Japanton – Chronicles of Anton in Japan!

Had a chance to train with Doug Wilson, a resident of Japan. He is very good and I learnt a lot from him. He is also one of the translators. I was introduced to Hatsumi sensei, the grandmaster of the art for those who don’t know. Hatsumi sensei said that he remembered me. Doug went on to say that I was attending a seminar in Seattle that he was putting on. So now I am stuck going to Seattle in August. I probably still would have gone, I just would have liked for it to be my choice but I did get put in the lime light for just one brief moment so it’s OK.

I have money now because the post offices are open. I will finish paying for the hotel for the time that Cliff and I are sharing a room. Once the room is taken care of it’s just budgeting so that I don’t get carried away and buy too much stuff to bring home with me. The only promise that I know I can (and must) keep is the kimono for Alice. Mainly because I promised her and also because she was trying to help me setup remote access. She did her part I failed miserably but maybe tomorrow I will figure it out.

More pictures on the way shortly, if anyone has requests of stuff they want pictures of in Japan, send me an email through the contact list above. If not I will just keep doing what I am doing. Peace.

Well it is golden week, so Japan is taking time off. This also means that the ATM where I get money are not open.  This is not so good.  I will have to wait until Monday to get money.  Luckly the hotel has been understanding and have granted linencey with me.  Funny enough they do not take credit cards for payment.

Arrived Friday got to the hotel and had supper at Tokiwa’s.  Chicken katsu for Cliff and I and a vegetarian salad with tofu for Tracey Chan.  Yesterday had my first classes, Seno sensei and Shiraishi sensei.  Both were very difficult classes and I will have to write down notes quickly if I am to have any hope of remembering details of what we covered.  Will update pictures shortly.

20 degrees with rain today, 27 degrees with sun tomorrow.  Life is tough.

It occurs to me that I am temporarily separating my buddy Cliff and his wife Leah for the longest time since they were married. This is not good because I am afraid of her. I don’t know what exactly she could do to me but I am sure it’s bad. I will spend my night packing my bags with fear in my heart at the backlash of what I have done.

Just letting everyone know that when I next go down to Dayton OH and don’t come back to check with her first.  The only saving grace is that I was at their wedding in the wedding party.  I will post a picture of the two of them soon.

Usually when I attend a seminar out of town I go to the location of the seminar and get a hotel or stay by a friends house. This time I had the bright idea that it would be cheaper to drive to Calgary in the morning and home at night for both days. This would have been good if I did not get sick. The ride home Saturday night and the trip both ways on Sunday was a painful experience. But in the end I saved money on the hotel so I guess it was all worth it.

During the seminar we did some exercises based on the martial art Hoshin Ryu Jutaijutsu. This is an art that was created by the late Dr. Glenn Morris. It focuses primarily on the internal aspects of the martial arts. The first day was centered primarily on meditation and how it applies to martial techniques. The second day we focused more on beating up bozos.

Kevin who ran the seminar was very positive and kind as usual, (both things people know that I am not). We compared notes on different Kukishinden ryu kata which was nice. I like to see how others interpreted kata. He also let me know he would be in Grand Prairie in late June which I plan on attending.

Lastly I like to thank Mel for her concern about my health. I will be fine.

Just finished having tasty dim sum at Dynasty restaurant. I recommend it for the curry squid, though I did not have a chance to try the phoenix claw there. That should give me the strength to get through this last week of life in the real world before Japanton round 4 begins.

Time to start getting gifts together for people who have helped me in Japan (lodging, food, etc). Oh and I have to decide what gifts to bring back with me from Japan (which is usually decided by how much money I have left at the end of my trip).

Added some pictures if you click on “PHOTOS” in the navigation, you can see the first two, I will start getting more and include a description with them as well.

For those of you who don’t know, I like to spend a whole lot of money to travel around North America and attend Martial arts seminars. This weekend there is one in Calgary by Kevin Millis. You learn more about him at http://kevinmillis.com/. He is the first high ranked Bujinkan member that I met (back in 1998) and he is quite skilled. So just in case people are looking for me on Saturday or Sunday, that is where I will be.

Before that, Tasty Dim Sum with Wayne on Thursday for lunch and the ongoing celebration with Nadia and Bart on Friday night.

In class today we went over koshi sanpo and ryu sui iki waza. Nothing too enlightening besides making sure that you are in Kamae. This is probably my biggest sore point with martial arts in general. You learn all these great postures or stances then ignore them because they are not practical in a “real” self defense situation. I see so that’s why they exist because they don’t work. People have used them for years in life or death situations because they don’t work, but you who have spent a couple years fooling around in a padded room know better.

Sorry I just get a bit carried away when people ignore the foundation of their art then complain that it doesn’t work. I am done … for now.

Last night went over the basic Kamae for the first half of class. Worked on Tomoe Nage and Yoko Nage for the second half. Not surprising that Yoko Nage can be used after a failed Ganseki Nage. If your opponent drops their weight to counter you can quickly take advantage of the space they create to perform the throw. My execution is not perfect but it’s a drill that I can work on and incorporate into the warm-ups.

I am once again putting up Japanton.com for the world to see. Well not the world but friends, and co-workers who have demanded pictures. I will see what I can do about posting entertaining pictures, as everyone knows I am a boring guy and a lot of time in Japan is not spent “seeing the sites”. If anything interesting happens to me I will let everyone know. It is 17 days before departure date, it about a week it will be time for me to get excited. (Yes I am so boring I even plan my excitement.)