16/03/2006 In People by andy
I am not a violent person. Despite my skill at making others want to hit me, it has always been more my style to ignore insults and walk away from physical confrontations. My quick wit has been a tremendous advantage to me in talking my way out of potential trouble. However a few years ago, I found myself preparing to be (painfully) thrown out of a pub by some very large men who worked there. These men were smart enough to see that, if they did not intervene with what was happening in our corner of the bar, someone would have ended up hospitalized.
Luckily, no punches had to be thrown. The “other party” (oddly, a friend of one of my mentors) apologized, and we all went on drinking and having a good time. As the evening continued, it was obvious that he could tell I would not have hesitated to fight him had he not spoken up when he did. And I wouldn’t have: he had been trying to make an ass of Bryan sparks.
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08/06/2006 In People by andy
note: Some people didn’t understand this article the first time around and took parts of it as an attack on my teacher - a man whom I greatly admire. I have attempted to abate this somewhat by narrowing the focus of this article and dealing with tangential issues in separate posts. Some of the content originally included here has been moved, but I have not significantly altered my general tone or message. Please understand that I am a little sarcastic sometimes, and my humor is extremely dry. There is no venom here; just an honest look at a man few people really understand.
Mits Uchida is the founder and head instructor of the “United States Taido Association.” Much has been made in recent months over my apparent falling out with him (due in large part to misinterpretations of the first incarnation of this article), but I maintain that this is essentially one-sided. Though I cannot support certain aspects of the way he runs his business, I have a deep respect for his abilities, talents, and accomplishments.
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27/06/2006 In Experiments / Ideas by andy
Less Talk, More Rock is the name of one of my favorite Propagandhi albums. If you don’t know Propagandhi, they are a fantastic, political punk band that makes great songs that make great sense. I learned of their existence form Joshua Gargus, a former Tech Taido student and all-around cool cat. The reason I bring this all up is because I think the martial arts world generally needs to do less talking and more rocking.
Of course, here I am, writing about not talking too much. Yes, that’s ironic, isn’t it? (and let’s go on and get one thing clear, while we’re at it - I can out-irony just about anyone you know. I was fluent in sarcasm before I could ride a bike. But I’ve changed my tone recently to a more earnest approach. For an excellent discussion of why Irony is a Dead Scene, check out this interview with brilliant writer David Foster Wallace [whose Infinite Jest is one of my five favorite books ever].)
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20/07/2006 In Event Log by andy
Unless there’s a damn good reason not to (like our 30th Anniversary Tournament last year), American Taido hosts a yearly practice excursion sometime during the summer. We load up the cars, stock up on beer, and drive the entire school to the beach for three days of practicing and partying together. Year after year, summer camp is one of the most exciting and fun events for American Taido teachers and students. I love summer camp.
My family skipped camp for our first few years in Taido, but I have great memories of each camp I attended. At my first summer camp in 1988, Bryan and I fed potato chips to alligators from the back porch. Later that evening, Mitsuaki and I had a joint birthday party.
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10/08/2006 In Experiments / Ideas by andy
You never forget how to ride a bike - maybe I’m just extraordinarily stupid, but
I’ve proven that one wrong.
I was spending the weekend with a girlfriend in a small Japanese village and had volunteered to make a conbini (a wonderful little Jap-English corruption of “convenience store”) run for some drinks. Since it was a nice day, I figured that, rather than drive the two kilometers to the 7/11, I would just borrow my girlfriend’s bike and enjoy some fresh air. Things were going well for a few minutes. Then, as I was coming down the hill toward the store I realized that I couldn’t remember how to stop. “Oh, shit!”
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30/08/2006 In Check It Out by andy
The following movies should be considered part of the training of any quality martial arts program. No, I’m not kidding. Get out of the dojo and do something entertaining. Watching movies requires very little work on your part and can seriously enrich your enjoyment of actual practice. My students used to love when I would quote Karate Kid after a killer workout. Anything you do to make your Taido more fun increases your chances of continuing to practice when you may be tempted to slack off. If you need to slack, run down to the video store and pick up one of these:
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24/12/2006 In Check It Out by andy
What follows is a necessarily incomplete list of things you should read as a part of your martial arts training. Most of them are pretty fun, too. Just remember that there is an academic portion to any quality training system. It’s your job to decide how much to trust any sources you happen to consult. This includes your instructors.
As a side note, I want to mention that many of these are available for free at your local library. Yes, that’s the big building with all the books in it. You know those things you used to have to read in school? Yes, books. I know in this day and age you are all used to just ordering everything from amazon (and if you still want to do so, please use my links and get me paid…), but it doesn’t necessarily have to be so (most large libraries even have music and videos now). While you’re there, check the calendar of community events and find something to do instead of watching so much damned television.
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20/07/2007 In Experiments / Ideas, Taido/Blog by andy
Taido/Blog has been fixed, but not neutered.
A few months after I launched Taido/Blog, I had some major problems with the software backend, and it prompted me to confront a personal weakness. In particular, I wrote about the mental “willful ignorance” category of thought of which we all seem to make liberal, if unconscious, use. This is a giant brain database of things we have consciously or unconsciously decided not to bother with learning to understand.
I believe that this is a pervasive habit among humans; it’s prevalent in every culture with which I have any experience. Sometimes, we just decide that things are going to be impossible for us, and then we prove that assumption to ourselves. Here in Japan, it’s especially common; I can’t count the number of times I’ve made a perfectly lucid comment in Japanese, only to be met with the response “eigo wakarimasen (I don’t understand English)”. Apparently any utterance issued by white people is English…
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