Cross posted from Karate Daily
The sign of a true karateka…
I have been lazy of recent days… and have yet to post on here, indeed I must admit that I have fallen behind in my reading through Phil’s posts as well… but as I sit here in the Cube that I call work (I am Audit Drone 89 of 300…) I couldn’t help but comment on one of them… and since the comments function doesn’t seem to be working (Phil… something to fix?) I thought why not make it a full post… The post I am referring to is Phil’s “The art of Boodusho”.
When you say “Few people command respect like Sensei Tony” people need to know that the statement is not made lightly… it really is true. The Tams are two of the greatest martial arts instructors I have ever met… a fact that came glaringly to light when I moved back home and joined one of the clubs here. Sensei Tony is a superb technical instructor, but perhaps his greatest quality is that he commands the respect of his peers and his students by just being who he is, there is no effort involved and no show put on. In my experience it has been WYSIWYG with both of the Tams, and the size and dedication of the clubs under them is a true testament to not only their ability as instructors, but also who they are.
I can honestly say I have met few instructors that rival the Tams, and I thank them for introducing me to Karate. Their training is something that will stay with me until the day I die.
- Matt
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The sign of a true karateka...
Monday, July 7, 2008
The rebirth of B.A.R.D.
Been a while since I posted anything, but things have been busy here. We just moved into an apartment down the road from my parents house, which is awesome! Two stories, 2 bed 1 bath with a combination kitchen/living room downstairs. Much more comfortable now!
With the new apartment came the decision of what to do with my boat... I got a boat a couple years back for free from some friends of the family that had it hauled up for years, its a 16ft Kestrel dinghy which needs some fairly extensive hull work to get it back in the water, but the sails are in great condition. It will need a new set of rigging, and the iron centreboard keel is rusted fairly badly around the pivot point, so that will need some welding work as well.
The first problem was finding a location to DO the work, since it can't be done at my parents house. The apartment has a driveway of sorts, but it is a shared access point to the central field that the villas surround, so that was out of the question. My uncle had previously suggested that we might be able to use a shed on the property of his business, but there were two problems with that; 1) he doesn't own the property, and 2) it isn't close enough to home that I can just hop over and do some work on random occasions... So I had quite a problem. Fortunately, my grandparents live across the road from me now... and they have a more than adequate driveway that is almost never occupied. Success! I now have a location to do the work! I got my grandad's permission (he doesn't mind... partially because he's too old to care and he's already built more than a couple boats of his own in the same location... so it might give him some interest...)
Moving the boat proved less trouble than i had anticipated... My uncle had a trailer free on Sunday so we got together my dad, brother, uncle myself and a few others and moved the boat down the road easily. All of the odds and ends were already in boxes in my dad's garage, so it was no problem to toss them all in the back of my truck and stick them on my patio / under the stairs inside. The 20ft mast is laid down next to the hull in the driveway, so everything is sorted :) The sails are sitting happily under the stairs with the rudder, tiller and a couple other nicknacks... so now "all" thats left is to fix the boat itself!
next step... mobilising the "work force" to repair the hull... Need to sand down the gelcoat to fiberglass, fix the specific areas that need strengthening / rebuilding, then recoat the entire hull with a layer of glass (to be safe...) and gelcoat. Not too hard right...
With the new apartment came the decision of what to do with my boat... I got a boat a couple years back for free from some friends of the family that had it hauled up for years, its a 16ft Kestrel dinghy which needs some fairly extensive hull work to get it back in the water, but the sails are in great condition. It will need a new set of rigging, and the iron centreboard keel is rusted fairly badly around the pivot point, so that will need some welding work as well.
The first problem was finding a location to DO the work, since it can't be done at my parents house. The apartment has a driveway of sorts, but it is a shared access point to the central field that the villas surround, so that was out of the question. My uncle had previously suggested that we might be able to use a shed on the property of his business, but there were two problems with that; 1) he doesn't own the property, and 2) it isn't close enough to home that I can just hop over and do some work on random occasions... So I had quite a problem. Fortunately, my grandparents live across the road from me now... and they have a more than adequate driveway that is almost never occupied. Success! I now have a location to do the work! I got my grandad's permission (he doesn't mind... partially because he's too old to care and he's already built more than a couple boats of his own in the same location... so it might give him some interest...)
Moving the boat proved less trouble than i had anticipated... My uncle had a trailer free on Sunday so we got together my dad, brother, uncle myself and a few others and moved the boat down the road easily. All of the odds and ends were already in boxes in my dad's garage, so it was no problem to toss them all in the back of my truck and stick them on my patio / under the stairs inside. The 20ft mast is laid down next to the hull in the driveway, so everything is sorted :) The sails are sitting happily under the stairs with the rudder, tiller and a couple other nicknacks... so now "all" thats left is to fix the boat itself!
next step... mobilising the "work force" to repair the hull... Need to sand down the gelcoat to fiberglass, fix the specific areas that need strengthening / rebuilding, then recoat the entire hull with a layer of glass (to be safe...) and gelcoat. Not too hard right...
Monday, May 26, 2008
Barbados Rediculousness
Now I love Barbados... but its a lot like Communism... a great theory but when you actually have it running in a practical sense it SUCKS... today's case-in-point... setting up a Bridal Registry...
In order to set up our Bridal Registry, I called Cave Shepherd to schedule a date we could come in and do all the picking out of stuff. Would that it were so easy! This apparently is not how it works... First you have to go in to Register to Register... yeah... you have to physically go into the office to make an appointment to COME BACK and select all of the goodies that you want people to buy for you. Does this make sense to ANYONE? I couldn't simply do this over the phone??? In a NORMAL country you CALL them to make an appointment to come in to select stuff...
Just another example of the rediculousness of Barbados... I also hate going into town specifically for other reasons, predominantly the rampant scent of urine, and the constant barrage of offers for a taxi... Now don't get me wrong, were I to want a taxi the ability to draw taxi-men like flies would be GREAT, but it gets annoying when they are standing in a group and you have to tell each one individually that you do not require a taxi. The faux british accents just add to the effect really...
Today's specific town annoyance? Assholes that park IN FRONT OF the entrance to the fenced off parking area, instead of just going inside and paying the measely $1 per hour. It's not just the sheer cheapness that bugs me, it is the whole fact that they parked in such a way as to actually partially BLOCK the entrance. WTF???????
- Matt
In order to set up our Bridal Registry, I called Cave Shepherd to schedule a date we could come in and do all the picking out of stuff. Would that it were so easy! This apparently is not how it works... First you have to go in to Register to Register... yeah... you have to physically go into the office to make an appointment to COME BACK and select all of the goodies that you want people to buy for you. Does this make sense to ANYONE? I couldn't simply do this over the phone??? In a NORMAL country you CALL them to make an appointment to come in to select stuff...
Just another example of the rediculousness of Barbados... I also hate going into town specifically for other reasons, predominantly the rampant scent of urine, and the constant barrage of offers for a taxi... Now don't get me wrong, were I to want a taxi the ability to draw taxi-men like flies would be GREAT, but it gets annoying when they are standing in a group and you have to tell each one individually that you do not require a taxi. The faux british accents just add to the effect really...
Today's specific town annoyance? Assholes that park IN FRONT OF the entrance to the fenced off parking area, instead of just going inside and paying the measely $1 per hour. It's not just the sheer cheapness that bugs me, it is the whole fact that they parked in such a way as to actually partially BLOCK the entrance. WTF???????
- Matt
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Karate food for thought...
Found this on the Karate Underground forum, thought I would share it... I have copied the original post here without the references as they are very long. The post is somewhat a summary of the findings of the studies referenced. Thought you would find it interesting, the link to the original forum topic is: http://www.karatethejapaneseway.com/karate_underground/viewtopic.php?t=8407
Enjoy!
"The following is a brief summary from the referenced research.
Research has shown that child and adolescent problem behavior can be a precursor of adult criminality but that the peer tutoring and coaching of Karate have a significant effect on positive social behaviors.
One survey examined the aggressive tendencies of participants at seven different martial art schools of Karate, Taekwondo and Jujitsu. The survey evaluated the importance of meditation, the amount of respect the students showed towards the sensei, the dojo, and each other, the level of contact allowed to vital areas of the body, and the relative importance of Kata. Based on this, they classified four of the schools as "Traditional" (more meditation, respect and Kata, less contact to vital areas) and three of them as "Modern". Beginning students in both traditional and modern schools had similar scores. More advanced students in the traditional schools showed lower scores for aggression than beginning students.
There was no change in the scores of the students at the schools with the "Modern" emphasis. Other surveys have shown similar results. Traditional martial arts students increase their self-acceptance which does not occur for students with a Modern emphasis in training.
Most research supports the idea that it is the training environment and style of instruction which influences these differences. One study has shown the possibility that it is the sensei or coach who acts as a role-model and "leads by example". It has been shown that there is a positive correlation between an instructor's aggressiveness and his/her student's aggressiveness. Conversely there is a negative correlation between an instructor's Traditional characteristics and his/her student's aggressiveness. One interpretation of this is that the student models the behavior of the instructor.
Karate is a complex psychomotor activity that enhances perceptual and motor skills. Karate encourages self-regulation and executive skills through self-discipline, self-control, self-respect, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-improvement. It has been shown, when properly taught using a strong role model, peer group and value system, to be a effective method for problem behavior reduction. A significant improvement in temperament scale scores of intensity, adaptability and mood regulation is shown throughout the many studies carried out since the 50's. Some of the psychosocial benefits seen in martial arts studies probably originate from the physical activity itself. Exercise in many forms can promote psychological well-being amongst the practitioners. However, research which directly compares martial arts with other forms of physical exercise shows that a martial art produces positive psychosocial changes that are greater and more far-reaching than those produced by many other physical activities. These changes may have different cause and are probably due to other non-exercise-related aspects of Karate."
Enjoy!
"The following is a brief summary from the referenced research.
Research has shown that child and adolescent problem behavior can be a precursor of adult criminality but that the peer tutoring and coaching of Karate have a significant effect on positive social behaviors.
One survey examined the aggressive tendencies of participants at seven different martial art schools of Karate, Taekwondo and Jujitsu. The survey evaluated the importance of meditation, the amount of respect the students showed towards the sensei, the dojo, and each other, the level of contact allowed to vital areas of the body, and the relative importance of Kata. Based on this, they classified four of the schools as "Traditional" (more meditation, respect and Kata, less contact to vital areas) and three of them as "Modern". Beginning students in both traditional and modern schools had similar scores. More advanced students in the traditional schools showed lower scores for aggression than beginning students.
There was no change in the scores of the students at the schools with the "Modern" emphasis. Other surveys have shown similar results. Traditional martial arts students increase their self-acceptance which does not occur for students with a Modern emphasis in training.
Most research supports the idea that it is the training environment and style of instruction which influences these differences. One study has shown the possibility that it is the sensei or coach who acts as a role-model and "leads by example". It has been shown that there is a positive correlation between an instructor's aggressiveness and his/her student's aggressiveness. Conversely there is a negative correlation between an instructor's Traditional characteristics and his/her student's aggressiveness. One interpretation of this is that the student models the behavior of the instructor.
Karate is a complex psychomotor activity that enhances perceptual and motor skills. Karate encourages self-regulation and executive skills through self-discipline, self-control, self-respect, self-confidence, self-esteem, self-knowledge and self-improvement. It has been shown, when properly taught using a strong role model, peer group and value system, to be a effective method for problem behavior reduction. A significant improvement in temperament scale scores of intensity, adaptability and mood regulation is shown throughout the many studies carried out since the 50's. Some of the psychosocial benefits seen in martial arts studies probably originate from the physical activity itself. Exercise in many forms can promote psychological well-being amongst the practitioners. However, research which directly compares martial arts with other forms of physical exercise shows that a martial art produces positive psychosocial changes that are greater and more far-reaching than those produced by many other physical activities. These changes may have different cause and are probably due to other non-exercise-related aspects of Karate."
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Shotokan in Bim
For the last 6 months we have been training at the main Shotokan club here... but haven't really enjoyed it much. The classes hardly ever focus on anything but sparring drills, except for just before grading when they rush to do some kata so that nobody fails... All of the issues combined have actually caused my karate to get worse since coming home, even though I am training More Often.
All of this is changing though, as we started training at one of the affiliated clubs last week. It is a lot further from my house, but well worth the drive as the instructor is much more active in teaching the class as opposed to simply coaching the class. These are apparently the technical terms, as my teacher fiancee taught me recently. The difference being that teaching refers to actively giving positive and negative feedback to the pupils, wheras coaching refers to sitting back and letting people figure things out for themselves. The majority of the instructors here seem to fall under the "coach" category. The classes at this club have so far been better by far than the ones at the main dojo, even the ones run by the lower ranking black belts (as opposed to the 6th Dan that runs the club). The classes are far more intense (without the constant breaks to stretch...) and focus on drills that are much more useful and relevant to the kata. Sparring drills are done along with actual instruction as to the proper application, as well as feedback on what we did wrong.
To sum it all up... I don't think we are ever going back to the main club for regular trainings, the most we will go for might be the "tournament training" classes (once or twice a month), which are a joke in their own right. Their "special" training for tournaments is the equivalent of an average class back in Canada...
Anywho, I'm over the moon that we found a good class that we enjoy. With a grading coming up in about 2 weeks (which we just found out about... since it was supposed to be in MARCH...) this revelation couldn't have been sooner.
Can't wait for training on Friday.
All of this is changing though, as we started training at one of the affiliated clubs last week. It is a lot further from my house, but well worth the drive as the instructor is much more active in teaching the class as opposed to simply coaching the class. These are apparently the technical terms, as my teacher fiancee taught me recently. The difference being that teaching refers to actively giving positive and negative feedback to the pupils, wheras coaching refers to sitting back and letting people figure things out for themselves. The majority of the instructors here seem to fall under the "coach" category. The classes at this club have so far been better by far than the ones at the main dojo, even the ones run by the lower ranking black belts (as opposed to the 6th Dan that runs the club). The classes are far more intense (without the constant breaks to stretch...) and focus on drills that are much more useful and relevant to the kata. Sparring drills are done along with actual instruction as to the proper application, as well as feedback on what we did wrong.
To sum it all up... I don't think we are ever going back to the main club for regular trainings, the most we will go for might be the "tournament training" classes (once or twice a month), which are a joke in their own right. Their "special" training for tournaments is the equivalent of an average class back in Canada...
Anywho, I'm over the moon that we found a good class that we enjoy. With a grading coming up in about 2 weeks (which we just found out about... since it was supposed to be in MARCH...) this revelation couldn't have been sooner.
Can't wait for training on Friday.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Painballin' in Barbados
Set up a paintball game for my department at work that went off yesterday. A blast was had by all. Ended up with 20 people in total, a mixture of people from work and their friends, and that made for a wicked 10 v 10 ctf match on "Mongoose Island" up at Kendal Sporting. This arena is literally an island with ridges and bushes and lots of long grass, making for a great set of games.
The other team had an early lead after my group failed to get good cover points early on, and they quickly monopolized on this by taking out our advance squads and getting the flag back to their base for a quick win. We learned from our mistakes, however, and after a quick strategy session we developed a solid base strategy which we used to capture the next two wins in a row. We had about half the team set up a back row and laying down covering fire from the very beginning as they crested the first ridge, with myself as runner heading straight down the middle to take up a good spot close to the flag to assess the situation and then run in during a break in fire to grab the flag and fall back quickly. One of the others worked his way to the flag position by combat crawling around the side of the main path and taking up position where I could drop the flag off to him if I got shot (which I did... repeatedly...) and from which he could sneak back around to our base without the other team realising. The others took up covering positions closer in on the second ridge to protect us on the retreat.
This plan worked well on both occasions, but we suffered major casualties at the hands of a good friend of mine (and professional paintballer...) who formed the backbone of the other
squad. Unfortunately, this was not enough and we managed to take the day with a 2-1 win over the others. All in fun!
The free-for-all final run was another highlight, with everyone taking up tactical positions for an all-out war on one another. A few of us took up a position deep in the grass and were doing quite well. Myself and one other combat crawled into the high grass and managed to take out a few people before I had to fall back to a group position in a small cleared area with a tree. My ninja friend from earlier had set up next to the tree picking off people behind barrels and such. I joined him there, along with another latecomer, and we formed a solid defensive point until one of the IT guys from work made his way all the way around the island and came up on us from behind. He got a few shots off on us before we all pivoted on him and sprayed him in orange.
All-in-all, everyone had a blast, and I would recommend this sport to anyone. Working on setting up a competition team with a few of the guys from work, and hoping to convince the company they should give us money to do it too!!! My only wish? Get an urban setting made and fast! I want sniper positions!!!
The other team had an early lead after my group failed to get good cover points early on, and they quickly monopolized on this by taking out our advance squads and getting the flag back to their base for a quick win. We learned from our mistakes, however, and after a quick strategy session we developed a solid base strategy which we used to capture the next two wins in a row. We had about half the team set up a back row and laying down covering fire from the very beginning as they crested the first ridge, with myself as runner heading straight down the middle to take up a good spot close to the flag to assess the situation and then run in during a break in fire to grab the flag and fall back quickly. One of the others worked his way to the flag position by combat crawling around the side of the main path and taking up position where I could drop the flag off to him if I got shot (which I did... repeatedly...) and from which he could sneak back around to our base without the other team realising. The others took up covering positions closer in on the second ridge to protect us on the retreat.
This plan worked well on both occasions, but we suffered major casualties at the hands of a good friend of mine (and professional paintballer...) who formed the backbone of the other
squad. Unfortunately, this was not enough and we managed to take the day with a 2-1 win over the others. All in fun!The free-for-all final run was another highlight, with everyone taking up tactical positions for an all-out war on one another. A few of us took up a position deep in the grass and were doing quite well. Myself and one other combat crawled into the high grass and managed to take out a few people before I had to fall back to a group position in a small cleared area with a tree. My ninja friend from earlier had set up next to the tree picking off people behind barrels and such. I joined him there, along with another latecomer, and we formed a solid defensive point until one of the IT guys from work made his way all the way around the island and came up on us from behind. He got a few shots off on us before we all pivoted on him and sprayed him in orange.
All-in-all, everyone had a blast, and I would recommend this sport to anyone. Working on setting up a competition team with a few of the guys from work, and hoping to convince the company they should give us money to do it too!!! My only wish? Get an urban setting made and fast! I want sniper positions!!!
Tha Winnaaaas!
Tha Loosas!
Tha Loosas!
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Cattlewash Camping Trip
Went camping this weekend with my dad, brother, some cousins and their dad, and a couple other people. We drove down to Cattlewash early on Friday afternoon to pitch our tents in a neat sheltered area just off the main road and spent the afternoon chilling out on the beach playing football. I was a bit sick with a URT Infection so I ended up spending a lot of the time chilling in the hammock we brought and reading Emperor: Death of Kings by Conn Iggulden (great series, great author...). When the sun dropped behind the hills we had our lanterns out with the cd player blaring rock music from my parents' era, sippin on wine / baileys and all-around chillin 'out.
After a long night of high winds and sheet rain, during which my brother and his friend's tent got blown down around them, soaking them and the tent and causing them to retreat to my dad's grand vitara for the rest of the night, my dad's other brother Bruce and his posse showed up bright and early in his Land Rover with french toast applenty! Unfortunately they couldn't stay, because it was his wife's birthday (we forgot when planning the trip!!). The rest of our group also showed up and we were off to hike up through the hills of the Scotland District National Park, which gets its name from the fact that certain areas look like the Highlands.
We spent about 3 hours total on the whole trip, hiking up the southern side of the Mount, having to search for the trail we normally use as it had overgrown through lack of use. Normally the route takes us on a brisk walk along the side of the slope, meandering up to a hill-crest that we then follow around to the top of Chalky Mt. After that it is just a quick climb up
through gaps in the rock to the top. The geology of the area is really neat, the whole range was uplifted in some kind of massive geological event millenia ago, and the crust that formed it is alternating layers of chalk and some kind of high ferrous content volcanic (maybe?) rock. Since then the chalk has eroded away much faster than the other rock, leaving the ridges that we walk along, the hills and mountains themselves, and lots of small run-off created valleys. On top of all of this is also a layer of the very clay-ey "soil" that is typical of the area.Normally, the descent is a quick reverse of the route up, with a semi-jog down the fairly steep, rambling slope of the base. When we were at the top, however, we decided to do something different and do the descent on the steeper northern side of the Mount and pop over to Windy Hill to look for salt crystals on the hill my dad's family used to own. This was a bit more tricky of a descent and involved an almost vertical climb down the face of the rock, but still safe enough for your average hiker avec guide. Case in point: my cousins and I used to run amok
around the hills at Windy Hill when we were probably about 6 or 8, and all of the kids in my family (including me obviously...) have been up to the Chalky Mount Summit at the tender age of 3. On this occasion one of the kids with us was 10, and he got down fine (although he had to be helped in some areas...). After the initial descent, the rest of the way down essentially involves following the crests in the hills all the way down to the coast, using the trees and other vegetation as handholds to climb down the steeper sections.All in all, it was a great day and lots of fun all around! Only a few minor injuries, not unexpected due to the nature of the hike. Nobody was hurt badly and we all had a blast! Anyone who visits Barbados, I would definitely recommend this hike. Unfortunately (or fortunately...) I don't think there are any guided tours, so you would have to find the route for yourself or maybe give me a call and convince my dad and I to show you the way ;)
Full album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=10880&l=9cb5a&id=501494043
Rating:
Difficulty: Medium to Difficult - no marked trail, majority of the route is a combination of climbing / hiking with some parts requiring you to scale short sections of cliff face.
View: AMAZING. You can see the entire East Coast from the summit, really breathtaking.
Recommendation: Find someone who knows the area (and who you can trust...) to take you if you plan to do this hike, or at very least to explain the route. There is no marked trail so it would be easy to get stuck and not know where to go. There are no companies in Barbados that do this (that I know of) so you might have to wing-it, but its worth it when you get to the top.
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