Flying to Half Moon Bay for lunch

A co-worker of mine owns a helicopter. On good weather days he sometimes flies out to Half Moon Bay for lunch and this Thursday he asked me to join him. I figured that it's a pretty rare opportunity so I said yes.

It was a lot of fun and very interesting seeing all of the preparations that he had to do and the communications with the towers. I have only been in a helicopter once before this, and it was rather large comparatively. This helicopter only seats 2-3 people, and I had to move my leg around the controls, and make sure I don't hit them. :p

On the way back he did a hilltop landing, and even offered to let me try a slight turn. I lightly touched the control stick and said "That's enough for me!" :p Then we did a steep turn before heading back... to work.

Mushin (無心) Or kendo is not a flowchart

I received a very good advice from one of my sensei recently. He commented that it seemed like I was thinking too much, and I was lacking mushin (無心). (Lacking mushin, does that make sense? :) His follow-up was that kendo is not a flow chart. ^_^ That is very true, and unfortunately I tend to approach kendo with the "pressure, observe reaction, then attack" mindset. I have received a lot of good advice since failing my 4 dan exam, but I think I am trying too hard thinking about them and trying to do them, and not following the flow of the keiko (稽古) itself. 

More things to work on... :p

$79.99 per pound?!

Saw this at Mitsuwa today. At first I thought it was a typo, but it wasn't. So I had to take a picture. It's Wagyu beef (和牛) for shabushabu (しゃぶしゃぶ).

For the record, I ended up w/ a dry aged rib eye steak from Whole Foods, at $21.99 per pound. :p I figured I would try it. It's good, good steakhouse good, but probably not worth it except for special occasions.

Hair

Lately I've noticed more white hair. Kind of odd since I don't think my current work is much more stressful than grad school. At least it's not accelerated rate of hiar loss. [crosses fingers] ^_^

Machiaveli's The Prince

I finally finished reading The Prince by Machiavelli. It was actually very short. I just kept putting it off after starting it. :-p I found it on the bookshelf here in Cupertino after moving back and organizing stuff and figured that I should read it since I've always thought that I identified with his philosophy.

It turned out to be a very interesting read. I don't think he so much advocates benevolent dictatorship, but reliable tactics for sustaining a state. Dictatorship is a natural assumption since monarchies were the norm of his times. However, he also referenced republics as well. Finally, I'm not sure how applicable his ideas are in our age. I think a large underlying assumption in his writing is the fluidity of states through war and conquest, which is not so much the case any more.

Gooooooaaaaaaallllll!!!

Our indoor soccer team didn't do too well last night, but I did score a goal w/ a header, so... Woohoo!! ^_^

Mama kills animals

Just played this flash game.

Is there something wrong w/ me? The only things going through my mind (other than "Psh, they're just adding more blood to upset people. I mean come on! Blood and feathers out of an egg?! These people have been away from meat so long they don't remember anything anymore!) [Wow, that was a long parentheses. :p] AHEM!

Anyways, as I was saying... The only things going through my mind were "Hmm, the ingredients and procedures seem fairly accurate. Yeah, most people are unaware of the gory details of preparing an animal for consumption. I wonder if this is what Cooking Mama is really like? I could almost see myself playing it. It's kind of hypnotizing." ^_^

And finally concluding w/ "Ewww, tofu turkey. >_<"

Oh, and Cooking Mama holding a kitchen knife w/ blood is kinda cool. :)

But yeah, ethical treatment of animals, fine. Somehow that equating to vegetarianism, I don't think so.

Facebook ads

Ok, I'm curious. Who else keeps getting all the "Want a Girlfriend" ads on Facebook? Is it because I'm listed as single and over 30, or does everyone get it?

気迫 (kihaku)

Well, it's official. I failed my 1st attempt at 4 dan. :p It wasn't a surprise because I myself felt that I did not do too well. 

Tanaka sensei gave me some advice at today's practice. He said that I lacked kihaku (気迫). [Translators say "Spirit." I've always thought "Presence."] I should be ready to fight from the moment I stand, before the bow. And all the movements afterwards should show my determination to fight. And first movement from getting up should be forward. He said that I moved sideways, no good.

I've noticed lately, more during kata practice, how Tanaka sensei's kiai has a presence that mine doesn't. My kiai is just noise. His... well, all I know is it startles me. :p

He also said I'm attacking too much. I'm doing 2-3 dan kendo, which is ok for tournaments. But I need to have an actual opening before I strike. For the shinsa I only need to strike about 4 times, he said. I need to be ready, and then strike just as my opponent is coming in. Or break my opponent so I can make a strike (崩して). Something I've been trying to work on but still not effective yet.

I think it's not my natural instinct, unfortunately. For example, when I'm playing video games, I usually go for the automatic, rapid-fire, large ammo, large spread weapons. I rely on coverage fire. I am usually adverse to the other extreme, such as sniping. 

Well, time to start working on my kendo again. ^_^

Decline of patience revisited

Just read the following article.

So am I just becoming less patient or "infected" by the new Internet-connected world? ^_^

Is there something wrong w/ me? :)

So I was reading the comics today and saw the following Pardon My Planet strip. 

I thought to myself, jokingly of course, "Cool. Does that mean you're an RTSer?" (Real Time Strategy, like Starcraft.) And then my reaction was "God that was lame..." ^_^;;

Perception of distance

At Illinois, part of my run was on University from Lincoln to Mattis and back, about 6 miles. I have a similar run now here in CA w/ the same distance going down Stelling until it changes into Prospect and hits De Anza Blvd before coming back. 

For some reason the run here in CA seems much longer. I wonder if it has anything to do w/ me having done the run when I was younger, which colors my perception. But I still run it at my desired pace and it seems less imposing now that I've done it a couple of times, so I guess it's pretty much all mental. I think the density of the neighborhood, the knowledge of stores and stuff passed also make a difference.

Decline of patience

Admittedly, my patience isn't the best. But lately I find it falling off rapidly when it comes to reading non-critical stuff. If I see a blog entry that consists of long paragraphs, I automatically tune out and say "Next!" 

Is this my ADD forming or just years of training reading technical papers with concise paragraphs? ^_^

My loofah

That's a picture of my loofah. It started out white, w/ a slight blue tinge. Now it's an uneven light blue. Why? Because I wore a new gi and hakama today for kendo.

That is why I want everything in the bathroom to be blue, not just because I like blue. ^_^

写真は私のルファです。ルファは最初に白いでしたけど、今は青いです。理由は剣道です。今日のごど稽古で私が新しい着と袴を着ました。そしてシャワーを浴びて後でルファが青いになりました。だから、私が青いの浴室が欲しいです。^_^

Running

I always have such a hard time getting out of the door, and the first mile never feels good, but it always feels good at the end. Damn you...

Korean food consumption

It's odd. The other day I just realized that I have only had Korean food once since being back in CA. I used to have Korean very often back at UIUC, about once a week. I guess it was the best Asian food widely available there. Nowadays I seem to have Japanese quite often. ^_^

Ramen...

So tonight I went to Santa Ramen in San Mateo for dinner. I sat at the counter and a mom and daughter sat next to me. The kid was probably in the first or second grade. Yet, they ordered 2 full-sized bowls of ramen. I spent most of my dinner glancing at them wondering if they are going to finish all of it and if I can get the leftovers if they don't. ^_^;;  Even though I was really full w/ my own order...

今天晚上我去 Santa Ramen 吃拉麵。在我旁邊坐著一位媽媽跟他女兒。女兒差不多一年級左右。他們叫了兩碗拉麵。我一直想他們吃不吃的完。假如沒有吃完的話我可不可以把剩下的吃掉。^_^;;

(And... I decided that doing this in Japanese was too hard. :p)

Update: Seinfeld & Gates commercial

And apparently the Seinfeld & Gates ads end after 2. I guess I will retain my WTF opinion of them.

Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates commercial

Ok, I admit, I was never a Seinfeld sitcom fan and I never 'got' much of his humor. However, I think his new commercial w/ Bill Gates just makes no sense. :-(

Kendo since coming back to Northern CA

I think my kendo has progressed quickly and greatly since coming back to Northern California. Part of it is the two grueling and rewarding summer camps. ^_^ However, it is also having the pleasure of being around high level sensei on a regular basis. Having people to push me and advise me. This is something I missed in Champaign.

On the other hand, without my foray to Champaign I would not have my current hunger for advice. I probably would be content to be yet another person practicing kendo. I would probably not be brave, or needy, enough to constantly approach sensei after practice for more details. I also would not have had the opportunity to teach and reflect upon my understanding of kendo.

Ah life...

掛かり稽古 (Kakari keiko)

I received a very interesting piece of advice from Nishiura sensei (西浦) on Thursday. At the end of jigeiko (地稽古), we were basically doing aimen kakari keiko (合面掛かり稽古). I... didn't do too well. :-p At the end of practice, he commented that I need to be ready to attack right after my attack. And if I'm able to do that, then I can do the regular setup, seme (攻め), and attack.

I have often felt that I reset too much and take too much time getting settled before beginning my attack. I never seemed to possess the mentality and ability to be able to attack at any moment. And I have often wondered how I should fix it but never got around to it. -_-;; Hopefully this time with a concrete advice and plan of action, I can make this change.

Notes from keiko

Two important comments from tonight:

1) From Tanaka sensei: Don't waver in my feeling (気持ち) and attack. Even if I miss. I have to commit and not waver. 自分の気持ち。I think of doing this all of the time and I never do it. :-p

2) I should be practicing w/ Tanaka sensei at every practice until the exam. I can't believe I didn't realize this one... -_-;;

AUSKF Summer Camp 2008

Some notes from the AUSKF Summer Camp that I can still remember. :p They are from Terachi sensei (寺地) from Tokyo Metropolitan Police (警視庁).

Krikaeshi: dai kyo soku kei  (切り返し：大強速軽)

The priorities of kirikaeshi are in that order. First it's big and correct. Second is power. Third is speed. And finally it's lightness.

Kote men: Not just speed. Having 'impact' on your opponent. (Like how it feels from Arnold and other sensei.)

Kata

#3 uchidachi: The blocks are more pressure. Don't hit. Keep the hands in the center of the body and tip to shidachi's throat. Slight turn of body as you step back.

#7: Uchidachi's tsuki is to the shoulder level

Uchidachi's tsuki in #3 and #7 is not flat, only slight turn. Uchidachi's tsuki in #4 is flat. #4 is aiming for in betw ribs for the right lung. #3 is the solar plexus, #7 is to the shoulder in an aggressive move to intimidate the shidachi.

#6: While responding to shidachi's pressure from gedan, uchidachi keeps the blade straight up-and-down. Don't turn. There is a brief turn for kodachi #2.

懸待一致と捨て身 (kentai icchi and sutemi)

Lately I've received similar advice from different senseis. I am too aggressive. Rather than seme 100% offense all of the time, I need to have some give and take. I need to lessen my seme from time to time to invite my opponent to attack so I can utilize ouji waza. I think this falls under the concept of kentai icchi.

I've been experimenting with this and I think I have been able to do this a bit better. However I got another piece of advice at practice on Tuesday. Tanaka sensei said I am not committing 100% to my attacks. I think I am lacking sutemi. In an attempt to have a more balanced kendo my commitment to my attacks have deteriorated. :-p

Ahhh... hurray for trying to simultaneously fulfill conflicting desires and requirements... ^_^;;

私が最近先生達から同じようなアドバイスを聞きました。いつも１００％前に攻めては駄目。時々攻めをちょっとリラクスして、相手が攻撃できると思います。その時応じ技を応用します。私がこれは懸待一致とおもいます。

稽古の時この概念を練習しました、ちょっとできるかなと思いました。だが、この火曜日の稽古で、田中先生からほかのアドバイスを聞きました。私が打てるの時に、全部を出してませんでした。私が捨て身が足りませんと思います。もっとバランスいい剣道を欲しくでも、打てるの時は１００％しなければなりません。

難しいな。。。 ^_^;;

One game, one penalty

Tonight was my first indoor soccer game. One of the engineers at SCEA, my group's newly appointed technical lead actually, plays soccer and invited me to join his team. The facility is actually located in Santa Clara.

Since this was my first indoor soccer game, I wasn't aware of all of the differences in rules from outdoor soccer. Such as the no sliding rule. :-p And that, is how I got my 2-minute penalty. It wasn't even a real slide... All I did was go down to my knee while reaching for the ball. I guess if you're not standing, you're sliding. :-/ I'm going to have to adjust... And the penalty is like hockey. You serve it in the penalty box while your team plays a man down. :-O

Well, at least our team won in the end. Although apparently we don't want to win the league because we don't want to get promoted to the higher level leagues, LOL. ^_^

California plates!

Well, I've cast off the last remaining obvious sign of me being from Illinois. I've registered my car and now it has California license plates. Although I've also put on the gift from Nick showing that I did spend some time in Illinois. ^_^

LCPC 2008

Well, I attended LCPC last week at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. Boy was I glad I only stayed one night.

I had made reservations for a room in the Schaffer hall, which is supposed to be a private room with its own bathroom and shower. And they told me that was my reservation. However, when I got there they put me in Henday hall instead, which turned out to be just like my old dorms in Berkeley, with shared bathrooms. To make things worse, the urinals are flushed automatically about every three minutes. I thought someone was playing Mahjong at first. :-p And to wrap things up, there was construction in my building starting around 7:30AM. :-( At least I got my own room and it seemed like there was only one other person staying down my hall. Still, it rattled me and pissed me off...

The conference and presentation itself went very smoothly in comparison. I was the first to present and a bit nervous. I talked too fast and finished in about 20 minutes when I was scheduled for 25 minutes. Well, I contributed to getting the conference back on time I guess. ^_~

Sunburned back

I went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk this past weekend with some friends. I decided to take my shirt off to try to even out my tan a bit. I got lazy and didn't bother asking someone to put sunscreen on my back. :-p I swear I only had it off for half an hour or an hour at most while playing cards, but now my back is sunburned. :-( Granted, I had my back to the sun the whole time, but still... Either the sun was that intense or my torso is that white. I think it's the later... -__-

P.S. I thought about posting a picture, but I don't think anyone would want to see that. LOL

Yay, everything has arrived!!

Like the subject says, everything has arrived!! :-) Even the car, for which I left work early today. ^_^ That was a rather interesting experience because the truck couldn't drive into residential areas, so I met the truck at the corner of Stelling and Stevens Creek at 2:40PM; I left work around 1:30 to get back in time. Then I got into the truck and we drove down Stevens Creek, all the way past San Thomas, looking for a spot where they can stop. I figure that's going to be the only time I get to ride in a huge truck, so it was a rather interesting experience. :-D

The couple, I assume they're a couple, has been doing this Illinois to California thing for 12 years now, apparently. We talked quite a bit about how big the truck is (~100 feet long, 13 1/2 feet tall, 80,000 pounds fully loaded, loads up to 10 cars, and like 3 inch clearance on the bottom) and how the commercial GPS systems don't know anything about bridge limits. Apparently the Army has a version that does though.

The household goods delivery was a lot less exciting, in comparison. :-p They tried last Friday w/o telling me while I was at kendo summer camp, so they came back Wednesday morning.

Getting old?

I must be getting old. Just a couple of days ago I spent an hour watching an 1 hour show on Van Gogh on PBS. Either that or the TV available over the airwaves contain only sucky reality shows... ^_^

First run

Went for a short jog this morning for my first run. I only did around 2 miles. :-p I've been feeling inactive so I went out yesterday, bought a pair of running shoes, and decided to hit the pavement.

I'm going to have to work out when to do my runs around work and kendo... Kendo is Tuesday and Thursday nights, so right now I'm thinking a run on Wednesday morning, and then a long run on the weekend.

First practice back at San Jose Dojo

Last night was my first practice back at San Jose Dojo. Went fairly well. I forgot my San Jose zekken though. :-p

Talking to Tanaka sensei after practice he told me that keiko is for practice and improvement. It's not shiai. And I should keep that in mind. I'm not exactly certain what he's trying to tell me. I think he's saying that I'm trying too hard to win, or maybe I'm looking not to loose. The other thing that went through my head was "Do I know what I am, or should be, practicing?" :-p Maybe I was spending too much time in tsubazeriai, looking for opportunities, and he would rather I not spend so much time on that. At least he said my kendo is straight. ^_^

昨日は私がサンホーセに帰った第一回の練習でした。いい稽古でしたと思うけど、ぜっけんが忘れちゃいました。:-p

田中先生のフィードバックは稽古は練習と上手になるのためです。試合じゃありません。そして、私はそれを覚えなければなりません。それはどういうことはよくわかりません。多分私が「負けいけない」の気持ちが強すぎると思います。または鍔ぜり合いの時間が長すぎると思います。少なくとも、先生が私の剣道は真っ直ぐと言いました。^_^

So... I guess I will continue to concentrate on the following 3 things for now:

1) Seme (攻め): I still need to be able to pressure my opponent better, and have a smoother transition into the attack. I want to also practice the backing-off to invite my opponent technique that Sugawara sensei suggested. I tried that last night on Kikunaga sensei with mixed results.

2) Zanshin (残心): My lack of zanshin after certain strikes and not being ready to strike at any time has been pointed out to me repeatedly. This is something I should be able to fix but have not done so. :-(

3) Hikiwaza (引き技): I want to improve my hikiwaza.

LCPC 2008

Wow, I just realized that I never posted that my LCPC paper got accepted. Hmm... I wonder if that says something... :-p

After some adjustments for reviewer comments and acknowledgments, with a good amount of work and ideas from Wen-mei, I got it to fit within the page limit. So a couple more passes for stupidity like the "the the" I found last time and I'll be done with this. Well, there's still the presentation... -_-;;

The title of the paper is "CUDA-lite: Reducing GPU Programming Complexity." Unfortunately Wen-mei kiboshed the one line I wanted, which I had at the beginning of the conclusion: "CUDA-lite performs great, with less coding requirement." Wonder if I should sneak it back in... ^_^

Empty apartment

Well, the movers came yesterday and packed my stuff into a vault to be delivered to California. Almost all of my material goods (minus the kendo bogu, some shinai, and one suitcase) into 34 boxes. It feels so weird seeing my apartment empty... 

So let the cleaning begin!! And see how soon Sain says "F**k it!" to his security deposit. :-p

Unfortunately the car shipping is not working out, so I have to arrange for someone else to hand it over next Tuesday. :-(

My new kitchen mitt

I found this in my mailbox after coming back from Taiwan. I had completely forgotten about it. :-p

I had decided to make a donation after watching A Night Of Too Many Stars. I usually donate $100 at a time. However, the $100 gift was a beanie, which I didn't want. I wanted the $50 gift, the kitchen mitt. So I donated $99.

Taiwan Trip

Just got back from a 1 week trip to Taiwan. For some reason, it was very tiring. I was tired the whole time I was there. Maybe I'm getting old. Or I need more naps. ^_^

I practiced kendo 3 times while in Taiwan. I think the biggest take away that I want to make sure I remember is my zanshin (残心). It sucks. -_- 林老師 mentioned that I need to be more ready for opportunities for multiple attacks. I should not just attack and go through. I need to be ready to attack again. Which also fits with the philosophy of being ready to attack at all times. 菅原先生 at Indianapolis had also mentioned that I need to pay more attention to my zanshin on my last visit, so I guess I have something concrete I need to work on. :-p

4E D&D

That's right, Fourth Edition Dungeons and Dragons... :-p

I decided to try playing a game with Nick and Ryan this past weekend using the new rules, with Ryan being the DM and Nick and I both playing 2 characters. Personally I never do quite as well when I have to play multiple characters, but meh...

I played a Warlord (new class) and a Cleric while Nick played a Paladin and Wizard. I barely finished creating the Cleric when we started, and didn't even really read over the combat section yet, which made certain things a little confusing. Ryan had to save our asses because Nick and I apparently can NOT roll. Let's just say that the number 1 on the d20 appeared way too often, as well as numbers below 10... -_-;;

I have to say I still don't know what to think about the new system yet. The simplification of the Skills system is intriguing, yet harkens back to the Non-weapon proficiencies of 2nd Edition. I think it's an improvement though. I definitely do NOT like how many minuses were eliminated by boosting everything overall. :-( It feels like they don't want to imply weaknesses and/or make the math simple. However, one thing I'm furious over is putting the magic items in the Player's Handbook. >:-( Not only is the system magic heavy to begin with, this violates so much about the premise of D&D in my opinion.

As for the REAL major change, the at-will, encounter, and daily power system... I withhold judgement for now. ^_^

13 years of kendo and I still get blisters

Yesterday I decided to do suburi (素振り) while watching TV, and I got a blister on my left hand under my callus after about 300, finishing with 600. The callus is below the pinky, about half-way down the hand. 13 years of kendo and I still get blisters. :-p I want to say that my hands have not built back up since the surgery, or that the dragonfly bumps on the tsukagawa (柄がわ) contributed, but in the end, all I can do is smile, clip off the callus, and bear the pain. -_-;;

昨日私が素振りをやりました。三百素振りをやった後で、私の左手がまめを得ました。全部六百素振りをやりました。まめは小指の下で、手の中心にいます。十三年の剣道、私はまだ素振りでまめを得ます。-_-;;

昨天我自己練了一下劍道。練了三百下我的左手就起水泡了。總共練了六百下。水泡起在我的小指以下，差不多手的中心。劍道練了十三年我還在起水泡。:-p 可能是手術後練習不夠，還是劍柄上的蜻蜓，可是還是有點無奈。

-_-;;

On my way out of IL

Well... I finished my LCPC submission this past Monday and verbally agreed to Sony Entertainment's offer, so I guess I'm on my way out of Illinois and back to the Bay Area. They're still waiting on a final signature from Japan before mailing me the official offer. Hopefully this isn't indicative of how things will work. :-p

Feels... a bit odd. ^_^ But I've been getting more and more excited about starting work, so I think that's a good sign.

Amazing video

Pretty crazy graffiti animation video. I guess they left behind a lot of white walls. ^_^

打突部位なしの攻め

最近、私はもっといい攻めを練習します。昨日の稽古でちょっとなんか分かってなりました。多分。^_^;;

私はまだ打突部位に攻めしました。例えば、面に攻めて、もし小手が空ければ、小手を打って。または、小手を打ちたい、面を攻めてします。もっとよく考えて、それは多分間違えました。私が打突部位に考えての時、私が柔軟性をなくなりました。するべきのは打突部位を考えなくて、攻めて、何か空けて、その打突部位を打ちます。

Seme without a target in mind

Recently, based on some really good advice, I have been working on my seme. I'm trying to be less hesitant and more aggressive, with a smoother transition into the strike. During yesterday's practice I think I understood a little better. Maybe. ^_^;;

I am still doing my seme with a target in mind. For example, I would seme towards the men, and then hit the kote if it opens up. Or if I want to hit kote, I would seme towards the men to open it up. Now that I think about it, I think that's probably erroneous. Once I start having a target in mind, I loose my flexibility. Instead, I think the proper way should be to seme without a target in mind, and then hit what opens.

Indianapolis Mini-Marathon

I went to the 2008 Indianapolis Mini-Marathon with Aqeel this past Saturday (5/3/08). It was a half-marathon, with part of the course on the Indianapolis race track. Don't ask me why they call it a mini-marathon.

I was hoping to get under 2 hours, since I apparently had a chip time of 2:01 at Chicago 2 years ago. I thought I had a 2:10. I was feeling good around 6-8 miles, but I got really tired around mile 10, and I really ran out of gas for the last mile. Still, I finished around 2:06 for the gun time and I had a chip time of 1:54:35 for a pace of 8:45, so I accomplished my goal at least. Apparently I finished 712 for my age, 4409 in my gender, and 5679 overall. My bib number was 40735. (Searching for results by my name failed while bib number worked. :-p)

Now I can slack off until I got to start training for the Disney marathon next January. ^_^

Zakir Hussain Concert

I went to see a concert by Zakir Hussain and the Masters of Percussion at the Krannert Center on 4/30/08 with Alice. It was very interesting. It was classical Indian music, something I am not familiar with. Still, the level of skill comes through all the same. It is fascinating how he manipulates the tabla to create all of those sounds at all of those volumes and how FAST they can all drum.

2008 Niten Ichi Ryuu Musashi Kai (二天一流武蔵会) Seminar

This past weekend I went to Salt Lake City, UT for a kendo seminar. Many thanks to Michael Wilkinson and Andria for putting the seminar together. It was incredibly educational, and I learned a lot by watching the sensei tachi (先生達) practice nitou (二刀), and from their explanations and instructions. Seeing people who really know nitou (二刀) in action teaches at a level that just can not be conveyed sufficiently through a book. 

There were 7 senseis visiting from Japan, including Nakamura sensei (中村先生), the 17th shihan of Niten Ichi Ryuu (二天一流十七代師範).  I even got my book signed by him. :-p There were about 30 attendees to the seminar. To my pleasant surprise, I actually knew a couple of people. Stroud sensei from Idaho and Sasaki sensei from Omaha were also there. Stroud sensei was Joon's sensei in Oregon and had visited UIUC once. I met Sasaki sensei at the MWKF summer camp 2 summers ago, where he generously shared his Patron w/ us. ^_~

I didn't do much else at Utah besides kendo, but I did spend some time with my sister and her fiance, including some board game time. We played an aborted game of Catan and a couple of games of Ticket To Ride: European Edition.

Saturday 4/26

We had jigeiko (地稽古) from 4-6PM, w/ a 20 minute break in the middle. It was supposed to be a chance for them to get to know us since there was large range of capabilities among the attendees, from beginners to 7 dan (Stroud sensei). Since I wanted to present the best of my ability, I did ittou (一刀) for most of the practice. I practiced with Fujii sensei (藤井先生), Satou sensei (佐藤先生), Nakamura sensei (中村先生), Inoue sensei (井上先生), and Stroud sensei. Inoue sensei (井上先生) was the only one I practiced nitou (二刀) against. 

Fujii sensei (藤井先生)

Chudan no kamae (中段の構え). Try to have the knuckle of the left thumb be in the chushin (中心).

Then tip goes slightly towards opponent's left eye. No bigger angle than that.

If you move in, this naturally deflects your opponent's shinai. If you raise up, this naturally does kaeshi waza. If you go in, you can pressure down your opponent's shinai (竹刀) as you go in for men (面).

Satou sensei (佐藤先生)

Go forward. If you go back, it's weak and you loose. Even if hit, go forward.

Stroud sensei

Pressure, don't wait. Have the feeling of coming in and being able to change your strike if need be. When I mentioned that I feel like I've been seme(攻め)/pushing in too hard and losing because of that, he demonstrated seme w/o actually moving in. I need to practice similar things more (if I can figure it out :-p). I think I am hesitating because I want to see the opening before going. Maybe the idea of being able to change my strike as needed will help. He also said I backed up too often.

Sunday 4/27

We did footwork, suburi (素振り) using the bokutou (木刀), and kata (形) in the morning from 10AM-1PM. After breaking for lunch, we watched some paired demonstration matches between the sensei tachi (先生達) from Japan, which had different combinations of ittou (一刀), sei nitou (正二刀), and gyaku nitou (逆二刀). I took videos of this. Then we did kihon (基本) strikes and waza (技) in bogu. Then we had a couple 2 minute demonstration matches (I got to fight one) and concluded with one round of jigeiko (地稽古), where I got to fight Nagasaki sensei (長崎先生).

Footwork: They focused on a different footwork, one that is supposed to be what the samurai traditionally used. There was a lot more focus on the movement of the koshi (腰) [hips], and keeping one's hips squared. One of the big reason for this is because when you step forward with the foot that you are striking with (think sei nitou (正二刀), right foot forward) you would open up your body if you do not bring your opposite hip forward. I'm not sure how much this applies to how I do it, gyaku nitou (逆二刀) with the right foot forward. But I would have the left foot forward for dou (胴), so it's something I need to consider and practice regardless.

Nitou Suburi (二刀素振り): Visualize the jyuushin (重心) [center of gravity] of the sword going straight down towards the mune (胸) [chest] of opponent. Hand goes into chyuushin (中心) [center of the body] and strike. The sword should rotate or pivot about the center of gravity, not the end of the handle.

Sei Nitou Kote (正二刀小手): Should form a shape like ku (く). The center of gravity stays in the chyuushin (中心) while the right hand crosses over.

Gyaku Nitou Dou (逆二刀胴): Hasuji (刃筋) is same as sayuu men (左右面). The center of gravity stays in the chyuushin (中心), so the left hand crosses over. Left foot goes in front, but right hip needs to follow. Hiraki ashi (開き足), most likely. My observation is that instead of keeping the left hand in the center on the strikes, you're keeping the center of gravity of the sword in the center.

Saying: There is a saying in kendo called ichi gan, ni soku, san tan, shi riki (一眼二足三胆四力) [one eyes, two feet, three courage, four strength]. Apparently there is a similar saying for nito, which is ichi tan, ni shyou, san tai (一丹二小三大) [one body, two shoto, three tachi].

First it is the movement of the body. Then the shouto (小刀) is what you seme (攻め) with. Finally you think of hitting w/ the tachi (太刀). Note: I'm not sure I got the kanji or the saying completely correct. I only really remember the explanation.

Picture of the Pope's plane seat

Now THAT'S leg room. ^_^

It's time for Viera Time

"It's time for Viera Time." That is part of the Panasonic commercial for their new line of TVs called Viera. I have an interesting problem w/ these commercials...

All of the commercials revolve around families being too busy for time with each other. So the commercial suggests that they take time to watch TV together.

My problem/question is... when did TV time become family time? I suppose watching TV together as a family is not a terrible thing, but still doesn't seem very interactive. Oh well, advances in technology...

Indianapolis Mini-marathon: May 3rd

Well, it's official. Aqeel and I got transfer bibs fro the Indianapolis Mini-marathon (a half marathon) on May 3rd. Cost us $22 each plus $21 for each transfer fee, which was actually lower than the initial price of $50 per bib, I think. We got it the day before the deadline for the transfer. :-D

Now I need to keep up my training and not slack off. :-p

Good news!!

Saw my surgeon this Tuesday, and he gave me the all clear. Woohoo!! Now I can practice kendo again... w/ an open conscience. :-) I'm going to go back to practicing nito for a while in preparation for the nito seminar at the end of April in Salt Lake City.

這個星期二我的醫生說我可以開始練劍了。真高興我可以光明正大的練。:-) 這一陣子我打算練二刀流因為四月底在 Salt Lake City 有一個二刀流的 seminar.

この火曜日に医者が剣道をするのは大丈夫だと言いました。とってもうれしかった。この月私は二刀流を練習すると思います。四月に、Salt Lake City で、二刀流の合宿があるから。

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts + Cheap Trick

Nick and I went to the concert tonight featuring Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Cheap Trick.

Joan Jett and the Blackhearts

She can still sing and play. The sound came through very clean and clear. And boy is she intimidating. She looked buff and like she could beat the crap out of most people :-p Although I reviewed the songs I had of her this morning, basically her greatest hits CD, most of them were still a bit unfamiliar. The crowd also seemed uncertain for a good bit of the show, but warmed up towards the end. I thought some of the songs from her new album "Sinner" were interesting. ^_^ I always knew her lyrics were provocative, but didn't realize how much... To me Joan Jett is one of those guilty pleasures. :-p

Cheap Trick

Cheap Trick rules. Nielsen went through 16 guitars and 21 necks for 16 songs. There was even a Rockford guitar, which was a yellow square with the album cover on it. Peterson had 1 bass. LOL :-D I definite agree w/ Nick in that the Assembly Hall's acoustics is screwy when the volume is turned up. The vocals were all too screechy. :-( One of the amps was also buzzing really loudly, and Robin Zander's mike wasn't working properly for the first 2-3 songs. Nielsen rolled w/ it and made fun and kept the show entertaining though. He also took digs at Kevin Cronin (REO Speedwagon), who apparently was on Don't Forget the Lyrics last night, and complained that his replacement guitar tuner sucked because he played for Bon Jovi. ^_^ His mike stand was filled w/ picks which he kept throwing out into the crowd. He even threw out handfuls of picks towards the end. All in all, a great show.

Oh, and Nick, despite what he said at the show, Rick Nielsen is from Rockford, IL, not Urbana. ^_~

No Country for Old Men

Possible spoilers...

So I watched No Country for Old Men last night with some friends. One person remarked upon how before the end of the movie, the story for one of the protagonist ends abruptly. I countered that that particular story was never the main story of the film anyways. In retrospect, I think I misunderstood the point that she was driving at. (And if I STILL have it wrong, I apologize. :-p)

The story that ends abruptly, that of a man trying to survive after taking the money, is not the main story of the film. However, it consumes most of the viewer's attention since it is the liveliest plot line. By ending that storyline so abruptly and with so little fanfare, and obviously with material left over, the film compels the viewer to search for an alternative meaning to the film, thereby leading the viewer more firmly to the main point of the film without bashing them over the head with it. I think that was the point my friend was trying to make.

I guess I am rather slow to recognize and understand film/literary techniques like this... ^_^;;

P.S. How is it that everyone in this film is able to walk so softly and quietly in boots?!

Beat of the drum

While it is admirable to live by the beat of your own drum, if you are to interact with others, it helps to adopt the beat of another's drum from time to time. Or to at least be in sync and in rhythm to another's beat.

I wonder to what beat am I drumming to...

What you don't want to hear at the dentist...

I was at the dentist yesterday for my routine checkup and cleaning. They had CNN Headline News on, and a report of a girl who died at the dentist came up. Apparently they were extracting one of her molars and the dentist lost his hold on it. The tooth dropped into her windpipe or something and killed her.

NOT what you want to hear as you're sitting in the dentist chair... :-p

More movie rankings

Citizen Kane:

Overall (blue) Entertainment (red) Artistry (green) Appropriateness (yellow)
Entertainment (8): Action (0), Comedy (2), Horror (0), Romance (1), Education (0), Drama/Story (9)
Artistry (9): Acting (9), Directing (10), Effects (9), Audio (5), Story (10)
Appropriateness (7): Language (8), Violence (7), Sexuality (8), Understanding (7)

When Harry Met Sally:

Overall (blue) Entertainment (red) Artistry (green) Appropriateness (yellow)
Entertainment (9): Action (0), Comedy (10), Horror (0), Romance (10), Education (0), Drama/Story (7)
Artistry (7): Acting (8), Directing (8), Effects (2), Audio (8), Story (7)
Appropriateness (5): Language (4), Violence (10), Sexuality (3), Understanding (8)

I've added some more categories. I really didn't want to add Drama/Story under Entertainment. I have always felt that Drama is such a catch-all description. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of how else to categorize movies such as Citizen Kane.

In fact, I think the Entertainment category is not working as I thought it would. The original idea is that movies can't be described in a word or two, like "Romantic Comedy." ^_~ I felt that the theme of movies need to be broken down more finely. Unfortunately, so far it looks like movies CAN be summed up in a word or two. Especially if you allow the use of Drama.

So while I plan to continue trying to categorize, rate, and track the movies I watch using this method and to refine the method, I don't think I'll embarrass myself any further by posting them up anymore. :-p

Gary Gygax (July 27, 1938 – March 4, 2008)

A sad day...

Note to self...

When you get turned down for a relationship, Sting's song "If You Love Somebody Set Them Free" is not a good one to listen to. :-( T_T

失恋の時、Sting's 歌「If You Love Somebody Set Them Free」はとってもまずいです。

失戀的時候不應該聽 Sting 的歌，“If You Love Somebody Set Them Free。“

Bad Sain, bad...

Well, my surgeon says I shouldn't practice kendo yet, but my physical therapist had said it's probably ok, so my idea was to at least put on bogu to be motodachi (元立ち), to receive hits and help guide practice. To be honest, it feels kind of weird to do a full swing, so I'm hesitant to jump back into practice. But I was hoping to start practice swinging slowly, until my surgeon shot me down. :-/

So last night I did it for the first time. And of course when jigeiko (地稽古) rolls around I don't stop. :-p I didn't really go hard or attacked quickly, and I stayed away from striking men much. In other words I held back a lot. But the arm felt good so I'm happy. ^_^

Disney World marathon

Well, it's official. I've paid the money and now I'm roped into doing the Disney World marathon next January. I'm also planning on doing the Indianapolis mini-marathon in May so I've started training, which means getting up at 6AM to go running at the gym.

Ugh... I blame Shelley, peer pressure, and my innate stupidity...

Snowshoeing: Wear good boots

So I was in Whistler this weekend for my brother-in-law-to-be's bachelor party. Since I'm not supposed to ski or snowboard yet due to my shoulder, I decided to go snowshoeing. Unfortunately, I didn't plan it out ahead of time, so the only shoes I had w/ me were my regular boots: Waterproof, but not meant for extended up and down walking. I think I did about 5km. Slight blister on the back of my left foot, but not too bad.

I did enjoy it. Would have been even more enjoyable w/ others and not just by myself, I think. Basically it's a hike and the snowshoes let you go over more terrain and therefore access more places.

It was also not as difficult as I remembered. My only experience was back in junior high at Yosemite. The snowshoes probably weren't as good, and I was weaker then. That extra weight on your feet on every step adds up quickly. The trail was also packed down, so you barely needed the snowshoes if you stayed on the trail. The few times I had some fun going through the powder reminded me of the potential difficulties of snowshoeing if the trail wasn't packed down.

Oh, and yield to bears, LOL. ^_~

Kendo practice on 1/29

Seven other people showed up to kendo practice last night. Four beginners, including Kurt coming back from knee surgery, and three people in bogu: Alice, Calvin, and Bernard.

Last night was howling winds, freezing precipitation, and I couldn't even get my trunk opened. I had originally intended to cancel practice until I called Aston and found out that five people had already showed up. I was shamed into going. -_-;;

Only other club to show up was the Judo club. Naginata had a good turnout as well. About six people. We were able to do a lot more kiai, some good fundamental practices with interaction with bogu, and finally a little bogu practice at the end.

Humbling and encouraging experience.

Discovery Channel's Behind the Great Wall

I watched the 2-hour special called "Behind the Great Wall" on 1/27/2008 on the Discovery Channel. It was rather interesting, both in its portrayal of people and events. It claimed to show sections of the wall not captured on film before. It also explained things in ways very different from what I know of the Great Wall. Shows how flawed my knowledge of Chinese history is. :-p

Some points:

• Language: All of the dialog was in English. This was a bit odd, I think, especially since in some of the scenes you can clearly hear the cast talking in Chinese. All of the speakers had no significant accent when speaking English either. I think it was odd, but it worked fairly well.
  
• Chinese cannons: The documentary claimed that there were cannons used, and the design was imported from the West. I wasn't sure when contact with the West happened and I didn't know cannons were already in use by then.
  
• Mongol raiders: There were no Mongol archers depicted, which was what the Mongols were known for. I speculate that's because mounted archers would greatly complicate filming.
  
• Timing: The documentary covers the events in the Ming dynasty (明朝), focusing on 戚繼光. (Explanation thanks to my friend Kai-ping.) I had always thought that it was 秦始皇 who is credited for the Great Wall.

Well, all in all I think it was an educational special without being too cheesy.

Movie Ranking and Description

Odd thoughts popped into my head this morning regarding movie ranking and descriptions. Basically it boils down to how insufficient descriptions like thumbs up/down, stars, and grades are. I usually have to read the in-depth reviews to get an idea of what the movie is about, which is what I would really like to know to help me make a decision. So, like the engineer that I am, I thought of a different system. One that involves radar graphs and attempts to both quantify and describe movies. :-p In a way, I think my idea is more a systematic breakdown of the various aspects of a movie rather than just a rating system.

I'm still working on the system, and I need to apply it to more movies of differing characteristics before deciding if I even like it myself, but here are the basics:

The movie is broken down into Entertainment, Artistry, and Appropriateness under an Overall graph, ranked from 0-10 each, and higher is better. Each of these 3 categories are then broken down into further details, each also ranked from 0-10. Entertainment includes Action, Comedy, Horror, and Education. This is to describe the primary aspects of how the movie entertains. Artistry includes Acting, Directing, Effects, and Story. Finally Appropriateness includes Language, Violence, Sexuality, and Difficulty. This is my response to the blanket ratings like PG and R and such.

So as an example, let's go through the movie called Russian Ark which I watched recently, which is a 90 minute film, shot in one continuous take, that goes over Russian history, its interaction with art, and Russia's relationship with Europe.

Overall (blue) Entertainment (red) Artistry (green) Appropriateness (yellow)
Entertainment (7): Action (0), Comedy (1), Horror (0), Education (8)
Artistry (8): Acting (9), Directing (8), Effects (6), Story (8)
Appropriateness (5): Language (8), Violence (10), Sexuality (9), Understanding (2)

The film obviously doesn't have any action or horror. While under Effects I usually think of special effects, of which there wasn't much in this movie, I think the costumes and subtle effects that were employed were well done. Although this is obviously a film that everyone can watch when it comes to appropriate language, violence, and sexuality, it is also obviously NOT a film whose subject and intent would be something that most people would understand and appreciate. In fact, I didn't understand what the European represented until the very end. :-p

Finally, all of this can be represented visually as radar graphs, or spider graphs, like those created from an Excel sheet. I throw up a rough example up top.

Well, that's a dump of my new attempt at movie description/ranking. I'll probably still need to work on it, especially when it comes to the detail sections. How dumb do you think it is? ^_^

New Year...

Half a bottle of wine (good ol' Ravenswood Cab) and a bottle of champagne and I'm still feeling quite good. I think steak is now officially my hangover prevention technique. ^_~ Granted, that was consumed over 8 hours...