Da da dun...ting
Happy Birthday to Kelli.
And, her twins are now six months old.
And thank you, Kaarlo!
I had sprained my ankle in Kendo a couple weeks back, but I'm up to full speed again. I logged five days of running, 5 to 6 miles per run. I got in three MI 40 workouts too.
We did a full Iaido workout on Saturday, doing over 80 waza. My arms were beat after. I also purchased a used katana for kumitachi practice. It's unsharpened steel - Musashi full tang from trueswords.com. It was only $70. 1055 Carbon steel. The tsuka length is longer than my iaito and the blade length is shorter, but it's the same length overall. It's about 10 to 15% heavier than my already heavy iaito so it will be a challenge to use. In the kumitachi we will be performing the waza that we already know and it will be a step up from bokken. Safety will be a big factor since we'll be swinging steel at each other. Even with bokken, it's neat to see how the techniques actually work. The one that scares me the most is Ikitzure Sayuzuki/Dokumyoken. You block an attack from the right by holding the blade to the right, pointed nearly straight up (slight angle inward) and place your left palm on the back of the blade for reinforcement. You have to flatten the palm so that your fingers don't creep in front of the cutting edge (BAD). As the attack lands on your blade, you aggressively swivel your right hip back and your blade down and to your right hip to deflect the attack and cause the opponent to lose balance (preferably falling onto the tip of your sword). The timing of this parry is very difficult as you cannot initiate too early as the opponent will just compensate. The worst part is placing your left hand on the back as you're moving the blade and sidestepping at the same time.
Ok, I've studied as hard as I can for my checkride, which is Tuesday. The prep consumed countless hours these past few weeks. I flew one hop and the radios were squirrely, making my clearances really hard to understand. I keep having to ask ATC to repeat, not making my confidence real good. Plus, they were giving me all of these non-standard clearances and the winds kept chaning the pattern every few minutes. I took an ILS approach down to an uncontrolled field and I was set to land on runway 03. Well, someone calls, saying they are taking off on runway 21...right at me. It was pucker factor city until I saw them turning left out of our way. I can't wait until sequestration makes things even more hairy! Thank you, politics.
More importantly, I beat my Mass Effect gold solos and won the Best of the Best banner for the game. I had a good run with Supra, Dragon, and L Rey. I had a couple games with this guy who was talking smack to everyone, saying he would wipe out any other player. I was put forward as the champion to challenge him on gold. We had two games in which we were only dozens of points apart so it was effectively a draw in the eyes of the team. He had the higher score, but I survived and was not downed at all.
I finished Tomb Raider too. The multiplayer is growing on me. I'm able to hold my own now. I still have an occasional game against ridiculous ringers.
Okay, time for bed. Wish me luck on the checkride.
And, her twins are now six months old.
And thank you, Kaarlo!
I had sprained my ankle in Kendo a couple weeks back, but I'm up to full speed again. I logged five days of running, 5 to 6 miles per run. I got in three MI 40 workouts too.
We did a full Iaido workout on Saturday, doing over 80 waza. My arms were beat after. I also purchased a used katana for kumitachi practice. It's unsharpened steel - Musashi full tang from trueswords.com. It was only $70. 1055 Carbon steel. The tsuka length is longer than my iaito and the blade length is shorter, but it's the same length overall. It's about 10 to 15% heavier than my already heavy iaito so it will be a challenge to use. In the kumitachi we will be performing the waza that we already know and it will be a step up from bokken. Safety will be a big factor since we'll be swinging steel at each other. Even with bokken, it's neat to see how the techniques actually work. The one that scares me the most is Ikitzure Sayuzuki/Dokumyoken. You block an attack from the right by holding the blade to the right, pointed nearly straight up (slight angle inward) and place your left palm on the back of the blade for reinforcement. You have to flatten the palm so that your fingers don't creep in front of the cutting edge (BAD). As the attack lands on your blade, you aggressively swivel your right hip back and your blade down and to your right hip to deflect the attack and cause the opponent to lose balance (preferably falling onto the tip of your sword). The timing of this parry is very difficult as you cannot initiate too early as the opponent will just compensate. The worst part is placing your left hand on the back as you're moving the blade and sidestepping at the same time.
Ok, I've studied as hard as I can for my checkride, which is Tuesday. The prep consumed countless hours these past few weeks. I flew one hop and the radios were squirrely, making my clearances really hard to understand. I keep having to ask ATC to repeat, not making my confidence real good. Plus, they were giving me all of these non-standard clearances and the winds kept chaning the pattern every few minutes. I took an ILS approach down to an uncontrolled field and I was set to land on runway 03. Well, someone calls, saying they are taking off on runway 21...right at me. It was pucker factor city until I saw them turning left out of our way. I can't wait until sequestration makes things even more hairy! Thank you, politics.
More importantly, I beat my Mass Effect gold solos and won the Best of the Best banner for the game. I had a good run with Supra, Dragon, and L Rey. I had a couple games with this guy who was talking smack to everyone, saying he would wipe out any other player. I was put forward as the champion to challenge him on gold. We had two games in which we were only dozens of points apart so it was effectively a draw in the eyes of the team. He had the higher score, but I survived and was not downed at all.
I finished Tomb Raider too. The multiplayer is growing on me. I'm able to hold my own now. I still have an occasional game against ridiculous ringers.
Okay, time for bed. Wish me luck on the checkride.