The musings of a weary mind. Conversations on aikido, gardening, cooking, travel and, maybe, woodworking.
Friday:
Aikido
Saturday:
Cragislist provided a potential buyer for my light table. He came out and looked and said he'd be back Sunday with a truck and money.
Aikido
50th wedding anniversary party for our neighbors.
Sunday:
Loaded up the light table for the new owner and watched it drive away
Football
Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Jeff, Gail, Trey, and Sal.
Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own and watched over Sal.
The Walk: None.
Releases: Sensei had Trey and I get our releases in while he worked with Sal while we waited for Jeff and Gail to arrive
Techniques:
We did some work on Koryu Dai Yon No Kata for J & G. I can't tell the technique names right now. I'll double-check my books at home.
Richard wanted to play with the various approaches to kote-gaeshi he sees us work with, so we played with that for a while.
Treay and I worked on the first five of Owaza Ju Pon with Jeff as an uke and then Sensei chased us off the mat as we'd been active for 4 1/2 hours.
Aftermath: No unusal ailments.
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, and Tom. We also had a visitor, a previous student of Karl Geis, who is looking to get back into aikido after 20 years.
Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own and spent a lot of time working with Brad.
The Walk: Twice, as usual. Once in Japanese and once in Czech.
Releases: None.
Techniques:
We spent most of the evening on gedan-ate as a continuation of last week. The timing, the fitting-in, etc. This, in my opinion, is the toughest of the Ju Nana Hon Kata to be able to break down into its constituent parts. The initial off-balance and the eye-flash can be broken out easily, but the fitting-in and kake are a tough nut to crack.
After a while working on this, Sensei wanted Trey and I to do some stuff for the visitor. So, Trey ran through 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. I ran through some of Owaza Ju Pon and a couple of Koryu Dai San.
Aftermath: Nothing's been cleared and nothing new has been added to the ailment list.
Got into the shop last night for a couple of hours. We've had a bit of a cool front come through the area and it's really quite comfortable out there now.
I managed to get 4 stoppers turned last night. One of Box Elder Burl, one of Sycamore and two of Madrone Burl. It's interesting in that some of the species have been "stabilized" and they seem to have a distinctive aroma when I turn them.
Ranking them by the attractiveness of the wood itself, from most to least:
Box Elder
Madrone
Sycamore
Ranking them by ease of working, easiest to hardest:
Madrone
Box Elder
Sycamore
The weather's pleasant, temperature-wise, today, so I hope to be able to get back out into the shop tonight. Maybe get 6 more turned?
I've also been thinking about packaging and presentation for the stoppers, pens and wands. I've tried to find pre-made boxes for the wands, but have had no luck. I think an appropriate size would be the size of rolls for player pianos, but I don't know if purchasing those would make sense. I could come up with a design for my own cardboard boxes, but I've been tossing around a design for a wooden box for both the wands and the stoppers instead.
I'm also thinking about a laser-engraved design for the lid of the box, but don't know about the economic feasibility of that, either. Using a nicely printed label just would not look good on a wooden box.
I also need to make stands for the stoppers when they're on display. Do I add in a little slot in front of each stopper spot to have little tag with information on the wood used, etc.? Would that be too much of a hassle? Would the stoppers get placed back in their correct spot? Would it make a difference if it's on display at a convention art show as compared to a craft show?
If Peri catches this, I'm wondering about the ratio you mentioned (1/3 or 3x). At shows, did you expect to sell about 1/3 of your stock on hand? Or did you always have enough stock to do 3 shows at one time? Or am I misremembering your comment?
Next-to-last match for the season, against Fandango. They're, traditionally, the powerhouse in the league, although this year they have lost more games than normal.
They had 6 players, we had 5. As usual, our line-up was different than last week's and that takes w while to get used to. Overall, we played decently but were outclassed.
It would be possible for us to end the season tied for last instead of in last all by ourselves, but it's not very likely.
There's a craft show coming up this weekend that's essentially no cost to the vendors. K., however, says I need more stock before going to a show. And she's right. I need more pens, stoppers, wands and chainmaille before trying to sell stuff.
I've got a full day of aikido this coming Saturday besides, so I really can't fit the show into my schedule.
But, I still need more inventory. So, back in the shop to do a little more turning.
I recently purchased a bunch of blanks for stoppers and a few blanks for pens, so I've got a selection to choose from. Last night I chose blanks of English Walnut and Spalted Maple to turn.
The EW was first on the lathe, and it turned out well. However, I could not get it off the chuck. I even tried chilling the chuck to get it to shrink: no dice. So, I had to destroy the stopper. :(
Next up was Spalted Maple and it turned out nicely, too. It really is quite pretty when turned and polished.
I had some issues getting it assembled. I had to drill the hole a bit deeper and use a vise grip to help me get the threaded insert into the wood.
Working through that issue inspired me to go back to a Tulipwood stopper I'd made a while back. I'd had the same issues with it that I'd just had with the Maple. With the Maple, I was bound and determined that it was going to get assembled, it was too pretty to send it to the trash. The Tulipwood, I was not as inspired, originally, as I have a number of blanks laying around. The new approach to assembling stubborn stoppers worked on the Tulipwood, so I ended the evening with two new stoppers.
Tonight is volleyball, so it won't be convenient to turn. Instead, I'll work on getting my Tormek set up again. It's been sitting idle, but since I'm doing more turning I need to be able to sharpen my tools.
Friday:
Aikido
Started prepping for the garage sale
Saturday:
Up early for the garage sale: first customer at 6:30 a.m.
Closed down the garage sale around 1 p.m. We had fairly good business, but my light table did not sell. Took the leftovers to Goodwill.
Aikido
Pizza for dinner
Fell asleep watching football
Sunday:
Football
Mercuri is still missing
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Brad, Tom, and Sal.
Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own and watched over Sal.
The Walk: None.
Releases: Sensei had Trey and I get our Releases in and then move straight on to Owaza Ju Pon.
Techniques:
Trey and I worked on Owaza Ju Pon in the teim we had before Trey went off to the Aggie football game.
Aikinage, Kata Otoshi, Shihonage, Ushiro Kubi Gatama and the off-balances for the Gurumas.
We spent most of Trey's time on Kata Otoshi. It's an interesting technique on uke's side of things. I noticed that when Trey nailed the timing, I'd just find myself taking the rollout and not really thinking about getting out of it. If the timing was off, and most of the time it was early, I would sort of stumble out of the technique. Occasionally, when he was early, I would notice my foot compensating for the technique he was trying to apply: it would move off-lie to catch my balance.
We also worked on aikinage for him, and he is catching on quite well.
For me, we worked in a few reps of Shihonage, Aikinage, Ushiro Kubi Gatame, and Ushiro Ate. they went far better than either of us expected.
Trey disappeared and I then served as uke for the other guys on Aigamae-ate, Gyaku Gamae Ate and Gedan ate. We got some good work in, and I made progress on my next 10,000 falls.
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Nothing affected the right elbow or right middle finger tonight.
Aikidokas: Tim, and Trey.
Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own.
The Walk: None.
Releases: None.
Techniques:
Trey and I worked on Owaza Ju Pon all night, since we were the only folks around.
Aikinage, Kata Otoshi, Shihonage, Ushiro Kubi Gatama and the off-balances for the Gurumas.
We spent a large amount of time on the off-balances for the Gurumas and Trey made marked improvements as the night wore on. You need to direct uke out and around to get the otoshi and the guruma. The otoshi is very similar to the entry for a blown shomen-ate if you extend uke too far.
We also spent a large amount of time on aikinage. At the end of the work I made a bit of an improvement in my approach by getting the non-working hand much further over uke's shoulder. This allows me to get aikinage and Ushiro Kubi Gatame more reliably. A nice light bulb moment.
I spent a bit of time on Shihonage. It seems my problem with this technique stems from the third off-balance, or lack thereof. If my timing and distance are cool, it is the "up" off-balance that, if it fails, destroys my technique.
I don't remember much of our work on Kata Otoshi.
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Nothing affected the right elbow or right middle finger tonight.
We played well on each point, but we just didn't win enough points. We had 5 players, as did our opponents. My theory still holds: we need to have the same 6 team members over a period of at least 2 weeks to be playing at our best. We've not had the situation for some time.
An opponent landed under the net on top of my foot. When I attempted to move, I slightly aggravated a tendon or ligament, as my foot was still trapped. It seems ok now.
Also, after 6 hours of painting with a long extension on Sunday, my shoulder was a mess. Volleyball aggravated it and now an injury that I thought I'd managed to get rid of has come back. Aleve, "Heat" and specific sleeping positions are the order of the day.
We let Mercuri out, as has been our ritual for the past few years, around 6 p.m. Thursday night. We called for her around 10 p.m., when she is usually nearby and ready to come in, but she was not around. This didn't worry us greatly, as she occasionally spends the night outside.
When we woke up Friday morning and she was not waiting at the door, that concerned us.
As of now, Monday afternoon, she is still missing. I'm hoping for the best, but preparing to not see her again.
Friday:
Aikido
Wandered the neighborhood looking for Mercuri
Saturday:
Went to look at an estate sale in League City
Got caught up to date with my book database
Aikido
Dinner with M., K., and K. at Durango's
Sunday:
Painting M. and K.'s house
Dinner at Joe's with M., K., and K.
Collapsed from weariness (6 hours of painting will cause that)
Aikidokas: Tim, Brad, Tom, and Sal.
Ukemi: Watched Sal and then demonstrated why it's not a great idea to have your leading arm go across your body on front rolls.
The Walk: Twice, as usual.
Releases: With Sal.
Techniques:
Monkey in the middle with outside the arm off-balances. I did a little work as uke and then spent the rest of the afternoon watching and making suggestions. They started to get it fairly well by the end of the session.
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Right elbow and right middle finger are minor concerns.
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Tom.
Ukemi: I did a little warm-up of my own. Tested to see how the left hip is doing.
The Walk: Twice, as usual.
Releases: None.
Techniques:
Trey and I worked on Kata Otoshi and Aikinage all night. Kata Otoshi is a bugbear of technique for me. I did manage to nail it four times in a row and then three times in a row. I think I need more reps. The determining factor seems to be my timing: I tend to be in a hurry. I need to slow down.
I did manage a left-sided Aikinage, though. Go me!
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Right elbow and right middle finger are minor concerns.
I'm reporting this a week late, but at least I remembered.
This week, I tried a relatively new place: Tony's Seafood House. I could walk there from work on a nice day with plenty of time to kill.
I ordered a 6 shrimp and 2 pieces of catfish plate, iced tea and their pecan pie. I was underwhelmed. The shrimp was ok, but the catfish was spiceless. And don't even mention the pecan pie, it was pretty bad.
There was a mix-up with my bill and I could have walked out of there for around $6, but I returned the extra $10 bill.
What the future holds:
If I have to have seafood and it has to be close, ok. Otherwise, no.
Another week with not a full team. We started off with 4 players and ended up with 5.
I got a number of good sets in the first game, but they soared off court when I hit them. I improved a bit in the second and third games.
We won the second game and came close to winning the third, so it was a decent night.
Friday:
Aikido
Saturday:
Up early to go mattress shopping.
Also stopped by Bay Area Aquariums to look at their fish and corals
Aikido
In the shop to turn two pens
Dinner at Durango's
Made baklava. Awesome.
Started work on a batch of bread
Sunday
More work on the bread
Grilled out for dinner with my mom and aunt
Monday
Off to an early showing of G-Force. Disappointing.
Waited around for mattress delivery
Hand and foot with the in-laws.
G-Force: 2
An animated feature about a group of Guinea Pigs, a fly, and a mole who form a spy team. They attempt to save the world from the greed of an appliance manufacturer. Bill Nighy (Davy Jones from POTC 3) stars as the CEO of the appliance company.
It was not as bad as I was afraid it might be, but not as good as I hoped.
Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Brad, and Sal.
Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups and did a little warm-up of my own. I actually took a self-imposed big fall as part of a demonstration for Brad, iirc. the landing wasn't great, but I walked away from it.
The Walk: Twice, as usual.
Releases: Watched Brad and Sal work on them
Techniques:
We tried another drill for working on Shomen-ate. Uke stands in front of tori and goes up on his toes, tori attempts to strike uke just when uke's heels touch the ground. Sal did ok. I did poorly. Weird.
It seems like there should have been something else, but I can't remember it.
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play.
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Tom and Sal.
Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups and did a little warm-up of my own
The Walk: Twice, as usual.
I worked with Sal on his releases for most of the evening.
At the end of the session, Sensei had Trey and I attempt to execute iriminage on Tom and Sal. It was quite a change from working with Trey. I could feel a huge difference, mainly in their reactions. Trey did a better job figuring out what the difference was, I think.
I also attempted a left-sided iriminage on Trey once or twice. My footwork was confused, so it did not go well.
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. I think I've finally figured out how to fold my hakama properly. I've started a tradition of wearing it on Friday nights and finally managed what I thought was a good fold. This week it also helped a slightly sore back as it provides more back support than a gi does.
3:10 to Yuma : 3
A western starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, and Alan Tudyk. The story of a man trying to make it in Arizona as a rancher. Beset by all sorts of trouble, his only hope of saving his ranch is by hiring out to escort Russell Crowe's character to a train to send him to prison. Both characters grow through the movie and it's a fun little jaunt.
Friday:
Aikido
Saturday:
Slept late
Aikido
Started working on a pot of ranch style beans, from scratch
Sunday:
Ranch-style beans
2 Peach pies
Fuddrucker's hamburger buns
Burgers for grilling out
Grilled out
Aikidokas: Tim, Richard, Jeff, Gail, Trey, Brad, and Paul. Three folks from Killeen in to see the demonstration.
Ukemi: I did a light workout of ukemi, both sides.
Trey and I ran through the techniques once and decided any more work would be detrimental.
Shortly thereafter, we were called up for his demonstration and the the Walk, Releases and 1-17 of Ju Nana Hon Kata. He did a great job and was awarded his Ikkyu.
Brad was called up afterwards and was awarded his Yonkyu. We had a stealth demonstration for him a week ago.
I then helped Brad work with Paul on his releases and some other basics.
Aftermath: I was beat. Six of us went out for Mexican afterward and had a good time, as is tradition when folks from Killeen come to town.
Posted by Scott Zrubek at 11:27 AM 0 comments
Labels: aikido, clear creek aikido, demonstration, tomiki
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, Tom and Sal.
Ukemi: I watched Sal during his warm-ups and did a little warm-up of my own
The Walk: Twice, as usual. Tom got to count once.
Trey and I worked on the stuff for his demonstration. We went through 1-17 and spent some time on problems that popped up. Problems always pop up the night before a demonstration, it's just the way things work. There were no show-stoppers, though.
Aftermath: The hip joint issue is still in play. Still trouble for suwari waza and some of the big falls.
Check out directly from here. Fast. Secure. Simple.
