Sometime in the early 1980’s, back in the Wudang school near Central Railway in Sydney. A weeknight. We had had a grading a week or so before. Tonight was the night when new sashes were to be presented. Everyone is looking sharp in precise lines in their black cotton uniforms, all sashes and frog buttons…
Category: Personal
Transformation; a Personal Odyssey
Many people say how martial arts has changed their lives. I’ve heard people say the same about attending a Barbara Streisand concert. I didn’t go, they may be right. I do feel that my martial arts training was a driving force behind, not just a series of mental transformations and attitude adjustments, but an actual…
Living the Dream
Wednesdays and Fridays I take a lunchtime Jiu Jitsu class at Lange’s MMA, at North Manly. Wednesday is no gi, Friday gi. Jiu Jitsu always resets my mood. If it’s a warm day, or sometimes even when it isn’t, the beach is a short drive away, and that makes the day even better. Most times…
Chrome Dome HOWTO
For those so good looking their face is taking over the rest of their head. I’ve been shaving my head for about ten years. With my father and grandfather both slapheads before their fifties, it was pretty much preordained at a cellular level. I knew what was coming and prepared myself well ahead of time….
Jiu Jitsu “Social Media” – A Cautionary Tale
I recently started a minor sensation on Facebook and other social media. Without any intention to do so whatsoever. I started a snowball rolling by accident and it picked up momentum rapidly, dragging in several “international Jiu Jitsu news sites”, and at least one Jiu Jitsu celebrity … so far. Fortunately, no one has been…
Another Milestone on an Endless Highway
7th December, 2016
Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life. Hmmm…
I’ve had an interest in martial arts since seeing a movie trailer for a film called “The Chinese Boxer” in my mid-teens. Shortly thereafter, I went to the cinema to see “Five Fingers of Death.” Serendipity took a couple of years to bring David Crook into my life, or mine into his. I trained Kung…
Ido Portal’s 30/30 squat challenge
I took this up on a whim, perhaps out of boredom and a certain lack of goals since I took a break from online university courses. Described pretty much completely in this image: I didn’t feel I had any major issues with this posture, though my ankles are a bit stiff, I had one knee…
Truth bombs from Langes MMA homies
A recent Facebook post I shared brought about an interesting discussion with some of my training buds at Langes MMA, brown and black belts. The original post was this one: Survive, Defend, Attack by Cane Prevost Read it, it’s pretty good, especially for us senior citizens. My shared post generated the following (edited) comments from…
431
Yesterday morning, Sunday 7th August, 2016, was my last training session at Rick Spain’s Red Boat Wing Chun Academy, at 431 Elizabeth Street, Surry Hills. Sunday Jiu Jitsu. I joined the Academy in July 1989, while it was in smaller premises at 342 Elizabeth St. A couple of blocks away, if that. I can’t remember exactly…