Let’s get right to the point…

Did I make progress yesterday? Not even close.We were out the door (of the Ilima Hotel in Waikiki) by 8:00 a.m. Gone all day. Didn’t do a workout, ate after 8:30 – Hey… what can I say? I did do my knee rehab sequence before we left the hotel – so… yah… that’s something. But knees are getting worse. By the end of the day, my knees were awfully sore.

Honest assessment: so far, no progress whatsoever on this trip. At this rate, by the time this trip is over, I will be a Ni-Dan (2nd degree black belt). At this point, my only hope is that I will start getting younger (moving away from 60) while in Hawaii!

I suppose I should be feeling more remorse about this situation… but… Nope – I’m okay with it. I may be delusional, but I think I’ll have more opportunities to work out later in the trip…

So, yes. Shameful behavior so far (at least in regard to the Godan Quest); but that’s actually not the Day of Infamy I’m referring to…

We spent the day at Pearl Harbor. We met Nancy’s brother there (who lives here on Oahu) and spent the day with him.

Here is my video record of our time spent on the U.S.S. Arizona memorial…

It’s interesting that they now have the battleship U.S.S. Missouri permanently docked near the U.S.S. Arizona memorial. The Missouri is the ship on which the Japanese signed the unconditional surrender agreement with the allied forces to end World War II. So the two ships represent the beginning of the war for the U.S. and the end of the war. Quite a cool concept.

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Till next time, I seek peace (not unconditional surrender),

Sensei Bob Matthews

I’m sitting in the airport in Los Angeles – and I’m not doing karate. We left home at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time. At the time I am writing this, it is now 2:43 p.m. (Eastern time). In another three hours we take off for Honolulu and we’ll get there around 6:00 p.m. (midnight Eastern time)…

So **NEWS FLASH** there is not going to be a karate workout today. Not going to happen. However, I did do my complete knee rehab routine before leaving home this a.m. – so a little proud of myself there.

Did I make progress yesterday? A little – I guess. I taught my class. And I did my knee rehab sequence.

So here we are… travelling…

That’s all I have to report for now. Not a lot of excitement. But – for the next two-weeks plus – I’ll be reporting to you from Hawaii. Exciting for me (maybe not so much for you).

Till next time – I seek peace (and carrots?),

Sensei Bob Matthews

Don’t give up on me. Ya, I missed another workout – no Sanchin-Ryu again yesterday. And forget about going to the health club. Nancy and I didn’t even consider it yesterday. In fact, we didn’t even mention it to each other. We just knew – we’re just running  from morning till night – going to bed exhausted for the past week – trying to get everything done before vacation. Forget working out – forget resting – forget going to the bathroom (okay, I went too far). Yes… we go to the bathroom…

But, the point is – I haven’t given up the Quest. I’m not goofing off – I’m prioritizing. And I’m not worried. This won’t last forever. I can see the tunnel at the end of the light bulb – so to speak.

Workouts might be a little sporadic over the next couple of weeks – but, what the heck – Cut me some slack! I’ll be in Hawaii! On vacation!

So I need to put special Godan Quest vacation rules into effect immediately or I am doomed to face quick and certain public failure, shame and depression – and none of those sound particularly fun…

So here is my modified temporary commitment:

Starting tomorrow; Oct 7, 2010 through Oct 24, 2010; I commit to making progress – not on a daily basis – but on a “vacation basis”. What does that mean?

It means, when I pull up in my driveway on October 24, I want to be able to say that I didn’t just “let the whole thing go”. That I honestly feel that I am closer to my Godan belt than when I got on the plane on October 7.

As for the health club thing – obviously out. And, I will eat as healthy (healthily?) as I can (as I always do). And the “no chow after 8:30″ is also on hold. No telling what our day-to-day schedule will be – so I’m not committing to that either.

A “weasel-ly”commitment I realize – but it’s one I know I can live with in Hawaii…

And, at the end of the day (or in my case – the end of the vacation), it’s really all about what it takes to get to that belt. It’s about discipline - not about being overly-rigorous and snotty about the arbitrary rules I made up.

So, again – not to worry. I get worried when I skip workouts because I don’t feel like it. I don’t get worried when I miss a workout because urgent matters took up all my time. I’m sure the time to worry will come. My initial resolve and excitement is sure to wear out long before I earn two belt promotions and long before I reach 60.

So the time to worry will come. But it’s not here yet.

So save that worry. You’ll have a chance to use it later.

Did I make progress today. No. Negative. Nay. Nada. Bupkis. Zippo.

But I did get a lot of stuff done.

Till next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews

Well, I’m ashamed to say the day finally came – complete Godan Quest fail. That’s right. I didn’t work out – didn’t do my 60-minute Sanchin-Ryu workout.

I just didn’t have it in me yesterday.

Here’s the thing. Nancy and I are going on vacation this week. This coming Thursday, we fly out for Hawaii.

As you know, we run a guinea pig cage business. And, these cages are our major source of income right now, 17 days off means 17 days of no income. So, we made an arrangement with our UPS guy to ship cages for us when we’re in Hawaii. In other words, we make cages ahead of time, bring them to him before we fly out, and he will fulfill orders for us whenever we email him from Hawaii.

Quite a nice agreement. That way we continue to make money from cages while we’re in Hawaii and he continues to make money on shipping cages while we’re in Hawaii. A nice arrangement for both.

Here’s the catch. We needed to pack 29 extra “vacation cages” in addition to our normal load. I know that means nothing to you, but I can tell you it’s a lot of work. I worked all day until 10:00 p.m. today. And when I was done, I was in no mood for working out. I thought about it (but not for long).

Actually about the last 4 days have been like this – frantic activity preparing for vacation. Nothing unusual – every job gets like that before vacation.

Yesterday I rested. Today’s another day…

So… did I make progress today? No. Not really – not on the Godan Quest.

Little more to be said.

And just a warning – there will be more Godan Quest fails over the next two weeks. I plan to work out and keep the Godan Quest going while in Hawaii – in fact I’m really looking forward to working out on the beach. But, I know there will be some days where I will just not be able to squeeze in a workout.

So Godan Quest is not dead. It’s just going on vacation.

Until next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews

Kakato-Hiza – this is a form that just feels good going fast. Don’t really know why – because it has some kicks in it and even two reverse heel thrusts – which usually tend to slow things down for me. So don’t know why – but I enjoy going fast with this one. Hope it looks good too!

Did Imake progress today? Yes I did. I did my knee rehab routine, 60-minute workout and did not eat after 8:30. As for my weight – I was 211.1 this morning. Last Monday a.m. I was 208.3 – so I gained! Yeck!!!

Not a lot to add today – hope you enjoyed the VDO…

Till next time – I seek peace,
Sensei Bob Matthews

It’s October. The weather’s starting to turn cold here in Michigan. The nights are becoming chilly (okay- cold).  A friend of mine had a bonfire last night – a party. And I confess (here’s the transgression) I ate after 8:30. In fact, I ate a substantial amount after 8:30. I did not set out to explicitly ignore the 8:30 “no grindage” rule because – what the heck – it’s a party!. No, I just forgot to focus on it and it really wasn’t until this morning when I thought about writing this post that I consciously realized:

Heck’s Bells ! I ate after 8:30! What the hey?!! How did that happen?!!

So ya, mindless eating. How often has that gotten me in the past? Ha!

So, anyway – no workout VDO today – but here’s a short clip of Ken’s Bonfire

Thanks Ken!

Yep. I violated my 8:30 p.m. rule. Now… I’m not proud. And I’m not devastated. I’ll just start again with today. I’ll eat a high-fiber breakfast (yes, I’m writing this before breakfast [but after coffee so it's not total mind-wandering drivel]). Then I’ll chose foods wisely during the day (as always). And – no eating after 8:30. Today’s a new day.

No video? Nope. I went to Black Belt class yesterday. So I got to go to a class where I received instruction. So I didn’t do an additional personal workout. So – no VDO.

Did I make progress yesterday? Yes. I learned some cool things at Black Belt class and I did do my entire knee rehab sequence before that class.

And what about “the chow-down transgression” which we have already discussed? Well admittedly, it was a bad (see me doing air quotes here) thing. But that does not mean that it totally undid all the good progress that happened today. I contend the net result was still positive. You may contend otherwise – get your own blog…

Yesterday was not necessarily a banner day. In fact, I’ve now had two goof-up days in a row - first I missed a health club workout and now this. OMG! My world is going to Heck in a hand-gasket.

Nope. I’m okay. Everybody remain calm (talking to self). I simply slipped climbing a little hill on the path. I didn’t fall off the path. I can still see that red and white belt in my future.

Till next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews

I missed another health club workout yesterday. I had to wait at home for a couple deliveries for our guinea pig cage business. And one of these was a big delivery (we sometimes order stuff by the pallet). So, by the time the deliveries came and we did all our work and shipped out our orders, we were out of time.

So, I missed my weights and elliptical trainer. But I’m not especially upset. It’s not like I blew it off just because I didn’t feel like going. Ya, I’m sorry I missed it – and, in the interest of honesty and integrity, I’m reporting and recording it here – but, just for the record, I’m okay with it.

And I did get my Sanchin-Ryu workout in.

Look for the Ni-Dan Cameo at about 3:00 in…

So, did I make progress? Yes I did. I still got my 60-minute workout in – the form of Kakato-Hiza as shown above and Sanchin-San kata. And I didn’t eat after 8:30. And I did my knee rehab sequence.

That’s it – short post today… Gotta go!

Till next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews

It’s October… October. I can’t believe that time passes so quickly. I started in August. I blinked. And it’s October. I’m afraid to blink again. (Maybe I can try to blink more slowly).

Yesterday I began a new form of focus - Kakato-Hiza. Did it ultra-slowly and later at 40 BPM.

Thanks for the tunes, Thousand Foot Krutch!

Did I make progress yesterday? Yes. Went to the health club and lifted for 30-minutes and elliptically-trained for 15. Didn’t eat after 8:30 p.m. And I did my 60-minute Sanchin-Ryu workout. Focused on the form of Kakato-Hiza and Chinto Kata.

Can’t believe how quickly September passed. Can’t believe how quickly the summer has passed. Time passes so quickly. I know that. I’ve been watching it pass quickly for so many years now.

That’s why things like Godan Quest are so important. Before we know it, our life will be over. It will be important – no, essential – to be able to look back on one’s life and see accomplishment. Did you make progress in any area of your life yesterday?

¤

Till next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews

Okay, okay. Maybe I don’t actually have a lot of “class” as in sophistication and refinement (I know you’ve seen videos of me). But I do have a class – as in “I teach a class”.

That’s right. I’ve had a couple weeks off from instructing but yesterday was the first class of a new session. And I had a lot of students. (Thanks to senseis Kristen, Bob, Kiersten, Doug and Brian for helping out). So, my class substituted for my personal workout yesterday.

Running class is not nearly as intense as doing a personal workout – but it is a workout nonetheless (and, with travel time, it takes up about 4½ hours of my day).

If I use the analogy that learning Sanchin-Ryu is like going to college, then the classes and events I attend are obviously like going to class or lecture. I think of my personal workouts as doing homework and personal research. Where does that leave instructing a class?

For me, my class is like having a lab. This is the venue in which I get to set up experiments.

If I have a personal question about a form, a situation, or a specific technique, I can “do my homework” and my personal research. But working with katas and imaginary opponents can only take me so far. People (and physics misunderstood) can do some pretty unpredictable things.

So I set up experiments. I create situations and ask the students to try them out – to experiment. And, by the way, I often get to try them out myself under the guise of “instructing” or “sharing” or “demonstrating”.

Illusion: Sensei Matthews knows exactly what he’s doing and he’s up there showing us how to do it – because - you know.. he just knows. He’s a black belt… He’s the sensei.

Fact: Sensei Matthews is the most curious of anyone in the room to see how this ([manipulation], [technique], [situation], [scenario]) works. Will it do what he thinks it will? (Hopefully not). Hopefully it will do something much cooler.

So what can we draw from this?

Here’s what I think: Take a chance. Try something new. Follow a hunch. Take a risk (a smart one) . That too is how progress is made.

Did I make progress yesterday? Yes. Did my knee rehab. Went to my 3-hour class. And didn’t eat after 8:30 – and that was hard for me because I get home from class around 10:00 and I want something to eat.

¤

Till next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews

It rained most of yesterday. And it wasn’t until evening that I got a break in the weather to do my outside workout. Last day of Seiu-San focus and, of course – according to plan – it involves overwhelm speeds. Let me remind you of the Day 3 plan I presented in my Focus on Mastery post:

Day 3:

First third: Start at 80 BPM and focus on quickly working back up to the speed I ended at yesterday.

Second third: Crank the metronome speed up 20%?? faster than my fastest speed (a speed where I’m overwhelmed but can still very sloppily keep up with the beat). Do this for a while – then return to my former fastest speed.

Third third: Kata reps again – with a new kata.

Seiu-San at way-too-fast speeds…

Once again, lower body movement proved to be my Achilles heel. I find it difficult to position my body quickly with star steps. This would make sense – because of the inertia involved in moving my entire body weight.

An insight: I felt as though I could move a little more quickly if I lowered my stance. In this way it felt as if I was lowering my body at the same time as lifting my feet so that the steps became more efficient. Don’t really understand what’s going on there – or if I’m even on to anything good here. Have to explore this a little more deeply.

Did I make progress? Yes. Did my knee rehabs – did my 60-minute karate workout and didn’t eat after 8:30. What more can I ask for?

It seems as though my Seiu-San looks much better today than it did a couple days ago when I started. Perhaps it’s because it was so slowed down then that I could see every flaw. But it also seems to me that I have less extraneous movement in my form after three days of focus on it. Hard to tell… All progress tends to be hidden in the subtleties.

¤

Till next time – I seek peace,

Sensei Bob Matthews