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Feel better Bob, we are all rooting for you

With only eight games left in the regular season, the Vegas Golden Knights have fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and replaced him with John Tortorella. Cassidy did a good job as head coach, imo, leading the Knights to the playoffs in his first three seasons, and was on pace to do that again this year. Cassidy helped the team win their first Stanley Cup in 2023. However, the struggles the team has had this season were enough to get him fired. Vegas has only had a franchise for nine seasons, and this is their fourth head coach, even though they have been in the playoffs in seven of their eight previous years, twice to the finals, and four times in the conference finals. Right now, Vegas is third in the Pacific, which is enough for the playoffs, but they have been inconsistent all year and without being in the worst division in hockey they would be out of contention. Vegas expects to be a contender every year, and they seem to have little patience when things are not going well. Maybe this will be the kick in the pants the team needs going into the playoffs. Or maybe it will backfire. We will have to wait and see.

Week 6 is now in the books. Our CI closed the dojo the previous week, since that's when most of the kids were on Spring Break (and he and Heather went to Tahiti for a vacation). So this past week I was fighting the fact that I'd been off for a week. Yes, I can and do train some at home, but I do not have the self-discipline to push myself as hard as others push me. I mean, that's why I train with others. Tuesday's early class was pretty rough. Heather had Parker start class with the usual junbi undo (warmup exercises), skipped hojo undo, and went straight to Sanchin. After Sanchin, we went straight to kata -- 2 each of Kanshiwa, Kanshu (then the yellow/green belts peeled off), Seichin (then the brown belts peeled off), Seisan (then the nikyus & ikkyus peeled off), Seiryu (then the 1st degrees peeled off), then Kanchin. Time for a water break and a few minutes to rest. Next we started doing kata again, but after the first repetition she'd have us face a different direction. After the second repetition, she'd face us to the front, and do mirror-image kata. And she did that for Kanshiwa, Kanshu, Seichin, Seisan. She did *not* have us do Seiryu or Kanchin mirror-image, but for Seiryu she had us all face different directions so we ran the risk of running into each other. Needless to say, by the time Kanchin came around, I was completely gassed. One thing I'm noticing that as I'm past 50, it doesn't take long for my conditioning to deteriorate, and it's harder to get it back when I start training again. So when we do close the dojo I'll need to make a point to do more training on my own or at least SOME type of cardio. Wednesday night was our black belt prep class - as this class is mainly black belts, she's more focusing on fine tuning our techniques than she is on yelling at us to do things right. (Once you've been through the prep cycle once she goes a LOT easier on you). Occasionally she'll have other instructors come up and run parts of the class so that we can get other instructor's perpective. Last night, she asked me to do the student's Sanchin checks. This was a bit of a break for me, which I appreciated. So I did all their checks, and then we went straight to the other techniques. I feel that Parker and I are starting to look really good with our bunkai and yakusoku kumite drills. I did make a point to ask Heather if to ask Richard (our CI) if we could practice the bunkai downstairs the last couple weeks before the test. Unfortunately when we are upstairs, we (or at least I) can't really do the sword attacks due to the low ceiling. I smacked the rafters once with a bokken, and I really don't want to do that again. Thursday was a combination of kobudo training and teaching. In kobudo class we focused on the first set of bo no hojo undo bunkai, and ran through that set over and over, focusing on a few of the details. The details aren't as important for me since I was the lowest rank in the group (geared more for brown and black belts), but I figure while I'm working on them let's not get into bad habits. That was also a pretty tiring session, but in a good way. Saturday we had our semiannual black belt (and black belt candidate) training. This is where our CI transfers a lot of new material that he's picked up from other senior instructors. He gave us corrections on a few of the hojo undo techniques, and then he had us run sanchin twice as a large group. He then broke us up into smaller groups, with the older students going first and the younger students second. And he did a lot of checking on Sanchin to the point we ended up staying in stance for about 7-10 minutes, which feels like a LOT longer. By the end of this, my quad was cramping and my shoulders were exhausted. But I made it through. For the second half of the day, we ran through kata, starting with Seiryu and then moving on to Kanchin (required for 2nd and 3rd degrees respectively). He broke down some of techniques, and discussed how as black belts we're supposed to start learning more of the "soft" aspects of Uechi-Ryu. One thing he mentioned is how in certain spots we're supposed to "float" or be light on our feet. And he talked about how we're supposed to start learning to flow from one movement to the next. After that, he had us start working one of the sequences in Kanchin, arguably one of the hardest ones. He broke this down into its individual components, starting with the first movement, then practicing that, then moving onto the next in the sequence, etc etc. The sequence involves doing a movement that is interpreted as catching a front kick in a shiko-dachi and then throwing the kick (and the opponent). He discussed how you need to start the throw from your back foot, and I swear, I could see the power actually transfer up his leg, through his hips, to the shoulders and the arms, like a wave moving up through him and into the imaginary opponent's leg. It's EXTREMELY hard to describe, and it'll take me a long time to figure out how to do it... but it's really cool that I was able to *see* that.

Not surprised at all. EBay is the king site for gouging people, and without any integrity. I remember that a single can of Lysol during the Covid-19 pandemic was $75 for a $5 item on EBay.

Chuck Norris and Walker Texas Ranger memorabilia is flying off the shelves. Ebay and other websites are seeing a surge in people selling merch and autographs since his passing last week. The cost of the merch is up to three times what it would have been the day before his death. The demand and value of autographs go up right after a celebrity dies, and we are seeing that. If you are considering purchasing autographed merchandise please be careful, there are lots of fakes out there. Be sure that the autograph is verified by either PSA. JSA, or Beckett. PSA is considered the gold standard, with JSA and Beckett coming in just behind them. These brands have websites where you can check for authenticity. Any item verified by these outlets will have a sticker with an item number that can be checked on their website. They also often come with a card and/or a letter, depending on the item, but they all have a number. For non-autographed items I have seen a lot of action figures and clothing, including a Walker Texas Ranger jean jacket that was going for 1,000 dollars.

Connor McDavid has reached 800 career assists, an impressive milestone, but still far behind the Great One, Gretzky, who had 1,963 for his career, more than double what McDavid currently has. While 800 assists is a lot, McDavid would still need over 100 more to break into the top 20 all time. The most career assist of any active player is Sidney Crosby, who has 1,098.

Went to my Oncologist today!! No MRI and Chest X-Ray results!! Results are on hold!! This can be due to that the results are released to the doctor 4-5 business days after test were concluded; I had this tests last Monday March 23rd!! Doctor should have results this upcoming Monday!! I’ve a follow-up at April 10th!! Oncologist asked me if I was taking testosterone shots!! I said no…never!! So she pokes and probs me here and there!! She says my testosterone level is at 486…last blood test was at 276. She says that that can indicate that maybe the cancer came back!! But I reminded her that my PSA is at 0.06, she says cancer can return even with a low PSA!! The older men get, the lower the testosterone gets!! Maybe my cancer did come back because while my testosterone levels are high, I’ve not been able to be intimate with my wife for many years; doctor said that I should get a blue pill because I’m getting older too!! Hhhmmmmmm?!? She also says that there’s activity in my liver!! But she believes that that’s a typo because it’s better to have activity where the hole in my head is than in my liver!! I just want to die of old age from natural causes!!!!

Same style (shotokan) but different organisation, though still a large Japanese body. Spoke to the Chief Instructor beforehand and no issue to keep grade etc.I will answer the other questions to you directly if that is ok - there are not that many clubs up here and i have done my best to leave politely / respectfully without causing any issues and want to keep it that way (friends of mine who i train with were spoken with prior to my making my decision to move for input but i don't want to muddy waters!). Really happy with the new club though

Colorado and Dallas become the first two teams to clinch playoff sports this season. Vancouver and the NY Rangers are the first two teams to have been officially eliminated. More of each will be coming soon. Playoffs start April 18.

Photos being passed around the internet from Norris's funeral are fake. Some AI photos went viral, but they are not real. It's gross that people will create and spread false information to get some clicks, especially about a dead man, but that is the social media world we now live in. One of the obvious ways it was proven fake...his name was listed as "Charles Norris" on the casket. His name was Carlos Norris. So stupid.

No, we didn’t forget but apparently the NFL has forgotten…and don’t care one way or another.

Maybe NHL players might want to start wearing a concussion helmet like they do in the NFL!! AJ Geer slap on the wrist sure doesn’t fit the crime. I wonder if the NFL penalizes the teams owner with a very stiff fine for things like this?!?

Thanks for weighing in, Bob and Brian. I appreciate it. Sounds good, @Zaine. I'll follow up in the next couple weeks if I don't hear from you. I have served as the editor of these efforts for years, so don't worry too much about rambling. haha. Thanks. Also, anyone else, if you haven't replied but want to: Please feel free. Thanks for reading.

The NFL is exploring the possibility of using replacement refs again in 2026. Did we all forget the Fail Mary and the disaster that was the early 2012 season?? There are even conversations about high school officials working NFL games this fall if the CBA lockout extends into the season.

The NHL Department of Player Safety is a joke. AJ Greer gets a mere three game suspension for his dirty and illegal cheap shot on Connor Zary of the Flames. A terrible hit from behind and into the boards against a defenseless player. As I said in a previous post recently, the NHL needs to take a long and serious look at making changes to the department of player safety. First the Austin Matthews hit, and now this one on Connor Zary. These are serious hits that can end seasons and even players careers, and the league continues to hand out soft punishment. The NHL should be ashamed. George Parros should be fired, he has been a disaster, and the league should do a complete overhaul of the department this offseason before someone gets paralyzed from a dirty play. They need new leadership and a whole new team who does a better job. Furthermore, the punishment does nothing to harm the Panthers franchise, who are out of any playoff hopes this year anyway. This is disgraceful. Here they had a chance to send a message and let it be known they are taking these hits more seriously, instead they botched it yet again.

The hardest thing I find is keeping still, especially for 1.5 hours. My arms and my upper body for the most was pinned, and I hate being restrained in any way. Sure the back and sides are wide open but they put part of the MRI right over my face. I was holding some small ball that I can squeeze, technician would stop the procedure and get me out. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted the heck out of there. Thank you for your prayers; means everything to me. I too pray for nothing but good results.

RIP Chuch Norris. You will be missed.

I think this is pretty cool. Seeing people with prior training and how that affects their current training is fun to see, and fun to learn feedback from. It sounds like your test prep is going really well. Keep up the good work!

3/19/2026 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: 6:45 - 8:15 pm. Two warmup rounds, then into the class focus, which was back control again. The twist this week was that we transitioned between back control and the front headlock position, where we worked on trying to get a D'Arcce or anaconda choke. If the bottom player could escape or re-guard, that was a win and switch roles. I felt better at the end of the session about available options from the front headlock position and figuring out when to cut my losses and transition back over to back control if need be. Free-rolled 2 rounds, 4 minutes each. I got an Americana on another white belt, and also got pointers on trying to do an arm triangle from being on top in half-guard. Then I rolled with coach and got tapped out 3x in that 4 minute span. The new guy that had wrestled was back in class, too, and it seems like he's going to be a permanent fixture going forward, which is great, as I'd love to see the student membership rise. He kind of seemed to figure things out, too, or at least came to the conclusion that it was ok to use lots of pressure like in wrestling. He seemed to be heavier and use his hips better, and he was more than a pain to drill with tonight. Being on bottom a lot tonight really thrashed my arms, too.

3/18/2026 Strength Training Press: 45x5x2, 75x5, 95x5, 122.5x3, 122.5x3, 122.5x3, 122.5x3, 122.5x3. Just in and out today. In the future, I may consider upping weight after the last set for some push presses.

Thank you both for the kind words and support. I enjoy the other sports he does, but wrestling has a special place.

3/17/2026 Taekwondo: 5:45 - 6:30 pm. Traditional Class. I taught this class. Prior to class I reviewed Choong Jang hyung (our 4th dan form). Got the class through all the basics, and I even joined in on a few to get moving a little bit. Added spin outer crescent kicks to the back leg crescent kick basics. Forms and one-steps were done for high orange, low/high green, and 2nd and 3rd dans. Sparring: 6:30 - 7:00 pm. Taught, but also sparred. We did lots of short rounds with little rest, rotating the line each time for a new partner. We had 5 in the class total. I worked on my distancing. The 3rd dan finished off by sparring with multiple opponents (who were younger kids). He started 1v1, then after 30 seconds I had another join in, and the third joined in 30 seconds later.

That's great that you've found a great place to train. What prompted the move? You may have spoken of it, but I have forgotten if you did. ...scratch that. I just caught up on the previous posts. I'm sorry to hear that. Did you ever stop to ask what the deal was? I would assume they would inform you. I'm assuming the new club is the same style/organization?

3/16/2026 Strength Training Squats: 45x5x2, 95x5, 115x3, 135x1, 165x5, 180x3, 195x1. Clean & Jerk: 75x2, 95x2, 125x2, 125x2, 125x2.

Hopefully the find a way to heal that up, Bob. I'll be keeping you in my prayers. I have had an MRI before, and found out I was claustrophobic. Not a good time.