JKAWF National Camp

Well just got back from the JKAWF National camp in Del Ray Beach FL. Was a blast. Master Ueki was great. All the other high ranking folks there were great. I believe a great time was had by all. Did learn a good bit. We worked on Empi on Saturday morning... worked a bunch of blocking, stances, sparing exercises, etc. A lot of good stuff. Had a great social. A Tiako drumming group Fushu Diako played for our party...love their drumming. More later.

Bugs...

My son has been working on a bug collection for school. This has been an endeavor to say the least. It is early spring and bug are just hatching out...at least a lot of the more interesting ones. Then there is the fact that some bugs look like other bugs but are not either one. Case in point...the Spring Fishfly. The Spring Fishfly looks like a Giant Lacewing...but with smaller eyes and non-clubbed antenna. It also looks like an Ant Lion..but with a shorter abdomen and thinner antenna. Its mouth is similar to the other two. They all used to be in the same Order...but now the Fishflys are in a separate order. It took me a couple of days to get to the bottom of that mystery. Behold: The Spring Fishfly!

And Yes it is almost two inches long!
KW

Mushin

Mushin is defined as a state of warrior or practitioner of an art being in such a state that they are without thought. They are calm, collected and are in a state of just being. In other words they don't think, they just do. They are in a state where there is no emotion, ego or fear. Everything flows like water in a stream. This state is not just for combat. A person in this state can be doing kata, everyday activities or work. The point is it is a state where all distractions cease to exist and only true purpose takes over the entire being. Pretty deep stuff....

Food

If you know me....you know I know food. So that being said I love to try new recipes. One I loved the other day was a quiche I did with a "crust" made of sweet potatoes.  It looked something like this..

You take the sweet potatoes and  slice and bake them in the pan...then simply do a quiche on top of it. I think it was wonderful...and you could use that crust thing for other things too.

The other week I made redneck sushi for a friend of mines birthday. You take bacon, seasoned meat of sausage and cheese and roll it up into a log of goodness. Be sure to use buttrub and bbq sauce on the top....Italian sausage or seasoned beef work equally well. Cook it slow over indirect heat for about 1:30 to 2 hours til is good and done.

And last but not least I was in a cabbage mood....nothing better than steamed cabbage and meat.

Karate Bunkai

Just my take on it, but if you study a karate kata and can do all the moves...shouldn't you be curious about what it means and how it works? I have run into a number of karate folks who say "this is the application" or "I know this kata and it is for this". Really? I have been studying Tekki kata and I saw something today and went "OK!!, maybe?". Maybe it will work...got to try it. Not all bunkai work for all people. Big, Tall , Short, Fat...we are different and bunkai will change with YOU. Off to the dojo to try it out...maybe I can figure it out...maybe someone will help me see yes or no. Either way it is a journey...and there is no 100% answer. We must all make our own path...the Do we are on..
Just my .02
kw

Spring is here!

Well it is finally spring. My wife hates it due to allergies. I actually love spring and fall. Been working in the yard, around pool, rebuilt my grill. Time to start enjoying the warmer weather.

Last July I planted a mango tree and it is now about two feet tall. Time to take it home and repot and put on the back porch.

Time to play a little music too. Hope to get some studio time in this month. Have several songs I have been working on that need to go to tape.

Not sure what I was thinking when this was taken.

Have a good weekend.
k

Happy Easter

I know it is a few days late..but Happy Easter...or as I prefer to call it Resurrection Sunday.  We had a great crowd at Grace Church in Bainbridge, Ga. www.gracechurchga.org  Saturday I cook ahead of time..made a turkey, greens, dressing and mac n cheese.  My parents have been under the weather so they could not make it this year.

Spent some time training. Have been working on Jion kata. Like the Heian katas...there is so much to learn. You can't learn a kata in a week...a year or longer..maybe. I still find myself finding new light bulb moments in the most basic kata. I would suspect that is how it is supposed to be. Kata may be set in writing...but their applications are organic and can change to the situation which is why you never give up training every kata. It never gets old.....

Just my .02
Kw