My mom is religious in her pursuit of spelling and grammar errors on my blog (no I don't spell check it. What would mom do then?) But believe me, there is worse. The good news is email does not make you illiterate. The bad news is you can't hide your illiteracy anymore what with all the email you send.
heater
Bought me one of them groovy oil heaters from Electrolux. Has two timers to set the desired temp at one-hour increments. Has casters. Is totally silent. Gets warm slowly, cools down slower still. Very toasty. Speaking of which, finally broke down and bought a toaster, too. Convinced myself for the longest time that I didn't need one. I was wrong.
calf muscles
A stunningly warm and sunny day. Serious global warming problems when it's the beginning of December yet 24° outside.
Did kenjutsu today for the first time at Shinbukan. Actually, all I did was suburi, practicing one basic cut over and over. Elbow was tweaking, but didn't hurt nearly as badly as my legs. Try this: stand with your feet together, move the right foot way forward and face left, such that your toes and heels are all on one line. Now turn your left knee way, way in until you're facing forward again. And lower your left knee until your left calf and right thigh are parallel to the ground. And don't let either heel touch the ground. Hold that position with practicing basic cuts. For two hours.
Did kenjutsu today for the first time at Shinbukan. Actually, all I did was suburi, practicing one basic cut over and over. Elbow was tweaking, but didn't hurt nearly as badly as my legs. Try this: stand with your feet together, move the right foot way forward and face left, such that your toes and heels are all on one line. Now turn your left knee way, way in until you're facing forward again. And lower your left knee until your left calf and right thigh are parallel to the ground. And don't let either heel touch the ground. Hold that position with practicing basic cuts. For two hours.
cousin dave
Somehow managed to find his way up from Osaka, so he came over for dinner and will crash for a few days as he plots his Tokyo assault.
your own path
So it looks like Kiyokawa, Iwata, Misawa, Hoshi, and Tamaki have decided to leave and do their own iai thing. Everyone's got his own path, I reckon. Perhaps some people already know exactly what they are doing even when they're only 25 and have been training for only a handful of years. Then again being 25 and having some old dudes tell you "You don't know what you're doing, because you're young and inexperienced" isn't really going to convince anyone. Best thing for people who still have lots of growing up to do is, let them grow up. Hell, if my parents were paying my rent and I didn't have to work or study, and could just practice all day, I'd milk it for all I could. As it was, when I was in college I did have my parents paying my rent, but I also worked part-time and busted my ass studying, besides training 7 times a week.
As for my path, thought I would have Honbu all to myself because Miyasawa started teaching the Friday classes at Tokiwa down the street, but as it turns out the gym was full of chairs for an assembly, so everyone ended up coming to Honbu. He and Kaeda spent their time with a new dude, two people watched class, and I just zoned out and practiced for an hour and a half. Recently been trying to figure out how to use my left hand/arm/side of the body, not my right, to draw smoothly and quickly. Definitely Kuroda-sensei's book gave me a hint: the left wrist needs to not be rolled out; keep the left armpit closed, elbow back, open the left chest and keep the wrist straight, dropping the saya back and down.
That whole 'move without moving' thing is pretty farking weird, but here's how I explain it people:
Extend both arms straight out in front, palms together. Now swing open your arms so that your arms are extended out to the sides. Your arms are now open 180 degrees. Each hand moved 90 degrees. OK, so do it again, but this time, as the arms open, pull the right foot back, turning the body to face to the right, moving in sync with the right arm. When you're done, you should again have the arms extended out to your sides, open 180 degrees, only this time you're facing right, not front. Notice the position of the left hand. If you do it carefully, you can move such that the left hand stays fixed in space. But you opened your left arm; it moved 90 degrees from its original position. Get it? Move without moving.
After practice I had a mad craving for sweet & sour pork, so went with Gosoke and Ohtsuka-san and Wakabayashi-kun to the cheap-ass greasy-floored Chinese restaurant at Kanda station, and because I was really hungry I also had spicy shrimp.
As for my path, thought I would have Honbu all to myself because Miyasawa started teaching the Friday classes at Tokiwa down the street, but as it turns out the gym was full of chairs for an assembly, so everyone ended up coming to Honbu. He and Kaeda spent their time with a new dude, two people watched class, and I just zoned out and practiced for an hour and a half. Recently been trying to figure out how to use my left hand/arm/side of the body, not my right, to draw smoothly and quickly. Definitely Kuroda-sensei's book gave me a hint: the left wrist needs to not be rolled out; keep the left armpit closed, elbow back, open the left chest and keep the wrist straight, dropping the saya back and down.
That whole 'move without moving' thing is pretty farking weird, but here's how I explain it people:
Extend both arms straight out in front, palms together. Now swing open your arms so that your arms are extended out to the sides. Your arms are now open 180 degrees. Each hand moved 90 degrees. OK, so do it again, but this time, as the arms open, pull the right foot back, turning the body to face to the right, moving in sync with the right arm. When you're done, you should again have the arms extended out to your sides, open 180 degrees, only this time you're facing right, not front. Notice the position of the left hand. If you do it carefully, you can move such that the left hand stays fixed in space. But you opened your left arm; it moved 90 degrees from its original position. Get it? Move without moving.
After practice I had a mad craving for sweet & sour pork, so went with Gosoke and Ohtsuka-san and Wakabayashi-kun to the cheap-ass greasy-floored Chinese restaurant at Kanda station, and because I was really hungry I also had spicy shrimp.
DB 70's X-Mas Party 2004
Had our 2004 X-Mas party for equities sales, research, and clients.
70's theme, so I dressed appropriately.
Ann's knife fight scar
She took on three drunk, armed attackers, disabled two, but the third dude stuck her...or maybe it was just surgery...
bookmark string
I can't honestly say if it's a Japanese thing or not, but whenever I buy a book it comes with a string attached to the spine to be used as a bookmark. I find that incredibly useful.
virtual keyboard
As a matter of fact, this is the coolest toy currently in my possession.
Red laser projects image of keyboard on my flat desk. Then all I do is type. Touch typing takes on a whole new meaning with this thing, but it's damn fun to use.
Naturally it has a battery and cables to hook up to all the various palms and portables for road warrior use.
cousin dave
My family is, like all families, insane.
Got a voicemail on my cellphone:
Got a voicemail on my cellphone:
"Heah it's Dave...I'm at the airport in Tokyo now...I gotta meet this IBM lady and then go to the hotel...so maybe we can have dinner later, cause I don't feel too tired. The hotel is...The Royal, Park...something. Near the TC...? In the middle, y'know, of Tokyo. OK. Bye."So I email Hiroko in an attempt to decipher this enigma. She writes back:
Well, you're related to him by blood.She is great. I am not worthy.
Royal Park Hotel in Hakozaki, close to TCAT (Tokyo City Air Terminal).
http://www.rph.co.jp/access/index.html
Tel: 3667-1111
I called them and left him a message to call us at home or my mobile when he checks in this evening.
I am great.
Hiroko
manhattan tie
An incredibly cool tie from Emy and Dolph. X marks the spot where they live.
Hint, as the holiday season approaches: I can always use more cool ties!
half-life 2
Had a big seminar for everyone in Mugairyu. First one in a while, and about 75 people showed up so that was cool. As expected, plenty of idiotic he-said-she-said politics and conspiracy theories. Man, just shut up and train already!
After that I went up to Yutenji to have dinner with Smallwood. We went back to his place to make sure his new sound card was working. By playing Half-life 2. Let me use my fine command of the English language to explain how good this game is: holy fucking shit.
And that's about all you need to know. The machine gun and rocket launcher are cool, but not nearly as much fun as using the gravity gun to:
After that I went up to Yutenji to have dinner with Smallwood. We went back to his place to make sure his new sound card was working. By playing Half-life 2. Let me use my fine command of the English language to explain how good this game is: holy fucking shit.
And that's about all you need to know. The machine gun and rocket launcher are cool, but not nearly as much fun as using the gravity gun to:
- whiz circular saw blades through multiple targets
- knock furniture into shards
- splatter paint cans
- smack around dead bodies hanging from bungie cords
- throw milk crates
This game makes we want to buy a PC just to be able to play it!
yamamoto
This is Yamamoto-san. She's one of Hiroko's Fighting Fitness instructors. 15% body fat. Chiseled muscles. And totally, completely goofy.
inoue sensei's birthday
Inoue-sensei, who runs Hiroko's Fighting Fitness Kyokushin Karate Gym. We went to a local Korean restaurant for his 36th birthday and packed far too many people into a tiny space. Everyone was generally muscle-bound (including a pro boxer who was huge) and really nice. The women in particular are generally insane.
shinbukan
I went with Keith up to Saitama to Kuroda Tetsuzan Sensei's Shinbukan practice. This guy is a legend; he is probably the single most talented koryu martial artist alive today. First of all, he has alien bug muscles. He can basically move any muscle in his body independently of any other muscle. So for example he can twist his upper arm clockwise and at the same time twist his forearm counter-clockwise. He flows like mercury and has incredible balance. You grab onto him and he doesn't move...only he's wrapped his leg around yours and swept you to the floor before you know what's going on. Freaky fun. We spent most of the time doing various body movement exercises, trying to move without moving, push without pushing. Basically impossible stuff, until Kuroda-sensei does it and shows that it can be done.
viking
Went to Namikawa Heibei in the morning with the gang, and bought tons of stuff.
In the afternoon we went to Honbu (with a quick haircut detour) for training, and then after training we naturally went to the all-u-can-eat-&-drink place.
Nothing like a viking buffet to get the blood flowing!
curry @ kenbokke
Sent the kids down to Machida to train so Hiroko and I went to get some curry at Kenbokke. Damn fine eats.
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