Saturday, December 6, 2008

I kinda like this op-ed on Karate as exercise...

...so take a peek & see what you think. (Thanks, Karatechick on twitter.com)

Enjoy - http://adjix.com/p5hr

Sayonara,

Dan

Mrs. T Gets a Black Belt...

Our longest-term student got her black belt today.

The ceremony is a combination of fun, joyful, and respectful all at the same time. I won't give too many details about the ceremony itself, except to say that there is kneeling, bowing, and hand-shaking galore.

There were 13 other black belts of our art there, all coming from different schools. Some were the heads of their own schools. (This includes our Sensei.) Sensei's Master was there as the highest-ranked teacher in the local branches of our art, Isshin Shorinji Ryu Okinawa Te.

Mrs. T's family and many friends were also present, and I think there might have been as many as 80 people in the room.

I tried to get all the guys in our class to lay at her feet in knocked-out poses for a picture after, but no one was game enough - lol.

It was very cool, and I am most happy for her. A great day.

I'll be back in class in early January, so I'll not likely post much between now and then.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, and Happy Kwanzaa -

Sayonara, and thanks for reading.

Dan

Monday, December 1, 2008

YMCA Membership Foibles Continued...

...but not for long. I'm all set to re-up on January 2nd - I would have done it today, but I didn't want to get in the same situation next year where my membership will expire prior to the last class session of the year and cause me to miss the last six weeks of Karate in 2009.

I just spoke to Sensei on the phone and he is well aware of the issues.

Sayonara,

Dan