Boxing for the First Time

I recently began boxing in Mendocino County. I train at the Mendo Combat Club near Big Lots. The training here has a relaxed intensity. Everyone here is focused on getting better. People's ego's are left at the door. Everyone is extremely helpful. I get very regular feedback and supportive encouragement from the individuals that have been training longer then me. While doing drills the other individuals will often cheer each other on. It really does make a difference when sucking for air to hear in the background people pushing me on with encouragement.

I am just a beginner and at first when I started I was tentative and a little nervous because I didn't want to make a mistake. The other members quickly made me feel comfortable and allowed me to make mistakes without judgment. They have given me encouragement when I do things well and correct me when I need feedback. The thing that has been the most amazing to me is the manner in which they give feedback. Nobody brings their ego into it. They are giving me advice for the sole purpose of improving my skill set. This has allowed me to develop much quicker because I feel comfortable taking risks and trying things because I am not afraid of being judged.

The training itself is really fun. We start out with shadow boxing. This is where we stand in front of the mirror and box the air. During this time we are warming up but also making sure our technique is good and strong. After this there are a series of drills that we may do. We often end up hitting the bag for 1 to 3 minute intervals. I have been shocked at how much 1 minute can work my arms when I'm hitting the bag. It definitely gets my heart rate pumping. It also allows me to refine my comfort with combinations and movement. This is because the bag sways with each punch which forces me to move to get the correct spacing.

The trainer is also really encouraging. His relaxed energy allows everyone there to feel calm while training. At the same time he pushes us to develop. He also varies the training based on your skill level.

One of the things I have really enjoyed about boxing is the opportunity to improve my striking ability. It is amazing to me the amount of detail that goes into a correct punch. Boxing also has provided me the opportunity to improve my hand speed.

I will give further updates as I better understand the art of boxing.

Crazy People, Horse Races, Money, and Crazy People

This past weekend my father and I went to the Sonoma County horse races. The horse races are a fascinating place due to a variety of things. There is the obvious fun of betting on horses, studying the equestrians, and just being at the horse race. But the true fun of the horse races is in the combination of subtle characteristics that are flowing throughout the air.

There are not many places in this world where it is common place for the wealthy, the poor, the middle class, the lucky, the unlucky, the hopeful, the hopeless, the young, the old, the weekend warrior and the desperately depressed to all meet in one location. The horse races is one of these few places. Within 1 minute a man can go from faithfully hopeful to desperately depressed. Other people are simply there for a weekend getaway. The air is filled with so much energy one cannot help but be fascinated by the many personalities encompassed in such a small space.

This is one of those unique characters that the horse races pulls out of the cellar.

Now obviously this wide disparity of people can be found at other sporting events but due to the lack of popularity of horse races the amount of physical separation between the people is rather small. It is so much fun just looking from north to south to east to west. One never know s who their eyes and engagement will bump into.

The horse races themselves were a blast. My father had asked me earlier in the week if I was interested in going. I excitedly said "yes" (This pleased my mother immensely as it excused her from a undesired attendance at the horse races). In addition they were offering $1 beer and $1 hot dogs. You could stick me in a room with an empty wall and a chair and if you give me $1 beer and hot dogs I would have a blast… But this event included horse races. It would be impossible to not have fun.

One of the very enjoyable aspects to the horse races is the opportunity to make lots of money. My father loves studying the horses and the race sheets. His favorite type of bet is to choose one horse as a winner and then choose a combination of 3 horses to get an exacta. An exacta is when a person chooses 3 horses. These 3 horses must get first and second place in any order for the person to win the exacta bet.

We got there at about 1230 pm and left at 5 pm. At the end of the day I had lost 3 dollars. My father on the other hand had made a profit of $82. One of my father's favorite things to say is "they owe me money". Well today he was able to happily walk out of there stating "they still owe me money but at least they paid me some of it".

This is a picture of my dad studying the horse races so they can pay him his money.

While we were there we bumped into a good friend of mine and his family. They invited us to sit in their box with them. It only made the experience that much better.

This is my dad and me with the Stephens Family

California Academy of Science at Golden Gate Park

Today Zach and I went to the California Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park. There were a variety of exhibits. There was a scientist created Garden at the top of the Academy. The garden was inspired by a draft design that had the Academy being developed underneath the hillside.

Inside the Academy are numerous exhibits. They have a rainforest biome, an Aquarium, a planetarium, an extreme mammal exhibit (no pictures allowed), an African animals exhibit, and many other smaller exhibits.

It is not very large but they manage to fit in a world of information within the Academy. There are also enough exhibits that I stayed entertained the entire day. We got there at about 11 am and left at about 430 pm.

There is such a mass of information at a place like this that it can be visited many times.

Fisherman's Wharf

Today I woke up around 1030 am. Both Zach and I were slow to get up. We left the house around 12 pm. We headed to Fisherman's wharf and walked around for a while. Fisherman's wharf is really cool because there are tons of little shops. But by far the coolest part of Fisherman's wharf are the people putting on entertainment shows on the side of the street. There are people developing art, people break dancing, people putting on talent shows, there are people pretending to be frozen. There was even a homeless guy that has a bunch of bushes that he holds with his hands to hide his face. When people pass by him he pushes the branches to the side and tries to scare him. It is hilarious.

 

One of the other really cool things about fisherman's wharf is that from the pier you can see Alcatraz and Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco is a city with so many amazing views.

After this we walked through the financial district on our way to Nike town. It was interesting to experience the financial district though there really is no reason for me to go back there.

Aikido with Optimism, Patience, and kindness

Today I went to Heart Aikido in San Francisco. It is at 2565 3rd street. I got there from the Marina area by bus 22 In about 40 minutes. I got off at 3rd and 20th street. The aikido experience was very pleasant. The second I got to the door I was welcomed by Sensei Alex. Sensei Alex is not the head sensei but he ran the class tonight. Sensei Alex was extremely welcoming. I would love to come hear again. Within the first five minutes on the mat two of the black belts came over and introduced themselves. They were both very friendly. It was clear to me that both of them were just very good people.

Sensei Alex's class was excellent. He was friendly and focused. He would joke with his students but had a very harmonious aikido. He flowed very well. Sensei Alex is the first Sensei I have ever been to where the sensei spoke with the students during warm up. I don't mean conversation like "fix this ___" or "fix that ____". He was asking people how there summer had been. He asked his students questions about their lives. His questions clearly showed he cared and that he personally knew each of his students. During Aikido training Sensei Alex shows a great balance between focus, patience, and reinforcement. His personality and attitude alone is enough to make his class a joy. Sensei Alex's Aikido was flowing with calm and patience. I had a few opportunities to train with him and really enjoyed experiencing his Aikido

This Dojo was a joy to train at.

Here is a link to their website if you want to check them out:
Heart Aikido

A Walk to the Golden Gate Bridge

I am currently staying in the Marina area with my friend Zach. I have known Zach since we were very small children (before preschool age).

Today we woke up around 930. We made a breakfast. We had scrambled eggs, sausages, baked potatoes seasoned with minced onions, garlic powder, olive oil, salt and pepper. We then decided to head out to the Golden Gate Bridge.

We walked all around the marina area near the ocean. It was windy but since Zach and I had awesome Northshore jackets we were not effected by the cold. As we walked through the Marina area we crossed through a park, walked right on the coast, up a hilly green region, and then across the bridge.

 

Walking across Golden Gate Bridge always has its moments when fear strikes. When I sit and look over the edge of the Golden Gate Bridge and look into the water I always get a slight tingle up my body. It is very powerful to be standing so high above such a powerful image. It is quite a postcard to look across the bridge to see San Francisco. It is quite shocking how much depth of the city can be seeing from the bridge.

On our way back to Zach's place we saw a small festival for children. Zach noticed from afar that there was a band playing. As we looked closer we realized they were a rock band of kids that could not have been older than 11. It was hilarious seeing some 11 year olds rock out to hardcore music. I had no idea what they were saying.

Zach and I then returned back to Zach's place in the Marina. We then created sandwiches . I had an oven roasted turkey sandwich with spicy mustard, spinach and tomato on sourdough bread.

Jukendo Training!

On Sunday Mr. Furukawa invited me to come and train with him and his friends in Jukendo. Jukendo is the Japanese martial art of fighting with bayonets. The techniques in Jukendo are like spear fighting. Each person has wooden bayonet and attempts to strike their opponent in the upper left chest region.

It was such a great experience. I learned the 4 main strikes of Jukendo (though I couldn’t really do them very well). I also got to spar. This is where I and another opponent battled to attempt to strike one another in the upper left chest region with our bayonets. It was so much fun. I tried very hard but it was easy for them to block my strikes because they are so experienced.

On the left is me sparring with an opponent!
After I trained in Jukendo we all went out to eat. We had noodles, Yakitori and many other delicious foods. When it came time to pay the bill they told me that they did not want me to pay. They said it was a present. I loved eating lunch with them because these were all true martial artists. There were many conversations about Samurai. They all are striving to be modern day samurai. They believe that Jukendo helps train them to be modern day samurai. One of the men told me he believed that I was "an American Samurai". I can imagine no greater compliment.




Experiences like this make me realize the limits of my own writing abilities. As I look at what I wrote I feel it does no justice to how wonderful an experience this was for me. I loved training in Jukendo. I loved eating the food. I loved being around these men. It was a great experience. I owe this wonderful experience to many people. I want to thank Mr. Furukawa and Masanao Hayashi especially. Masanao thank you for putting me in contact with Mr. Furukawa and all your priceless pieces of information prior to the trip and during the trip. Mr. Furukawa thank you for giving me an unforgettable experience. Your spirit and strength as a human being are an inspiration.