tonari no shibafu

Is it too early to stand in line?

This is only the training sequences, it's some of the most dynamic fight choreography I've ever seen.

via Todd

1930s Jiu Jitsu instructional

via Boing Boing

History

Chocolate

Got this one from Todd a little bit ago.

From the Ong Bak folks.

ong bak

To be filed under nothing good can come of it...

Give a guy with the craziest acrobatic and hand-to-hand fighting skills, weaponry? Add kung-fu-esque movements to his repertoire? Add a three-section staff to the mix?

Ok, Ong Bak 2 has my attention.

Ong Bak 2 Official Site.

via Mark

ong bak, ong bak 2, tony jaa

Right now there's seraphim and cherubim kissing converse

Rest well, Mr. Carry.

Kung Fu Kun

Gotta see this movie. A young kung-fu expert comes to Japan and, of course, gets into action packed adventures.

via Japan Probe

Late notice

Today in Japan is 文化の日 (Culture Day). As such, there will be a number of demonstrations within the grounds of Meiji Jingu. The highlights are:

9:00 am Aikido

10:00 am Kobudo

1:00 pm Yabusame (mounted archery)

Sweet

Aminishiki just beat Asashoryu in the first match of the Nagoya sumo tournament. He beat him last tournament as well.

Awesome!

Today's vocab

不知火型 (shiranu igata)

Shiranu igata is one of the ring-entering rituals performed by a yokozuna at a sumo tournament. It is named for the 8th Yokozuna: 不知火型右衛門 (shiranu igata uemon). Hakuho, after his second straight tournament championship yesterday, and on the cusp of his all-but-sure promotion to Yokozuna referenced this and I had no clue what he was talking about.

Totally spaced it

There was the international Aikido exhibition at the Budokan today.

Feldercarb.

Anybody here seen Richie?

Out for Justice is on Terebi Tokyo right now.

Classic.

Happy Golden Week everybody.

D'oh

How did I ever miss that last Monday was Ninja Day? I'm going to have to throw down a smoke bomb and disappear from the blogosphere.

via Pam

Better late than never

Jet Li and Jackie Chan to make a movie together.

Great finish

New Ozeki Hakuho just beat Yokozuna Asashoryu (macrons omitted) in the last bout of the Nagoya basho.

Hakuho is poised for promotion to yokozuna after the next tournament if he does well.

Real Tekken

Two guys doing a live action recreation of Tekken.

Thanks to Bhaird.

Sumo video on the web

Turns out that the site banzuke.com has video of sumo matches online. 

Enjoy.

Kobudo Demonstration

Today was bunka no hi and as such there were kobudo demonstrations on the grounds of Meiji Jingu.  The mounted archery or yabusame is always a big draw, and I snapped a few pics of it and some of other things.

Game on!

Sumo torrent

Here is a torrent of some of the sumo from September 18, 2005.

SumoSep182005.torrent

Sumo update

Shin-sekiwake Koto-oshu retained his undefeated streak (11-0) and the lead in the current sumo basho.  Yokozuna Asa-shoryu was handed his second loss today by Aminishiki (by the technique, soto-gake).  With only four days left, Asa-shoryu's chances to become only the second sumotori in the modern era to win 6 consecutive basho just got a little bit harder, and Koto-oshu is poised for a promotion to Ozeki. 

The zabuton, they were a'flyin'.

New Life for the Scanner

Up until now I didn't realize that I could easily convert PDFs into .jpg format.  When I have some free time I'm going to scan in some old pics that I have and upload them.

楽しみ

Two pictures from Urakami Kyudojo a few years ago, and one from Chris's Wedding in April.

One Pretty Good Month

Here's how June went.

No coffee I had coffee only twice, and both times it was put in front of me.  Had a little caffeine in the form of cola, but pretty much have that monkey off of my back.  Still having a little trouble with my sleep schedule, but have evened out a lot.

Less weight and a lower bodyfat content at the end than the beginning Never did get around to weighing myself, so this one will be a hold over.

At least 13 days in the dojo Only went nine days, but the first day wasn't until the 16th, so I'm calling this a win.

Savings of no less than US$500
Full preparation for all of my school related work Skipped one day of each of my seminars, but have kept up with the reading and am making good progress.

10 pages of Yamaga Soko article Still doing the reading prep work, and haven't started the intro yet.  Still have almost two months to work on the article, but have to pick up the pace after classes end next week.

10 unassisted chins Not quite there yet, but making progress
Revised resume Still have this one to do, but now a back burner item since my contract was renewed for 3 more months.

No English language television Not even close.  Went about 10 days with none, but then got hooked back into watching Family Guy, Trailer Park Boys, and Entourage.

1 or more days of hoops with the Setagaya Phoenix
1200 pages of English scholarship read Got about half way to this goal.  Need to step it up in July.

So based on how things went, the July targets are as follows

Less weight and a lower bodyfat content at the end than the beginning
16 days in the dojo
Finish reading (and taking notes on) 士道, begin writing article.
10 chins
4 (English) books read (1 per week)
Get Scooter License

Back in the Saddle

Hit the dojo tonight for the first time since March.  A little sore, but none the worse for wear. 

I'm a sailor...I sail!

It's an everyday thang...

The karate workouts are going  nicely.  I went  last Friday and again yesterday (Monday).   It looks as if my hopes of finding a post-workout drinking buddy have been dashed as Dwayne quit drinking a few years back.  In the midst of my surprise I queried,  Are you sure you're Australian?

In a somewhat strange twist of fate, it turns out that many of the participants in last night's training are alumni of Gakushuin.  I should say that one of the interesting things about training at the Hombu dojo is that every night there is a different teacher.  That is, that every Tuesday is Terui-sensei, every Saturday Kota-sensei, and so on and so forth.  What makes this interesting is that each of them has a slightly different approach to karate.  The style that is taught at Gakushuin is large and circular and "soft".  There is also comparatively more stress placed on breathing and feeling.  While all of  the teachers make a point of stressing the importance of extending attacks beyond the point of contact, the Gakushuin style is akin to Aikido in its emphasis on projecting the will/intention/focus towards the vanishing point. 

I just wanted to get down a few initial impressions now, so that I would have something to compare to as my training progresses.  I am at work now, with new workout bag in tow (hi Todd), and will be heading off to practice today at 5:30. 

Man, I love vacation.

SKA/JKA distinction

Here is a nice article about the difference between the two main types of Shotokan karate in America. I practiced in the SKA organizationwith Marion and Johnson and currently (as of yesterday after a loong layoff) school and the Hombu Dojo during some school vacations

Yesterday we did two 20-rep sets of jump squats. My legs hurt more than they have in two years. It is going to be a long road back.