Are you lazy?

*** this is copied from Aaron at Tempo Boxing. If you do not know him, you should. If you have not trained with him, you should. He is a real life "hero" (and a great guy)

Are you lazy? (be honest)

I know a lot of lazy people. People who would rather spend the day planted on their couch than anywhere else. People who choose take-out over home cooked, every night of the week. People who would rather have a root canal than go do a workout. Sure, I know that we all have our occasional lazy day on the couch, but lately it seems that more and more people are turning laziness into a career. What about you? Check if the following describe you:

* You are habitually inactive.
* You'd rather be a passive observer than an active participant.
* You're a master excuse-maker.
* You find shortcuts in order to avoid the long haul.

If that's you, don't get down on yourself. There are many legitimate causes of laziness.
Here are just a few...

Sleep Deprivation: When you're short on sleep it's easy to become unmotivated, which quickly turns into laziness. Get a minimum of eight hours of sleep each night in order to maintain enough energy to get you through the day. Some experts even say that ten hours of sleep each night is what you need to function at your best.

Caffeine Abuse: Starting your day with a jolt of java may help with your initial alertness, but the dip in energy that takes place a few hours later could be the reason that you become lazy later in the day. Avoid the rush and crash of caffeine and instead rely on your steady supply of natural energy.

Bad Habit: At some point being lazy simply becomes a habit. If every night after work you head straight to the couch, it soon becomes automatic and not a conscious decision. Breaking the habit of laziness is actually quite easy. Simply take yourself off of autopilot and make the conscious decision to do something productive instead - like heading to the gym rather than the couch.

Inactivity: If your job keeps you in a chair for hours at a time, and you don't exercise when off the clock, then your body is just accustomed to inactivity. It's time to wake up your under-used muscles and to reacquaint yourself with the joy of motion. A simple way to get back into the swing of things is to go on a 30 to 60 minute walk either before work or after you return home. Once you've broken yourself in with consistent walks, contact me to get started on a fitness program that will quickly get your body back into great shape.Laziness begins when you ignore that little nagging voice in your head. You know, the one that reminds you when you should take action on something rather than sit by and let the opportunity slip away.

Is today the day that you will kick laziness to the curb?

Is today the day that you will take action toward achieving your goals?

Is today the day that you will listen to that little voice of reason?

(thanks Aaron!)

What a Wonderful World

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom, for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue, and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces, of people going by
I see friends shaking hands, sayin' "how do you do?"
They're really sayin' "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more, than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Yes I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Oh yeah


It IS a wonderful world after all, isn't it?

Boxing Basics

Boxing is a core skill which every good fighter should have.

Here are some ideas on how to organize your knowledge of "the sweet science"

Basic attacks

jab (high, low) - lead hand probing shot; bread and butter of boxing

cross (high, low) - rear "power" hand

hook (lead hand, rear hand) - circular shot parallel to the floor. Can be high (head) or low (body)

uppercut (lead hand, rear hand) - tight upward shot perpendicular to the floor.

Basic Blocks

cover - elbow up and hand to ear - like brushing your hair

catch - use rear hand palm/fingers to swat down jab

cuff - use closest hand in a circular motion against cuff of opponent's glove

dodge/slip - bend knees/turn head to evade to inside (near other hand) or outside (away from other hand)

roll - move glove down to ribs, dip head and use shoulder to take shot

cross glove - use opposite side glove to smack down attack

forearm - put foream/elbow tightly against your ribs to protect against low shots

bob and weave - bend knees and dip under the shot. DO NOT lean forward

pull - shift weight to 70% back foot and lean your upper body away from the shot - RETURN IMMEDIATELY

Most common attacks and their blocks

attack block

jab - catch/cuff/pull/dodge

cross - cover/dodge/roll

hook - cover/pull/cross glove/bob and weave, forearm (if low)

uppercut - cover/pull/cross glove, forearm (if low)

Long Distance Attacks (can return long distance counter or close in)

- jab

- cross

* long distance in boxing is actually "middle distance" which extends to kicking range (long distance) or contracts to short distance

Short Distance Attacks (usually returned with short distance counters)

- hook

- uppercut

* short distance expands to long distance or contracts into clinch distance (elbows/knees/headbutt) or grappling/wrestling

Key Footwork Concepts - plant feet everytime you hit; don't hit when moving

triangle stepping - move 45 degrees away from incoming shots (esp hook/cross) to dissipate attack power

triangle punching power - triangle between both feet and puch impact point to generate max power

45 degree principle - slip and evade to step out 45 degrees to opponent's back pocket

V-step - bob and weave should bend knees and be a "V" shape down and back up

See you in the ring!

Time Is Money

Time is Money. How many times have you heard that?

It is usually used to make people move faster, rush more, get more done.
On our way to the Bali camp, we talked about it again, especially in light of some things Sensei Scott told us in Singapore Saturday about "coloring our days".

Time really IS money. Far more similar than you probably thought. Time and money can both be spent and used, even wasted. How many people do you know who waste their time? I bet those same people waste their money too.

Many smart people believe money is a tool. A powerful tool that can be used to help you achieve freedom to do the things you want. By that same rationale, time can be used to help you achieve freedom to do the things you want. By removing excess such as television, you may find you have much more time than you thought you did to engage in things you enjoy.

Far more importantly, money can be invested. I did my master's degree in Finance, and we spent long hours learning how to invest money to achieve wealth and financial freedom. I contend that you invest time the same way, and often achieve the same quality of results. It is important to make conscious decisions in how you spend both time and money if you want to increase your quality of life.

Many people squander both their money and their time. Then, when they need some, it isn't there. None left. Money can be saved in a bank and withdrawn later - there are no bank accounts for storing time, but by making poor life decisions which shorten your life (such as smoking, excessive drinking) you can be certain you aren't adding time to your life.

Financially, we have a certain finite period during which we can labor to earn money. By carefully managing how we use those earnings, we can achieve a lifestyle balance we want. Temporally, we have a certain lifetime in order to do the activities we want and make our mark on the world. When it is gone, it is gone. Our loved ones die as part of the lesson that we must treat the time in our lives as precious.

It is useful to be frugal with both time and money, and to use them really for the things which are important to you.

Think about it.

Great Expectations

The time is near.

Next week I will be in Bali for the annual training camp. Guro Jeff Espinous, Guro Fred, and many others will be there. I've been looking forward to this for the past 5 months since I came back to Japan.

Last year, our annual training camp was held at an Indonesian temple site in Singapore, and had so much going on. There were intensives at the school, a week-long seminar on all aspects of kali, silat, and Dumog (with Guro Adrian and Guro Olivia), the black belt test/demo of Guro Guillaume and Guro Maxime, advanced gradings for Guro Lila and Guro Bruno, and a tremendous amount of sharing ideas and training. Guro Jeff opened my eyes to so many things, and taught me so much about FLOW. He is truly magic to train with. Beyond that, everyone was very, very friendly. There was a tremendous sense of community and fellowship.

This year's camp promises to be even better - we are expected to have another strong team from Europe joining, as well as Dr. Charles Gibert from Tahiti, to lecture on Chinese and Western medicine and homepathy.

I am packing up my bags, and this week cannot get over soon enough! See you on the beach!!

A few moments well spent

I know it's hard - like me, you probably never have enough time for all the things you need/want to do. Very often you barely get done the things you need to do, let alone the things you want to do. In particular, most of us have the best intentions of training every day - or at least several days a week. In practice, we end up missing lessons or training sessions for any number of reasons: business trip, client issue, sick wife or kids, friends visiting from out of town, etc.

My suggestion is to develop a very fast set of things you can do every morning and every night - the drill should take no more than 5 minutes tops, and be 2-3 movements total. This is something you should be able to find the time for EVERY DAY. EVERY SINGLE DAY. Find a quiet spot to do them; cross off each day so you know you did it. Feel happy that no matter what, you always get in those few core movements. Make sure they don't need anything except your body weight, so you can even do them in a hotel if need be. Make it a promise to yourself. Some of my favorites are:

• pushups and crunches (work up to doing 50 pushups and 200 crunches; it should take about 5 mins)
• squats/coconut crushers (work up to doing 100)
• leg stretches (2-3 movements for helping open up your hips)
• pull ups on a bar
• 2-3 vikram yoga postures (1 minute each)
• some stick movements
• any of the exercises we do in class (esp the ones Lila does at the end!)
  

You get the point... that 5-10 minutes per day can create a lasting effect and change on your body - IF YOU DO IT EVERY DAY. The routine/habit is just as valuable as the movement.

Don't skip days. Ever. Period.

Let me know how you get on.

Horses For Courses

Today I got the happy news that one of my friends has started Yoshinkan Aikido.
For her, the physical part is not the issue - she has years of classical ballet training and is an avid snowboarder; she looks just like she did when she was 18 (current age undisclosed).
She joked, "the hardest part was waking up early to get to 7am training".

Everyone faces their own unique set of challenges in training.
Everyone also has their own unique set of goals they want to achieve.

For some it is self-defense, for others, physical fitness. Still others want to improve their self-esteem and confidence. Some students want to explore their own spirituality. Many people train becuase of the special fellowship they build with other students in the community of the dojo. Many of my brothers and sisters train so that they can become teachers themselves some day and help others to change their lives.

For her, it is building the discipline of getting up early. One day at a time, one training at a time, she will prove to herself that she can master her own life, and develop the habits that will help her find her own special brand of success.

Celebrate yourself.
Celebrate the reasons that brought you to your martial arts.
Celebrate each little goal you reach in your training, that brings you more and more of the life you want.
Celebrate every positive change you make.
Celebrate your improvement.

Every new student makes me feel like celebrating.
The dojo is always the best place to be.

Bonsai

Over the weekend we took the kids to Honmoku Park and the adjoining Sankeien. Sankeien is a great walk around with a lot of historic buildings beautifully restored. It will be especially beautiful when the leaves change.

We were fortunate to go there when there was an exhibition of bonsai, the little trees. The bonsai is in many ways symbolic of Japan and the Japanese mentality, closely interlinked with Zen Buddhism and martial arts. So much so, that Mr. Miyagi even prunes his bonsai and they play a role in the plot.

To the unititiated, bonsai are simply that, little miniature trees.
To the Japanese, they can be so much more. Some of those little trees are literally hundreds of years old, carefully pruned and kept for several generations. They are small, yes, but mature trees nonetheless.

The bonsai allow Japanese to express their own culture and lifestyle, which is often kept in claustrophobic close quarters, but which can yield beauty and elegance, just in the way a bonsai survives being kept in it's small pot year after year.

Bonsai ENDURE - much as the Japanese do. Many bonsai even flower or yield tiny fruit, which is a reminder to the Japanese of their seasonality.

Bonsai are cared for very carefully, kept neatly pruned, and watched over someones like a pet of sorts. Owners lavish attention on their plants, talking to them, playing music for them, and so on. Their design can be very precise and intended to create the wabisabi - the random pattern of nature - which Japanese find to be the ultimate in aesthetic beauty.

As martial artists, bonsai represent control. Control of self. Precision. Endurance. Adaptability. They teach us that we must have careful attention to detail, and prune our lives and our training regularly to keep them elegant and beautiful. They teach us to always remain in harmony with nature. Bonsai require service, commitment, and dedication to live - so do we. So does our practice.

I love bonsai trees and what they represent. I love how they make me feel, and what they make me think about. It calls me back to a gentler time, when we could appreciate the simple things in life more fully.

Maybe all our lives could use some cultivation.

Back to Basics 2010

Finally. After a few weeks of holiday time where the calendar was against us, my being out of town on Dec 18 and having both Christmas and New Year's Day fall on Fridays, we ended up going nearly a month without class.

Last Friday we recommenced our study group in earnest, refreshing our memory on the basic grip, basic angles 1-8, basic blocks, and kabkas. Our study group is intended to drill the first year curriculum of Kali Majapahit, but even if it were not, I LOVE to start the New Year getting back to basics. It is a way of reminding yourself purposefully that basics are the foundation of progress and that good basics lead to good techniques.

2010 promises to be an exciting year.
There is a great camp coming up in March in Bali, as well as a lot of changes happening in Kali Majapahit Singapore. In Japan we are going to focus on training hard, and on getting "official" with some marketing of the study group. It may even be possible to have visitors from Singapore come to teach some classes this year. I am also going to make a plan to prepare and test for 2nd dan in Yoshinkan Aikido in 2010.

I am excited about this year, and I hope you are too.

See you Friday night at the usual time (19:00), in the usual place.

Jan 2010 Kali Majapahit Japan Study Group

**** Starting back up on Friday, January 8 at 7pm at Bodyplant. See you there!! ****

Another reason for gun control

This just off CNN. A 4 year old boy accidentally shot and killed at church by a stray bullet.

Another reason why I don't want my kids to grow up in the US, in a culture of random violence.
The laws, and the safety training, are still so lax that stories like the above are commonplace. I refer to Jeff Cooper's easy to follow four rules of gun safety.

I know every right wing NRA advocate will insist that they be allowed their Second Amendment rights "to bear arms". I'd like to hear their explanation about how we prevent incidents like the story above.

I learned how to shoot pistols, rifles, and shotguns as part of my martial arts training.
However, I would be the first in line to forgo my right to bear arms in the interest of public safety. There are parts of the world where it is very dangerous to grow up. The United States of America should not be one of them. I choose Japan because it offers me the chance to work, an interesting culture to study, a fascinating language to master, as well as a safe environment for my boys to grow up. Singapore was the same. The risk - reward profile in the US simply doesn't make sense to me. It probably doesn't make sense to the mother of that poor 4 year old boy either.

We have models such as Japan and the UK for gun control that can be leveraged in the US.
It is sad that the NRA and other right wing organizations care more about their own memberships and the strength of their lobbying efforts than they do about the lives of children.

10,000

Just reading "Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell.
He suggests that research has shown true expertise, world-class expertise, in a complex task such as a professional sport, playing an instrument, mastering chess, or the like is achieved at a level of about 10,000 hours of practice. The "magic number" is quoted by neurologist Daniel Levitin.

10,000 is a big number. 10,000 hours is a long time.

To give an easy measure, most people work about 2,000 hours per year if they work an 8 hour day. That would suggest mastery of a job function, even a relatively complex one, in about 5 years' time.

For hobbies, it takes a bit longer. Simple math would say that if you trained in martial arts for 2 hours per week, 50 weeks a year, that is 100 hours per year. Reaching mastery at this pace would then take you 100 years...uh oh.

This idea is not meant to be discouraging. Rather, it is to suggest that you increase your training time as much as possible. 10 hours a week sounds like a lot, doesn't it? That is averaging 2 hours a day on weekdays... However, that is still (just) 500 hours a year and then you would still need 20 years or so to match the researchers' definition of mastery :-)

How many hours of training do you think you have spent?

Most people end up settling for less than world class expertise.
Sadly, many teachers also settle for less than world class expertise.
Consider your teacher's dedication to training.

If martial arts is truly your passion, like it is mine, what will make all the difference is simply

HOW MUCH YOU TRAIN.

Now, stop reading and get back to training. So will I.

Remember,
"Practice isn't what you do once you are good. Practice is THE THING WHICH MAKES YOU GOOD."

Thanks Malcolm...

It's the Little Things

Holiday Greetings Everyone,

Before you settle into that giant double helping of egg nog, this just in from Time Magazine.
Yes, that's right - they are having a go at chocolate milk.

Chocolate milk was a mainstay when I was a kid growing up in public school in suburban Chicago.
We had it EVERY DAY, sometimes twice or three times a day. It sure tasted better than the usual milk. Now, they want to get rid of it. Thank God.

Guro has lectured before on why cow's milk in general is very bad for us. Humans of course being the only animal that dares to drink the milk of another species (other animals, like cats, do this when humans force feed it to them). Chocolate milk goes one sinister step further than that. It loads sugar and extra calories and fat into the already unhealthy milk to create a drink which is the equivalent of uncarbonated Coca Cola. Giving this to kids (and making them think it is a healthy food choice) is simply WRONG.

This link illustrates what I mean. You can see arguments FOR chocolate milk, or "better than nothing" white milk...listen to them and decide for yourself. By now, your common sense should tell you the answer. How sad that kids can be manipulated like this. How sad that soda, fast food, and dairy lobbyists can spend money to promote products to kids which we all know are unhealthy. Raise my hand for chocolate milk? I choose to raise my middle finger instead.

The argument that children do not get nutrients without milk is BULLSHIT. Anything you think you can get from milk you can easily get from any combination of green leafy vegetables, tofu, soy and nuts.

It is the responsibility of care givers to educate children about correct life choices and protect them from harm. Care givers include parents, teachers, coaches, doctors, and other adults who spend time supervising and influencing children. These groups are primarily responsible for establishing the health habits that children develop and follow into adulthood. As in previous posts I have mentioned that our habits are the kings of our lives - this means it is critically important to develop good habits in our children if we want them to lead happy, healthy lives.

As my title suggests, it's the little things that matter. Be aware, get involved. Do not trust any care givers of your children to have correct information on nutrition and health habits and to pass this information along to your kids. Be the parent that takes control of your life and the future of your children. Help them develop good habits that will promote their longevity and help them avoid adolescent obesity, the threat of diabetes, heart disease, and other nutritional maladies.

I am not suggest all our kids be strict vegans and avoid even a piece of birthday cake on their birthday (although I am not opposed to that). I am however, suggesting that good health guidelines can be followed most of the time with an occasional exception, rather than the reverse. It is all too common now for kids' meals to be fast-food centric, and only the rare sugar laden juice included so parents can feel good about themselves.

Teach your kids about nutrition, and work on meal plans together. Get your kids into the kitchen with you and let them be "hands on". Discuss menus in restaurants and at school cafeterias together. Help your kids make healthy choices that they can feel good about. Chocolate milk is not one of them. Cow's milk can go too, as far as I am concerned.

Like Guro says, "water water water". Even for kids this is important and it is never too early to get them used to the taste of good, clean, pure mineral water.

Got Milk? For your sake and the sake of your kids I hope not.

Rotenburo

Ah yes....Rotenburo.

I guess I've been here too long.
There is something about a Rotenburo, the Japanese outdoor hot springs, that says "JAPAN" like few other things can.

Even more, to enjoy one in the midst of a snowstorm is probably the defining moment for any old-school Japanese man - it contains the essence of Japan's warrior spirit. It embodies the Japanese sense of "perfection". I was so lucky to enjoy rotenburo in a snowstorm during my recent visit to Niseko, Hokkaido. I feel blessed.
It is only the second time in more than 15 years here that I was lucky enough to have that.

Rotenburo abound in Japan, since it is a particularly volcanic set of islands, and rotenburo, like all real onsen (Japanese hot springs) are naturally heated with geothermal energy. The waters often contain rich blends of minerals and salts and have been reported to have amazing healing properties and health benefits for literally thousands of years. Onsen and especially rotenburo were one of the many things I missed about Japan while I was in Singapore.

Now, that said, the snowstorm rotenburo is a magic thing far beyond any other.
The waters are usually 42 - 44 degrees Celsius, and initially you feel like you are being boiled alive, but at the same time, submerged to your neck, the freezing snow is falling on you. You achieve balance. Once you are in, you do not want to get back out.

The rotenburo and snow together, in a Shinto sense, strike a harmonic balance between hot and cold, between calm and chaos, between ourselves and Nature. We are made aware of our place as a small part of all which is under Heaven, and forever subject to its laws.

The snow falling on the water is, in its primal Buddhist way, a perfect reminder of the fleeting impermanence of our own lives. Each of us is like that snowflake, falling through time only to disappear back into the hot water. We will evaporate and become snowflakes again in an endless cycle (or "recycle" if you prefer). Each one of us unique, cascading in an endless shower through the storm of our lives, surrounded by other snowflakes just like us...

But I digress... suffice to say, rotenburo was the welcome home my weary soul needed. Rotenburo in a snowstorm was destiny's way of telling me Japan is where I belong.

If you have never experienced a rotenburo - you need to get that sorted out at the soonest possible opportunity. If you have never experienced rotenburo in a snowstorm - that is what will reawaken your warrior spirit - I hope it happens for you!

Resolutions

It's that time of the year - That Holiday Time.
Time for Holiday songs, holiday cheer, time with friends and family - that magic time.

It is also the time of the year when most of us make the dreaded New Year's Resolutions. The time when we make promises we know we will not keep; when we delude ourselves into thinking we can change just by throwing together a hastily done thought or two about how to make our lives better.

Haven't started thinking about it yet?

Here are some points to consider:

1) Goals need to be concrete and achievable
This means a goal must be measurable, so that you know when you've reached it - otherwise it cannot be achieved. Thus, "being a better person" does not do the job unless you can specifically isolate and measure those traits you think would make that goal reachable, such as "making a mental note every time I say something hurtful to someone else - marking down such occassions so that over the course of the year I can reduce them every week until the number reaches zero"

2) Big Journeys Start From Small Steps
Setting an unrealistic goal in January is the easiest way to give up by February. Goals like "never eat meat again" are fine for people who are close to a vegetarian lifestyle already, but not as achievable for someone whose daily pleasure is eating meat. Try to limit your goals to change gradually, and keep them in the scope of reasonability. As well, a little time spent daily on a goal adds up to a lot of time over a year. Do not underestimate the power of a focused 10-15 minutes every day in helping to make your life better.

3) Focus on the Big Picture
There is little point in going to the trouble of changing your life if the change will not be of noticeable benefit to you. Spend some time to be honest with yourself about those areas which can really help you to live a fuller, richer, happier life. Aim to make gradual changes over the course of the year and surprise yourself with how much the quality of your life grows.

4) Do Not Punish Yourself
Setting harsh punishments for resolutions is another way that we end up giving up on them. We all want to avoid punishment, but it becomes far too easy to lie to ourselves rather than be honbest about our changes. The goal should be awareness of ourselves and our habits, so that we can control them - NOT to make ourselves feel guilty every waking moment for what we cannot do. Emphasize the rewards of your positive behavior changes and follow through in rewarding yourself for following.

5) Focus on what you CAN DO, rather than what you CAN'T DO
The language you use for your resolutions matters. Try to phrase your changes positively, focusing on what you can do in 2010, not about what you cannot do. Instead of "I cannot eat potato chips" try "I can eat healthy snacks such as carrot sticks or apple chips"

6) The Contract to Yourself
I think this list is best made into a very specific contract between you...and you.
In every legal contract, there are a set of actions by one party, done for consideration by the other. There are terms for violating the contract (see above), and rewards for adherence. I like to sign the agreement and post it where I can see it every day (next to home computer or on refrigerator). I think it is important to look at this list for at least a brief moment every single day for the year.

7) Keep It Fun!
The goal of this exercise is POSITIVE CHANGE. It is not designed to make your life a living hell.
Review your goals and your progress periodically (I like to do so at least monthly) and feel good about being in control of yourself and your life. People around you will see the change in you, and this will make you feel even better. I promise!!

Here are a few ideas I have for myself for 2010:
1) Spend at least 10 minutes a day in quiet reflection
2) Make at least one meal every day purely vegetarian
3) Take 5 minutes out of every day to remind myself how lucky I am - use this time to review everything I am thankful for for that day
4) Make eye contact with everyone when I speak to them. Be aware of anytime I do not and correct it.
5) Wear a "complaining band" on my wrist. Whenever I hear myself complain, move it from one wrist to the other as a reminder not to complain. The goal is to go for a full day, and then a full week without moving the band.
6) Tell my wife how much I love her
be sure to say it, and mean it, every single day - and do not go to sleep without having said it.
7) Remind my children that I am proud of them, and that I love them no matter what
8) Find at least 15 minutes every day to do some activity related to martial arts - stretch, twirl sticks, step a quick footwork pattern. Put that 15 minutes in my calendar EVERY DAY

Send me any questions you have on this. Hopefully, all of us can make 2010 a year to become even happier!!

Shopping Around

Looking back on 25+ years in and around various martial arts I have met a lot of different people doing a lot of different things.

There is always a temptation to think that something new is something better.

Especially as a beginner, the idea that there is some easy way to master something so hard is very appealing. After all, the training is hard - it takes time...and when we turn on the TV we see perfection. Perfection that we want. NOW. Many times as part of their marketing, these schools promise to make you "A deadly combat expert overnight" or something like that (being a deadly combat expert should be your final objective anyway).

Martial Arts training is hard work, and a constant effort every day. It has many peaks, valleys, and plateaus. As I have mentioned before, the joy of progress shows us again and again the value of hard work, patience, and commitment.

It takes many years (and a fair share of bad experiences) to develop a critical eye for what we see. Especially in martial arts, which abounds with what is sometimes called "Bullshido". It can be hard to tell fact from fiction.

Because of this, I think your first choice should be taken very carefully, and only after a lot of research and investigation. Choosing to dedicate yourself to a martial art because the school is close by the office, or because you saw it on TV, or even because your friend goes there, can lead to a lot of frustration and wasted time. Some students become so disillusioned by initial bad experiences that they never return to martial arts again. How sad.

It is best to:
1) explore several different types of styles (hard, soft, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, etc.)
2) take trial classes and see how you feel and what you like/don't like about each one - compare and contrast
3) talk to the teachers - the actual teachers teaching the classes, and the head of the school, too
4) talk to the other students - approach them outside the school to get their honest opinions
5) do not let price or location be the biggest deciding factors for you - it is worth paying a little more or travelling a little more for the best quality instruction

Choose your school like you choose a hospital - go to the best one with the best doctors that you can afford.

Once you have found a school that is right for you, I also strongly encourage beginners to spend at least 5 years (2-3 times per week) devoted to their first style before branching out into other things. This allows you to get a better sense of how deep the martial arts can go. Martial arts are not sports per se - there is more that you can get from them and they are worth deeper consideration than golf or racquetball.

Cross-training is very bad until you have a lot of experience. For beginners, it becomes very confusing and you develop mixed habits, rather than correct habits for each style. It is also important to be able to see the commonality between styles, and that is very hard for a beginner to do. I personally spread 25 years over a variety of western and Japanese martial arts, and ended up knowing a lot about a lot, but not having real mastery of any of them. I regret that decision today. Learn from my mistake.

Kali Majapahit is so great because it offers such a wide and comprehensive range of skills. You can learn to fight at all ranges and distances, on high, medium, and low lines, using striking, kicking, grappling, and weapons, as well as gaining a better understanding of health and personal development. It is an extremely well-rounded curriculum. The best I have seen in 25+ years.

For such a system, I recommend devoting 10 years instead of just 5, before going out and trying another martial art. In the end, you may not even need to. There is enough in Kali Majapahit to keep you busy for a long, long time. Trust the training.

Finally, and also very importantly, is for the art you choose to be EVOLVING.
It is good to respect tradition, but the method of teaching the art should always be under review to find the best way of fully developing the skills and understanding of the students. The Kali Majapahit I started learning in 2008 is not taught the same way today - it is taught better
and students learn faster and deeper than before. This is wonderful, and should be expected from every good school.

Make a choice, an informed choice, and then stick with it. I did.

First Class of Kali Majapahit Japan Study Group - Tonight!

Very exciting - tonight I start a new path, where I must lead beginners to develop their skills in Kali Majapahit. Tonight is the first trial class of the Kali Majapahit Japan Study Group!

Tonight's menu:

Warm-Ups and Stretches
basic warm - up and floor series leg stretches

Kadena: basic hook + straight elbows, basic uppercut + ascendant elbows
self-defense applications

Solo Baston: basic guard and grips + blocks versus 1-6
speed drills

Doble Baston: Kabka 1-4 + Sinawali 6
Variations: flip, abanico, redondo, dunga

Hilot: breathing exercises

I will write a post-mortem tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK!

Stranger Danger

For the past two weeks, my 8-year old son George has really shown he is growing up. Proudly he announced that rather than having Mom drive him to school and pick him up every day, he would start to ride the city bus back and forth. We got him a pass, helped him the first few days, and were pleasantly surprised that he could do it on his own. Great help for Mom, and proof positive that he was becoming more mature and able to take on a bit more responsibility.

However, the other day he had a "slight error in judgement"...


He knew he had to be at second grade a little early to give a short presentation to the class on the weather (their current focus topic). He left our house 10 minutes early and waited at the bus stop for his bus to come. During that time a man pulled up in a Mercedes and asked him if he wanted a ride to school. Thinking he could get there quicker and easier than waiting for the bus, he accepted...

My wife found out about it later that night after he had come home. In his mind perhaps he knew he had put himself at risk...he said "Mom, I think I might have done something wrong..."
He explained about the man - her jaw dropped. Without him admitting it, he could have just...disappeared...without either of us knowing.

I got home late that night after the kids had already gone to bed, and she told me what he had done. She had been crying off and on since George told her he had taken a stranger's car ride to school. They had a massive shouting match and it was very emotional for both of them.

For me it was like being stabbed in the heart.
I felt sick to my stomach; I felt dizzy...I couldn't breathe...
Then the rage hit me like a wave of electricity...

I WOULD FIND THAT GUY AND I WOULD KILL HIM.

At the very least I would beat him senseless and take him to the police, where hopefully he would be hung, shot, or dropped into a dark hole for all eternity. No normal adult has any justifiable reason for offering a ride to an 8-year old boy on his way to school. It is the classic ruse of a predator. George said "he told me he was a good guy, not a bad guy...", of course not fully grasping the fact that bad guys hardly announce the fact up front to their victims before they torture and kill them.

Just last week the news in Japan featured a story about a university student found dismembered after going missing. There are many of these cases even in Japan every year.
Japan's bizzare sexually-repressed powderkeg society creates a lot of pressure which ends up making some very, very sick people who are more than capable of causing unspeakable harm to a little boy. You can drive yourself crazy worrying...

How can you protect them all the time? It only takes one "slight error in judgement" for them to be the next kid on the milk carton; the next statistic. As a parent, you want to encourage your children to be independent, but to have enough sense to know and avoid big risks. I am at a loss as to how to handle this. My first reaction was to home school him for the next 10 years and never let him out of the house on his own again...yes, I know it's overreacting.

I have never felt more helpless in my whole life than I do now.
Never more vulnerable than facing the knowledge that I cannot protect my family from danger.

I have done my best to provide clear and lucid advice to people on martial arts and other topics in this blog for the past 3 years . I need to call those markers in. Now it's your turn to advise me.

What can I do about this???

Please give me your advice. I need it.

Happy Bday to Me - 43

Well, today's my birthday and I am 43 years old. Thanks Mom and Dad for bringing me into the world.

A lot has happened in the past 12 months.
When I wrote a similar message a year ago, I was living in Singapore, just starting my master's degree. I had just gotten my shodan in Yoshinkan aikido in August, and was fully involved in my Kali Majapahit training.

Now I live in Yokohama and work in Tokyo (again). I completed my master's degree (3.566 GPA) and am going back to RYA for Yoshinkan training tonight. I started Muay Thai training this week near Yokohama Station. I am as committed as ever to my Kali Majapahit training, and working on getting my Japan study group up and running so I can develop good training partners. I am checking a location tonight where I can potentially hold weekly practice sessions and my magazine ad should be coming out soon.

I feel very good about myself and my life. Despite some darkness along the way, I kept my job and now it is starting to move forward again. My family are healthy and happy, and survived the move back to Japan without too much trauma.

Tonight I am training, which is the thing I love to do most. Tomorow I will celebrate with my wife and children, the other thing I love to do most.

Today will come and go, and tomorrow too. My life will come and go, and after me will be the impact I have made in the lives of others, and the legacy of my children to do the same. I am committed to my quest to find my own definition of happiness, and I feel closer than I was last year. That is enough for me.

I am looking forward to another year of good training, good health, and good progress.

Why don't you come along?

stay tuned...

Back in the Saddle Again

Well, after returning to Japan on 11 October, I finally got back on the mats to train. Last night was my first class at Japan Muay Thai Center in Yokohama.

It is a short walk from JR Yokohama Station and has good facilities including an actual competition-size ring and a bunch of heavy bags.
They train amateur and pro Muay Thai fighters, as well as running the classes for beginners.

I am planning to go Mondays and Wednesdays from 7pm to 9:45. The classes include warm-up/cardio, an hour of basics (mostly shadow boxing and pad work) and an hour of technique including boxing and kicking and light sparring practice with pads.

The good news is that the people are good, the coaches are knowledgeable, and the other people are very friendly. It is a Japanese atmosphere with the politeness and respect that entails. They are very accepting of non-Japanese, especially if you can comunicate (no problem for me).
The workout is OK, and even though it was my first class, we got straight into the material. They let me fight southpaw, so I can fight right leg forward like we do in Panantukan.
I signed up for a year and will keep reporting on what I do there.

The bad news: I SAY AGAIN -

FRIENDS IN KALI MAJAPAHIT, RECOGNIZE HOW LUCKY YOU ARE.

Two hours plus of Muay Thai training is about the workout equivalent of a single hour of Panantukan class. Within the first lesson, it was clear that I was at least the equal or better than any of the other students, and probably on par with some of the amateurs; despite being among the worst in KM at Panantukan. The curriculum is basic, which is fine, but there is not the carefully structured curriculum or innovative drills we use. Their pad work is amatuerish and oversimplified and the range of tactics even among the amateurs is, well...amateur. Simply, the teaching not wll thought out. It is a club, not a school.

Kali Majapahit and Panantukan offers such a rich learning experience. The difference was clear to me after a few minutes on the mat. Our school and our classes have so much more intensity and pack so much more into the lesson and the training. It reminded me how lucky we are. It should remind you, too.

I will keep training in Muay Thai so I can workout and keep fit, and meanwhile I will dream at night of a KM school in Japan where we can share the very best in martial arts.

Help me make my dream come true.