Northern Wind

Have you ever watched a magician perform tricks right in front of you? Not the David Copperfield type of magician, standing hundreds of feet away on a huge stage filled with smoke and pulsing lights and scantily clad assistants, the kind who make cars disappear or miraculously escape cages filled with tigers. No, I mean the simple kind of magic, the kind done right in front of you, with you standing within touching range of the magician, the kind where the simple, yes, but nonetheless the impossible happens before your very eyes. How does he DO that? you think to yourself. The answer being, as you may know, something called "sleight of hand." But what does that mean, exactly? Well, one way you might think about it is, the magician gets you to focus on one thing, to think about what he wants you to think about, while he does something else at the same time without you being aware of it. Now let me ask you this: have you ever watched a really high ranking budoka, be...

Once again, I've let this blog get quite lonely over the past several months, sorry. Life has been tumultuous, to say the least. And in the face of all that turmoil, I couldn't help but notice that the people who were the most natural for me to reach out to, the people who in turn genuinely cared the most, were those friends I had made through the dojo. I've always thought it was interesting how I was always able to make such a close bond with "dojo folk", a bond that I've never really made with coworkers, fellow church members, or even my own family! I've had a couple of theories over the years, but here's one link I had never considered. I read a few articles recently dealing with "oxytocin", a mammalian hormone that also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Now, I know, you're thinking, "Isn't that the so-called 'love hormone'? The one they give women to speed up the birthing process?" Yeah, yeah, but wa...

A couple of weekends ago, Patrick Parker Sensei form Mokuren Dojo in Mississippi held a clinic at our dojo focusing on Koryu Dai Ichi Kata. For various reason I won't even attempt to go into here, our school (and our former organization) largely ignored the first and second koryu katas, so this was all fairly new to me. One of the prominent themes in that kata, it seems, is the idea of encountering (or even creating) pressure or resistance, then releasing the pressure (disappearing basically) and then turning the pressure on again. Which may not be the best way to describe it, really. Pat described it as your arm(s) going from being like a stick, to being like a rope, to being like a stick again, which is a good way to think of it. I've also heard it referred to as "on, off and on again." Now, while that basic concept is not entire new to me, my eyes are slowly opening to all the places in can and does occur, both in aikido and judo. So while I've been go...

I'd like to work a little over the next several months on some kaeshi waza in judo. There's a series of 5 videos from Mike Swain that highlight a number of nice ones, plus several combination ideas. Below is the first:

Boy, I haven't been very good at posting lately, have I? For one thing, a relentless case of bronchitis has kept me a bit out of it, but now that that's cleared up mostly, I'm able get back in the dojo. Hopefully, now that I'm back into the swing of things, I can film some more of the junk that's rattling around in my head. I start to write about a lot of them, but I find words and even a few photos just don't capture it. Let me leave you for now with this video of a bit of judo randori from 1922. There's actually a series of 5, and I would recommend heading over to YouTube to watch the rest of them. I think it's interesting how the purple belts below throw each other pretty well, but the higher in rank you get the harder it is for the judoka to get each other.

I've never, ever been the kind of kid who liked to play video games. Still don't care for them, frankly. But somehow, some way, I've become absolutely hooked on a game called " Angry Birds " on my iPad. After a while, I began to pick up on certain common... I don't know, themes or approaches to the game. If you're not familiar with the premise, it's basically about flinging little birds through the air in an attempt to destroy all the little pigs. The challenge is, there are a lot of objects that stand in your way. You have a set number of birds to kill all the pigs on each level, so you have to use them very strategically. I know, what in the world does this have to do with budo (particularly aikido or judo), right? First of all, if you're not familiar with the game, take a look at this short how-to video to get a better idea: Right. Now—here's a few points on how to succeed at the game. Don't aim for the pigs, aim for making th...

Very interesting twist (pun sort of intended) to this classic Ude Garami arm lock from kesa gatame. I kinda like the leverage, but I wonder if it's possible to get the switch when adrenaline is running high.