Sendai, Matsushima, a traditional Inn and more...

Well, Winter Break is over... And, man, was it ever fun. Christmas was a bit odd as we spent it together as a dorm -- kind of. We ended up seeing a Shamisen Concert (that three-stringed instrument). Afterward, we ate India Curry (on Christmas, I know) and went to go have a few drinks at a party. Unfortunately, the party was crap. So, a few of us left the party, caught the second to last train, and went to McDonalds. You see, McDonalds had been running this special where you could buy a Big Mac for only 200 yen -- roughly $2.40. This may not seem like a great deal, but let me assure you that it was! Normally these burgers cost around 400 yen -- roughly $5. That's ridiculous. So, we took full advantage of this special they were running. We ate so much ビグ・マク that I haven't had a McDee's burger since.

Christmas was over, but my Winter Break was just beginning! The day after Christmas -- "I can't wait for New Years Eve Day" -- a few of us were off to Sendai; a city in Japan north of Tokyo. The crew was Evan, JC (Jean-Claude), Zach, and myself.

Zach, JC, myself, and Evan

Photo courtesy of Evan

We traveled there by Night-Bus -- a bus that travels over night, one of the cheaper ways to travel. After a dilemma of figuring out which bus was ours, we managed to arrive just in time. The bus ride was... horrible. Well, not like a bad flight; but, we were unable to actually sleep on it. We got a collective 3 hours, maybe. Zach saw his first snow (kind of like one's "First Aomori") and was quite entertained by it. The gang arrived in Sendai around 5-6am. Long before anything actually opened up. We spent an hour or so in Moss Burger trying to wake up. At 7am, our adventure began. One of our first stops was Masamune's shrine that was on top of quite a large hill...

Us descending the hill

Ta-da!

The tricky part was getting down the hill. It's not a mountain, although I might call it that. It was tricky because it was covered in ice. After our decent of the hill, we wondered Sendai. Visiting various shrines and eating at noodle place that only locals seemed to go to. The shop-mother seemed quite proud of our Japanese -- well, Zach's Japanese. Haha. At one shrine/temple, we managed to climb another hill. At the summit, we were greeted with many shrines built for the descendants of Masamune.



We taxed ourselves a great deal. It was quite cold, but very rewarding. Our first day in Sendai came to an end and we headed to our hotel. On our way there via train, it began to snow. We arrived at our stop and to our delight, we were deep in the mountains. The hotel we stayed at was a traditional Japanese style in called a 旅館 -- ryokan -- we wore yukata's (which are traditional Japanese robes) and ate a traditional dinner.

A toast! To not flashing each other!

After dinner, we watched a bit of random Japanese television and tried desperately to stay awake to wait for a time to go into the Hot Springs or onsen (温泉). We made it, barely. Three of us decided to brave the outdoor bath. It was still snowing, quite hard actually, and we climbed down the 88 steps to the bath. The bath was hot -- around 42 degree Celsius. Neigh unbearable. We enjoyed an hour of the hot springs in the canyon with a river rushing by, all the while snow fell from the sky as a constant reminder of the temperature outside. A picture-esque moment. One that will remain with me forever. The only thing missing, besides JC, was sake. That would've been perfect.

In the morning, we were greeted with virgin snow all around. The trees and mountains were covered with fresh snow with blue skies around. It was cool, but not so cold where one can't enjoy the scenery. Needless to say, the Inn will never be forgotten.. The Inn gave us complimentary sake and maps of Sendai as parting gifts. Our transport back was a delight. The Inn-Keepers bowed and waved us off from the Inn, a woman rode with us on the van to the station and bowed as we got off the van. Lastly, as our train was pulling away for Sendai, we saw her and the van driver waving goodbye to us. Truly a magical experience.

Our next adventure would take place at Matsushima, a bay area to the northeast of Sendai. We had way too much fun here with many exploits of non-impressive things. One island in particular we took several posed pictures of, my favorite being the one on the left. This island was rather important. Why? I can't remember. Haha, I believe it had a lot to do with death and remembering the dead. However the signs were written only in Japanese (imagine that?) and so it was no of our business -- like the ending of Inception.

The lunch in Matsushima was expensive and had man heckler-women begging us to come into their respective establishments. But, that doesn't do much for us as we don't like to be heckled and conned into paying 1000 yen for cold noodles. We go to Famima or Family Mart and purchase delicious, cheap, food. We ventured to another island via red bridge and wandered till dusk. Matsushima is quite the wonderful place. Time was withering, so we got on the train back to Sendai for the night bus. But, this was to be the end of my Journey. Evan, Zach, and JC were to head on to Nagoya to visit our friend Takuya; I was to head back to Tokyo. Their bus was leaving at 21:30 with mine leaving 23:45; to kill time we went to Book Off. After seeing off my friends, I was now running solo. I walked to the arcade and killed the next two hours playing King of Fighters XIII. The night bus back I was exhausted, so I slept better (not great, mind you) and arrived in Tokyo at Shinjuku station around 5:45am. Trains had just started running and I hoped on, got a seat and passed out waking up, just in time, as Musashi Koganei (my stop).

Looking off into the middle-distance... Matsushima was truly amazing.

My trip with Zach, Evan, and Jean-Claude may have been over, but my winter break still had a week to go.

Next blog entry: The remainder of my Winter Break adventures; including a Buddha, a Mountain, and New Years Eve! Read on, lads, and discover...

See what the night-bus does to ya? Makes you sleepy!

Winter Break Starts.... A FEW DAYS AGO!

Evening people -- well, it's evening here. I've been busy and that's a good thing.

Last weekend was a weekend to remember. It was Greg's birthday and we celebrated at Gut's Soul -- an izakaiya that we frequent often and it is amazing. Getting pretty wasted, a few brave souls decided to try our hand at Roppongi. Roppongi is the foreigner club district and it notoriously shady and sktechy. There were four of us and we made it to the club (GASPANIC, I think) and it was really fun! I danced for hours to great (American) music! One of my companions noted was amazed that I danced for as long as I did -- coming back after a bit and to his amazement I was still there. After a while, realizing we certainly had missed the last train, I went up to meet with the guys as they had moved on. They were in a Karaoke place, very fancy, with a trio of ladies. This was the beginning of the downfall... I arrived to the near end of a two-hour session. (It was around 4:45am) and plans were being made. We walked out of the club only to be played. Long story short, I ended up having to pay 15,000 yen (around $180 USD) for karaoke. I've been paid back, so no worries there. Lesson learned though... Stay in the club till dawn. Haha...

Yesterday was a good day. A few friends and I traveled outside of Tokyo to Kawasaki to see Noah's girlfriend's Dance performance. It was quite an adventure -- a bit pricy, but fun. We arrived in Kawasaki to be greeted by a Krispy Kreme -- we somehow denied the urge to enter, all the while screaming "見えない！見えない！" meaning "I can't see! I can't see!" We walked outside of the JR station to be greeted by a tree. This tree was alive! It even had a friend... Any-way... We arrive at the club and purchase our tickets. We get our beers and walk into the club. Now, this was a very unique experience. This club was huge and everyone was sitting -- that's right, sitting -- on the floor. Some in seiza (sitting on one's knees) others sat cross-legged, but we were all sitting. In America, everyone would be standing and pushing people out of the way to get closer. This experience, everyone queued up and sat. When people got up, we scooted forward. It was a pretty cool thing to see. (Not really, but I found it fascinating.) The performers were quite good, the DJs not so much. It's interesting to see Japanese girls act ghetto. And by interesting, I mean hot. During Sophia's Modern Dance performance we shouted every girl's name in the club -- we had a list. It was fun! Haha...

After the performance, the Sophia girls went on their own club thing, and us guys were left to wonder an arcade. We found a table flipping game -- Noah did quite well, I have video and may upload it later -- and a punching game with real boxing gloves! I went first and did okay, I beat my opponent. The next two fellows punched harder than I did, but that's what happens when they out weigh you by 10 kilos. Noah decided not to punch the machine... We ate at a true Italian Pizza restaurant (this place was like a Little Italy) and it was delicious... We arrived home not too late... Not too late to try our hand at a snack bar...

This snack bar ranks up there with Japanese experiences. Well, experiences in Japan. My god it was awesome. Noah, Alex and I headed to a snack bar which they were familiar with; however, the bar was closed because it was the Emperor's Birthday. (Happy Birthday!) We walked around a bit and found one with no seating charge and we entered. We ended up staying there for over 2 hours. We drank beer and sang Karaoke. Now, let me explain a snack bar. A snack bar is a small -- seats 6 -- bar where a hostess serves a beer, liquor, and snacks. Normally, do to their size, the only allow locals and familiar faces in -- No Foreigners! This one, however, welcomed us with open beer! There was one other person in their besides us, a 30 year old Japanese guy. We, with the hostess, shot the shit and sang Karaoke. This bar had a fascination with Studio Ghibli, with Kiki's Delivery Service stuff everywhere. (And a Crystal Skull made out of aluminum foil.) It was an fantastic...

Today, I went to get some papers sorted out at the Health Insurance place -- Thanks Kaz! It was taxing, but rewarding. If approved, my health care will be completely free and the government will actually give me money. Like, crazy... I'm moving here... Haha... (Maybe!) Random picture time!

Hachiko from Shibuya Station

The International Pole-Dancing Competiton and Nikko

I've had quite the exciting time since my last post. Two things of note, I got a gig working at the International Pole-Dancing Competition and went to a village north of Tokyo, Nikko.

The IPC was amazing. A few Koganeiates decided to hop on the bandwagon going around the University's gajin to help out with the International Pole-Dancing Competition. We were to be paid and have access to the after-party. A good deal for sure, we thought. We had no idea. What an amazing time! Upon our arrival, we were greeted and hurriedly rushed into the hall. We had no real idea what our job would be, we knew vaguely that we would be handling "security", thus we were filled with anxiousness to find out exactly how we were to be spending the next 8 hours. Quickly I was granted a somewhat authoritative position -- I was closest to the manager at the appropriate time. I learned that me and a team of two others who had yet to arrive were to guard the elevator and make sure no one was to enter said elevator without a pass. The other Koganeiates I tagged along with were taxed with the duty of VIP guards. We arrived at 16:00 and the show didn't start until 19:00, so we helped get the event to set-up. In the interim, we got shirts!
The event began and we were in our said positions. I quickly realized that my floor for which I was guarding the elevator on was insanely boring. No one, and I mean NO ONE, came on the floor intentionally. I took this as sign from Shiva to go and check on my Koganeiates. In doing this, I heard a familiar tune coming from the hall. It sounded as if Solid Snake from Metal Gear was climbing a Metal Pole. (You see what I did there?) It was "Metal Gear Saga" from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It was freaking awesome. I ran into the VIP to get a better listen and enjoyed the music. I should also point out that the first performer did her dance to the opening of Suikoden III. The performers was amazing -- built like houses, for sure. The women were muscular and the men were flamboyant -- one things is for sure: the all knew to how to handle the pole.

Overall, the event was amazing and we were paid to experience it. My Koganei- buddies even met a famous author and were so delighted to have done so. The after-party was to be the next day and, from what I heard, was quite fun. I passed out beforehand due to having only got 4 hours of sleep because the day after the IPC I had a Doctors appointment at 8:45 and a presentation at 13:30 in Post-Colonialism.

The following weekend me and three others went to Nikko. Nikko is a village to the north of Tokyo and is famous for its shrines and the tomb of Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu. We woke up at 6:20 and hoped on the 8:15 train for Nikko. After arriving we headed put for the Shrines and we enjoyed them to the fullest. The most problematic thing about Nikko, besides the tourists, is that EVERYTHING costs money. You want to see Shrine 3-B9j4-squared? That'll be 200 yen, please. Yikes. Luckily, we had master planner Zach who found out for 4000 yen ($50) that we get access to the Temples and Shrines, Bus and Train fare included. I definitely recommend it to all who are ever in Tokyo to visit Nikko. We had lunch at a quaint noodle shop off the beaten path -- not really, it was the main road, but no tourists were there. Afterward, we wondered Nikko and before we departed we decided to cheeky and see the Nikko Waterfalls. Problem being, it was 2 km away and we were rapidly running out of sunlight. More so, those 2 km were all uphill. We made it, barely. My camera had difficulty capturing the falls, but Zach got quite the nice picture. Now, the next problem. Walking down a bloody mountain in the dark with only a 45 minutes to make it to the train station that was 4-5 kilometers away. We, being mighty Koganeiates, made the journey with time to spare. Exhausted, we relaxed on the train ride back trying to catch up on sleep.

That's been my weekends these past two weeks. On top of that, I've had a few quizzes and tests and designing a "hoodie" for SSMAA. All-in-all, a very exciting time. I'm looking forward to Christmas and the New Year and will miss everybody terribly. But, thankfully, a good number of the Koganeiates will be hanging around so I won't be lonely.

Until next time!

-Gregor the Wizard

Koganei's Lads versus that other university that a few stops away....

Yesterday, more specifically last night, was one of the better days of my life. Right up there with receiving my Instructorship in jeet kune do and hearing that I would be going to Japan. Although I don't remember the beginning parts of it, I believe I had lunch at Matsuia, the night was just as memorable.

After eating dinner at the dorm -- some fried chicken saute -- the plan was to head to a nomikai at Za Watami. Well, unfortunately that didn't pan out (or was it fortunate?). Us Koganeiates being a resourceful creature, much like the coogar, we are an aggressive sort when it comes to our alcohol. Some of the Koganeiates have the elusive title as "Lad" which is easily gained and stripped. Any-who, us Lads went to the local store and purchased copious amounts of beer and headed back to the dorm for some drinking games. At first, we only played card-based drinking games -- Pyramid and Mates. But, our esteemed elder Koganeiate broke out the "Jumbling Tower." This game is meant to be played in a co-ed environment, but us Lads weren't going to be stopped. Some rules of the "make-out with meg" sort were changed to make "meg" drink a shot. Now, this shot was of the most peculiar sort -- it was paint thinner. They say it was something else, but it tasted like Jet-engine fuel -- or, worse still, Grapa! We began playing the Jenga-wannabe game. The first few turns had two people switching pants. One Lad ended up only in his boxers. This game can't be changed, for Lads were involved. To alter the rules would prove unsportsmanlike. By the end of the game, no one had pants on. It was quite gay. Actually, it wasn't even quite. It was straight-out gay.

After that game ended, us more-inebriated Lads went to a party at another University. The party was "shit," as us Lads began describing it. However, us Koganeiates being resourceful we made the best of it. And by best of it, I mean getting absolutely smashed. Haha. We invariably missed the last train and had to get a cab. I met people at this party, but hell if I can remember who the are now.

Overall, a fantastic night. One I'll remember for quite some time...

These past few weeks, and what a few weeks they were...

My Dad and Rob came to visit me in Japan for the American holiday known as Thanksgiving. The hypocritical holiday where the Indigenous people saved the pilgrims from starving to death before driving the indigenous people from their land. Regardless, it is a holiday where you are to be with family and has transitioned into "togetherness time" rather than nonsensical "Thanks for giving" I've always interpreted it to be.

They arrived about two weeks ago and departed Tuesday, for a 10-day excursion into Japan's mega-metropolis. Unfortunately for me, I had school and mid-terms to deal with. So, I couldn't accompany them on every adventure. But, the expeditions I did manage to tag-along on were stellar. We traveled to farthest reaches of Tokyo -- even left it once! Many a Shrines were visited and Buddhas praised to. Witnessed a Shinto wedding and a Buddhist funeral, both of which were fascinating. My favorite night with them had to be at a Yakiniku -- you cook your own food on a tiny grill in the table -- called Gut's Soul. We drank together and ate together in a glorious appreciation to the Tobehodai and Nomihodai (All you can eat and drink) spirits! Our Shintoism would be proud.

Midterms are nearly done. I have one left to do, and it's a presentation. My presentation is on post-war Chinese sentiments on Japan -- I'm using Ip Man and Fist of Fury as evidence! I did fairly poorly on my Japanese midterm -- I still passed. In America, I aced the hell out of my Japanese tests and finals. Here, I'm barely able to maintain B's. Now, I know that may sound elitist of me; let me assure you that is not my intention. I work quite hard at attaining my grades. The level of difficulty at Sophia in their Japanese program seems high, and from what I've been told it is. I feel as if my Japanese is so inadequate. Like, I can understand what people are saying to me, but sometimes I'm a bit slow on the answer -- if I answer at all. More so, people who ask questions in class seem to be able to just ask in Japanese. Now, I understand their question, but asking it in Japanese... Man. I was complimented by a fellow Koganeiate (Koganei + Dorm-mate = Koganeiate) that my Japanese was "one of the better one's in the dorm." I hear this and think it insincere, only because there are people so much better than me at it! I know that certainly isn't his intention -- and his Japanese is freaking great, so I hold it in high regard when I heard the compliment -- but that's just my thoughts on it. I do know that my Japanese IS getting better, and the stuff I'm learning in class I can apply where-ever. The midterm definitely lit a fire under my ass, I will not "barely" pass -- I will assuredly pass.

With midterms (mostly) done and Dad & Rob leaving, things have returned to normalcy. I was beginning to miss my room. I kept thinking of my room as "Home." That's a good thing, readers. A good thing. I'm comfortable here. And my "loneliness" is subsiding. I no longer feel as if I missed important male-bonding time due to my hospitalization. This all sounds rather "emo" but I assure you I am quite happy! Today, even, I put on my clothes feeling good. Traversed Shibuya and Ochanomizu with a smile on my face.

This post has been rather deep. But, it's invariably my blog and that's what's on my mind. Deep sociological self-examination (not the good kind, either). That was a masturbation joke, not an emo-philosophical rambling, haha.

I'm going to be launching a Flicker account soon and I'll be posting pictures there. I'll set up the link in due time.

Until next time,

-Gregor

November 15th -- there's something significant about this day...

That significance escapes me at the moment. Regardless, here we are in another installment of Gregor vs Japan.

This entry is heavy in Martial Arts -- philosophy and comparison. If this doesn't interest you and you say "tl;dr", just read the first two lines past this point. That's about all that's going on in Ed's Japan. I'm healthy, happy, and doing as best as I can at school. I'll post some pictures up later this week.

Since my return to normalcy, it's been quite boring... except for one thing. I am now taking Karate. Specifically Chitou-Ryuu Karate here at Sophia University's Karate-bu, or Karate Club. It contrasts vastly with Jeet Kune Do and Muay Thai, the two "stand-up" styles I have become accustomed to. However, the similarities are also vast. Several pieces of footwork and punches are one in the same. The principles behind the moves are different, as well. In my short experience of the art, we focus on hard techniques for tournaments and kata. The practice is two-hours long and on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays. We stretch for the first 15 minutes or so, then we warm-up with kicks. My first contention with Karate is the positioning of the hands -- if this were a kickboxing fight, I'd be knocked out cold. But, it's not. It's point-karate. That's what you have to take into account when you train various Martial Arts is their context.

Jeet Kune Do, Bruce Lee's creation, is a self-defense martial art focusing on countering with direct moves that either intercepts an opponent's attack or negates the opponent altogether. Jeet Kune Do evolved from Bruce's personal research and originated in Wing Chun, a Chinese Martial Art. Adding in elements from other arts and removing from others, Bruce created the most complete martial art for his time. The idea of the art is to protect oneself -- unconditionally; and, thus, it can be brutal. Eye gouges, joint-manipulation, and groin shots are the recipie of Jeet Kune Do. Of course I'm over simplifying things. Bruce created Jeet Kune Do to be the Anti-Karate. More so, the Anti-Dogmatic Martial Art of Martial Arts. A "process" he called it, making it capable of evolving and adapting to change and the times. Differing from the stagnation of other arts, JKD could adapt and change -- and so should the Martial Artist. Lee called Karate tournaments "organized despair" for the lack of realism that the arts were espousing at the time. In my opinion, Jeet Kune Do was designed specifically to be counter-intuitive to Karate's Tao (Karatedo in Japanese).

A rather strong statement coming from a guy who's taken Karate for three-weeks. But, here's the kicker: I love it. It differs greatly from the dogma I've heard of in the States. Perhaps it is the style, or maybe my fellow Karateka (practitioner), that make it different. Instead of pulling punches, these guys really hit each other. My first night, I was privy to a practice Tournament spar. The Senpai's (senior's) competed against each other in a psuedo-tournament scenario. One guy got a bloody nose -- the bloodiest I've seen. A black belt competed in and dominated in the sparring matches, his footwork was far superior to the others and allowed to make angles and score a point. 

Point Karate is very different from Kickboxing. Every time a point is scored, you reset and start from the center. The first to accumulate the most points wins. Quite simple, but completely alien to me. In Muay Thai, there is a time limit and when you hit, you hit some more. There are no breaks. You fight till time runs out or the other person quits -- either by choice or consciousness. So, frankly, Point Karate is not what I'm used to and it will take awhile. My hands automatically come to the kickboxing rest position and not where they're supposed to be. My body-shots look more like a boxer's than a Karateka's. It'll take some getting used to.

That being all said and done. I'm looking to train MMA here. I've heard from the grapevine that the Judo club focuses more on Sport Judo and I'm not really interested in that. A believe I have found an MMA gym that offers a competitive student discount and classes everyday and at good times. It is in Nakao, Tokyo which is a few stops up the line for me; so I won't have to pay any extra for transportation. The only problem is cost. I don't have a lot of money, so I'm going to have to wait till January to start. I'll continue to do Karate while I'm here in Japan, but I need more than 9 hours a week of training, I need around 40 to stay happy. I can't wait.

My next post will be more about Japan and how I relate to it, I promise. But, I've waiting to talk about me doing Karate since I started. I'm at a crossroads with my future. I don't really know what I want to do with my life, I have so many options and can't decide the path best suited for me. It's problematic for sure. That'll be the bread-and-butter of my next post coming by the end of the week -- I hope.

Until next time!

-Gregor

The Return

So, finally, I have returned to a somewhat normal life here in Japan. Today was the first day of school since my release from the hospital. The reason for such a large gap in time is because of the Matsuri, or festival, that was going on around campus -- that and it was culture day yesterday (I guess).

I woke up, on time, and managed to get downstairs for some breakfast and managed to make it on the train the starts at our station right when the doors opened, so I got a seat -- quite nice for my inaugural ride. This train departs Musashi-Koganei (the station closest to the dormitory) around 08:15ish, we arrive at Yotsuya (the station across the way from our school) about 5-10minutes before 09:00. It's my new favorite train, haha.

Upon arrival to the University, I manage to forget where my class was. I made it to the classroom in time only to find out that it had been canceled. Oh, man. I could have been sleeping! Oh well. I go to the Lounge on the first floor and study Japanese to try and catch up. I listen to music and enjoy my hour and a half of studying to the best of my ability. Soon, I arrive at my Japanese class to a test! Nothing like a warm welcome with a test.

I did the best I could, most of it was okay. I know I botched the part about Taxi's. After class, I speak to the professor about my absenteeism. She, following guidelines, informs me that I cannot make up any unit tests that I missed (2) or quizzes (4). Also, my participation grade is forfeited (5% of my final grade). Wow. So, basically, what I am being told is that the highest grade I can make in this class is a C. Fucking fantastic. An excused absence or not, these are the guidelines of the Japanese department of Sophia. There is pretty much nothing I can do -- or so I thought, keep reading and find out.

Dejected, I go to the conbini (the new name for the convenience store) and buy an unhealthy lunch. I return to the aforementioned lounge and enjoy lunch with my Koganei buddies Noah, John, and Jean-Claude discussing the flags of the Victoria Revolutionaries -- WE BUILT THIS CITY!

My next class is Post-War Japan, by far my favorite class. The instructor is able to keep me interested and captivated, even while discussing theory. After class he asked me if I could meet him at 17:00 at his office to discuss my absenteeism. "Great" I thought, "hopefully this will go better than Japanese..." Class ended at 15:00, so I had some time to kill and found some friends in the aforementioned lounge. (This lounge is a great place to chill, it's in our building and just so convenient, haha...)

Meeting with Professor Slater was awesome, though he was a tad bit late. He spoke with me about the experience in the hospital and was actually concerned about my well-being and how I paid for it. Basically, with his class and others in the Faculty of Liberal Arts department, I am starting with a Tabula Rasa -- Clean Slate. Great news! I told him about my Japanese class predicament and he said he will look into it, although he made no promises.

Ironically, upon my return to Japanese class early today I found out that our books are now useless and I need to purchase the next volumes. These damn things, 3 of them, cost me $80! Professor Slater is going to email the bookstore owner and ask him about returning them for the next volumes. Professor Slater has truly been a life-saver. Or, at the very least, a GPA saver.

After my discussion with Prof Slater, I headed with some of the guys to Karate. Now, as many of you know, I am an Instructor in Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do under Sifu Scott Shields. Taking Karate is not exactly in the mindset of a JKD practitioner. Karate has been around for many years in America and Bruce Lee kind of created JKD to be the anti-Karate. Let's just say that the Karate in Japan, at least in this group, is a lot more intense than what I have seen in America. The "organized despair" that Bruce spoke of was no where to be seen tonight. The class started at 18:00. We warmed up with stretching and running. Then we gathered in a circle -- a large circle -- and began to practice the core techniques. Very different from Muay Thai or Jeet Kune Do. I felt out of place wearing my RevGear rashguard and fight shorts, but at the same time it felt good to be different. After practicing these techniques, we began drills of combination's. My partner,a Black Belt, was quite relieved when he heard I took had Muay Thai background. I do not think he was quite looking forward to teaching a newbie. These drills were simple, yet I am glad they were. They allowed me time to adjust and get the feel for training again. It was great. We donned chest protectors, and those of us that had gloves wore those, and we began more drills of combos. This was nice, because instead of hitting pads, we were hitting people! AWESOME! I am so rusty. It's amazing what happens in two months of not training. Before, where I had just acquired the ability to kick someone in the head had now become extraordinarily painful to attempt. Nonetheless, I persevered and had a great time. It felt good to punch and kick again. I definitely plan on going back on Saturday and thereafter.

Tomorrow the plan is to go to Judo and try that out. I am very interested in doing Judo and have been since I saw Yoshihiro Akiyama compete in the UFC. I believe it will really help my overall game to be proficient at Judo, we'll see if I can handle both Karate and Judo.

Os!

-Gregor

PS: Here's Mount Fuji from the Koganei Dormitory.