Broken...
In three places,
My ankle that is,
Beat up by a skinny little snow shovel,
In collusion with cold-hearted driveway ice.
The x-rays are in,
The surgery's planned,
And I'm not moving much,
I'm laying on the lam.
AquarianM
By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 02/23/2009
Yep, broke my ankle but good slipping on ice yesterday while snow shoveling. It'll be a week before surgery, then 6-8 weeks before I can put weight on it at all. After that, likely eight months before I can go back to Karate.
Oom Yung Doe School Flags
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Drillin' To The Left, Drillin' To The Right...
...this was a fun class, lots and lots of practice on katas, kicking drills, bag techniques.
One of the Black Belts did a weapons demonstration. I kind of thought the weapons used looked like they'd been adapted from agricultural hand tools, which would make sense.
We started out with katas, and Sensei had various of the higher-ranked belts doing the instructor work - teaching them to teach. One of our Green Belts got most of the load.
We also had a guy I've been helping who was just promoted to Yellow Belt last week - he's the same rank as me now.
There were also a couple of exercises where we had to mirror the moves we're used to from the other side of the body - specifically the fourteen-point hard blocks. It was wierd, but a good teaching tool. I'll have to practice that more often.
Another new thing was doing the eight-point soft blocks while walking in seison stance. Tricky, but a good idea.
All-in-all, a great class, and I got to learn a bit more of Takeoko Kai Go tonight in the last five minutes of class.
Sayonara,
Dan
One of the Black Belts did a weapons demonstration. I kind of thought the weapons used looked like they'd been adapted from agricultural hand tools, which would make sense.
We started out with katas, and Sensei had various of the higher-ranked belts doing the instructor work - teaching them to teach. One of our Green Belts got most of the load.
We also had a guy I've been helping who was just promoted to Yellow Belt last week - he's the same rank as me now.
There were also a couple of exercises where we had to mirror the moves we're used to from the other side of the body - specifically the fourteen-point hard blocks. It was wierd, but a good teaching tool. I'll have to practice that more often.
Another new thing was doing the eight-point soft blocks while walking in seison stance. Tricky, but a good idea.
All-in-all, a great class, and I got to learn a bit more of Takeoko Kai Go tonight in the last five minutes of class.
Sayonara,
Dan
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Teaching, Learning, Sparring, & Shins...
Tonight was a fun class. I got to learn a bit more of Takeoko Kai Go.
Then I helped a guy who is getting his yellow belt Thursday with Takeoko Kai Shii. For at least 15 minutes.
After that, 25 minutes of sparring. Very good, but I really, really need shin guards. Ouch!
Sayonara,
Dan
Then I helped a guy who is getting his yellow belt Thursday with Takeoko Kai Shii. For at least 15 minutes.
After that, 25 minutes of sparring. Very good, but I really, really need shin guards. Ouch!
Sayonara,
Dan
Saturday, January 31, 2009
I'm A Bit Stiff And Sore...
...from all the sparring Thursday evening, no doubt. Not bad or bruised sore, really good workout sore. Mostly in my shoulders & rib cage from all the upper-body work on jabs and blocks.
There are times when you get more of a workout than you thought, I think this is one of them.
Now I need to get physical today a little to get things loosened up and blood flowing to begin the strength building.
The little aches and pains are signs that you're making progress - it's the big ones you have to be careful of.
Right now, I'm just grateful I get to continue after all that business with the YMCA membership last year.
Sayonara,
Dan
There are times when you get more of a workout than you thought, I think this is one of them.
Now I need to get physical today a little to get things loosened up and blood flowing to begin the strength building.
The little aches and pains are signs that you're making progress - it's the big ones you have to be careful of.
Right now, I'm just grateful I get to continue after all that business with the YMCA membership last year.
Sayonara,
Dan
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Sparring 'Til We Drop...
...this was a great class. I was in for a makeup session at Sensei's invitation because I missed Tuesday last week. We started off for 20 minutes in a side room with stretching and then kick, punch, and self-defense techniques.
After that, we went to our usual Dojo and geared up for sparring, and we spent the next hour sparring.
One of the guys my age and about a foot shorter was really jazzed up and wound tight because he has a tournament a week from Sunday, Feb 8th. He was very fast & aggressive, but I managed to make him work for most of his points.
I sparred most everyone in class except a couple of the kids, and wound out the session sparring our Purple Belt.
All said and done, it was great exercise.
Sayonara,
Dan
After that, we went to our usual Dojo and geared up for sparring, and we spent the next hour sparring.
One of the guys my age and about a foot shorter was really jazzed up and wound tight because he has a tournament a week from Sunday, Feb 8th. He was very fast & aggressive, but I managed to make him work for most of his points.
I sparred most everyone in class except a couple of the kids, and wound out the session sparring our Purple Belt.
All said and done, it was great exercise.
Sayonara,
Dan
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
A Little Learning, A Little Teaching...
...This class was mostly about kata - I got to learn the first half of Takeoko Kai Go - which is the second kata required for my next promotion. We also went through all the white belt katas, from Empi to Takeoko Kai Ichei, Ni, & Son. I go to practice Shii as well.
Later in the class, Sensei had to work with our Purple Belt - so he had me instruct the two white belts there on the most basic Takeoko Kai - Ichei. I think they both made good progress.
At the end of class, since there was no sparring, Sensei asked us what we wanted to do. I requested kicking drills, because I need the aerobic exercise as well as the form training. We did roundhouse kicks, front kicks, jumping front kicks, side kicks, crescent kicks, etc.
All in all a good class.
Sensei also warned us that with the economy, he might be forced to work a second shift instead of first shift. If that's so, another black belt will be taking over the class. I'm hoping not, but I completely understand. My employer just announced that we will take a 5% pay cut through June, and that they are suspending 401k matching funds. The economy is bad for people's health this way. I've read of people who were losing weight and getting high blood pressure under control, only to be forced into eating cheap fast foods and having all their health gains go out the window.
Hopefully things will get better soon.
Sayonara,
Dan
Later in the class, Sensei had to work with our Purple Belt - so he had me instruct the two white belts there on the most basic Takeoko Kai - Ichei. I think they both made good progress.
At the end of class, since there was no sparring, Sensei asked us what we wanted to do. I requested kicking drills, because I need the aerobic exercise as well as the form training. We did roundhouse kicks, front kicks, jumping front kicks, side kicks, crescent kicks, etc.
All in all a good class.
Sensei also warned us that with the economy, he might be forced to work a second shift instead of first shift. If that's so, another black belt will be taking over the class. I'm hoping not, but I completely understand. My employer just announced that we will take a 5% pay cut through June, and that they are suspending 401k matching funds. The economy is bad for people's health this way. I've read of people who were losing weight and getting high blood pressure under control, only to be forced into eating cheap fast foods and having all their health gains go out the window.
Hopefully things will get better soon.
Sayonara,
Dan
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
I completely missed class this week...
...I was off yesterday for Martin Luther King Day, and it threw me off my usual routine. I was up early in the morning, and couldn't sleep. This is not good, because I work 3rd shift. I tried to take a nap for a couple of hours before class so that I wouldn't be so dead to the world at work tonight, and I blew it setting the alarm. I woke up when class was already half over.
I'll be back in next week, but watch those holidays against your routine, it's easy for the unusual to goof schedules up.
Sayonara, and thank you for reading,
Dan
I'll be back in next week, but watch those holidays against your routine, it's easy for the unusual to goof schedules up.
Sayonara, and thank you for reading,
Dan
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
A bit of confusion, a bit of teaching...
...class was good tonight, but started off a little weird. The Y only really has one room big enough for larger exercise classes, and there's an aerobics class ahead of us. It appears that the aerobics instructor on Thursdays before our karate class asked the Y for an extra 15 minutes in the classroom so they could cool down. The Y went along with it, because there are more students in aerobics class than in karate class.
I guess it doesn't matter that between the two nights there are probably 25 of us, and our schedules, which we all thought were set, well, they just don't mean a thing.
At least Sensei is being fair. If the aerobics class gets an hour and fifteen minutes when they paid for an hour, our class is getting an hour and fifteen minutes. We're starting the first 15 minutes in a smaller classroom in the new wing, and then moving to the big classroom at 8:15 instead of starting in there at 8:00. Class now runs until 9:15 pm.
At any rate, we started warm up with kata, all doing Takeoko kai ichei thru son, then our highest kata once.
After kata warm up, we did 45 minutes of sparring. At first it was one-on-one, and I was doing pretty well I thought, holding my own. Then we did two-on-one, and I got to be the man in the middle for 2/3rds the time. Wow, that was a workout!
After sparring, we worked on kata for another 1/2 hour. Some of us got to help others perfect their forms. I worked with one of the white belts on the first three Takeoko's especially ichei. If you get that one down, the next two only differ in which block and punch you're using. I thought the guy I was working with made some solid improvements.
We finished up with a couple of repetitions of the Empi kata, which is all elbow strikes for the most part.
There was a lot of good discussion after the class too. I really enjoyed it.
Until next week - (I'm only doing Tuesday nights right now)
Sayonara,
Dan
I guess it doesn't matter that between the two nights there are probably 25 of us, and our schedules, which we all thought were set, well, they just don't mean a thing.
At least Sensei is being fair. If the aerobics class gets an hour and fifteen minutes when they paid for an hour, our class is getting an hour and fifteen minutes. We're starting the first 15 minutes in a smaller classroom in the new wing, and then moving to the big classroom at 8:15 instead of starting in there at 8:00. Class now runs until 9:15 pm.
At any rate, we started warm up with kata, all doing Takeoko kai ichei thru son, then our highest kata once.
After kata warm up, we did 45 minutes of sparring. At first it was one-on-one, and I was doing pretty well I thought, holding my own. Then we did two-on-one, and I got to be the man in the middle for 2/3rds the time. Wow, that was a workout!
After sparring, we worked on kata for another 1/2 hour. Some of us got to help others perfect their forms. I worked with one of the white belts on the first three Takeoko's especially ichei. If you get that one down, the next two only differ in which block and punch you're using. I thought the guy I was working with made some solid improvements.
We finished up with a couple of repetitions of the Empi kata, which is all elbow strikes for the most part.
There was a lot of good discussion after the class too. I really enjoyed it.
Until next week - (I'm only doing Tuesday nights right now)
Sayonara,
Dan
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
1st Class Back In 2009:
Ahhhhhhhh. It just plain felt good.
I had a little rust around the edges because of how busy it's been through the holidays. It was good to shake the rust off.
We started out with a few kata repetitions, everyone doing their highest kata. (I'm still at Takeoko Kai Shii) I need to get back into the groove with that, but it was a good warm-up, especially since I was three minutes late to class. (I know, I know! I couldn't help it, there was ice and snow on the truck & driveway when I woke up. I work 3rd shift and sleep until it's time to get ready for class.) Being late meant there was no time to stretch out before class, and after a month with no practice, I was a bit nervous. Everything went fine, though.
After about for reps of kata, we got our gear on and started sparring. I was surprised, I did really well, and was holding my own against several opponents, even a purple belt.
The fun part was after everyone in class had had a chance to fight everyone else. At that point, Sensei had us each get in the center of the dojo and declare who had been our greatest challenge in sparring so far tonight. Then he would have another student referee and call points while he coached us against our toughest opponent for the night. Three people in a row picked me as their toughest opponent tonight! I'm sure a good part of that is that I'm 6'6" and 319lbs. I have a very long reach, and I'm tough to push off balance. By the time the third bout was over, I was just about ready to keel over from exhaustion.
The person that was MY greatest challenge was our purple belt. She is barely 5' tall, and I'd be surprised if she weighed 120lbs. HOWEVER, she is very fit, extremely fast, and several belt ranks more skilled than I am. There were a couple of points where she literally hooked her arm in mine and climbed me like a tree to bop me in the head! (Makes me laugh, my Sis's daughter calls me Uncle Tree 'cause she likes to climb on me. I call her Squirrell.)
The best news was in the locker room after class. I like to weigh just before showering, for obvious reasons. Weight before the holidays: 314lbs. Weight after the holidays: 319lbs. Only a gain of 5, Not. Too. Bad. I was very grateful I hadn't lost much ground.
At any rate, it was wonderful to be back in class. There are a couple of new white belts, both doing quite well.
Happy New Year, and sayonara.
Dan
I had a little rust around the edges because of how busy it's been through the holidays. It was good to shake the rust off.
We started out with a few kata repetitions, everyone doing their highest kata. (I'm still at Takeoko Kai Shii) I need to get back into the groove with that, but it was a good warm-up, especially since I was three minutes late to class. (I know, I know! I couldn't help it, there was ice and snow on the truck & driveway when I woke up. I work 3rd shift and sleep until it's time to get ready for class.) Being late meant there was no time to stretch out before class, and after a month with no practice, I was a bit nervous. Everything went fine, though.
After about for reps of kata, we got our gear on and started sparring. I was surprised, I did really well, and was holding my own against several opponents, even a purple belt.
The fun part was after everyone in class had had a chance to fight everyone else. At that point, Sensei had us each get in the center of the dojo and declare who had been our greatest challenge in sparring so far tonight. Then he would have another student referee and call points while he coached us against our toughest opponent for the night. Three people in a row picked me as their toughest opponent tonight! I'm sure a good part of that is that I'm 6'6" and 319lbs. I have a very long reach, and I'm tough to push off balance. By the time the third bout was over, I was just about ready to keel over from exhaustion.
The person that was MY greatest challenge was our purple belt. She is barely 5' tall, and I'd be surprised if she weighed 120lbs. HOWEVER, she is very fit, extremely fast, and several belt ranks more skilled than I am. There were a couple of points where she literally hooked her arm in mine and climbed me like a tree to bop me in the head! (Makes me laugh, my Sis's daughter calls me Uncle Tree 'cause she likes to climb on me. I call her Squirrell.)
The best news was in the locker room after class. I like to weigh just before showering, for obvious reasons. Weight before the holidays: 314lbs. Weight after the holidays: 319lbs. Only a gain of 5, Not. Too. Bad. I was very grateful I hadn't lost much ground.
At any rate, it was wonderful to be back in class. There are a couple of new white belts, both doing quite well.
Happy New Year, and sayonara.
Dan
I get to go back to Karate class tonight!
Wooohooo, yeehaaaah! Er, dang, that is going to be great.
Sayonara,
Dan
Sayonara,
Dan
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Just updated my YMCA membership...
...changed from full-family membership to program-only. Cost: $54.00 per year. Had a $34.00 credit from an unused swim pass, so $20.00 for this year. Signed up for next karate session, $60.00. All told, I spent $80.00 to get back in. It will now cost me $60.00 every six weeks to attend. I need to set aside $20.00 per paycheck. Not too bad.
Sayonara,
Dan
Sayonara,
Dan
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
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
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
I just spoke to Sensei on the phone and he is well aware of the issues.
Sayonara,
Dan
Friday, November 21, 2008
No class tonight...
...there was no class tonight, as I've started just going Tuesdays now. Also, there are no classes next week due to the holiday. (U.S. Thanksgiving)
I'll report back the week after Thanksgiving unless I find something cool to post.
Sayonara,
Dan
I'll report back the week after Thanksgiving unless I find something cool to post.
Sayonara,
Dan
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Great class, bag techniques...
...I got there a bit early, got a chance to talk to Sensei. I explained what I'm planning for my membership, so I will be going just on Tuesdays for the time being.
We started tonight with kata, and I was helping one of the new white belts perfect the first form, Takeoko Kai Ichei. He was reaching too far for his punches, for one thing, but he's doing better now.
After kata, we did bag techniques. We started with freestyle 30-seconds hand and foot techniques, then just feet, then just hands.
The final twenty minutes was sparring.
No classes next week due to Thanksgiving - I'll practice at home.
Sayonara,
Dan
We started tonight with kata, and I was helping one of the new white belts perfect the first form, Takeoko Kai Ichei. He was reaching too far for his punches, for one thing, but he's doing better now.
After kata, we did bag techniques. We started with freestyle 30-seconds hand and foot techniques, then just feet, then just hands.
The final twenty minutes was sparring.
No classes next week due to Thanksgiving - I'll practice at home.
Sayonara,
Dan
YMCA Membership Options...or, "Kata In Crisis."
There are several options, but for the time being, it looks like a "program-only" membership is the route I'll go. That runs $54.00 for the year, but the class session costs are double. Instead of $23.00 every six weeks, it will be $43.00 . Still, that beats not being able to go.
I was starting to get a bit anxious about how I was going to continue. The full adult-individual membership is $516.00 per year this year, going to $556.00 per year in January. There's just no way.
Sayonara,
Dan
I was starting to get a bit anxious about how I was going to continue. The full adult-individual membership is $516.00 per year this year, going to $556.00 per year in January. There's just no way.
Sayonara,
Dan
Thursday, November 13, 2008
A Wonderful Class...
...which I have greatly missed these past couple of weeks. It seems like it's been a month.
I will say this here and now: My Sensei is a kind and generous man. I will not discuss details, but I also will never forget.
Class has a bit of a new structure now. We come in at 7:30pm and joing the second half of the beginner's class, and help them work on various techniques at Sensei's discretion.
After the beginner class bows out at 8:00, we bow in for our class.
Tonight, we started with kata, and Sensei broke a few of us back in with Takeoko Kai Ichei before going into Takeoko Kai Shii and Go. (Takeoko Kai 1,4,5 resprectively.)
At that point I had to stay with Takeoko Kai Shii, because I hadn't started learning Takeoko Kai Go yet. After a couple of rounds, he had one of the other yellow belts a bit futher along than I show me the first half of Go tonight.
After kata, Sensei had us doing eight-point soft blocks and 14-point hard blocks, but with a twist, literally. During the soft blocks, we had to turn in place after each block, one turn for each move. Following that, we had to SPEED DRILL the same thing - blocking and turning as quickly as we could.
Next, he had us go through the 14-point hard blocks with our eyes closed, then speed drill with our eyes closed, then speed drill and turn-per-move with our eyes closed.
That was the first half hour.
The second half hour was all sparring, free style two-minute rounds.
I almost forgot - Sensei & two advanced students used bat-pads (literally like square-padded baseball bats) at the end of the beginner sesssion, and had us all use our hard and soft blocks to block pokes and swings with the bats.
Quite an interesting class.
Sayonara,
Dan
I will say this here and now: My Sensei is a kind and generous man. I will not discuss details, but I also will never forget.
Class has a bit of a new structure now. We come in at 7:30pm and joing the second half of the beginner's class, and help them work on various techniques at Sensei's discretion.
After the beginner class bows out at 8:00, we bow in for our class.
Tonight, we started with kata, and Sensei broke a few of us back in with Takeoko Kai Ichei before going into Takeoko Kai Shii and Go. (Takeoko Kai 1,4,5 resprectively.)
At that point I had to stay with Takeoko Kai Shii, because I hadn't started learning Takeoko Kai Go yet. After a couple of rounds, he had one of the other yellow belts a bit futher along than I show me the first half of Go tonight.
After kata, Sensei had us doing eight-point soft blocks and 14-point hard blocks, but with a twist, literally. During the soft blocks, we had to turn in place after each block, one turn for each move. Following that, we had to SPEED DRILL the same thing - blocking and turning as quickly as we could.
Next, he had us go through the 14-point hard blocks with our eyes closed, then speed drill with our eyes closed, then speed drill and turn-per-move with our eyes closed.
That was the first half hour.
The second half hour was all sparring, free style two-minute rounds.
I almost forgot - Sensei & two advanced students used bat-pads (literally like square-padded baseball bats) at the end of the beginner sesssion, and had us all use our hard and soft blocks to block pokes and swings with the bats.
Quite an interesting class.
Sayonara,
Dan
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Just watched "Forbidden Kingdom"...
...with Jackie Chan & Jet Li. That was a completely fun movie, even my wife liked it. The cinematography was great, though not quite on par with "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "House Of Flying Daggers." Still, it was way up there for Kung Fu movies. I liked what they said, good musicians or poets have their own form of Kung Fu. (I do a bit of both)
I really think the spirit is the deepest part of everything. Set your mind right, and the limits can be gradually...dissolved. Like water eroding rock, practice brings your spirit into alignment with the source skills of the endeavor by aligning your inner energy with it. Call it Chi if you will, but there is more to it than meets the eye - or the feet and fists.
Sayonara,
Dan
I really think the spirit is the deepest part of everything. Set your mind right, and the limits can be gradually...dissolved. Like water eroding rock, practice brings your spirit into alignment with the source skills of the endeavor by aligning your inner energy with it. Call it Chi if you will, but there is more to it than meets the eye - or the feet and fists.
Sayonara,
Dan
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