Falling Hard

I bought the book "Falling Hard" today, by Mark Law. He is a journalist that took up judo when he was nearly 50 years old, and wrote this book about his experiences.

I read the first two chapters today, and thought I'd post two quotes from the book here:

"A white belt at the dojo is like a toddler at a tea party, and demands a similar etiquette: people must take turns to play with him;it is incumbent upon everyone to encourage him, praise his simplest achievements, and not laugh when he falls over."

"If someone banged a tennis ball past me, it was hardly the end of the world. It was just a game. When someone threw me on the floor of the dojo, it didn't seem like a game at all. I was much affected. The former reflected badly on my ability at tennis. The latter reflected badly on me. And if ever I threw someone, it seemed somehow to be a worthwhile achievement, unlike scoring a goal, or a point with a ball."

I like the book so far. I think it'll be a fun read.

Great Video!

I was going to post this as a late (or early) Friday Night Video, but as I was logging in to my blog, I saw that Pat beat me to it!

Check out this awesome self defense video here.

Friday Night Videos

Okay, I'm not sure how funny these will be unless you live in southern Louisiana, or have otherwise had experience with cajun culture. This stuff is hilarious to me, because my wife's family.....shall we say "closely resembles" this guy in accent and expression (my wife is NOT anything like this though). I'm so glad my friend Byron turned me on to these vids.



And another one::::

Friday Night Videos

Okay, I'm not sure how funny these will be unless you live in southern Louisiana, or have otherwise had experience with cajun culture. This stuff is hilarious to me, because my wife's family.....shall we say "closely resembles" this guy in accent and expression (my wife is NOT anything like this though). I'm so glad my friend Byron turned me on to these vids.



And another one::::

Friday Night Videos, 7/10/09

This is truly one of the oddest things I've seen...

Friday Night Videos, 7/10/09

This is truly one of the oddest things I've seen...

Dare I Hope?

I didn't make it to any judo or aikido lessons this past weekend...and despite my best efforts, I was not able to do a Judo/BJJ "study group" with either of my nephews. My wife went out of town, so my 14-month-old daughter and I chilled out all weekend.

Before my wife left for her trip, I asked her to let me try a triangle choke on her (I had just watched the Gracie Combatives lesson for it). I always bother her like that , haha! "Let me try this armbar..." or "Try this choke on me..." Sometimes she indulges me, sometimes not. She was packing her luggage and didn't have time, but she said "I'd like to learn that one when I get back". That was different! Normally, she will participate to help me out, or simply to humor me, but never expresses a desire to learn. Back when we trained in aikido together (at my previous dojo), she was really into it - she loved it! It was like pulling teeth to get her to try it out at first, but the more she did it, the more she liked it. Since we stopped (due to her high risk pregnancy), and especially after our daughter was born, she's had better things to do with her time, so her interest in aikido waned.

I think she's interested in learning a few things in the event she needs to defend herself, and the triangle choke has obvious applications for a woman defending herself from a rape attempt.

So do I DARE hope that this may be the beginning of a renewed interest in martial arts? I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's difficult not to. I'll definitely be nurturing her interest though.

Dare I Hope?

I didn't make it to any judo or aikido lessons this past weekend...and despite my best efforts, I was not able to do a Judo/BJJ "study group" with either of my nephews. My wife went out of town, so my 14-month-old daughter and I chilled out all weekend.

Before my wife left for her trip, I asked her to let me try a triangle choke on her (I had just watched the Gracie Combatives lesson for it). I always bother her like that , haha! "Let me try this armbar..." or "Try this choke on me..." Sometimes she indulges me, sometimes not. She was packing her luggage and didn't have time, but she said "I'd like to learn that one when I get back". That was different! Normally, she will participate to help me out, or simply to humor me, but never expresses a desire to learn. Back when we trained in aikido together (at my previous dojo), she was really into it - she loved it! It was like pulling teeth to get her to try it out at first, but the more she did it, the more she liked it. Since we stopped (due to her high risk pregnancy), and especially after our daughter was born, she's had better things to do with her time, so her interest in aikido waned.

I think she's interested in learning a few things in the event she needs to defend herself, and the triangle choke has obvious applications for a woman defending herself from a rape attempt.

So do I DARE hope that this may be the beginning of a renewed interest in martial arts? I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's difficult not to. I'll definitely be nurturing her interest though.

Friday Night Videos, 6-5-09

Two videos today...one is martial arts related, and the other SHOULD be. I'm really digging the silly "Keyboard Cat" phenomenon on YouTube, haha.

Friday Night Videos, 6-5-09

Two videos today...one is martial arts related, and the other SHOULD be. I'm really digging the silly "Keyboard Cat" phenomenon on YouTube, haha.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd post this video....I love Cinco Claus!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

To celebrate Cinco de Mayo, I thought I'd post this video....I love Cinco Claus!

Friday Night Videos, 4/10/09

Courtesy of my friend Ryan - one of the silliest and strangest "martial arts" videos I've ever seen.

Friday Night Videos, 4/10/09

Courtesy of my friend Ryan - one of the silliest and strangest "martial arts" videos I've ever seen.

Friday Night Videos, 4/3/09

Here's a comedian my buddy Ryan just showed me. I love the following 3 bits:

Friday Night Videos, 4/3/09

Here's a comedian my buddy Ryan just showed me. I love the following 3 bits:

Wednesday Weirdness

I'm not really reading any martial arts books this week, so I don't have a "What-I'm-Reading Wednesday" this week. But I thought I'd relate something strange that happened this morning:

I was driving to work and had my iPod playing my "Pop" playlist, and it was set to shuffle the songs randomly. I was listening to the song "Don't Drink the Water" by The Dave Matthews Band, and the very next song was "Drink the Water" by Jack Johnson.

I was so confused. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to rush home and climb back in bed until the world made sense again.

Wednesday Weirdness

I'm not really reading any martial arts books this week, so I don't have a "What-I'm-Reading Wednesday" this week. But I thought I'd relate something strange that happened this morning:

I was driving to work and had my iPod playing my "Pop" playlist, and it was set to shuffle the songs randomly. I was listening to the song "Don't Drink the Water" by The Dave Matthews Band, and the very next song was "Drink the Water" by Jack Johnson.

I was so confused. I didn't know what to do. I wanted to rush home and climb back in bed until the world made sense again.

Friday Night Video - 3/13/09

My friend Ryan sent me this video yesterday. It reminded me of something I just read in Dave Lowery's book, The Karate Way. He talks about the old adage that "boards don't hit back". He makes the point that the force of the strike has to go somewhere, and if the board doesn't give, the energy goes right back into your hand....or head. So this guy asking for the holder to not let the board move at all, is only asking for a bigger headache, I think. It's still funny though.

Friday Night Video - 3/13/09

My friend Ryan sent me this video yesterday. It reminded me of something I just read in Dave Lowery's book, The Karate Way. He talks about the old adage that "boards don't hit back". He makes the point that the force of the strike has to go somewhere, and if the board doesn't give, the energy goes right back into your hand....or head. So this guy asking for the holder to not let the board move at all, is only asking for a bigger headache, I think. It's still funny though.