a series of combat kenpo moves, reflecting Kyoshi's and our school's kenpo base.

The Combat Kenpo Form (is that the proper name?) is a three part series of four attacks and defenses (we've learned two so far) structured around the four blocks: inward, outward, upward, and downward.

Combat Kenpo - Series One - One person.

Combat Kenpo - Series Two - One person.

Combat Kenpo - Series One - Two People

Combat Kenpo - Series Two - Two People

If anyone feels that this needs editing or refining, I'd be grateful for the guidance. Note that these demos are very impromptu and not definitive examples of all details. If anyone shoots better video, put it on Youtube and tell me about it. I'll put it up.

Is Anybody Out there? Last thing (and I added this after the post had been up for two days) I was just wondering: is anybody out there? I'm a little thirsty for a comments to know that somebody is reading this...Just in case, I checked the Youtube stats on views of these videos: There's about 80 total views: 20 views of each video on this page (they've been up two days). This could mean one person watched each video twenty times or eighty people watched one video each. I also looked at the stats on the video that I put up just before this one. The kama set video of Mr Mike that I put up at the end of Oct has 215 views. Since it is only one of three versions of kama set that I've posted, I guess there's my answer. Someone is watching. Who are you? Introduce yourself in the comments section. Even anonymously.

A total change of pace - My first car....

2010-01-09T08:52:00.000-08:00

I learned to drive in my Dad's car.

This picture is me at age 16 in 1974. The red head next to me is my elder brother.

What was the first or best or worst car you ever drove?

And I'm posting this picture because...well, I like it and I've had a little writers block lately.

The news from the dojo is all good. Candidate class was great today. We worked bo and chuck forms.

Also, we continued to work our basics including an extension of our basics into (for me) a new area: Combat Kenpo. My next post, hopefully, will have a video of its basics and a description.

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The Year Ends, The Adventure Expands

2009-12-18T03:18:00.001-08:00

Readers may remember that my introduction to the martial arts was from watching my son as the smallest of the little champions around June 2003. My son would have been just four years old ( would have been 45). This past week, my now ten-year old son, took his first Candidate class with me. What an adventure this is turning out to be.

We are both candidates in cycle for black belts: me for my second, his for his first. He is, in my objective opinion, a formidable candidate: motivated, skilled, strong, and with great cardio. He placed second in the last two mile run with a 14:14 time. Although he was surprised by the pace and intensity of his first candidiate class, he hung in there and seemed to be on top of the kata. I remember my first candidate class when I pretty much crumbled in the face of so many pushups and situps and was having a real hard time remembering so many kata so fast.

This candidate cycle should be an adventure. Two phrases that I remember as the best motivational advice came to mind.

One comes from my father and reflects it own enthusiasm for life: "This is a once in a lifetime experience. Pay attention and enjoy it."

The other line came from a summer camp that I attended, Androscoggin, and was often repeated by my elder brother during our school years: "The more you put into it, the more you get out of it."

I just got back from a week off when I rested and ate and did no exercise. How dull. Looking forward, I intend to train myself up so I can whip through those candidate classes. With any luck, they'll keep me in cycle past May and August and I get to train with my son until November!

Osu!!!

The Pace Picks Up for Years End

2009-12-10T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've neglected the blog lately. I've been busy. Here's my news:

My son, after years as a little champ and then with a few delays going through the ranks, earned his high red belt yesterday. He's now officially a Candidate. Looking forward for him, he'll only be watching or demoing at those Wednesday night tests. He's enjoyed his last one. Looking forward, he's got the skills to be black belt: he runs well, he knows the kata, he's good at sparing, and has good concentration and intensity. He just needs to pick up the intensity for awhile. And somehow work around family vacation schedules. I too am in cycle. I'm thrilled. And busy scheming to see if I can work it so we finish our cycles together.

I found another great YouTube video of KamaSet so I'll add this to the post on Kamaset, I'm including it here too.

Last night was testing. My son went to high red, my step daughter earned her green. And the Fingados are now red! I performed on the demo team. Agnes and I rocked with the bo form. We worked to stay exactly in sync and we think we nailed it!

Kama Set Updated

2009-11-22T15:47:00.000-08:00

Here's a new recording of Kama Set. Thanks to Mr. Mike.

A distinguishing feature of the kata is that it requires spinning back hook kicks which is a challenge for many.

One more interesting point before we start. All of our weapons are the ones that peasants trained on during a period when they were forbidden to have any weapons. So they trained with common farm implements. The kamas are basically scyths or harvesting instruments.

The Kama Set is from Taekwondo as is kama set two. Want more info on how our system blends different martial arts traditions?

KamaSet Write-up

"Kata"
"Kama set"
Bow "Osu"

Hard bow left - Right hand punch
Hard bow right- Left hand punch

Circle set

Horse stance left- Both hands in mantis position right hand about shoulder level left hand parallel.
Cross stance- Right hand throat strike, left hand guard
Back leg front kick
Left hand v-cut, right hand v-cut, stomp and lower stance.

Horse stance right- Both hands in mantis position left hand about shoulder level right hand parallel.
Cross stance- Left hand throat strike, right hand guard
Back leg front kick
Right hand v-cut, left hand v-cut, stomp and lower stance.

Horse stance foreward- Both hands in mantis position right hand about shoulder level left hand parallel.
Right hand throat strike, left hand in guard
Back leg front kick, skip front kick, double back stirike (cross stance)

Horse stance back- Right hand in guard, left hand horizontal stab
Right hand throat strike
Back leg front kick, cross step, flying side kick
Plant horse stance, matis position.

Hands come across face to foreward horse stance
Mantis position, slide up round house, spink hook kick
Right hand guard, left hand horizontal stab
Spin hook, drop side kick
Spin up right, sezah one, left hand throat strike right hand guard

Circle set
Hard bow left
"USA!" v-cut foreward with right
Soft bow right
"USA!" v-cut foreward with left (added 2009)
"Black Belt Champions!"
left hand stab, right hand guard
Boot check "Asah!" Double back strike (relax stance)

Circle set,

Bow,

Courtesy.

Releases from Bear Hug from Behind

2009-11-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

The self defense curriculum over the last few weeks has focused on releases from bear hugs from behind.

Here, in slow mo, is the basic release from a rear bear hug.

Followed by the release from the same rear bear hug but when the attacker starts to lift you probably to slam you to the ground. They key elements are to hook one leg around the attackers leg while throwing your momentum first upwards, then downwards.

The next demo of a release, previously taught at Lavallees, is of a traditional kenpo approach, to a release from a rear bear hug, hands free.

Lastly, here's the release from a rear bear hug when the hands are pinned.

LAvalle's has moved away from the Kenpo self defense. I'm not sure why but based on this article, I suspect it's because of the complexity of the original American Kenpo self defense system: 50 Ways to Sunday.

This post is on the second on our self defense. The other one discusses a variety of Rear Choke Releases. If anyone wants to help, I'd like videos and descriptions about:
- wrist grabs - single, double, same side, cross-over
- front chokes, lapel grabs - single & double
- side grabs -shoulder and neck -
- full nelsons
- bouncer grab (one hand held up behind the back, the other held at the side)
- front bear hugs
- standing guillotine choke from behind
- any other parts of the curriculum that I've forgotten?

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Lavallees - a blended school

2009-11-12T03:45:00.001-08:00

I'd like to better understand the blend of systems that makes up my martial arts training. As I understand it, we have blended different systems for our kata, curriculum, and bugo. Here's what I know: I'd like to know more, please chime in...

A Kenpo Base - The first few kata, Short One, Long One, and Short Two, are derived from the US Kenpo tradition . Our versions of the katas are shorter than the originals. Bookset too is kenpo based. And I quote from KLS68 who commented on Youtube about the bookset kata...Very good form, it is much differant than the original bookset. its much shorter....this is a kenpo style kata.Steve Lavallee trained under Lee Thompson which is tracey style kenpo... i believe william chow introduced it to the US through Ed Parker and his first students the Tracy brothers. Al, Will and Jim Tracy who then started the Tracy system.

Extreme Martial Arts - We do two open kata, XMA Form One and XMA Form Two, which are XMA-based. The XMA Sword Form 1 also is from XMA.

We often work in our drills and curriculum on Muy Thai kicks; MMA grappling and takedowns; and JuJitsu and in our drills and curriculum.

The chuck is a Japanese weapon. Our Chuck Form One and Chuck Form Two were developed in house.

American Bo Form- The American Bo Form was provided by Jason David Frank, a sixth degree black belt who has his own blended style of karate, Toso Kune Do, with four schools in Texas. Jason is well-known for his years as a Power Ranger.

The Kama Set is from Taekwondo as is kama set two. Kama Set Two is a form that was created by Roland Osborne and is a creative form (not from TKD). Roland was originally a student under Jason David Frank (both are lineage of Red Dragon Karate) and now runs his own schools. (thanks to Mr Dan Walsh for this addition).

Some of our self defense techniques were derived from Kenpo which while very effective, requires real precision to use the right moves from the right position. Lavallees has shifted during the last three years to a reference point-based approach which is derived from Israeli Krav Mega. There are three posts about our self defense. One is a demo of BJJ Standup Self Defense by Kyoshi, one collects many of the Rear Choke Release , and the other Bear Hug Releases from Behind.

Our bugo is kickboxing. When sparing, we mostly don't grapple or use knees, elbows, or leg kicks.

Logar Shin is kung fu inspired.

The Ki Chung Kata is fromf tae kwon do origin. It's nearly identical to kama set but uses open hands

One note - I am just a student at Lavallees. This is only my personal opinion and thoughts, it is in no way an official statement by the school or Kyoshi. I hope you all understand that. The thoughts and misunderstandings are all mine. Feel free to correct me.In fact, Correct Me. If you are my friend..

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Some bugo

2009-11-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

I handed the camera to a spectator today and asked her (she was about eight) to film us. It's always good to see yourself although today it only confirmed that I'm a little out of shape, a little passive, and basically, I'm off my game. Here's three from today.

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Learning Discipline vs Being Disciplined

2009-10-28T06:03:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning, teaching the candidates class, Kyoshi made a comment which has stuck with me: You come to the dojo to learn discipline. Not to be disciplined.

I've been thinking about this since then. It's a distinction that intrigues me and which I wish I fully understood. I wish everyone understood it.

Discipline should be internal and self-motivated. That seems clear. But beyond that, my understanding is murky.

Is discipline a habit that can be learned through others providing external motivation?
Is it a clever organization of incentives?
What is this self-discipline of the second pledge?

Being in the parenting and education business, I'm very aware of the difference between internal motivation and external motivation. At the extreme, this is the difference between studying because you want to learn and studying because your parents tell you to.

In reality, the line between internal and external motivation appears gray to me. For instance, is it external motivation if a students want to get As so that she can get into a good college? Is it internal motivation if I work out everyday since I like to look and feel a certain way (and I know that if I do my wife will smile when she sees me)?

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The Ebb and Flow of Blogging

2009-10-26T17:37:00.000-07:00

Unlike training for the martial arts, blogging is not that demanding. When I don't have time or don't feel like writing, I don't. And when I don't blog, I don't feel guilty, I don't start having trouble sleeping, I don't put on weight, I don't get flabby and feel bad, and I don't think my mind starts to rot. I just don't blog until I feel like I have something to say.

OK. That's not entirely true. After about two weeks, I start feeling edgy about neglecting my blog. So here I am forcing a little update. Here's the news: My training is going fine, a little uninspired since I keep having to take a week off as my back acts up. I'm working with a trainer now who is convinced that my back problems stem from stiff hip joints. He says that if I can loosen up my hips, I'll stop having back troubles. Sounds good to me, stay tuned.

This last weekend, there was another two mile run after the candidate class. I was a little tired and turned in 14:58. My ten year old however produced his new fastest time yet: 14:14. And then he explained to me that he can do a lot faster next time. It's true too.

What martial arts blogs have I been reading?

One is Cheri's blog about women in the martial arts: On My Own Two Feet. She's a real student of the arts and is insightful about it for women.

In the same vein but more chatty and less earnest is the popular Black Belt Mama. Like me, she has a mess of kids in the martial arts. She's writing a lot about her parenting.

I like Ronsan60's blog because he's been around Kyoshi's system for decades. I particularly liked the post about the start of Lavallees. But he only posts every few months.

The big excitement in martial arts for me has been watching the MMA on TV. Durn, that's what I should have blogged about. OK, tomorrow. This weekend, for the first time, I bought a pay per view program and recorded UFC 104 which I watched Sunday night. And over the last month, again a first for me, I've been following the UFC Reality Show. And here's a friendly plug for a site that teaches curriculum.

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The words we use....Our gangwords

2009-10-10T15:34:00.000-07:00

As of this morning, I'm putting myself on the injured list for awhile and staying off the floor. Just too much recurring back pain. Since routine classes now seem to leave me in agony, I think I'll cool it for a week. Well, we'll see. In any case, I decided to skip class today although I really wanted to bugo.

While I was NOT in class this morning, one of the instructors said he spent some time reading this blog and noted some questions that I had asked (he must have been reading some

old posts) and some errors on how I'm writing the words. I'm grateful that he took the time to help. Thanks Mr. Vince.

It's Three Set Kumite (not kuma tai as I've long had listed on the left menu bar) . Oops, I'll fit it soon. Thanks for the correction. He also told me that all of our words are Japanese in origin, not Chinese or Korean.

On another note, Jonathan Weeks explained to me the spelling and background of the standard greeting that we use in the dojo: "Ous" (which is how it is said) is really spelled OSU. While the definition/origin is actually unknown, "OSU" typically means "YES"!! Or "ALRIGHT" and/or "YOU-ROCK" amongst our Martial Arts "home-ies". It is most appropriately used ONLY by those practicing in the arenas of Karate or MMA. Kinda like a "gang-word" that only the gang can understand.

Blogging - The fun of it.

2009-10-07T01:42:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of people, I spend time on Facebook. I think of it as a "scene". A back-to-school-meet-the-teachers-thing or bar scene or a college mixer or some other get together. It's very social. I get a glimpse and an update of many people and happenings, some of which I care about. Facebook is easily configured so I can get less glimpses of things I don't care about. And the people (or fan pages) that I really care about, I can go visit more. It's good, it's cool. But Facebook has a superficial feel for me, I also like blogging.

Blogging is the same but different. Blogging is for me, a few minutes when I collect and try to process my thoughts. This blog started with me trying to figure out the kata (ie left

foot crescent step back, right hand inward block, right foot crescent step, left hand block, aieya) and has evolved into me writing about more esoteric topics that interest me and maybe others. As the blog has grown more visible and public, I've tried to be a little more polished and less quirky in my writing.

I've enjoyed blogging and highly recommend it for any thinking person. One of the reasons that it's been fun for me is that I started through a blogging course so that all my questions got answered easily and my technical problems resolved painlessly. Plus, I had readers and supportive feedback from day one. So I'm suggesting that if you are interested, you should sign up for Blogging 101 which starts Oct 12th (Monday). Plan on it taking about two hours a week and starting you on a fun new hobby. It'll cost you $59 unless you are part of a non-profit in which case, we'll let you for $9. Email me with questions on that.

And, as the new FTC law about blogging endorsements requires, I'll disclose that this endorsement of the bloggin course is not a pure third party endorsement. I work for the company that teaches the course.

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A first for me: stepping into a boxing ring

2009-09-05T13:41:00.000-07:00

The dojo closed for the long Labor Day weekend so I had some free time and a need to exercise. I heard from a fellow student that I could join him and a few others to practice sparring on Saturday.

So in the somewhat seedy backroom of a local gym, I stepped into a boxing ring for the first time. OK, it was Golds Gym but it was in the backroom where the lights weren't working properly so it had some character. (No, the picture is not where we were).

Four sides, four corners, four padded ropes, a mat, and a timer. We did three minute rounds of kickboxing. Six of us round robin for an hour. Much like we do in the dojo only it's been stepped up a level in intensity and the rounds are longer.

Could I play with these boys? Well, kinda sorta. To be honest, no, not with the good ones. But of the six there, there were two in their own class and the rest of us were getting stretched to a new level. I now know what it feels like to step in the ring, to get stuck in the corner, and what that third minute feels (we only do two minute rounds in the dojo).

How much fun was it? Highlight of the week. And the month!

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I'm curious about the yin side

2009-09-05T13:00:00.000-07:00

The traditional martial arts world can be divided into the yin and yang.
Yang focuses on strength and striking. Ying focused on the internal, energy, sensitivity and control. I train at a mixed martial arts school which is a blend of striking techniques from kenpo, muy thai, krav mega, and kickboxing which are all hard or yang martial arts.

So what are the internals? What the yin side like? About a year ago, I chatted in a store with a guy who seemed to know a lot about martial arts. He told me that he trained extensively in the internal techniques. I drove over there on Saturday to see if I could find him and learn what he meant by the internal techniques.

Jimmy remembered me and started answering and explaining. The internal martial arts started in North China and consist of Tai Chi, Pa kua chang, and Shingi. (Also Wu Hao).

We did a basic software exercises of touching or pushing hands. Basically, we each try to touch the other person using only our right hand. We're close and we're each feeling and blocking the other's hand while trying to touch the other person. As a total novice, I do it by watching but he, with long experience, does it with feeling. He feels where I'm going and where I'm open. He explained that the great masters could avoid combat by simply playing this game. The greater master's dominance would be felt and the lesser would cede to him. He pointed out that this fighting in a higher plane appears in the Jet Li movies of today where the great masters, when they start combat, move to higher plane for the fight.

He told me that I want to learn more:
- Google Chinese Boxing International CBII
- contact James Cravens in Pompano who gives private and group lessons in this area.

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Basic Chuck Form

2009-08-31T17:03:00.000-07:00

This chuck form introduces you to basic chuck handling.

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GPS-based running App for my Iphone - found it!

2009-08-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

I've been looking for the all-in-one running application for my Iphone 3GS. I was pretty sure that there had to be a GPS-based stop watch which also kept track of distance, time, history, and so on and so forth. I bought one app which turned out to only be a subset of what I wanted. Now, I think I've found it:

MotionX- Track Recorder - I loaded it for $2.99 this morning and used it. Other than being a little complicated, I think I've found it! eureka.

I'm hoping that once I figure it out, it'll be an automated way to track and record my times and distances. From glancing at the website and documentation, it appears to have all this plus ALOT more such as a compass, direct connect to twitter and facebook, altitude, and so on.

For a geeky guy like me, the MotionX website is very cool. I can't wait to explore it.

BTW, I ran something like a fourteen thirty two miles yesterday with the Candidate class and a 15:56 with my son today (he was 14:44)

A White Belt Again!

2009-08-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hi, This is a guest post by Jeff Fasoldt
who has a long history with Lavallees, enjoy....BBat50.com

Flashback to 1984

Back in 1984, LaVallee's USA Black Belt Champions was known as LaVallee's Sport Karate. There was only one studio, a modest 2nd story storefront in the Village of Liverpool, NY. Kyoshi was simply called Steve. There were only a handful of black belts at the studio when I joined. Rick and Jeff Ianuzzo along with Rob Vanelli taught most of the classes with Rick also running most of the day to day operations. Karate was definitely not a mainstream sport yet. Out of my Liverpool High class of almost 800, only Sensei Marc Emmi and I trained at LaVallee’s at that time. Then, Karate Kid hit the big screen and suddenly everyone wanted to be the next Ralph Machio. Enrollment took off and it was just about two years later that LaVallee’s moved to a much larger modern studio just downstairs from the original.

One of my fondest memories of the old studio was the entry door. It was a heavy steel door with a dragon molded into it. To an outsider, I am sure it could be somewhat intimidating but it definitely got your attention when you walked by! The studio itself was small, dingy, and it usually smelled like a locker room. Not the most pleasant environment but to me it was perfect.

The classes were different too. I remember a lot more conditioning drills – lots of pushups and stomach crunches. Now we do most of that outside of class. Belt tests, at least below brown belt, weren’t scheduled. The instructor would just tell a few students at the start of the class that they were being “evaluated”. At the end of the class those students who had passed would receive their belts. Those who had not, didn’t. I remember being passed over once for my blue belt and being absolutely crushed but the next day I was back at the studio more motivated than ever. Classes were also focused around point sparring. I can still throw a pretty mean back fist – ridge hand combo!

I earned my green belt in 1985 and immediately set about training hard for my brown belt (no red belts back then) with the goal of achieving it before I left for college in August. Unfortunately that was one goal I didn’t reach. I did come back that winter and again the next summer to train but wasn’t able to get enough time in to qualify for testing. It was hard at that time to see so many people who had started after me pass me by. Eventually I stopped training although my younger brother went on to earn his 2nd degree black belt and join the LaVallee’s staff as a full-time instructor. This kept up my connection to LaVallee’s all this time.

Fast Forward to 2009

My how things have changed in 25 years. Now at age 42, I am starting all over as a white belt again at LaVallee’s Rochester, NY studio led by Sensei Ty Hafner. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how quickly many things have started to come back to me after all this time but I still have a long way to go to get back to where I left off so many years ago. My two children have joined with me and now we are on this journey together. Maybe we can even talk Mom into giving it a try!

Chuck Form Two

2009-08-20T18:10:00.001-07:00

I'm back to using this blog for what it was initially created for, to try and learn the katas. I'm supposed to perform chuck form 2 this Saturday at Candidate class and I'm still trying to figure it out.

Chuck form 2 is an enhanced version of chuck form 1. Same structure, most stuff.

Mr Vince performs it here, slowly and with explanations.
Do me a favor: Next time that you see Mr Vince, thank him for us.

I also found this old PowerWeekend video of ChuckForm2 on Youtube.

Chamber chucks.

Hard bow step forward right. Double chuck spin outside, spin inside, spin outside to the thigh, spin up to the shoulder, spin down to the arm pit.

Hard bow step forward left. Same sequence.

Turn to left.

Double chucks down to left, over to right, spin up to shoulders, spin down to pits.
Front right kick, skip right kick.
Both chucks cross the body to outside so arms are crossed. Spin back, spin up to shoulders, spin down to pits.

180. Repeat the other way.

Face forward, legs together. Right chuck across the body, spin back, spin up, spin to pit.

Repeat with left.

Both chucks across the body, spin back, spin up, spin down to legs, figure 8 up, then down to pits....
...more...help...

Bengay, icyhot, oil can, the web

2009-08-16T11:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I was feeling pretty good about me and karate. I made it through a candidate class and a run despite missing an entire week from a bad back. And I was good about getting into a jacuzi afterwards so I wouldn't get too stuff . And I stretched and drank plenty of water.

Nevertheless, last night and this morning, I was plenty stiff. When I looked in the medicine cabinet this morning, recently re-organized, I laughed out loud. Check out my collection of topicals, all lined up. By the way, after a shower and some of these creams, my son and I ran a nice mile this morning at 8 minutes even.

In fact, I was so sore, I started thinking about the Tin Woodsmen when Dorothy finds him all rusted in the field. There he is, unable to move, saying: "oil can." So I wondered, how incredible in this web? I did a quick search and sure enough, it's incredible. Here's the scene.

OIL CAN SCENE - I FEEL LIKE THE RUSTED TIN MAN

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A Candidate for Black Belt, Again!

2009-08-15T14:57:00.000-07:00

I'm now an official candidate to earn my second degree black belt, potentially in May 2010 .

During my period as a candidate, I will shake a lot of hands, make some speeches, kiss some babies, and plaster the neighborhood with posters.

Just kidding. I'm not that type of candidate. At our school, the earning of a black belt is less of a single big test and more of a marathon. So during my nine months as a candidate, my marathon effort will involve:

Making it to class three to four times per week
Assistant teaching a few times a week
Running 3x a week maintaining less than 16 minute two mile time
Diligently doing my extras (100 pushups, abs, squats, and kicks) several times per week.
And most importantly, making it to the weekly candidate class and performing well

In any case, that's the plan. Last Saturday was my first candidate class of the cycle. By eight am, I was in the dojo stretching and reviewing my katas. It felt great being back in the very high energy intense candidate classes. Class went well although I had forgotten how strenuous the cardio can be and how many times in one class I got right to the exhaustion point. My run time was fine. Sunday, I went to the gym and worked out and urg, something slipped in my back. urg urg urg.

I called my chiropractor and had him put in back in place which he did three times more during the week. By the end of the week, my hips and back seemed to be staying in place so this morning, a week after my first Saturday candidate class, I went to my second one. Today included some chuck katas which I didn't really have down. We worked chuck form one, two, and XMA chuck form. There was some bugo which I felt good on. And a timed two mile which I did in 15:21, easily under the required 16:00 but way short of my target of getting to 14:00 by the end of cycle.

All in all, it's great fun to be a Candidate. With a little cooperation from my back, shoulders, and feet, (plus from my job and family) it should be a wonderful cycle. How did I get so lucky?

PS - Anybody want to write up chuck form two for me? Anyone have a good video? Anyone want to perform?

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BBat50 - How different our minds are!

2009-08-14T14:36:00.000-07:00

I was just asked by a lady in the dojo if I still had that blog: B bat fifty. Now I have always thought of the name of the blog as Black Belt at Fifty.com, abbreviated to bb at 50. But it seems that it's easier for her to remember it as b bat fifty. It's funny how people see things differently.

I've just missed most of a week of training. I had back alignment problems and was at the chiropractor three times. Saturday morning, I'm back in Candidate class. It's bugo. I'm psyched. Wish me luck.

Oh, my site sponsor just reminded me that I haven't discussed them in awhile, here goes. A great homeschool curriculum is worthwhile, I'd go with Time4Learning.com because of it's strength in building reading comprehension skills. If you need help with online homeschool resources, go ask on a parents newsgroup forum. In Florida, there are many Florida homeschool support groups.

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Martial Art Blogs I recommend

2009-07-24T17:59:00.000-07:00

My Journey in Martial Arts - Ronsan60 writes about his "stories as I remember them during my journey in the Martial Arts." I particularly liked this post: A little LaVallee's History thanks to Rob V. It's the story (I wonder if it's accurate) of how Kyoshi bought his first dojo in 1974. Ronsan60 has trained since 83, he trained in the "old days."

American/Traditional - The author is a traditional who discusses the question this week of whether the churning out of black belts by belt-mills diminishes the value of more hard-earned belts. It's a thoughtful insightful discussion. On one hand, "no one else’s belt...can diminish the meaning or value of ...yours. The meaning of the belt lies in a combination of what it took to earn it, and what the wearer continues to do to live up to it." On the other hand, he points out the difficulty of holding to a standard which takes seven years to earn a belt when his students have friends earning their black belts in three down the street." Great blog and article: Does an 8-year-old’s black belt reflect on mine?

On My Own Two Feet - A starting Martial Artess blogging about her and her son's trip into the martial arts. Her particular focus is about women in the martial arts.

There are some others that should make this list but, since time is limited and this post has been sitting around unfinished for awhile, I'll do this as a series, stay tuned for the next batch.

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Three steps forward, one step back

2009-07-21T06:27:00.000-07:00

I've been back training intensively for three weeks. Loving it. I'm getting more limber, my bugo is beginning to flow, and my run times are coming down.

I time myself regularly on a 2.5 mile run (actually 2.6) from my house and I had steadily worked my times down from 22 minutes to 20:08. So Sunday morning, I was sure that I was going to break through the magic 20:00 minute mark. The twenty minute time is the magic line of an eight minute pace which for me, marks the difference between being in or out of shape. So I did my extras first (100 pushups, abs, kicks) and then took off.

Disaster, half-way through I wondered if there was something wrong with my leg but I finished anyway. I ran as hard as I could. I made 20:06 which was a disappointment but it was quickly overshadowed by a leg problem. It's the ACLU, right down the back from butt to heal, very sore. Sunday afternoon, couldn't walk. Saw the chiro Monday am and he took a look at my hips and said: "Oh yea, they're in the wrong place." It's slowly feeling better but so far, I'm still too sore to do anything. Grrrr.

Here are two videos from last Wednesday's bugo. Both short. In one with Mr Vince, I'm fresh and my timing is on. In the other, Norm's timing is on, I'm tired, and I'm shelling up not very effectively. Both of my partners (Vince and Norm) manage to work in a kick to the head. What me? Drop my hands? never....

And the art work is courtesy of Asa, one of our contractors.

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Famous Comic Book Martial Artist

2009-07-07T00:48:00.000-07:00

I remember comics strips as my generations new media experience, like our video games or our internet.

The comic books in the 60s often had a few pages of small advertisements at the back. The classic advertisement that I remember was the Charles Atlas advertisement on how to stop being a ninety-nine pound weakling who got sand kicked in his face by the big bully.

Another famous advertisement from the comics was about learning self-defense, learning the mysterious and exotic art of karate. Count Dante was the leader in this area. I just ran across a 3 minute documentary-style video about Count Dante. (Sometimes, the video doesn't run here and you have to click through to see it on a site called Babelgum
: The Deadliest Man Alive - Count Dante -

In the early 60s, he was a respected fighter and teacher and karate promoter. Then he got weird.The video is by Floyd Webb who has a website on John Keehan (Counte Dante). It's worth a visit. I was just reading his post on A Timeline of Martial Arts in America.

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Running Fun - My new new iphone

2009-07-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

I got the latest and greatest Iphone 3G yesterday. One of the reasons was that I had heard it had sophisticated GPS integration with other functions, like stop watches. I was absurdly excited.

I had run my standard 2.5 miles on Friday and Saturday (NoTime & 20.33 respectively) but had used a regular stop watch to keep time. This morning, with great excitement, I downloaded an Iphone app called trackmypace.com by Jay Wright for $.99.

The idea is that this app will not only keep time but it'll also keep track of my distance through GPS and then record it all on a website that I can access thru my iphone or computer, maybe even put a widget up on my own blog with my recent times. I'm sure that this app will do everything that I want in terms of tracking calories and weight (it did ask for my weight at set-up). I do expect that at some point I'll be paying a lot more than $.99 but that's OK, I've long wanted a convenient integrated solution for running.

Imagine my disappointment at the end of the run when I find that the app is only a stop watch, calculator (it asked me how far I had run!), and record-keeper. Which, don't me get me wrong, is great. It counts calories, keep records, and other stuff but it doesn't use GPS to automatically figure out distance which is what I'm really looking for.

I'm now in the Apple app store trying to find the perfect solution. Any ideas for me? So far, I've found:

iMapMyRide uses the built-in GPS in iPhone 3G to track and record every mile you ride

Anybody know whether the application that I want exists yet? Anybody want to develop it (I'll help finance)?

And there's a bunch of Nike apps that look like you require the right shoes to hook them up.

Oh, and this post is inspired by a great blog that I love to read about online homeschooling!

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Starting up again - Spread a little too thin this week

2009-07-04T04:18:00.000-07:00

I came back from my three weeks off with an absolute commitment to getting back on track with my training. I got home last Saturday and run 2.5 miles on Sunday and felt good. I made it to class on Monday and felt good. Then.....

Tuesday I was up at 4 to get a kid off to the airport for camp by 5 and had to pick another kid up in the evening which conflicted with class. Wednesday, many responsibilities in the office, I worked late missing the 5pm class and I got home late for dinner, I was very tired, I ate dinner and didn't make it out to class. Thursday, it's my last evening with one daughter before she disappears for five weeks and I was exhausted. Friday I ran again but the dojo is class Friday and Saturday (4th of July) so for me, it's a total bust of a training week. I'm so annoyed at myself.

So, I'll work out the week and next week is another week. ASaaaaaa

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Three Weeks of Travel

2009-06-27T16:33:00.001-07:00

I've been out of town and not training for three weeks now. The first week was a business trip, the next two were a family vacation to Colorado (what an incredible state it is). Great fun.

And now, the thrill of coming back from a few week layoff... I certainly have the motivation, I just hope that no injuries get in the way. I'll try to listen carefully to the old bod so that I push it, but not too much too fast.

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Watch Back Alley Brawl This Weekend

2009-06-08T05:44:00.000-07:00

Driving to work this morning, I drove past Melissa doing her road work. What a cardio machine! Is there anything as much fun as being a trained talented athlete in your 20s? And vicariously, it's fun for all of us. You go girl!

My first email was from coop with part of Sat nite's card:

Melissa Haley vs Shani Fraser
Jarrod Arndt (Hanshi Moti fighter) vs Steven Chin
Ed Vitale vs Matt Dickens
Super Heavyweights.. Michel Quinones-Davis vs Sergio Rodriguez

Melissa Haley - PreFight Montage - Warriors Collide 6

Tickets are available!... $25 for G/A.
@ Back Alley Brawl4!
For tickets call 954 785-1348! T
he Event is at The Davie PAL, 4300 SW 57th Terrace in Davie.
This Saturday night

Melissa's last fight

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Melisa Haley Gets Back in the Ring

2009-06-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

I've heard that Melissa Haley is going in the ring again on Saturday June 13th courtesy of Left Hook Productions.

I don't know much about it but there is a cool video about her on Facebook entitled: Promo for Melissa'a upcoming Muay Thai fight on Saturday June 13, 2009!. I'll look for a version on youtube too.

@ Back Alley Brawl 4! For tickets call 954 785-1348! The Event is at The Davie PAL, 4300 SW 57th Terrace in Davie.

if you know anything else about the card, add it in the comments. The Left Hook Productions site put up the flyer this morning but there's no card info posted on Facebook (where there is an event page) or on the LeftHook Productions site.

Fight like a rhino, not like a kangeroo

2009-06-06T03:06:00.000-07:00

k
o

Instructor Mike says (and we're talking about head position and chins here):

Fight like a rhino, not like a kangeroo

note - photo credit for the kangeroo goes to a website called Bits & Pieces. They might have pilfered it but I can't seem to find the original.

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XMA Sword Form 1

2009-06-05T03:29:00.000-07:00

This spring, we started learning to do kata with swords. We're doing an XMA inspired kata.

We learn the form as initially, three different sequences which are then strung together. In the initial sequences, each one starts with drawing the sword and ends with resheathing it. In the combined sequence, we only put it away at the end. I found that confusing personally.

XMA Sword Form 1

chop right

slow tension left hard bow

batto (draw the sword) to the right to hardbow right

add left hand to sword, strike to left on down diagonal

pull sword overhead and strike down forward stepping with with right foot

aieasa

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hard tension to right bow doing a upward block with sword

strike to left on down diagonal

strike to right on horizontal

pull sword overhead and strike down forward stepping with with right foot

aieasa

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right hand chiburi strike down on the sword handle

bring it back up over left shoulder around head and strike to right on horizontal

strike down to left on diagonal

raise sword over head (don't let it hang down in back), step forward and across with right and finish 360 spin in two steps with a right to left diagonal down strike

draw back with sword over head and blade in left hand

strike to left down on diagonal

pull sword overhead and strike down forward stepping with with right foot

aieasa

step foward with right so you're sideways with a dramatic chiburi flick in front of you.

No-to (return sword to saya - sheath) by pulling it forward and thrusting it back in

step back with right, punch down with right, tia.

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Sword Vocabulary list - now mostly complete!

bokkens - a wooden substitute for a sword used in training in the martial arts. It's cheaper and heavier, so harder to move around elegantly.

Tsuba (rhymes with tuba) - the hand guard on the bokken
Tsuka - the handle of the bokken
Saya - the sheath for the sword
Batto - the action of drawing the sword
Chiburi - the action of cleaning the blood from the sword by either flicking the sword or striking the sword
No-to - Returning the sword to the saya

Editors note. I googled martial arts sword parts to see if I could find a list of terms used in our dojo for the hilt, hand protector, scabbard etc. I found a surprising number of really detailed sword part descriptions, none of which coincided with our inhouse lingo. But, thanks t0 Philip from the Rochester dojo, I've now got all these terms. I'd still like to know what language we are using. Is it Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, or Chinese? If it was a kempo or kung fu kata, I could make an educated guess but since we are learning an XMA-inspired kata, I'm not sure what the likely language would be.

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'Kung Fu' Actor David Carradine Dies

2009-06-04T11:40:00.000-07:00

I just heard that David Carradine, the Kung Fu TV program star from the 80s, died in Bangkok.

I remember the martial arts craze of the 70s fueled in large part by the 'Kung Fu' program on TV starring David Carradine. The TV series ran from 1972–1975 (I graduated from high school in 1976). It was a huge hit putting a pacifist idealistic kung fu master in the rough old west. It hit the trends well riding both the enthusiasm for Westerns and the interest in Eastern philosophy and the martial arts. I learned about kung fu and Eastern philosophy from it.

The Plot - In the pilot episode, Caine’s revered master is murdered by the Chinese emperor's nephew, and Caine retaliates by killing the nephew. In order to avoid execution, Caine flees to America.

Although it is his intention to avoid notice, Caine repeatedly comes out into the open to fight for justice. After each such encounter, he is compelled to flee to stay ahead of the emperor's assassins.

Flashbacks - The story relied heavily on flashbacks. An interesting note is that this was partially driven by the FCC's frequent intervention to limit the amount of combat time in an episode. To demonstrate many of the cool moves, the program used a large number of training flashbacks, which were not counted against their limited allotment of time for combat.

The flashbacks recalled specific lessons during Caine's childhood training in the monastery by his teachers, the blind Master Po and Master Kan. The flashbacks were great showing how people's early mental and spiritual training gives them power that can last a lifetime. In theflashbacks, Master Po calls his young student "Grasshopper" in reference to a scene in the pilot episode:

Master Po: Close your eyes. What do you hear?

Young Caine: I hear the water, I hear the birds.

Po: Do you hear your own heartbeat?

Caine: No.

Po: Do you hear the grasshopper that is at your feet?

Caine: Old man, how is it that you hear these things?

Po: Young man, how is it that you do not?

The Road Taken - In a radio interview with NPR a few years ago, David Carradine said that the fight scenes were meant to be realistic and says that they're more realistic than the ones today. He talks about how kung fu affected his life and says that it's impossible to know about the roads not taken. There were times that people recognized him on the street and challenged him but mostly, he talked his way out of it trying to turn it into an autograph session. A few times, he ran ("faced with a superior force, escape"). He talks about how his father forbid him from taking dance lessons saying: "No son of mine will earn his living with his feet." Carradine comments how useless it is to resist our fate in that he ended up earning his living by kicking.

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Sword Play

2009-05-16T15:06:00.001-07:00

What's new? Well, we're learning to use swords! And for those of us that haven't yet bought a sword, we're learning with bokkens (A bokken is an inexpensive and relatively safe substitute for a real sword used in training in the martial arts - wikipedia).

So far, we've learned three parts of our first cutting kata. They're cool, fun, and really hard to remember. There's new words for the handle, the part that protects your hand, the thing (sheath) that you put it in, the motions you make to shake the blood off the sword, and the motion for putting the sword back in it's holder. I can't remember any of them. Do you? If so, please send them along.

I did get a few pictures of stances (thanks Joe) and a very simple video of one of the three "cutting forms."

The fun gets funner. We now have swords as part of the curriculum!

This is a basic demo, very slow, of Cutting form 2. Basically:
- upblock
- slice across on the 45
-slide across on the horizontal
- overhead strike
- hit the sword to clearn off the blood - chabusi?
- resheath the sword while in a cool sideways stance
- salute.

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"It's like recess"

2009-05-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

I was explaining to a high school kid why I look forward each day to my karate class. I found myself explaining: "It's like recess for adults!"

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Bugo Kumite

2009-05-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

I went to bugo on Saturday saying only a few things to myself. Since I had watched the videos of myself sparing with a few people, including Mr. Wilson, my priorities were to fix the obvious problems.

1. Hands up. They're too low, expecially when I kick. In fact, on roundhouse kicks, my hands go way low. Keep them in guard.

2. Circle to my right. Not my left. My right. 80% of the time.

3. Combinations and quickness. Stop being a one hit wonder, especially with kicks. Commit to a combination which is hand hand hand kick. Don't charge in with front kicks. Save them for defense or as a finish on a combination.

4. Quicker and slower. I bounce and move incessantly. Almost too much. No wonder I'm beat. I can be on my toes and shuffling but I don't need to be quite so active, especially when I'm outsite. And when I do attack, focus on being quicker.

How'd I do? So so. I'll keep at it.

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Black Belt Spectaculars

2009-05-05T00:22:00.000-07:00

I just found, via a friend's facebook page (thanks Dani), a well-produced video about the April 2009 Black Belt Spectacular which is the Lavallee show for the belt promotion for black belts. Take a look. It's by egoose2000.

And here is the show from December 2008 when Steve Lavallee was promoted to eighth degree black belt. It was also a few weeks before his hip surgery. (He has recovered well). It's thanks to karate EWM.

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Warriors Collide 6 Videos

2009-04-26T18:43:00.000-07:00

A few people have asked to make this footage easier to find. Here it is. Dan & Melisa's fights from Warriros Collide 6.

Melissa Haley
PreFight Montage

Round 1 Melisa Haley

Melisa Haley Round 2

Melisa Haley Round 3

Dan Walsh Round 1

Dan Walsh Round 2

Dan Walsh Round 3

Others posts on Warriors Collide 6.

Melisa Haley Rocks

Warriors Collide 6 the card

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Kewsal - Immortal Man Hand Position

2009-04-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

In the bookset kata, we learn a hand position that we call kewsal. The thumb is bent, index finger extended but not entirely, and the other fingers bent at the first knuckle with the overall hand very tense. I've tried to find the kewsal term online including trying to figure out it's spelling: que sahl, cuesa, kewsokewsa, kewsal, queue sah etc. Finally, someone has responded to my postings. Thank you eighteenelbows. He says:

We call the hand position "immortal man." .... my teacher - Master Steve Shover (you can Google him) has told me that Immortal Man hand position has historical value. He related the position is a tiger claw with the index finger extended to symbolize "the one." This meant you were a member of the rebellion against the Chinese Government, which was very repressive at the time. I'm not certain if this is true or not, but it does make sense in a way. I hope that's helpful.

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A good fitness blog - ice & heat expertise?

2009-04-23T05:32:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty stingy with my time and so I look at blogs from the perspective of:

Is it worth my time reading it? What will I learn? How much will I like it? How long does it take? Will it make me laugh or at least smile?

I just visited a blog on fitness that I use to read and it makes the grade. This cartoon was on its most recent post. I read down a few more articles and learned something that I had long wondered about, what is the actual impact of being well-hydrated on the body.

On another note, I'm trying to research any really useful articles on the uses of heat and ice. While I use to rely heavily on ice packs, my new regime (foisted on me by my chiropractor) relies more heavily on heat. In fact, he talked me into getting a full jacuzi for medicinal purposes. I think I feel better. I know my kids like me more and that I'm sleeping better.

Juniors Testing April 2009

2009-04-15T18:07:00.001-07:00

We had two kids testing tonight as well as several friends (Yea Franklin!) plus some on the kids demo team (Robbie & Lee!). So, we had fun watching the testing and saying hello to everyone.

This was a significant testing for us for a few reasons. Obviously, two on the same night is cool. Plus, we now have the family consolidated into two classes: adult and kids advanced class!This is so much better than the fall when we had one in adult advanced, one in adult starter, one in kids advanced, and one in kids starter. A logistical nightmare!

Since KC is home nursing little Nicolas, the substitute sensei was Kyoshi Steve Lavallee.

When I first started, he was still frequently on the floor. It's a little rare now to have him on the floor so it was a treat.

Lavallees Alumni

2009-04-10T13:51:00.000-07:00

On Facebook, there is an active group called Lavallee's Karate Alumni. Very cool to see the chatter of these people who have known each other for sometimes 20 years, sometimes more.
It's an open group administered by Kevin Carbone, Patrick DiDomenico (New York, NY), Mark Cardone (Syracuse, NY), Steve Zaferakis (Syracuse, NY) (creator).

A martial arts blog that I've been reading is My Journey in Martial Arts by Ronsan60, another Lavallee trainee. His most recent post: Over twenty-six years in the martial arts. Why have I stuck around so long?

KC Lavallee is expecting

2009-04-08T06:55:00.000-07:00

My sensei, Master KC Lavallee, is expecting to go in for her C section Thursday morning.

How cool is that?

How many kohai, in the history of the martial arts, can say that their sensei is nine months pregnant? Very cool.

The dojo is all abuzz.

Awesome ! ! !

It follows Juice (Joy's) little bundle of joy earlier this year. And Mr. Vince's a few months before that.

Introducing....little Nicolos. Born April 9th, 2009

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Sparing

2009-04-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Bugo Kumite! Once a week or so, for the part few years, I have been trying to learn to spar. This weekend, there weren't many people in class so there was an unencumbered view by the spectators. I handed the camera to a spectator (actually, someone's ten year old son) and asked him to film my first four matches. Since the numbers were odd today, I sparred four matches in a row with only thirty second breaks. I'm trying to pace myself but frankly, you can see me getting it exhausted. Osu!

An Amazing Motivational and Analytical Tool - These videos are really a big deal for me to watch. Like a good optical illusion, I can choose what to see. I can either watch ~~how bad I am~~ how much I have to improve. It's very humbling. Or, I can watch how much I've learned in the last few years. I find that each perspective has its value and is motivating. In any case, here are the videos, unedited. And here a my observations. Please share your own.

1. My arm speed is really really slow. That's my new number one goal. Faster arms. I think I can achieve this through just focusing on speed and snapping my punches. I'll shadow box, do some bag work, and mostly, repeat it to myself as I start each match...fast punches, fast punches, fast punches...
2. I need to refine my kicking form so that my roundhouses snap out and back a lot faster. I think my stance is so too wide which makes the roundhouses slow.
3. Get my hands up a little higher when I get in close.
4. More cardio and power. In both cases, I'm limited by my constrained training schedule.
5. Footwork. I should bounce less and do more of a muy thai march or a classic boxing front-back shift.
6. My cross is underwhelming. There's no real body or hip rotation behind it, I lean across in a awkward vulnerable way, and instead of lowering my level with my knees, I appear to be bending at the waist. Sloppy.

With all that said, I'm having fun and making progress. At times, my front kick is camouflaged and effective although I sometimes signal it by dipping my hands. I often parry comfortably and I'm learning to trust my defense. I'm quick on my feet backing up although I should be spiraling a little out rather than going straight back. My chin isn't tucked enough and my hands often aren't high enough but they're much better than awhile ago.

PS - I'm the one in sleeveless Tshirt, black gloves, more bounce than march

Want to see more sparing?
Sparing July 2009 with Mr Vince and with Norm. Watch both of them kick me in the head!
Bugo Kumite with Carlos and others
Reflections from years ago (no videos) on sparing

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BBat50 is skipping class again. sigh

2009-04-03T14:36:00.001-07:00

It's catching up with me again. My shoulders have been aching for awhile and I've been icing and stretching them again. Monday night, we were doing the old appreciation form and I found that I just couldn't get my durn arms up past my head. Aiieeee, it's the rotator cuffs again.

Durn durn durn. So I skipped class Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday but I'll try to make it through class on Saturday (for a little bugo ;->).

The good news: two of my kids are spotlighting next week. David for red, Ariana for purple.

I'm sitting in the dojo as I write this and I just joined in some moms' conversations. One adolescent at Power Weekend (the culminating test weekend of the six month black belt cycle) was told that he's not ready for his black belt and needs to wait. Apparently, he has been warned repeatedly about behaving immaturely during class and even on that weekend, he was warned that he needs to get serious. Apparently, he didn't and he will now have to wait. These are difficult family times for him so some parents think he should be cut some slack. But then, it is the martial arts and as Kyoshi says about promotions: "If there is any doubt, there is NO doubt."

It's a heartbreaker. There were clearly extenuating circumstances that the kid was acting out in response to. Is Sensei and Kyoshi right to be so hard or not? What do you think?

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Ki Chung Kata

2009-03-24T18:05:00.000-07:00

The Ki Chung kata is a kata of tae kwon do origin. It's nearly identical to kama set but uses open hands. I saw it for the first time tonight (March 23, 2009).

Description. Thanks to Kidith Paulino, Wes & Morgan for the write-up.
(It appears that there's a formatting problem which I'll get to anon)

STEP OUT HARDBOW (R) PUNCH, SWITCH STANCE (L) PUNCH
CIRCLE SET Þ DOUBLE X BLOCK Þ STEP (R) SET
STEP LEFT Þ SET Þ BLOCK (L) CHOP (R) Þ RIGHT FRONT KICK
HARDBOW (L) 7 CHOP Þ (R) JAB (L) PUNCH
SWITCH OVER SET Þ (R) BLOCK (L) PUNCH Þ LEFT FRONT KICK
(R) 7 CHOP Þ (L) JAB (R) PUNCH Þ STEP FORWARD SET
(L) BLOCK (R) CHOP Þ (R) FRONT KICK Þ SKIP FRONT KICK
X SET (SINK DOWN) (L) LEG IN BACK Þ (R) LEG STEP FRONT
TURN OVER LEFT Þ (L) CHOP (R) BLOCK Þ SWITCH (L) BLOCK (R) CHOP
RIGHT FRONT KICK Þ RIGHT STEP, LEFT STEP Þ (R) STICKING SIDE KICK
SET Þ COME OVER WITH SET (RIGHT HAND CHAMBERED OPEN PALM UP, LEFT HAND KNIFE HAND B
LOCK) Þ SLIDE UP LEAD LEG ROUND KICK ÞSPINNING HOOK
KICK Þ (L) PUNCH (R) BLOCK Þ SPINNING HOOK KICK
PLANT DOWN, (R) BACK KICK Þ STEP FORWARD « LEFT KNEE DOWN « LEFT PUNCH Þ STAND UP
SET Þ (SOFTBOW) DOWNWARD BLOCK Þ
(HARDBOW) (R) UPWARD BLOCK, (L) PUNCH Þ PUNCH TO THE SKY

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I'm Back. Older and Wider

2009-03-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

I've been lax on updating the blog and that's because I've been pouring it on in other areas. Since I posted, I turned fifty-one (March 1st), hurt my back, healed my back, hurt it again, and gained a few pounds. The title of this blog was initially, a typo, perhaps a Freudian typo, but it make me smile so I thought I'd leave it there for you.

And for the record, I'm not much wider but I am, at the moment, paying A LOT of attention to my eating habbits. It seems that what worked at 48, doesn't necessarily work at 51.

The karate highlight of the last few weeks has been running with my 9 year old. Last weekend, we did a timed run at the dojo and he hit a new mile record of 7:43! On Sunday, we timed a two miler and we did either a 18:30 or a 19:30 (I was using a regular watch and its hard to tell). Most impressively, he's not only comfortable at two miles now but he out-kicked me and won! I stayed right next to him through the run . On the last 30 yards, he added a new faster speeed. He can accelerate faster than me and while given enough time, I could chase him down. In this case, he crossed the line before I caught him. WOW! I've never been so proud. He seems to think that I let him win but he'll figure it out soon.

Todays' big thought: I just read this on a web site and it Spoke to me.

Discover yourself that there is success in everything that fascinates you.

I've spoken to groups and individuals a few times about career choices. I urge people to work hard to discover their interests and then to figure out if it makes sense to convert them into careers. I also urge people with careers, who say that they are unhappy, to find pleasure in what they do. But that's another story. I saw this comment on CareerTales.net.

Self Defense - Want to help blog about it?

2009-02-28T08:28:00.000-08:00

I've always wanted to keep a record of all the self defense and holds and grabs that we learn. I'm now convinced that this is best done as videos with some descriptions and commentary.

Realistically, I just don't have the time to get it done. Would you like to help? Have some comments on training at Lavallees and how it affects your life? Want to learn about blogging? In short, I'm soliciting a co-author to work on the blog for awhile.

Here's the deal. If you train at Lavallees and want to help, I'll show you how. I guess the other minimum requirement is that you have a digital camera that can take videos. And a sense of humor coupled with good internet access would help.

Interested? If so, email me as bbat50 @ gmail.com

You might wonder why I put in all those spaces in my email address. It's because the spammers are less likely to harvest my email when it's written this way and I'm trying to not increase the number of solicitations for cheap medicines, opportunities to help move millions out of Africa, or invitations from friendly young ladies in Eastern Europe.

Whats new at Steve Lavallees?

2009-02-26T17:01:00.000-08:00

The curriculum continues to evolve. There is a new emphasis on calisthenics and strength. Students must do "extras" after class. Specifically, the black belts are asked to do 175 pushups and situps after class. Most of consider this to be *A LOT*. In my case, given the iffy condition of my back, it's not possible. There is a hierarchy of expectations starting with 35 for the orange belts.

There is an increased emphasis on weapons. The chucks are now part of the orange belt curriculum, the brown belts are working on a Kama Set Two and the black belts on on the American Bo Form. They are introducing a sword too. Some people are grumbling about how the introduction of a fourth weapon increases the overall expenses at a time when the sensitive thing would be to be thinking about evolving the curriculum away from additional expenses.

In self defense,we seem to have ended the focus on krav maga type reference point defense by working last week on a traditional kempo defense. We protect against a downward strike with an Xblock, writst grab, then step under, elbow strike, then rotate back under again breaking the arm. Like all the kenpo defenses, it's a little complicated but deadly effective if you can get it right. On this one, if you cross your wrists wrong for the initial block or don't wrist-grab properly, you are SOL.

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Kids, karate, parents, and interests. Oh my!

2009-02-21T14:50:00.000-08:00

I just read a post on bbm's blog where she bemoans that you can't always get what you want. Specifically, she's frustrated that her young daughter is "just not that into karate". Parenting can be full of frustrations. Frankly, I feel if we get any satisfaction, we're way above par.

I've always felt that it's an impossible job to find a balance between how much "guidance" to provide the kids and how much to let them follow their own interests. How pleased to be about anything that makes them happy (don't ask me about video game playing and insect dissecting) and how much to pressure for "productive exercises".

My story about kids and sports is a funny twist on it all. As background, I've been a lifelong soccer player. I lived in England from 2nd-4th grade and when I got back, I never caught up with my friends who had a few years of little league and football experience. But in 8th grade, my school had a soccer team. No sports pressure from my folks at all, I just tried, made the team, and found my "thing". I played competitively until my early 40s. BTW - I can't seem to get these pictures to line up properly. But one picture is my high school team, another is my town team from my years in the PeaceCorps in West Africa, and a third is team that I played on in my mid 30s in California.

As soon as my kids were old enough, I enrolled them in soccer. I'd kicked with them incessantly, watched world cup games with them on TV, and coached their teams.

Yet, only an occasional flicker of interest from them and no particular aptitude. My college teammates have kids playing at very competitive levels but mine put up with soccer for a few seasons but then, worked their way out of it.

My interest in karate started while watching my son. I followed him in. I consider myself very lucky he didn't enroll in gymnastics or diving or swimming. I didn't pressure either of my two daughters and today, all three kids and myself are taking and enjoying karate. It's a great time for us.

Of course, parental impact is rarely what we expect. Until the two girls showed interest in karate (following me in), I had been thinking about getting some tatoos and piercings since I was pretty sure if Dad had them, the kids wouldn't get them. Or date men (or women) with them.

What's my point? Sometimes exposure and slight pressure works, sometimes it doesn't. I tend towards flexibility and letting them emerge rather than pushing them into something. Of course, that's only my perception of what's going on.

Warriors Collide 6 - Dan Walsh

2009-02-18T13:46:00.000-08:00

I was just looking around Youtube and I found that egoose2000 put up the videos of Dan Walsh's Warriors Collide 6 Fight. Here they are. Enjoy.

That was the same night that Melissa Haley faught. Both victorious!
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Warriors Collide 6 - Mr Dan Walsh - Round 1
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Mr Dan Walsh - Round 2
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Mr Dan Walsh - Round 3
(Larger & with a border!)
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