It's already been two weeks since the SKI-USAF qualifying tournament for the SKIF world championships. I'm sorry I'm late for with this update.
I managed to place first in my division for kata and third place overall. I also, at the last minute, decided to do kumite. 12 years since i retired from competition, I entered the ring and got pretty much beat up. I'm not disheartened, though. My losing had more to do with ring rust than anything else, and now that I've gotten rid of some of that, I think I'll be in good shape for Japan. I placed third in my division.
A couple of observations.
In kata, as I thought, it seems the judges are more swayed by posing than they are by movement. The winner was good. But there seemed to be little of martial quality to his kata. the person who got second place in kata was better than the winner, in my opinion. I think what is needed now is for me to re-learn how to pose for the judges. I retired from competition to get away from the posing game, but I guess when in Rome I must do as Romans.
In kumite, as I said earlier, I attribute my loss more to a matter of ring rust than anything else. I saw the man coming, as he really loaded up to hit me. I timed him well earlier on, but he got me with two good shots...one as i was trying to beat him to the punch. Didn't help me any that he was 6-7 inches taller than me, and a sensei at a dojo in the city. he beat me 1-0.
Anyway, I've picked up my training, so I think I'll be okay in Japan.
Now I just have to prepare for the naginata nationals in two weeks.
It never ends.
Update: 07/18/2006
Just posted a video on Google Video of one of the kata I performed at the tournament. It isn't the most impressive kata around, but it's a start. Because I've not done a Shotokan kata for tournament in years, my stances are much higher and shorter than they should be (thanks to the shorin-ryu influence). Consider this a work in progress.
Friday, June 23, 2006
Saturday, May 27, 2006
katori shinto ryu naginata
this is a video of a traditional naginata demonstration i found on google video. its katori shinto ryu.
apparently theyre pre-scripted routines ... though they look as if theyre really fighting. extremely interesting.
Monday, May 08, 2006
I've picked my two tournament kata
I'm still tuning up Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Jion, and Empi. I think all but Kanku Dai are coming along just nicely (I dont like to practice Kanku Dai much because it's so friggin long and it's kind of boring.) I have to get each and every one of them perfect by the time I do the kohaku kata competition in Japan.
I've also decided on two kata i hope will get me through the semifinals and finals: Unsu and Gojushiho-sho.
I've been practicing Unsu for the last three or four weeks, just trying to bring out the spirit of the kata. Right now, i think the rhythm and timing are progressing nicely, but I'm stil way too rough. over the next three to four weeks, I hope to see me getting much more graceful with the kata, while still maintaining the power I've been working on.
As for Gojushiho ... One reason i never really liked this kata as a competition kata is because I found it wuie difficult to bring out the life of the kata. I don't think I've seen anyone so a really lively Gojushiho yet -- almost everyone either really emphasizes the power of the kata (like they do with Sochin) or they simply try to make it tehnically sound at the expense of making it dynamic. I had no one to emulate, so figuring out my own rhythm and timing was pretty time consuming. Thankfully, over the weekend, I think i started touching on the proper feeling of the kata. I'll try to further develop my feel for the kata over the next few months.
Also, as i work out at home, I'm getting more and more inspired to do kumite.
If i decide to do it, i sure hope my ankle doesn't get torn apart.
:(
more on training later.
I've also decided on two kata i hope will get me through the semifinals and finals: Unsu and Gojushiho-sho.
I've been practicing Unsu for the last three or four weeks, just trying to bring out the spirit of the kata. Right now, i think the rhythm and timing are progressing nicely, but I'm stil way too rough. over the next three to four weeks, I hope to see me getting much more graceful with the kata, while still maintaining the power I've been working on.
As for Gojushiho ... One reason i never really liked this kata as a competition kata is because I found it wuie difficult to bring out the life of the kata. I don't think I've seen anyone so a really lively Gojushiho yet -- almost everyone either really emphasizes the power of the kata (like they do with Sochin) or they simply try to make it tehnically sound at the expense of making it dynamic. I had no one to emulate, so figuring out my own rhythm and timing was pretty time consuming. Thankfully, over the weekend, I think i started touching on the proper feeling of the kata. I'll try to further develop my feel for the kata over the next few months.
Also, as i work out at home, I'm getting more and more inspired to do kumite.
If i decide to do it, i sure hope my ankle doesn't get torn apart.
:(
more on training later.
Monday, April 24, 2006
I'm still a fat bastard
I certainly don't look like it, but apparently I'm still a fat bastard! I weighed myself in the locker room today.
170 pounds.
Shit.
This is crazy, too, because I feel like 155-160. And people say they've noticed I've lost a lot of weight. But 170 pounds isn't too far off of 174, which was the heaviest I'd ever recorded myself. Maybe the scale might be broken?
Who knows? At least I'm moving quicker. I'm feeling leaner. And my training is picking up.
I did some sequences from the kata Unsu tonight. It's been so long since I did that kata. It's rusty, but the core feeling of the moves is still there. I'm confident I can get it to a world-class kata by November. Also, my four basic kata -- Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Empi, and Jion -- are shaping up nicely. I'm particularly pleased with the progress of my Jion and Bassai Dai. They're shaping up to be very solid.
In other news, I'm seriously considering going for kumite at the world championships. This is despite my screwed ankle. I am going to tape the shit out of my ankle everytime I train and when I fight in Japan. I should be okay.
170 pounds.
Shit.
This is crazy, too, because I feel like 155-160. And people say they've noticed I've lost a lot of weight. But 170 pounds isn't too far off of 174, which was the heaviest I'd ever recorded myself. Maybe the scale might be broken?
Who knows? At least I'm moving quicker. I'm feeling leaner. And my training is picking up.
I did some sequences from the kata Unsu tonight. It's been so long since I did that kata. It's rusty, but the core feeling of the moves is still there. I'm confident I can get it to a world-class kata by November. Also, my four basic kata -- Bassai Dai, Kanku Dai, Empi, and Jion -- are shaping up nicely. I'm particularly pleased with the progress of my Jion and Bassai Dai. They're shaping up to be very solid.
In other news, I'm seriously considering going for kumite at the world championships. This is despite my screwed ankle. I am going to tape the shit out of my ankle everytime I train and when I fight in Japan. I should be okay.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
He's back -- competitor already in the swing of things
I don't know what happened, but it's as if someone flipped on the switch and I'm back in training mode. The competitior within me, which was dormant since I got into tango last year, has awakened once more.
I don't think there was one single reason for this re-awakening, but rather a confluence of events ... the first of which happened last week. And that had a little to do with a woman.
For the 26 years that I've been training in the martial arts, I've had a personal rule not to get involved with anyone I trained with ... especially someone I teach. Despite all the women that I've come across in these past two and a half decades -- many of whom were attractive and some of whom were interested in me -- I pretty much stuck with this rule. There is, however, one woman who trains with me now who has been growing on me for the last few months. I thought it was under control, but a week ago, I realized that I was wrong. I found myself thinking of her quite a lot, such that it had gotten to the point where, for the first time in my martial arts career, I said to hell with my rule! Unfortunately, she wasnt interested in me the same way. Needless to say, it was a blow to my self-confidence, and I think a low-level depression set in.
Then last week, I had no tango classes. My teachers took off to Argentina on a tango trip and took a bunch of students with them. They cancelled their tango classes, which left the poor bastards like me who were left behind to come up with other things to do on class days. Rather than train in martial arts, I chose to wallow in my depression.
Then, on Thursday, I went to Sacramento to visit an aunt and uncle who were in the hospital for strokes. My aunt had a massive stroke on Sunday morning. My cousin Edwin took her to the hospital. The next day, while Edwin was taking his dad to visit his mom, his dad had a minor stroke, too. Poor Edwin. As of this writing, my aunt is still in the hospital, but my uncle has been discharged.
But I think that's when things started to change. While we were in Sacramento, we visited our other relatives. They put on a video of the Pacquiao-Morales boxing match. There's nothing like a good boxing match to get you pumped. And this match was damn good. Both Pacquiao and Morales were true warriors out there. Incredible and inspirational.
Anyway, I think it was the combination of the boxing match as well as the knowledge that I traditionally ride out my depressions by training, that got me to pick up the skipping rope and weights on Saturday night. Between rope skipping, weight lifting, shadow boxing, an kata, I got a pretty good 1.5-hour workout. And at the end of the session, I wanted more...but decided not to push it too far too early. i retired for the night.
The next day, on Sunday, I marched with the naginata group in the San Francisco Cherry Blossom parade. It was kind of fun to be marching and showing off to crowds of non-martial artists. When I was fighting Curt in the streets, I heard kids saying: "Oh! look at him! He's just like Musashi!" And at another point, after Curt and I stopped fighting for a while, a group of people in the crowd started chanting: "fight! fight! fight!" of course, Curt and i did!
It was all in good fun. And I swear, it felt good. Curt and I started making arrangements to become training partners again in preparation for the naginata world championship qualifiers.
When I got home, I rested for a few hours, then did another 1.5-hour workout before I popped online to chat with Stuart. Stuart is an old karate buddy of mine, and a longtime training partner when we were kids up until we went our separate ways in college. He hadnt been training for maybe 6 or 7 years now, but said he'll start again in a couple of weeks. I hope he does. It would be good to train with him again. I feel the old me coming back.
Would be good to have the old him right there by my side again.
Looking forward to hard training, hard hits, and hard drinking.
Life's good.
I don't think there was one single reason for this re-awakening, but rather a confluence of events ... the first of which happened last week. And that had a little to do with a woman.
For the 26 years that I've been training in the martial arts, I've had a personal rule not to get involved with anyone I trained with ... especially someone I teach. Despite all the women that I've come across in these past two and a half decades -- many of whom were attractive and some of whom were interested in me -- I pretty much stuck with this rule. There is, however, one woman who trains with me now who has been growing on me for the last few months. I thought it was under control, but a week ago, I realized that I was wrong. I found myself thinking of her quite a lot, such that it had gotten to the point where, for the first time in my martial arts career, I said to hell with my rule! Unfortunately, she wasnt interested in me the same way. Needless to say, it was a blow to my self-confidence, and I think a low-level depression set in.
Then last week, I had no tango classes. My teachers took off to Argentina on a tango trip and took a bunch of students with them. They cancelled their tango classes, which left the poor bastards like me who were left behind to come up with other things to do on class days. Rather than train in martial arts, I chose to wallow in my depression.
Then, on Thursday, I went to Sacramento to visit an aunt and uncle who were in the hospital for strokes. My aunt had a massive stroke on Sunday morning. My cousin Edwin took her to the hospital. The next day, while Edwin was taking his dad to visit his mom, his dad had a minor stroke, too. Poor Edwin. As of this writing, my aunt is still in the hospital, but my uncle has been discharged.
But I think that's when things started to change. While we were in Sacramento, we visited our other relatives. They put on a video of the Pacquiao-Morales boxing match. There's nothing like a good boxing match to get you pumped. And this match was damn good. Both Pacquiao and Morales were true warriors out there. Incredible and inspirational.
Anyway, I think it was the combination of the boxing match as well as the knowledge that I traditionally ride out my depressions by training, that got me to pick up the skipping rope and weights on Saturday night. Between rope skipping, weight lifting, shadow boxing, an kata, I got a pretty good 1.5-hour workout. And at the end of the session, I wanted more...but decided not to push it too far too early. i retired for the night.
The next day, on Sunday, I marched with the naginata group in the San Francisco Cherry Blossom parade. It was kind of fun to be marching and showing off to crowds of non-martial artists. When I was fighting Curt in the streets, I heard kids saying: "Oh! look at him! He's just like Musashi!" And at another point, after Curt and I stopped fighting for a while, a group of people in the crowd started chanting: "fight! fight! fight!" of course, Curt and i did!
It was all in good fun. And I swear, it felt good. Curt and I started making arrangements to become training partners again in preparation for the naginata world championship qualifiers.
When I got home, I rested for a few hours, then did another 1.5-hour workout before I popped online to chat with Stuart. Stuart is an old karate buddy of mine, and a longtime training partner when we were kids up until we went our separate ways in college. He hadnt been training for maybe 6 or 7 years now, but said he'll start again in a couple of weeks. I hope he does. It would be good to train with him again. I feel the old me coming back.
Would be good to have the old him right there by my side again.
Looking forward to hard training, hard hits, and hard drinking.
Life's good.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Diary of a sick, lazy bastard with dreams of world domination
It's Sunday afternoon and I'm lying down on my bed hammering out a blog entry.
I should be training now, but I'm sick. (Biologically, guys, not metnally.) I came down with a nasty bug earlier this week, one that seems to be hitting everyone from coworkers to roommates to coughing sons of bitches sitting next to me on Caltrain: running nose, sore throat, coughs, headaches ... the works. I had to leave work early on Friday and I skipped naginata class later that night so I can come home and sleep.
When I was much younger, I had the attitude that when sick, you have to train your way into health. On top of that, I had the attitude that given a strong enough will, nothing should be able to stop me from my appointed duties -- whether those duties be work, teaching class, or training in whatever the hell I was training in. For the last few years, however, I've kind of mellowed out. When sick, I'm much more prone to rest at home or look for a good bowl of Vietnamese pho, I forego all but the most critical of my duties, and I lay off on the training.
It's worked fine for me so far, but I kind of think I should adopt a younger frame of mind again.
You see, I've been kind of slacking off in training in the last two years, especially after I got into Argentine Tango (my newfound addiction). But in three months, I will be participating in the US Naginata Federation's 2006 National Championships. In the same week, I will try out for the US team to the International Naginata Federation World Championships to be held in Belgium in 2007. No trivial matters, even without adding the fact that I'll be defending a national champion title in individual yudansha men's fighting and a world championship title in mens team fighting. Sure would look bad if I dont place this year in the nationals or dont make the team for the worlds. Just like Dana Carvey's Saturday Night Live George Bush character of the 1990s: I don't want to be a one-termer.
Moreover, sometime real soon, though I don't know exactly when, I'm supposed to be trying out for the US team to the 9th Shotokan Karate International Federation World Championships in Tokyo this year. It would be the first time I'd be going to compete in the 3d SKIF Worlds since 1988, when I was only 19 years old. I want to fight there, too, but because of a bad ankle I am hesitant to do so. I believe I still have a world-class repertoire of Shotokan kata, though. So I'm looking forward to going against the best of the best once more.
Another thing I'm looking forward to ... I'll be very happy at these upcoming events. Not only will I get to experience the rush once more of competition amongst the best that the nation and the world have to offer, but I'lll also get an ample dose of Tango as well: The weeklong naginata events in wine country coincide with Nora Dinzelbacher's Tango Week in nearby San Fracisco. And I believe the 2nd the Tokyo World Tango Festival is being held around the same time or a week or two after the SKIF World Championships.
Totally lucky for me, but probably unlucky for anyone counting on me to be focused.
I've got to straighten this out.
I should be training now, but I'm sick. (Biologically, guys, not metnally.) I came down with a nasty bug earlier this week, one that seems to be hitting everyone from coworkers to roommates to coughing sons of bitches sitting next to me on Caltrain: running nose, sore throat, coughs, headaches ... the works. I had to leave work early on Friday and I skipped naginata class later that night so I can come home and sleep.
When I was much younger, I had the attitude that when sick, you have to train your way into health. On top of that, I had the attitude that given a strong enough will, nothing should be able to stop me from my appointed duties -- whether those duties be work, teaching class, or training in whatever the hell I was training in. For the last few years, however, I've kind of mellowed out. When sick, I'm much more prone to rest at home or look for a good bowl of Vietnamese pho, I forego all but the most critical of my duties, and I lay off on the training.
It's worked fine for me so far, but I kind of think I should adopt a younger frame of mind again.
You see, I've been kind of slacking off in training in the last two years, especially after I got into Argentine Tango (my newfound addiction). But in three months, I will be participating in the US Naginata Federation's 2006 National Championships. In the same week, I will try out for the US team to the International Naginata Federation World Championships to be held in Belgium in 2007. No trivial matters, even without adding the fact that I'll be defending a national champion title in individual yudansha men's fighting and a world championship title in mens team fighting. Sure would look bad if I dont place this year in the nationals or dont make the team for the worlds. Just like Dana Carvey's Saturday Night Live George Bush character of the 1990s: I don't want to be a one-termer.
Moreover, sometime real soon, though I don't know exactly when, I'm supposed to be trying out for the US team to the 9th Shotokan Karate International Federation World Championships in Tokyo this year. It would be the first time I'd be going to compete in the 3d SKIF Worlds since 1988, when I was only 19 years old. I want to fight there, too, but because of a bad ankle I am hesitant to do so. I believe I still have a world-class repertoire of Shotokan kata, though. So I'm looking forward to going against the best of the best once more.
Another thing I'm looking forward to ... I'll be very happy at these upcoming events. Not only will I get to experience the rush once more of competition amongst the best that the nation and the world have to offer, but I'lll also get an ample dose of Tango as well: The weeklong naginata events in wine country coincide with Nora Dinzelbacher's Tango Week in nearby San Fracisco. And I believe the 2nd the Tokyo World Tango Festival is being held around the same time or a week or two after the SKIF World Championships.
Totally lucky for me, but probably unlucky for anyone counting on me to be focused.
I've got to straighten this out.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Video: Yamanni Ryu Sai & Tunfa
This is me doing a Yamanni Ryu sai and tunfa (or tonfa) kata during a demonstration at the 2003 De Anza College karate tournament.
(sorry about the quality)
(sorry about the quality)
Video: Yamanni Ryu Bojutsu
This is me doing a Yamanni Ryu bojutsu kata during a demonstration at the 2003 De Anza College karate tournament.
(sorry about the quality)
(sorry about the quality)
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