May 20th&21st, 2007-Learning to Walk

This weekend we practiced more for Tokyo. Everyone's bristling with excitement. I got a chance to try on a hakama and perform some. It felt really weird to have these long, baggy pants on. I have to be careful not to trip on the hems. I was walking like a baby taking my first steps. I suppose I will adjust in time. My girlfriend volunteered to be thrown in front of the camera. Nice gesture.



I practiced some throws with our newest yondan. Left me pretty winded, so I paused to take some pics of my girlfriend throwing her partner for Tokyo. Her form is getting better, very smooth.



Nice butt shot eh? That's all for now. See you in Tokyo!

May 18th, 2007- Parts Make Up the Whole

Thought I'd throw a couple of new pics up for you to look at. After my test, I was pretty beat so I rested for a few minutes. Caught some great moments. These guys were throwing down pretty good eh?



My throws are still quite clumsy, but watching their examples has inspired me to improve my own techniques. I have a bad habit of focusing on each little piece of a waza. Details are important, but I am trying see the entire technique as one fluid motion. A musician must play every note, but it's only music worth listening to when all the notes come together.

May 5th, 2007-The First Step

So it was my turn Saturday. Right after our warm-up, sensei looked at me and said OK. Time for my black belt test. My partner for the first part was a nidan Dutchman. Good guy, pretty intense. He just flew at me full force. Didn't have much time to think. Could barely hear the sensei calling out the techniques.

We went through a long list of wazas. Zagi, ushirodori, tanto (knife) attacks, etc. Oh yeah, he picked up a katana and tried to skewer me. I had to perform ten wazas like that. With a long sword coming straight at you, you have virtually no time to think. My hands were a flurry of motion. I think I did ok, mistakes notwithstanding. He didn't run the sword through my gut and make yakitori out of me, so that's a success in my book.

The last part was me doing kokyuunage with four opponents. I've done that before, can be quite a bit of fun. These guys were running at me randomly, grabbing me at every opportunity. Honestly at this point, I was a bit tired but kept going.

The whole thing was so quick, I didn't realize that 40 minutes flew by. My only conscious thoughts during the test were of focusing my energy in my stomach and breathing. Yup, breathing. As they approached me, I inhaled and moved towards them. Then I exhaled as I turned and threw them. Everything was a blur. Couldn't make out faces, I could only see clouds of white uniforms charging me.

Then the sensei said "Kekkoo desu" and I did zagi kokyuuhoo with another fellow and it was all over. Like a little child, I took my first step.