Of myocardial infarctions and other minor irritations

Class is cancelled for Sunday, February 20, 2011. I have to fly to Los Angeles. My father had a heart attack. He's recovering slowly after a two-vessel stenting. I certainly appreciate the sympathy expressed by my students this evening. I was very touched.

Peter York will be taking class Monday night. Thanks Pete! Chris and Joe may be around to help out as well. I will be flying back Wednesday night, so class should be back to normal Thursday.

I appreciate the class's indulgence.

New Senior Notebook

I have made some small changes to the Senior Lists. Essentially, the changes are consolidations. For example, where two different techniques were being taught with the same name, such as seoi nage, I have consolidated them under one technique and will teach the other version as a variation instead of a separate technique.

This leads me to make some suggestions about note-taking. A student's notebook should be an evolving reference. As a student learns techniques, he or she should take brief notes during class that are later transcribed into more detailed notes as soon as it is convenient to do so. As time marches on, and the student practices and teaches those techniques to others, the notes will not need to be so detailed and can be revised to include just key reminder phrases. I have found that putting my notes on my computer allows me to revise them easily, and provides an excellent backup for lost notebooks.

Very nice link, Frank!

Frank Niles sent me an E-mail with the following video linked.  Very nice techniques applied with a lot of gusto.  You should recognize all the techniques if your Blue belt or above.

Amy, myself, and both of our kids recently returned from California, where we participated in Ohana 2010.  It was a blast.  I particularly enjoyed Professor Chubb's Shoshin Ryu Jujitsu Clinic.  I also had the great pleasure to participate in Professor Jon Jacques's Hanbo Clinic, some Shinnin, Oku, and various other clinics.