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Monthly Archives: April 2008
Sylvan Lake Bushido Open Tournament
If you read anything at all, you have to read the last two paragraphs. The Goju Ryu club at Sylvan Lake kindly hosted this tournament. It was the first open we attended as observers. MM and I got there around 10:30 AM yesterday and stayed until the end somewhere around 5:30 PM. We really enjoyed seeing the different styles and what the sparring was like. The organizers and volunteers did a really good job in spite of the shortage of Black Belts available for judging. At times there were only two judges per ring. There were 4 rings plus an area set aside for mats where there was grappling. I personally feel that the competitors did their best and it was apparent that they worked very hard to perfect their various kata and styles. Apart from Goju Ryu and maybe other karate styles, Gung Fu and Tai Kwan Do were … Continue reading
Posted in Everyday Stuff, Karate
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Run 31, 2008
First of all, I was at the Bushido Open Martial Arts Tournament in Sylvan Lake yesterday and I happened to start up a conversation with a man who, along with me, was watching a grappling match. I remember he said he used to be quite active in Ju Jitsu and was some sort of champion at one point. What I definitely do remember though, is asking him if he still did it. He said he was no longer active in this and replied something like, “At my age it takes too long to heal…” He is right, of course, and I agreed with him. But in hindsight (which is often 20/20 for me) I would have liked to say to him: “Yes, but how much time do you have left?” As if he did not have enough time left in his life to heal. So what if it takes us … Continue reading
Posted in Everyday Stuff, Training Notes, Training Runs
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Run 30, 2008
Well, thirty runs this year doesn’t seem like much. But I guess it is when I think it’s only mid-April. I went to the doctor today to get my ankles x-rayed because they were and are very sore when flexed in certain ways. This injury began in the second week of my bout with that nasty flu. I am not sure if I injured it sparring in karate or running on the trails, or what. Or maybe it is lingering arthritic type pain from the flu. I know I had a sore loose-feeling tooth as part of my flu symptoms, and it is fine now and feels rock solid. Anyway I am behind in my marathon training. I don’t know if it is good or bad timing that this flu hit me right at the beginning of my marathon training. But I was getting really worried about it and this … Continue reading
Posted in Training Notes, Training Runs
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Karate 36
Tonight we pretty much were shown everything we would need to grade to green. We were shown Pinan Shodan, which is the first Pinan kata. They teach Pinan Nidan (the second kata) first because Pinan Shodan has more difficult moves with new techniques not needed at a yellow belt level. We were also shown ippon kumites 11 through 15. The white belts practiced their own forms too. One new white belt, an adult, needed to learn ippon kumites from the more advanced white belts even though they were children. So Trotman Sensei told the little ones to attack and block hard, not with limp spaghetti or noodle arms, but with force and determination. So I was astonished when a little one (with his great imagination) asked whether he should use hard spaghetti arms, like uncooked spaghetti. I guess imagination is not always an asset here. I am not sure the … Continue reading
Posted in Karate, Training Notes
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Run 29, 2008
Well I wanted to do a long run today but it just wasn’t in me. Still not healed, still too weak. I cut it short after my usual 7 km. I did that in 59:30 for an 8:30 pace which is a minute slower than my preferred training pace. Well, at least I tried. I will do better next time. Except for karate, no training until Wednesday when I do another 7 km run.
Posted in Training Notes, Training Runs
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War, war, and more war…and a rant about war…
I was just thinking about the latest news from Iraq and how a Shiite cleric is urging 1,000,000 Iraqis to rise up against American forces. Sigh. It’s not about religion or about ousting the “evil” American occupying forces. It’s the same all over the world, whether in Afghanistan or Somalia or Iraq or wherever. It’s about petty criminals who want to maintain or get power so they can enslave other people because they are egotistical fools who don’t give a damn about their own people except to somehow preserve a remnant to enslave, a remnant people who will be available to worship those in power. I truly believe that these terrorists who masquerade in the guise of holy men or patriots fanatically seek and feed chaos and terror until such time as they can seize power for themselves and their greedy followers. If they truly wanted American forces out of … Continue reading
Posted in WTF?
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Karate 35
We got slammed last night with a nasty snow storm that just destroyed the good driving conditions. We went to karate anyway and some people didn’t make it but we still had a relatively large class. We began learning our new katas today. I am still sore from the flu and from grading last Tuesday and my 7 km run yesterday but I am getting better. We hope to be awarded our new belts either this Tuesday, or next Saturday unless the class gets canceled due to the Open Martial Arts Tournament in Sylvan Lake. We hope to go observe this but we have no plans to participate. Last night we went to see Mozart’s Requiem with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Richard Eaton Singers, and the Edmonton Ballet. It was very impressive. Apart from the great music and dance, what struck me the most was how agile, fit, and … Continue reading
Posted in Karate, Training Notes
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