President's Day

I have checked with Champion's and they are indeed open tomorrow night.  I am once again going through withdrawals from jujitsu, and so would like to go ahead with class tomorrow night.  Anyone who feels this would be an act of disrespect to presidents, past or present, can stay home twiddling their thumbs, of course.

I am going to take the class over the knife defense list.  

Here is a link to the list by itself:

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=ddhwwqw6_6fcrcn6cv

Print out a copy to bring to class for note-taking.

If you have a plastic or wooden knife, preferably one that is unlikely to injure a student, bring it with you.

The Big Storm

We've had quite a storm over the past 24 hours.  The roads, as I write, are very bad.  I just made the drive from Waterville.  I drove at about 15 MPH--much of the time a little more sideways than I like.  (And, I like driving sideways!)

As a result, we will have no class tonight.  Also, please remember that Monday is a holiday, so we will not be getting together again until next Wednesday.  

Stay warm, and dry, and safe, please.

Welcome Jason

Today, we welcomed Jason as a new student.  He comes to us with a jujitsu background, and so has hit the ground running.  I look forward to working with him as he progresses.

Megan Forbes earned her blue and orange stripes today for learning her atemi techniques and constriction techniques.  Keep up the good work, Megan!

Amy Forbes, Megan's mom, tested for her orange belt tonight.  Her experience reminded me that these early ranks are actually the toughest because they require mastery of entirely new concepts.  Those concepts will be repeated over and over again in subsequent ranks.  It's a big step.  Sensei Jon worked some ground-fighting and constrictions techniques with the rest of the class while I tested Amy.  Thanks to Jamie for acting as uke for Amy's test.  Thanks also to Christopher for helping teach Jason the ropes.

During my thirty years in Danzan Ryu, I have noticed that my teachers have also always been students, and that my students always learn best when they are teachers. 

I have added a link to Camp Kokua, the grappling contest and clinic weekend in June.  Take a look at the site.  It changes frequently as more details become available.  Lastly, there will be no class on February 18th, due to the Presidents' Day Holiday.