Here we go!

I've been busy.  First off, the Zanshinkan demo team has scored a big win at the Battle of the Seven Cities.  Congrats to them for busting their butts and sealing the deal!

The second issue of A-DAY PLUS is chugging along.  If anyone is interesting getting some copies: shoot me an e-mail at d.cnozz@gmail.com and I'll give you all the ordering info.

And I'm promoting it!  If you want to hear me ramble on about the comic and other fun stuff, Ryan and Pooya had me over for the FadCast over at FilmFad!  Had a blast, and hopefully I don't come off as too nervous, because this was a first for me and I seem to have a real problem talking with a microphone in front of me.

Also, I'm going on my "SHUT UP, THIS IS FREAKING LIBRARY TOUR"!  I'll be over at the Portsmouth Public Library for their Mini-Con on June 27th, and following that up with appearing over at Chesapeake Public Library for FantaSci on July 25th!  I may also be doing a panel at FantaSci on a Literary Look at the Superhero Genre, but I'm waiting to here back on that. 

All this, Teenage Mutant Ninja Camp next month and work, work, work.

(Do note, that Teenage Mutant Ninja Camp, is the fourth in our series preceded by Ninja Camp, Revenge of the Ninja Camp, and Ninja Camp 3: The Domination.)

Wait, I'm a what now?

Last weekend there was a Dai Nippon Butoku Kai Kensho Kai event in town, and we were fielding a team for the event.  These events serve to give training, demonstrations of skill, and also serve as a tribute to those members of the DNBK who have passed on.  There is also rank testing done at these events.

Train 'em young!

I am not the head of our group in DNBK.  That's my long time friend in, Bill Sensei.  Our group was going to have eight of us and we prepared our demo.  I wasn't able to make many of the practices, but I knew what we were going to do and it was no problem filling my spot.  One of our team was also certifying for the rank of Ni dan (second degree black belt).

The unusally nasty weather this winter altered our guy's mid-term schedule in college so he was unable to make the event.  Bill Sensei was going to find out how we would procede with that once we got to the event.  That was the first problem.

The second problem came on Friday evening when we found out Bill Sensei was on the way to hospital with bad abdominal pains.  It became evident that we were now down to six and our head man was not one of them.  I then looked at his daughter (one of the remaining six) and declared her to be in charge.  She declared me to be in charge.  After a grueling bettle of rock-paper-scissors it was determined that I was in charge.  (I was going to be in charge anyways, but it was fun to pick on her.)

Saturday was just a meet and greet bit with a viewing of footage from an event in England and dinner.  Upon arrival, I ran into Zingg Sensei who I hadn't seen in six or seven years.  We adjourned to a room to wait and traded some stories, and caught up.  Then came time to watch the footage.  We got a speech from Hanshi Hamada.  So far, so good.

Then it was time to eat and the team leaders were to have dinner with Hanshi.  Well, that was when I had to break the news that Bill was sick and I was standing in for him and Anthony.  Seemed like it wasn't that big of a deal, and they sent me on into the dinner with the rest of the leadership.  I spent the time trading stories with folks and trying to be as pleasant as possible.  I was feeling like the little kid suddenly being put at the adult table.  Still, it seemed to go alright.

On Sunday, that was when things were going to get physical.  These events are big on protocol and ceremony.  They are also very loud and spirited.  We warm up by rushing across the gym at each other screaming like maniacs and hoping not to crash headlong into someone.  Its actually a lot of fun.  Then came our demonstration.  Every team did one.  It then became obvious that Hanshi was aware of Bill's absense was was aware that I was replacing him for the day.  The demo went fine, but I think we were expected to make it a bit longer.  We're used to having tight time constraints and being as quick and to the point as possible.  We'll plan for that next time.

The rest to demos were really fun to watch and after a brief break, mats were rolled out for the Aikido and Jui-Jitsu demonstrations.  After those were over, names started to get called.

I mentioned before that Anthony was supposed to be going for Nidan and couldn't make it.  I said I would stand in for him.  His father was with our team, but is recovering from shoulder surgury, so he's a bit limited.  Now, when I certified I got freaking destroyed.  River of sweat, and a couple of blank spots in my memory.  Last time we had guys from our group get certified, the demonstration we did was the test and it was no problem.  I figured since we were in the first crop of our guys to get certified that we really need to prove ourselves and now it wouldn't be so bad.

And then my name got called out to head out on the mat.

I then felt a burning desire to kill Anthony for not being there.

I yelled "HAI!" and hauled ass out to where I was directed.  A black belt with a rubber kife was placed in front of me.  We both knelt to formal seize sitting position.  Hanshi explained what we were going to do and managed to mention "seppuku" which would be the moment a sane person would have jumped up and fled.  However, I wasn't there to be sane.  I was there to stand in for those who could not be there.  The exercise commenced.  The guy lunged at me with both of us kneeling with the knife.  This happened twice, for the warm up.  Then they put him behind me to lunge at me from behind whenever he wanted to.  I had to defend.  I'm pretty sure I got killed about a doxen time.  I may have survived twice.  Maybe.  I don't have an excuse.  I could hear him breathing behind me, and had a split second warning of when he was coming.  It wasn't enough, so obviously I need to train harder.

Eventually (after dying repeatedly), Hanshi walked by and tapped me on the shoulder and told me "Its over." and I'm think, "Yeah, it sure is."  This is called "receiving the knowledge".  Then I got a rubber knife, along with everyone else who had spent the last few minutes getting stabbed horribly, and we all found partners to share the lasson with.  I found a fairly big guy, we knelt, and I attacked him repeatedly, but from the front.  He did great, but did slip and slug me a couple times.  His eyes would get big, but before he could apologize, I'd smile and nod, and tell him good job.  He did pull the punches, so no harm done.  I did get him with the knife once and he paused.  I told him "Even if I stab you, strike.  Karatemen die fighting."  He smiled.  He liked that.  We were both really enjoying ourselves now.

That being over, we got back to our groups.  Zingg asked me "How many times did you die?"  

"Think I survived two of them.  Three if there's a hospital close by."

So we're back in our lines by groups.  I'm in front of our line.  People are getting called out for individual achievements and my name is called.  This I expect.  I run out and take my place.  I go down on one knee and take a good long look at the floor.  This is familiar territory.  This where he awards ranks.  Hanshi will tap you with his sword, shinai, or bokken and you get your rank.  He gets to me.  Now, I'm expecting him to call my name, say I'm representing for Anthony, and give me the tap for Ni Dan.  Nope.

"Marty Nozzarella, RENSHI!"

Renshi is a samurai title.  Its at this point that I want to raise my head and tell him there's been some sort of mistake, but he's got a stick in his hand, having your head come up can be very dangerous.  This is a huge honor!  How can they not know that I'm a knuckle-dragging moron?!  Has there been a clerical error somewhere?

It really did take a while for me to process this whole thing.  I was not persuing getting a title.  I was caught completely flatfooted.  My cousin, who is a Kyoshi (next level up from Renshi), says its something I deserve.  I called my father, and he said it was something I deserve.  I don't see it myself, but I've always viewed myself as labor and not management.  Dad did say its better to asked to the big table than to sit at the big table and be asked to leave.

To my knowledge, no one put me up to be given the title.  The word "samurai" means "one who serves".  As mear as I can figure it was my willingness to stand in for Bill and Anthony at the last minute and be of service to them and our team that got me the title.

I think I'm still processing this a bit.

I think the best processing is going to be more training.    

Story of a Fight

I've recently called it quits in tournament competitions as far as my Karate goes.  That isn't any sort of slam again tournaments.  I still love competing.  However, after a while there's a time when you need to step aside, let others have their fun and go on to helping judge these events.  I did go out on top as I won the forms grand championship at the last tournament I entered.  I stopped entering kumite competitions years ago as I've had my share of concussions and bruised ribs, which makes it hard for me to work.  

I'm a bird!

I'm considered the guy to beat in these tournaments in my division.  This isn't something that happened over night.  I haven't had some epic long reign as a champ.  I spent years and year and years competing and pushing myself to try to just make it into the top four.  Over time, I started to regularly make it into the top four.  Eventually, I started winning.  

I listened to judges when they gave me advice.  Some was good.  Some not so much.  I finally hit upon what worked for me and its something that helps my karate training even outside of competition.

Kata tells a story.  A story about a fight.  People like stories, and that includes judges.

I don't add theatrics to my forms.  I don't wear fancy dan outfits.  I do my form and perform it as if I was demonstrating what happened in a battle.  You have to make yourself the star of your own little movie in these competitions.  I do everything I can to breathe life into the form.

Well, that's great for showing off (which I like to do), but what about real training?

If you want to tell a story you have to know how to speak.  You need vocabulary.  You need context.  If you don't know what the words mean or how to use them properly you end up sounding like a dope.

Children learn to speak by listening to others.  They imitate what they hear.  Much like new karate students learn their basics by imitating their instructor.  They get the basic movements.

Later children learn what the words mean.  Usually they do so by asking, "What does ____ mean?"  That's the question many karateka fail to ask.  What does this move mean?  That's the start of bunkai, application of techniques.

You memorize every move of every kata.  You can perform every technique just fine, and still have mediocre or even awful kata.  Knowing what the move is doing, even if its the most basic application, taking out any tuite or kyusho jitsu, will improve that kata.

Not what you're going for.

Block means get that technique out there like your life depends on it.  Punch means drive that fist like you're needing to drop that person in front of you.  It doesn't mean flop your arms around like overboiled Top Ramen.

Then you work your way into context and putting together the moves in your forms like they were designed.  This gives you a better understanding over what you're doing.  Having a good sense of context let's you tell a better story.  There's nuance involved.  The applications and techniques get a lot more interesting and it shows.

Still, can have full command over your language and have an interesting story to tell, but still tell a boring story.  Its in the delivery.  You can tell a simple story in an interesting manner.  This gets into breating life into the kata.  Placing yourself in the middle of that imaginary battle and performing the techniques as if it was a matter of life and death.

Doing this takes effort.  If you haven't broken a sweat doing your form, then you didn't do it hard enough.  I'm not talking about a form you are still learning, but the ones you have a good handle on.  The stories that you know.  The stronger you do your kata, the more you tell your story, the more likely you'll be able to call up the details of your story should the need arises.

Yes, that was a reference to self defense.

Now, go tell your stories.

5 Simple Rules for Karate Judges

Last weekend I competed in and judged at the Old School Classic Karate Tournament.  I'm happy to report that I won the grand championship for forms.  First time I've ever pulled that off.  While I'm happy with my results, there's been some issues I've had in the past with judging, and these are things that I try to teach my students about so when and if they are called upon to judge at a tournament it'll go smoothly for them.  I'm writing these as a person who has completed for over 20 years in open tournaments and has been judging for nearly as long.

FIRST: If you are new to judging in open tournaments makes sure the other judges know this before things get started.  They should help you along the way.  Also try to get in a ring that handling younger kids.  Its a great learning experience and five year olds typically don't get too crazy when they don't like how you're scoring things.  And if you are a more experienced judge and you have a newbie there to help, make sure you let them know what they need to know.  I teach my students how to judge, but not all dojos do.

SECOND: Know the rules of that tournament.  There is usually a black belt meeting before these events in which the rules are gone over, and that's when questions are asked.  Go to that meeting.  It does not matter if you've done these things a hundred times, everyone needs to be on the same page before getting into a ring.

THIRD: It is not your tournament, it is only your ring.  The rules are in place for a reason, and you don't get to change them.  It does not matter if you are a 9th degree black belt.  It does not matter if you are yourself a tournament promoter.  You stick by the rules established.

Years ago, back when I fought in these things, we were being staged for our weight class and the center judge informed us that she would be allowing face contact in our division since we were black belts.  The rules as established and gone over repeatedly stated clearly, "No face contact", and I informed her of this.  She told me if i had a problem with this then I didn't have to fight.  I informed her that if she had a problem following the rules of the promoter, who was paying to insure the event, then she shouldn't be judging and I had no problems getting the arbitrator over to sort her out.

Just last weekend, one of my black belts was judging a ring and one kid split the other's lip.  There's a no blood rule in effect for this event.  You make the other guy bleed and its a DQ.  My students stops the match, pointing out the blood.  The center judge tried to keep the fight going.  Fortunately my student announced loudly enough "Blood" that it caught the arbitrator's attention and he got in the ring to sort it out.

When its your tournament and you are paying for the insurance on the event then you can make the rules.  Until then, know the rules and enforce them.

FOURTH: Make your calls quickly.  Don't look to the other judges to try to see what they are saying so you can follow suit.  You've got to make a call and make it quickly.  This is especially true in fighting.  Nothing gets everyone ticked off faster than a late call.

Remember: the "no point" and "didn't see" calls are perfectly legitimate calls.  Judges are positioned in different spots in the ring for a reason.  Everyone can't see everything thing.  If a judge calls a point and you didn't see it, there's no harm in calling that you didn't.

FIFTH: Go over the rules briefly with the competitors when they get to your ring.  Helps things go smoothly and there's a lot less confusion.  This could be the first time out for some of these folks and they may have questions.  They paid their money to enter so taking a minute to make sure everyone's straight on everything in good for the tournament.

There's other little tricks I know and I try to make sure that everyone has a good time when they get into my ring.  These five points that I touched on are important and should always be considered when you are judging.  These tournaments are supposed to be fun, and the best way to ensure that they are is with good judging.

SO Close

My dojo competed in the battle of the 7 Cities Tournament yesterday.  My daughter competed, and she did alright.  Got a couple of finalist medals out of it.  My other students did well.  Had a few get some trophies.  The demo team did well, and put on a good show.


I competed at the end of the day.  I was a bit tired, but I shook that off.  My family was there and that was extra incentive.  Most of all, it was my birthday, and I wanted that forms championship belt.  The last few years, a Tang Soo Do stylist named Jerry has been dominating in the forms division.  Nice guy, but that's who I was gunning for.  He wasn't there, so it was pretty much wide open.  There were still a lot of strong competitors out there, so I knew I had to bring out everything I had.


The weapons division went horribly.  I hit a slick spot on the floor and nearly fell, but managed to catch myself and continue.  But that slip cost me dearly and I was completely out of placing.  No problem, I'd just make up for in in the empty hand competition.


I did Hakutsuru for my kata and this was the first time I'd used it in competition.  Usually I did a combination of Hakucho and Shiho Kosokon.  That's scored well for me, but I knew I needed to take things up a notch.  I was one of the first three up, which usually isn't a good thing.  But that fine because I had my form ready.  Its a white crane form and I got out there, and well....





I killed it.  Just threw the gauntlet down for everyone to try to catch my score.  There were a lot of those guys who came damn close too.  Seriously strong forms out there.  It the end though I got first place and it was on to the grand championships.


My dad and stepmom had to go, but they saw me win, so everyone was happy.  On I went with the four other division winners to see who gets the belt.  I was to go third.  No problem.  The first girl was pretty strong.  The second girl was someone who I've competed against a few times, and she's very good, but she slipped in the same spot I had slipped in the weapon's division, and she managed to catch herself as well, but it cost her in the scoring.


I got out there and put everything I had into the kata and it paid off.  My scores were strong, but would they hold up against the last two guys?  They went out there and nailed there forms and I'm running the numbers in my head.  They both had me beat.


So, much to my surprise, after all the scores are calculated, i get announced as Grand Champion.  I'm floored.  They call me up, and i stepped forward like a kid who thought he might possibly be in trouble for something, but they said I won, and the look on my face had to be one of a man who was utterly perplexed. This was what I was after, and all I could think was "someone's math is off".


Here comes the tournament promoter with the belt, and the cash prize money.  I've known this guy for years.  He's honestly excited that I finally won the grand.  The missus is one her cell phone calling my dad.  She excited.  I'm sort of excited, but it all just seemed so wrong.  Then I saw one of the other competitors looking at the scores.  He, rightfully, called for it to get re-checked.  


Scores got recalculated, and then with tons of apologies, the belt and cash prize went to the guy who won the weapons division.  Now, the guy who called for the scores to get checked did not win, nor did he think he had, but he knew something was wrong.  The woman who slipped also wanted the scores rechecked because she trains with the promoter and wants to make sure everything's above board.


But again, lashings of apologies from everyone, and no belt for me.  Ah well.  At least I got to touch it.

We Drink, We Kick, We Die, and We Eat!

OSU!  Its Sunday, May 13,2012, I think I've washed all the sand off of me, and this is The Side.  After a pretty trying week, I wrapped it up with the Zanshinkan/Seireikan beach workout.  It was a bit of a light turnout as it seems everyone had something going on this weekend.  Still, there was about twenty of us out there, so it we had a good number.  The workout started with a half mile run to warm up.  Then on to stretching and drills. Bill Sensei led us through the kata Empi Ha which my school doesn't do, so it was new and exciting for my students.  Its a nice form which Bill Sensei learned back in his Goju-Ryu training, and he's recently added it officially to his kata list.


I wrapped things up with a bit of a tribute to Darrin Sensei who passed away two weeks ago.  I showed the group three particular techniques that he had showed me.  We didn't go full blast with them as we did with Darrin's training sessions as those left me bruised to weeks.  Still the applications got across, and I think everyone enjoyed themselves.


After that it was off to Red Robin for burgers and a healthy round of shooting the bull.  I was quite exhausted the whole way home, and passed out on the couch.

COMIX!!

THE WALKING DEAD #97 kicks off the "Something To Fear" story line which will be taking us up to the 100th issue.  The last storyline gave us a brief glimpse at another community and this is looking good for Rick and his group.  Rick's group has some serious muscle.  The Hilltop has a lot of supplies that Rick's group needs.  WE saw Hilltop has a problem with some guy called Negan who has a group of his own.  Seems he's been extorting goods from Hilltop.  Rick's volunteered his groups's aid in dealing with Negan in exchange for supplies.  That's pretty much enough to give us a good idea as to where this current storyline is going.  This issue gives us a little look at some of Negan's crew.  Nothing terribly impressive.  They come off as sort of culties, referring to Negan as if he was some sort of spiritual leader.  However, its looking like this is the tip of the iceberg.  We also get some big news about Glenn and Maggie which kinda has me worried about them.  it seems when things start going really well for some characters that the bottom is going to drop out from under them at any moment.  We're at another point in which the group is a well oiled machine and for the most part have a handle of things.  this is pretty much the cue for Kirkman to lay waste to the cast with something horrible.


MORNING GLORIES #18 bounces us back to the events concerning the Woodrun.  This book is crazy, and I mean that in a near schizophrenia type of way.  Its been tough to pin down some of these characters, and there's been a lot of weird stuff going on.  This time around we're focused on Jun or Hisao or whichever his real name is.  We get some back story to him.  We get the "not that there's anything wrong with that" reveal about him.  More importantly, we get a bit of a look at the playing field.  We know Morning Glory Academy is up to something weird and horrible.  We know there's an organized resistance against them.  There're buckets of straight weird all over the place.  We know know that there's some kind of plan against the Academy, but we're light on the details.  The reveal about Jun isn't really "graphic", but its pretty in your face, and I'm wondering how the fans of the book are going to react to this.  Personally, I've liked the character since I started reading the book, and this doesn't bother me.  I do imagine there's going to be camps on bother sides of this, but i doubt its going to be a big deal.  This comic still flies under the radar even though its is very good.

MUSIC!!

Time for some drinking music.





Time for some coffee.  See y'all Wednesday.

Do it right

Its Wednesday, April 11, 2012, I'm tired and this The Side.  Nothing clever to open up with.  My buddy broke his arm at work yesterday, so I'm off and running to try to help out as best I can.

TEACHIN'S!!!

There was a really unfortunate incident last week.  Two guys were wrestling.  Neither of them had any real training.  The younger guy lucked into a rear naked choke.  The older didn't know how to react and was put under.  The younger didn't know what had happened and continued applying the hold.  His cousin never woke up.


Here's a quick word from two guys who know a lot about a rear naked choke.





What's important here applies to all martial arts.  Just because you see something that looks cool on TV or in a movie doesn't mean you should try it at home.  I cringe at footage of some of these dumb kids would watch WWE and go out in their backyards or go into their basements and decide to have their own rasslin' match.  Somebody goes getting hurt.  Sometimes there's even some pissed off parent who wants to blame WWE or the UFC or whatever because their kids did something ignorant or stupid.


This is coming form a guy who grew up doing stupid stuff like this.  I didn't emulate pro-wrestling, even though i did love watching it, but I had a steady stream of martial arts entertainment coming my way.  If there was a martial arts movie coming out, my Dad was more than happy to take me and my brother.  Unlike many families, there was a key difference between my brother and I, and the two cousins involved in the tragic incident the video talks about.


My brother and I had training.


Even better, that training came from my father, and experienced instructor, who was the one taking us to these movies or watching these TV shows with us.  He gave us a full appreciation for how dangerous those stunts were.  We knew how much a martial arts technique could hurt somebody.  I've been hit plenty of times during my training, and it hurts plenty even with the punches pulled.  Getting hit full steam is something I take very seriously whether I'm on the giving or receiving end.


Mixed martial Arts is one of the most popular sports right now.  Professional wrestling continues to be very popular as well.  These are both great, but if you're a fan of these thing, you need to really appreciate what those people in the ring do.  They train hard.  They know the risks.  They know their bodies.  They know what these techniques can do.  They know what it feels like to have a submission hold put on them.  Very important, they know when to tap out.  More important than that, they know when that other guy taps to let the hell go.


Safety is important, and part of that is getting the proper training from someone who knows what's up.  Sure there are the McDojos out there just looking to make a buck, but there's plenty of other schools and clubs that can give you a really good idea of the realities of hand-to-hand combat both for sport and protection.  If its worth doing, then its worth doing right.  Get the training.  At the very least go online and hunt down some resources detailing what these techniques do.  Better to be safe than be a news blurb.

MUSIC!!!

Been listening to a lot of Midnight Oil lately, so now you will listen to Midnight Oil.

Tournament Time

OSU!  Its Sunday, March 18, 2012, I'm feeling quite proud, and this is The Side.  Things have been afoot during my absence from the internet, and one of them paid off pretty big yesterday.  No i didn't come up with a way to make gallons of green beer.

BEATIN'S!!!

As I mentioned previously, yesterday was the Petersburg Karate Open.  I try to compete every year, and I encourage my students to do so as well.  Its a very well run tournament and over the years the promoter has gotten to know me.  Thanks me personally for coming every year and for bringing what students I can.  He even asks me how my dad is doing, since he hasn't been able to make it as often since retiring to West Virginia.  Lewis Clay Sensei is a quality guy.

I didn't win big this year in kata (empty hand forms)  or weapons.  In fact I didn't even place this in the top four this year.  This actually surprised a few other competitors.  My forms were strong and I executed well, however there were a bunch of other people that did too.  It wasn't bad judging, its just the pool of competition was a deep on this year.  No whining from me, I'll just have to try harder next go around.  And yes, that is a picture of me from last year's tournament.  Maybe I should have kept the beard, I did better then.


We had four other competitors from our group this year.  It was their first time at a tournament for each of them.  The two boys both did kata only, which I encouraged since they had not seen kumite (fighting) at an open tournament and its really a good idea to see it before you jump in.  Both of their divisions were pretty stacked and the odds were against them.  They performed well, but didn't make the top four.  I'm proud of both of them.


Then there were the girls.  The fairer sex.  Dainty, delicate, little flowers.


Yeah.  Right.


The little yellow belt that went is indeed a pretty little girl with long blonde hair.  Then she bows onto the floor and becomes a powerhouse.  She didn't make the top four in kata, but I'm sure she very close.  Her kata division was huge and there was a lot of talent in it.  Then she got to the kumite.  In forms divisions at this tournament, boys and girls compete together.  For kumite they are split up.  This little girl has no problem at all fighting whoever we put in front in her.  She's got three brothers, so she's high speed and low drag all the way.  I passed by her on my way out of my right as she sat with her bright pink sparring gear on at the edge of her ring waiting to see who would be paired up first.  I whisper a couple last minute instructions and words of encouragement to her as I passed.


That kid took her first opponent apart.  Then the next one.  Then the next one.  Next thing she knows there a first place trophy in front of her.  She took those other girls apart like a math problem.  She calmly determined their strategies, worked out the simplest counter, and started racking up points.  The whole time she had a look on her face like she was reading a slightly dull book.  I asked her afterwards if she thought she would win first place.


"Yeah.  I'm pretty good at kumite."


Not bragging, just a matter of fact assessment of her own abilities and the confidence to go out and do what she does best.


She wasn't the only girl we had out there.  During my absence from the internet one of my twin daughters took up the training.  She just turned five, so she's not all hardcore yet and its mostly for fun.  She said she wanted to compete.  She wanted a trophy like the kind daddy's got in the garage.  I told her to practice and she was a bit unsure as to the concept of training for a tournament and both me kids are headstrong little things.  She doesn't fight yet, so I let her go out to do kata.  I managed to slip away from my events long enough to see her.  The Missus was a nervous wreck.  The center judge was Preston Rogers Sensei who is very well known here in Virginia, and he was absolutely amazing in dealing with those little kids.


I got to see my daughter tie for second place, and she performed well in the tie breaker, but got edged out.  Still she's got her very own third place trophy with has barely left her hands since she got it.  Its on her nightstand as I type this.  The Missus called my father who called me last night, he's quite proud.


She didn't practice as much as she should have, but she did work for it.  She went out and behaved well, and did her best.  She performed strongly and that got her, finally, a trophy of her very own.  Yes I know trophies aren't the most important thing in the world, but she's now seen what hard work can earn you, and that's a pretty big deal.


So I'm a bit disappointed that I didn't get a trophy myself, but that's nothing compared to how proud I am of those kids.

MUSIC!!!

Asian Terminator Skateboard FAIL!  Yeah, you read that right.





That's it for me this go-around.  I've got more practicing to do since the next tournament is in June.  For now though, I'll see Y'all Wednesday.

Prepare for PAIN!

Blarg.  Its Friday, January 20, 2012, there's possibly irony at work, and this is The Side.  I say this because about two days after my brother kicks off his blog about cars, I spend two and a half hours trying to get home from work.  Sure, I had to stop and pick up my new glasses, but that was (under normal circumstances) five minutes out of my way, and I spent less than that in the store itself. St00pid traffic is st00pid.


Oh, and if you want to check out my brother's vehicular type blog, go here.  Its good stuff.

BEATIN'S!!!

Black belt testing is coming up.  Four students are going for it.  Two of them I've been training for years.  One of them started out as mine, but once I trasferred the YMCA program over to Bill he because her main instructor.  The last person came to us because we were training his son and he decided to jump in himself.  The young lady with be fine as she is an excellent baker and understands how to bribe senseis with brownies.  She's learned well.  The older fellow is a tough customer and should be fine.  The boys from my program are really in for it.  


They're both teens.  Both of then started off in my kids program and advanced to the adult class once they turned 13.  We introduced ourselves in the time honored manner of drills and sparring.  They got to meet everyone in the adult class, and by "meet" I mean they fought them.  Yes it seems cruel and horrible for a bunch of people to put on gloves and terrify 13 year olds in pugilistic fashion, but its Karate.  That's just how it works.


The road to getting a black belt is different in different school.  Some places are unfortunately all about the money, so if you stroke out a big enough check, you'll make it sooner or later.  So places are more form oriented so if you can preform the forms to a certain proficiency then you'll move up through the ranks.  Many are technical in the requirement.  There's a time factor for seasoning the students.  They have to have a grip on specific techniques and forms to advance.


The tow kids I've got going for it are a couple of spicy meatballs.  This is coming up on the end of a years long hazing ritual.  We've slapped them around.  Made fun of them.  Given them colorful nicknames.  One student recently had to explain why he someone how got a rug burn on his forehead when he train in the room with a tiled floor.  Don't know if his buddies at school noticed it, because there's no explaining away a rug burn on your forehead to your buddies when you're 14 years old.  The other recently took a knee to the forehead.  But it was his head and in his case not a vital target.


Mocking them aside.  We are talking about a 16 year old kid who has gone toe-to-toe with with adults buck larger than him and has developed power and ridiculously quick punching and kicking speed.  We're also talking about a really cagey 14 year old with a ton of tricks up his sleeve and the ability to nail the nerve cluster under the arm given anything resembling an opportunity.  This is also the same kid who waged war against a conga line of students at the beach last spring.  Freaked his folks out pretty good.


What we do is push these students.  The ones that persevere the training gain insight into themselves.  I looked at a couple of brown belts in the kids class who had a particularly memorable time getting those brown belts.


"Was that test the hardest thing you've done so far?"


"Yeah."  They both answered.  But they're both about 10, so the scope of hard things they've had to do is limited.


"Everything else seem a bit easier after that?"


You gain confidence in your own ability to get through things.  You don't give up nearly as easily.  "I survived that particularly gnarly test/class/seminar, and I can deal with this."  Getting a black belt in my program takes guts above all else.


And of course we'll be examining the guts of some students fairly soon as we splatter them all over the dojo.


But not the girl.  She makes brownies.

MUSIC!!

No, I'm not going to play "Kung-fu Fighting".  That's never going to happen on here.  Its like a rule of something.  Instead, enjoy a really underrated Dire Straights tune.





That's it for me. Moved a literal ton of sand yesterday with shovel, so hopefully I'll have an easy day today. While I'm dreaming, I'd like a pony. See y'all Sunday.

Should have swept the leg

WHERE'S MY DRUGS?! Its Sunday, December 11, 2011, its going to be an 800 mg kind of day, and this is The Side. Yep, was a good weekend of beatings, but more on that in a second.

The neighbor girl, sure enough, came over to the house while I was out and asked if we still had those cards. I freaking knew it. I've returned this cards and when she goes to that shop to buy some she's going to be coughing up a $1 bitch tax for each pack.

BEATING!

And this time, they were on me! Karate and other martial arts are about learning, and hopefully always continuing to learn. Guys like me always like going to seminars and hopefully gaining a new perspective or learning a new technique. The problem with that is these are often expensive and require travelling quite a ways. That's difficult for a guy with bills to pay, and who can't really afford to take off work for long. So, when my cousin was was hosting a Koryu Uchinadi seminar with Darrin Johnson Sensei here in town I knew I had to leap at the chance.

The majority of what we went over were techniques I knew, but the seminar offered a really fresh perspective on those techniques. I did pick up a really cool Gi choke that I didn't know. Of course I learned that choke by getting it put on me. Education has a price. This weekend's price was getting choked, stretched, pummeled, removal of hair from my arms and the back of my neck, and getting my head stepped on.

I also want to take a moment to say that Facebook is indeed evil. Yes, there are a few people that read this that have heard my repeated rants against Facebook, and are pretty sick of them, well you're going to hear it again, dammit! Darrin Sensei posted a few picture for the morning workout on his Facebook account including one of myself and my cousin, Scott, looking like our typical pleasant selves. He tagged my cousin, which set off a ping on my wife's Facebook account. Now, the Missus is sick this weekend, but still gave me my kitchen pass for the weekend, which I'm very grateful for, and will be making her breakfast shortly. However, she did see the pictures and commented on those pictures that those were no fun, and she wanted to see some beatings. At which point, Darrin Sensei asked Scott, "Who is Meagan Nozz and why is she giving Marty such a hard time?"

I'm sure this has nothing whatsoever to do with me spending some quality time on the floor with my face sandwiched between the thinly carpeted cement and Danny Sensei's knee. Fortunately the rug burn is hardly noticeable.

And here you see that I have no problem throwing the big elbow, but unfortunately for me Danny Sensei has no problem blocking it.



I then made the mistake of calling Danny Sensei a wine drinker, which is a horrible insult to true Australians. The end result was an impromptu nap.



There's a lot of people I need to thank here. Darrin Johnson Sensei for coming down and offering so much great information. Danny Sensei and his wife Kimmy Sensei for making the trip from Maryland to help with a seminar. All three were really great and a lot of fun to hang out with all day. My cousin, Scott, for holding the seminar and inviting me on out despite our vicious (and imaginary) blood feud. DJ and Derrick from my dojo who came out as well to support the seminar. We got the info on kind of short notice, but these guys came out and represented us well. Most of all, I have to thank my wife, Meagan, for letting me go. This was a great early Christmas present.



If you want to learn more about Koryu Uchinadi, check out Darrin Johnson and Koryu 360 on Facebook. Yes, i did just plug something on Facebbok. That's how good this stuff is.

MUSIC!

Quite sorry I missed UFC 140 last night. Sorry to hear about Big Nog getting his arm broken by Frank Mir. Probably a case for thinking "How do I get out of this?" then SNAP, and then thinking, "Whoops. Guess I should have tapped out there."



That's it for me. Its going to be an 800 mg kind of day, so I'm going to make some coffe, and breakfast and gobble down some anti-inflammatories.

WINNING and losing

Blah. Its Wednesday, November 30, 2011, I'm needing some caffeine and this is The Side. had a nasty headache all day Sunday. Monday I had the headache hangover and felt like i was walking through cement all day. I'm still feeling out of sorts. However, there is work to be done, and work doesn't wait until you feel like doing it.

Neither does a blog.

Well, OK, yeah it does, but its a lot more dramatic if it didn't.

GAME TIME!

Competition is a good thing. While some people can get too into it, if pursued in a healthy manner in can serve to bring out the best in people. It can drive them to try harder. People like to be the best. I played sports growing up, mainly Soccer. I've trained in Karate since I was a kid. I've gotten plenty of first place trophies. I've come in dead last. I've been part of soccer teams that won their league championships, and I've been on teams that never won a single game. I was even in a bowling league and my team won the championship. I've been a loser, and I've been a winner.

Winning doesn't suck.

But its really easy to not like winners. And that has me wondering about the blow back from a really lopsided basketball game. Here's the quick version. Two middle school teams were in a basketball tournament. One school is bigger and is really talented. The other is kinda lucky to be able to field a team. The bigger school broke out to big lead very quickly. The coach pulled out the starting players. By half time the score was 70-0. The coach told his team to stop playing defense to give the other team a chance to score some points. The end score was 100-2. Now there's talk that the winning team might be forced to forfeit their season, because they won by such a huge score.

So, the message is: do your best, unless you're a lot better than that other person then you better not or you can't play anymore.

This is stupid. I deal with kids and competition. In the dojo the main competition is against yourself, and making yourself as good as you can be. When the gloves go on, we are training each other and trying to push each other to become better. If i have a brown belt fighting a white belt, then that brown belt controls his skills and techniques fighting down to a lower level but still pushing that lower ranked student. In open tournaments students are separated by rank and age. You go out, give it everything you've got and see what happens.

For years I fought one particular guy on the local tournament circuit. It seems like whenever we were in the same tournament we'd be matched against each other in round one. He nearly always beat me. He's a very good fighter, and excellent at point fighting. Every year, I'd just have to try harder. The last time we fought each other, I still lost, but everyone who saw that fight applauded. We were to the point that there was nothing left to prove to each other. We both knew and respected each other. There was only the application of our techniques and a demonstration of control and precision that impressed those around us. He made me a better fighter.

A sensei in the dojo is a lot like a coach. When I watch my students its my duty to point out mistakes and also the things they did right. The whole point is to make the kids better. When they compete, I'm thrilled if they win, but just as proud of them when they and if they don't, because they still went out there and gave it their all.

The focus in the instance of the basketball game is in the wrong place. The team that won did so because they were flat out better than the other team. That other team deserves the credit in going out there as underdogs and competing and doing their best. Hopefully the coaches will be able to use the experience to teach the team a few things and make a better team of them.

I know people seem to like to punish winners. It can't be "fair" that someone wins so big. That's life. If you want "fair" go play Candyland.

MUSIC!

A fair fight? That would be the one I win.



That's it for me me. See y'all Friday.

Having Faith in an Angel

Brick not hit back. Its Sunday, October 2. 2011, my hand is a little sore, and this is The Side. Our annual karate demo went very well. I possibly may be getting some new students out of it which is kind of the point. Well, mostly we do the show to have fun and show off, but its pretty much the only real advertising we do all year aside from word of mouth. That and it livens up the annual church bazaar a bit.

This year we added in a bit a brick breaking. One of my students had some patio pavers that he wanted to get rid off. Seems about one in about every six of them are pretty damn stubborn, and sure enough it was the one I got on my stack. I blasted the thing twice and it wouldn't go. It does kind of work out though as that was the only unsuccessful break. It shows that it is a difficult thing to do, which it is. Fortunately I smashed the other brick fairly convincingly, and we've got that on tape.

Words of wisdom for martial artists: if you're going to break bricks, make sure you get some form of photographic evidence. That way, you never have to do it again.

COMIX!!

Let's start off with ANGEL ND FAITH #2. Angel's on a mission to resurrect Rupert Giles and Faith is hoping to keep him from going off the the rails. Resurrection in the "Buffy-verse" nearly never goes well. Typically you end up with a zombie. So, bringing Giles back, especially in a world without magic is a pretty talk order. It does look like our favorite vampire with a massive forehead has a plan to pull it off, and its actually got a shot. Lurking in the wings however are Nash and Pearl who worked with Angel during his "Twilight" possession. This issue works very well. Issue one let us know who the players are and bridged us over from BUFFY SEASON 8. Here we see exactly where everyone is on the chessboard and get a good glimpse at what the plan is. It plays off a very good episode from ANGEL season 1, so we have good link back to the old TV show. Where the book shines is how well it handles Faith. There's been two people that have really looked out for her on her road to redemption and one of them is trying to bring the other back to life. She knows its nuts and probably a really bad idea, but she's in it because she's got Angel's back and what if there's an off chance he can pull it off. Very good stuff.

RED KNIGHT #2 hit this week. I'm torn on it. Justin Cristelli has set up an interesting story. We have a vigilante operating in Norfolk. Norfolk is a bit of an underworld hub city here in that its where to go for super villains to lay low or to get their ducks in a row before moving on. It pretty well written. My gripe is the art, and I hate griping about art. JC Grande isn't afraid to go after tough shots, interesting page layouts, and varying camera angles. In fact, he handles it like a boss. The big problem is lack of grays. He doesn't vary his line weight and and there's no grayscale at all. It makes everything sit on the page and the only time something really jumps out is when there's something black on it. It makes me have to work at what i need to be looking it as opposed to having my eye naturally drawn there. He's obviously not afraid to detail out a page, which is impressive, so I fully believe that once he gets his grey on the pages will be really eye-popping. So, pretty good stuff and worth checking out, but still has room for improvement.

MUSIC!!

Yes, its true I hardly ever put a hip-hop song in my music section. This is because I can't get behind what the majority of hip-hop songs are talking about. Note I said "majority" and not "totality".



That's it for me today. I think its time for some Advil, coffee, and SPIDER-MAN AND HIS AMAZING FRIENDS on Netflix. See y'all Wednesday.

On teaching

Its Wednesday, July 6, 2011 and this is The Side. I'm still hanging in there. The whatever bug I caught is still sticking around. It is amazingly hard to write when you don't feel good. Ah well.

CHOP-SOCKY

When you engage in practicing the fighting arts its important not to delude yourself. You need a firm grasp of your personal strengths and weaknesses. This takes time to develop. You can't expect a white belt to know where his weaknesses are. That's why you need a sensei. A good sensei knows how to spot problems and make corrections. The student hopes to improve. The sensei wants to bring out the best in the student. This is the sensei/student relationship at its purest level and casting aside things like wanting a black belt to impress their friends, wanting to make a ton of money, and the like.

Years ago at a tournament my father saw a forms competition and the black belts were really going for it. When it was all said and done one of the competitors won over his instructor. The instructor was a bit upset afterwards. He couldn't believe that his own student beat him. Dad looked at him and smiled and told him, "That just shows what a great teacher you are." He hadn't really thought about it like that, and Dad saw him smile before he walked off.

I always told my students that I was training them to be better than me. The results have gone well since many of my students have surpassed me. It became pretty evident when I sparred one student in a demonstration point fight in front of the class. I was ahead 4-0 and then he got going to beat me in a 5-4 win. I was a little ticked at myself for not being able to cap off the victory, but moreso I was proud of my student.

There are some instructors that hold back knowledge keeping certain techniques to themselves even in the case of working with advanced students. They want to keep a few tricks for themselves, and keep some air of superiority to them. This is pretty foolish and its how some techniques get lost. The knowledge is meant to be passed on. If you don't pass them on then how will they be taught to the next generation of students.

So I am proud to say that two people I have taught have moved on to better things. They're running their own dojos now, and they're doing quite a bit better than mine. My little club is doing alright, but its dwindled a bit in numbers. The other clubs have swollen in the ranks. This isn't me being down on myself, or jealous, or trying to take credit as being some great instructor. This is me not deluding myself.

I've accomplished what I've needed to as a martial artist. I've played my part in producing quality instructors who can pass on the knowledge. Sure, I'll be a little footnote in the Karate genealogy charts but that's not really what's important. What's important is that the knowledge didn't end with me and those received it are going great things with it.

MUSIC!!!

And now: the 5, 6, 7, 8s!



That's it for today. See y'all Friday and we'll see what comics were in my pull box this week.

Brick not hit back

Its Friday, June 24, 2011, and this is The Side. When my dad was my age, him and some of the guys he trained with got a bunch of cinder blocks and pretty much laid waste to them. there's pictures of my dad breaking them with punches kicks and an elbow. He said always make sure when you do something like that to have someone take your picture, that way you have proof and never have to do it again.

So yesterday when I put my hand through a couple of patio pavers I made sure the karate kids' parents had their smart phones out to record this historic event. It is, of course, historic because now I never have to to do it again.

COMIX!!

ZATANNA #14 was waiting for me in the pull box this week. I'm going to miss this series once reboot kicks in. This is a fun comic, and there's so much interesting stuff going on. Unfortunately with the clock ticking down this issue doesn't have anything to do with Brother Night or the underlying big bad a-comin'. Zatanna goes to the club. Well, it wasn't really her idea, its was her cousin, Zachery. Now fellas, you know how this goes. Guy gets done working and he goes on out to get his drink on and meet some honeys. He finds a hot one and of course it turns out to be a life sucking succubus. Happens all the time. Its bad enough that a guy has to worry about STDs, knockin' her up, or ending up in a bathtub full of ice minus a kidney again. Now we gotta worry about this. Makes me glad I'm not single. This one is a one off from Adam Beechen, who I don't have any problem with usually, but there's kinda a problem here. It seems, according to Beechen, that Zatanna and Zatara's powers don't work on flesh, but we just got done with a storyline in which Zee's dad turned a guy into a puppet. Then there's the instance in which she inflated that guy with the time sword. It seems Beechen forgot about those, or forgot that their powers couldn't be used to kill people (which still would have worked with the story), or he thought for a panel or two that he was writing Firestorm. I don't know. Still, it wasn't a bad issue. Zee's relationship with her cousin was done very well. Jamal Igle's art is always a joy to look at. So, with one hiccup in there, I'll call this a win.

MUSIC!!

Cool song, made even cooler by use of SCRUBS footage. Everything is cooler with SCRUBS footage.



That's all for me today. Time to go make some bacon. See y'all Sunday.

The stuff that people do

OSU! Its Sunday, June 5, 2011, I'm exhausted, and this is The Side. I'll get to why I'm worn out in a bit. Real quick: on the shameless internet number whoring front, my cunning plan has worked. After getting less then half the page views in May than I did in April I put in a post with a ton of Pocoyo pictures and sure enough I'm back to getting the numbers I previously was and my "sell out" post is one of the most viewed posts on this log.

This let's me know one thing: my opinions and thoughts aren't nearly as sought after as a little cartoon kid and his little animal companions.

Of course, that's not going to stop me from continuing to spew them forth at you people thrice weekly.

PEOPLE

So much of what we see and read about our fellow man is terrible. Its so easy to sit and just have a dim view of humanity if we don't get out and away from those trying to get ratings. In news there's a saying "If it bleeds, it leads" meaning the more horrible the story the better the ratings for it will be. And this thought spreads.

Recently a discussion sprung up on the internet making the case that George Washington was an evil person. Really? George Washington? of course nowadays its practically en vogue to bash America, but at a certain point it just gets stupid. One of the main points those making the case that Washington was evil was that Washington owned slaves. However, Robert E. Lee didn't. So does that make Lee a better person than Washington? Well, that can't be the case because Lee fought for slavery during the Civil Wars. At least, that's what you're told because making that war all about slavery makes the winners look better. Saying it was really about States rights versus the powers of the federal government makes things a lot less cut and dried. Were either Washington or Lee evil? Of course not. But demonizing people is easy. Its a low road, and fairly stupid. It ends up leading to stuff like that yearbook page that listed the worst people ever as Adolf Hitler, Osama bin laden, Charles Manson, George W. Bush, and Dick Cheney. Three of those people are actually evil. Two are not. If I have to point out which, you've got a problem.

But with all this stupidity and people thinking the worst of people you can still find all these great folks our there. there's still people going out and trying to be a good example, and even better those who aren't trying and simply are a good example. I was at a karate tournament yesterday, which is why I mentioned earlier that I was so tired. I left everything I had on the floor, and even though I didn't win big, I still tried my best to inspire others with my display of skill and show good sportsmanship with my fellow competitors. I had a bunch of students there, and they all worked hard and did well. I'm proud of all of them. One of things i was really glad to see was two of the teenage students helping one of the younger one who had placed in his division, but didn't know where to get his trophy. They more proud of him and more than happy to take him over to get prize. Its little things like that which makes me think teaching is worth it.

Being inspiring can be a simple thing. It can be as simple as the little old lady who had the save bank account for nearly 100 years, and how great that bank treated her on her 100th birthday. Or it could be something a little more showy, like the little girl who did a great job singing the National Anthem, which wouldn't seem like much of a feat, but considering how many high profile singers have messed it up, its refreshing to see a kid do it right.

And then there's those who protect and serve who can inspire us. The people who don't choose the easy path, but above and beyond, not for the glory, but because it was the right thing to do. People like the Iraq War veteran who protected his children during a bank robbery and then turned around and caught the robber. People with the skills needed to help, the decency to do so, and the intelligence to know when to act.

And finally there are those people who never set out to inspire, but placed in extraordinary circumstances, do so anyway. Such was the case of the British Military man http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifwhose checkpoint was overrun in Afghanistan by 30 Taliban fighters who did their level best to leave him a bullet riddled corpse. Now for those familiar with the story you may be saying "But Nozz, that soldier was a Gurkha! That fight was in no way fair to those Taliban folks!" Which is true, but the Taliban guys started it, and didn't leave that fella any choice but to take all 30 of them out. What's lesson there? Don't quit. Some things only look impossible.

Life isn't simple. Its not really down to good versus evil a lot of times, but sometimes it is. Evil is fairly easy to find if you look for it. News media makes it pretty easy. However good can be found too, and you may have to look a little harder, but its worth the extra effort.

MUSIC!!

My college roommate dated a girl who looked just like the girl in this video, complete with the legs that went all the way up to her neck. Of course, I've got the video in here due to this being a really great song and video, and not because the girl in question is in a really short skirt.



Alrighty, I'm done. I'm going to go recover, and then go workout, and then go recover. Yeesh. Talk about a vicious cycle.

Body movin'!

Boogie woogie! Its Friday, May 27, 2011, I'm feeling well rested and this is The Side. It seems that I've started snoring and really badly too. Its to the point where I've taken to the couch just so the Missus can get some shut eye. Fortunately its a very comfy couch. So I grabbed some of those nose strips yesterday. Not sure how much it effected my snoring, but slept like a stone.

DANCE!!

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE has kicked off its eighth season. Still maintaining a really great standard and still looking to keep the bar or barre very high. I know there's a lot of people, including many in my family who prefer DANCING WITH THE STARS, but really there's no comparison. I only caught half of the premier and the performances blew away anything DANCING WITH THE STARS had to offer.

Let's face it. The talent is better. The choreographers are amazing and have won Emmy Awards for their work. The genres of dance represented are broader. Over the seasons of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE the Hip Hop dance genre has been pushed to new heights, and depths with Lyrical Hip Hop emerging as an exciting new sub-genre. This week's auditions introduced us to the "Turfing" sub-genre that it specific to the San Francisco area.

DANCING WITH THE STARS wants you to look at the people they get on the show. SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE wants you to look at the people on their show creating magnificent displays of art.

FIGHT!!

When you teach you often don't do as much. You're having to keep an eye on the class and make sure everyone is doing what they're supposed to be doing. This is especially important when teaching martial arts because people can get hurt and it can happen pretty quickly. So over the years I haven't put on the gloves nearly as much as I used to. I retired from tournament fighting a while back. Really there wasn't much reason for me to put on the gloves aside from a few students who hadn't fought me that were curious about the experience.

Getting soft can creep up on you. You start to realize you don't have the gas tank that you used to. Firing off kicks at opponents' heads isn't as easy as it used to be. Timing and distancing start to get rusty. Here's a secret for you non-fighters: its all about timing and distancing. You just don't move like you used to. Its one thing if you're having to make adjustments because of Father Time. Its another if you have to make them because you haven't been training like you used to.

No instructor wants to me waddling around the dojo barking orders and hoping he tied his belt evenly because he can't see it to figure it out.

So with the Battle of the 7 Cities tournament looming close I had to put on the gloves to help get some of the guys ready. I'm not as quick as I used to be. I've passed most of my tricks on to them. I was breathing through my mouth. Still, I managed to push them. And that's what's important. You don't let them win (unless its a white belt and they're still learning the ropes), but you don't want to completely overwhelm them either. The guys there last night and very slick fighters. I wasn't holding back much, because if I did, they'd whup me something fierce.

Two good things came out of this week. First, I've got some fighters that are ready for a tournament. Second, I'm feeling a lot better without all the ring rust I was carrying around.

MUSIC!!

This tune kept popping up is commercials for a TV show. Not too shabby for a gal who started out doing hip hop.



That's it for today. Y'all enjoy the holiday weekend. Stay safe. Eat some good food. We'll see ya back here Sunday.

Pound for Pound Champ!!

BONZAI!! Its Sunday, May 1, 2011, I'm sore and tired in a good way, and this is The Side. We had a workout at Sandbridge beach yesterday with folks from three different dojo's coming out to have fun and participate. I test three of my students out there. Two kids going for brown belt. One's kinda goofy and like to play around a bit. The other is kinda reserved and a pretty nice kid. Another student is just entering the horrendous years of being a teenager and is a funny guy. All three of them fought out there on the sand like a bunch of absolute studs. I couldn't be any prouder of them.

The workout was good. Lunch at Red Robin afterward was great. Then came last night. That's right. Its was FIGHT NIGHT!!

BEATIN'S!!!

UFC 129 was last night. Very stacked card. There were two title fights both with game challengers, but both defending champions, Georges St. Pierre and Jose Aldo, retained their titles. There was a third match of interest. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture was fighting former light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. Couture is a hero to the sport and bases his fighting style off of Greco-Roman Wrestling. Machida is a very humble and respectable man who uses his family's style of Shotokan Karate as his base style. I'm a life long Karate man, but still I had to root for Randy.

There was trouble on the horizon because while Machida was heading to the ring we spotted Steven Seagal with him. I even yelled to my cousin, "Scott! Randy's doomed! Machida's got Steven Seagal with him! There's no hope now!" Yes, this is the same man who started in OUT FOR JUSTICE, ABOVE THE LAW, and UNDER SIEGE. The same guy who recently was featured as a deputy in a reality TV show. The Aikido stylist very noted for his pony tail. That guy.

But he's been to these evens before. He was in the corner of Anderson Silva when he fought the very dangerous Vitor Blfort. Silva stopped Belfort in round one was a front kick right to the face that knocked the challenger out. Silva credited Seagal with helping him work on stuff like that kick. This had us fight fans all scratching out heads asking ourselves, "Really?"

But there we were last night, watching Machida be very elusive and striking while Couture was looking to get a hold of his opponent. It was still anybody's fight when out of freaking nowhere Machida hits Couture with the Crane Technique and knocked him right out! Yes, that Crane Technique! Right out of THE KARATE KID "If done right, no can defend" Crane Technique! Hands went out to the side for a split second, and Machida went airborne and delivered a kick right to Randy's face.

OSCAR MIKE GOLF! WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT!!

And in the post fight interview, Machida was incredibly gracious to Couture referring to him as a "hero". Very classy as always. Then he credits Seagal for helping him work on that kick.

What the hell is going on here? Is Jean-Claude Van Damme going to come out with Frankie Edgar next month having taught him special techniques to let him finally defeat his nemesis, Gray Maynard? I know Seagal is a legitimate Aikido stylist and instructor but I'm stunned when I'm seeing him getting the credit for adding dynamic and devastating new elements to fighters game plans.

My world is rocked.

EATIN'S!!

I have a new eating disorder: Adult Selective Eating. Due to this horrible affliction I can only eat cheeseburgers and pizza forever and ever. That's right. Being a picky eater is now an eating disorder. I've seen quite a few kids with this. You've seen them. The ones that will only eat chicken nuggets and french fries even under the threat of no Nintendo. It seems like some people haven't grown out of that.

I'm a picky eater. I know what I like and what I don't. I don't like a lot of vegetables. Its the texture. Those things just feel weird in my mouth. I also don't eat seafood, be cause its freakin' seafood. I ain't eatin' anything that came out of the ocean. Screw that.

Yeah, I've got my dietary hang-ups. Fortunately I'm active and love things like fruit that're pretty healthy. However, I've been known to overcome my picky eating when push comes to shove. If I'm in serious need of calories and I don't have many options, like at training camps and the like, I go into survival mode and the foods that I do like become a luxury and I eat because I have to. According to the studies some people can't overcome it. If there's nothing on their "personal menu" they won't eat.

I get that some people have a serious problem with this. I'm not one of them. What I really don't want to see is people eating like morons and blaming it on this eating disorder. Kinda like how some people act like complete asshats and say they have Aspergers.

"I can't help but eat nothing but cheesecake! I am Adult Selective Eating Disorder!"

Yeesh. Hopefully, things won't come to that. I always raise an eyebrow whenever there's some new disorder. Its like we can't rest until everyone has something wrong with them.

And then no one will be normal like me.

MUSIC!!!

Hate to say it, but Randy should have swept the leg.



That's it for me today. Got some more training to do. See y'all Wednesday.