Oh no, another cold! Right before the Christmas holiday, of course! The Wednesday before, Sensei Oliver was not feeling well and asked me if I could cover the Wednesday night adult class. The class went well but the next day for me, I felt the symptoms of a cold coming on. Some congestion, runny nose, […]

Happy Holidays! I really enjoy the window of holidays starting with Halloween, then Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New year! Putting up lights then taking them down. I don’t mind as I love being outside in the cool air, waving to the neighbors while tinkering with the lights that more often than not do not work […]

Rain, wind and blackout! The rain is wonderful! We need it! Lots of it! More of it! The wind I could do without, but it’s just part of the weather equation. We had several large trees that blew over in the East Sacramento neighborhood including East Lawn Cemetery. The power to our home and part […]

No pain, no gain? The past year I have had more pain and injuries than I can remember since my accident many years ago. I am eager to get past this and transition into a different phase of training and more balance for my not-getting-any-younger body. As I type, I have a black and blue […]

Empathy Training (Black belt requirement) – Some reflections The past week I have been going back through my personal training journal whereas I have kept tabs on my progress against my black belt requirements, jotted down some of my thoughts and observations, and kept notes of my various injuries I’ve had to work through over […]

Ski Day is a good day! Being in the final stretch before testing for black belt, I decided to get a day trip in with my oldest son as to enjoy the snow and some slope time. I thought about the risks like twisting my knee or any number of other injuries that could occur […]

11th California International Marathon in the books. A little over a week after I had pulled up with my hamstring issue during the annual Thanksgiving Run to Feed the Hungry, I decided I’d give the CIM a try wanting to keep my streak alive (plus, I just really enjoy the CIM and running through the […]

Another ailment…but pressing on! It has been a rough past few months for my body. First I had an extended period of painful bursitis in my right foot/heel. It didn’t really bother me too much when exercising or sparring, but would throb at night while trying to sleep and wake me up. It has since […]

Sparring and post-sparring coffee–the ultimate WAKE UP! Dirk-san and I have a bit of a tradition whereas we go to our favorite local East Sacramento coffee shop after sparring and have some coffee (and often a pastry). After sparring for 20-30 minutes there’s not much better than sipping on a cup of joe and feeling […]

“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother.” – The Hollies I carried a 60-pound load on Veteran’s Day, doing 5 laps around the State Capital (5.5 miles). Some have asked, “Why?” Carrying a heavy military rucksack was not solely rooted in the challenge of doing so, but more a symbolic action and metaphor to highlight many […]