aurik

Welcome to the forums!

My Blues are still on an absolute tear through the NHL. After last night's 6-1 win over Montreal, they are on a SEVEN game winning streak. They are firing on all cylinders, and I can't wait to see them play in person here in Denver this Saturday.

The Blues have really been on a tear since the Four Nations Face-Off. They have won their last 6 in a row, and are solidly in the second wildcard playoff spot in the West. They are 12-2-2 since the 4 Nations Break - the best record in the NHL over that span. The picture is somewhat complicated by the fact that the Flames are 4 points back, but have 3 games in hand. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, TBH. Bad in that if the Blues win all their remaining games AND Calgary wins all theirs, the Blues are out of the playoffs. Good in that Calgary has a substantially more compressed schedule and less time to rest their players from here on out. Of course, with the way the Blues are playing, I'm hoping they not only make it to the playoffs, but make a deep playoff run.

My Blues just went on a tear getting 9 points out of their previous 5 games, so there may be a chance for them to make the playoffs. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for them!

This is all happening right after the wife and I just booked flights for a trip to Europe. I didn't used to have any nerves or fears for airline travel. Now I'm not so sure.

I actually made my own bo a few months ago out of a chunk of purpleheart. I had purchased a 6.5' x 8" x 2" slab of purpleheart a number of years ago. I ran it through my table saw to make a 1 3/8" square, then went to octagonal (by turning the saw to 45 degrees and adjusting the fence. I then knocked down the corners with a hand plane and sanded the entire thing down to 400 grit. Next I used a buffing wheel with several different compounds, and finished it with gun stock oil (birchwood-casey Tru Oil) It's an absolute beast to wield, but it's fantastic exercise. I only use it for regular training classes; I would never test with it. But it looks and feels awesome; just the right amount of grip

Our mats are pretty firm; they aren't "squishy" by any means. The only time I really notice the difference is when I'm trying to balance on one foot for any length of time. Likewise, the only time I really notice the slipperiness of the downstairs mats is when I'm doing stretches like the splits where you need the extra friction. But when you're doing the splits and your legs are out about as far as your adductors are willing to go, and then your foot suddenly slips out to the side... that's disconcerting (and very uncomfortable).

Two of our advanced students (both ikkyus, prepping for their shodan exam) have prior experience. One is a 5th degree in Tae Kwon Do, and the other has prior shotokan experience (I think he was a brown belt of some level). It's always interesting to spar with them. The TKD student tends to go for the high kicks and he likes to leave them out (he has excellent control and poise). Well, being the treacherous old man I am, I tend to step back just out of range of those kicks and then when he leaves them out, immediately re-engage, grabbing that leg and using it to pull me in, where I'll get a few good strikes in. I haven't sparred the shotokan guy in awhile, but it's always fun.

Awesome movie. I may need to re-watch it!

Our dojo has 2 floors - we have mats on the downstairs dojo, and hardwood (bamboo) floors upstairs. I find that it's harder to balance on one leg on the mats; I also find the mats tend to get slippery a lot easier than the bamboo floors. However, I definitely do not like falling on the bamboo floors!

I broke my left ring finger on my green belt (rokkyu) test when I snagged my finger on my CI's pants leg while blocking one of his kicks - that took a month or two to heal. I also jammed my right thumb at a black belt training session when I tried redirecting a partner's kick and didn't tuck my thumb in properly. That was sore for a month or two as well. Also, in my very first seminar with Master Thompson, I was doing ashikitae with my CI's younger brother, and kicked him in his forearm. I got a bone bruise that lasted about 2-3 months. Nothing that made me really stop training, but I had to adjust my training to deal with those injuries.

Many of the people I talk to who are not well-versed in the martial arts think that earning one's (first degree) black belt is the goal of the martial arts. I have spoken with a couple of coworkers whose kids did karate or tae kwon do. "Yeah, they earned their black belts". And that was it. Our CI, on the other hand, tells students as they get into the green/brown belt ranks things like, "you don't start learning the really good stuff until you reach black belt". And "a first degree black belt just means you've mastered the basics". His school also reinforces this. At any of the adult classes, the first 1 or 2 rows of students will be black belts (or junior black belts) who are continuing to train. Our school currently has about 8 nidans, 3 sandans, 1 yondan and 3 godans who continue to train regularly as students.

I have to admit, this four nations face off is MUCH better than any all-star game I've seen in the past. I watched the USA/Canada game it brought out the skill and passion of all the players involved. I hated the fact that the Canadians decided to boo the USA national anthem (this is about sports, not politics for pete's sake). When the game started with 3 fights in 9 seconds, it definitely sent the message that this is not just another all-star game.

I really enjoy doing our 2-person drills with a partner who really pushes me to do my best. There are a handful of partners I truly enjoy training with -- they are strong enough, fast enough, and skilled enough that I need to be at my best to keep up with them. It's a real joy to train with partners that bring out the best in you.

I've run into this a bit with my son. Our style and organization time-in-grade requirements for every rank, and minimum age for (adult) black belt ranks. One thing that has frustrated him to a certain degree is that I have progressed significantly faster through the ranks than he has -- mainly because of the minimum age requirements. I started at our dojo about a year after he did, but he started out as a junior belt (ages 4-6). When he aged out of that program, I was already several promotions ahead of him in the kyu/dan ranking. Also, he wasn't always wiling to put in the minimum classes required, so the CI would sometimes have his test date slip a month or two while he caught up. By the time he was able to test for shodan-sho (junior 1st degree), I was testing for my senior nidan. Likewise, by the time he is old enough to test for adult shodan, I'll most likely have tested for sandan. I keep having to remind him that martial arts is a lifelong journey, not a sprint to the next belt.