Kirkster's Whacky World

JKAWF National Camp

2016-08-01T14:30:00.001-04:00

Well just got back from the JKAWF National camp in Del Ray Beach FL. Was a blast. Master Ueki was great. All the other high ranking folks there were great. I believe a great time was had by all. Did learn a good bit. We worked on Empi on Saturday morning... worked a bunch of blocking, stances, sparing exercises, etc. A lot of good stuff. Had a great social. A Tiako drumming group Fushu Diako played for our party...love their drumming. More later.

Bugs...

2016-05-05T15:35:00.002-04:00

My son has been working on a bug collection for school. This has been an endeavor to say the least. It is early spring and bug are just hatching out...at least a lot of the more interesting ones. Then there is the fact that some bugs look like other bugs but are not either one. Case in point...the Spring Fishfly. The Spring Fishfly looks like a Giant Lacewing...but with smaller eyes and non-clubbed antenna. It also looks like an Ant Lion..but with a shorter abdomen and thinner antenna. Its mouth is similar to the other two. They all used to be in the same Order...but now the Fishflys are in a separate order. It took me a couple of days to get to the bottom of that mystery. Behold: The Spring Fishfly!

And Yes it is almost two inches long!
KW

Mushin

2016-04-28T09:35:00.000-04:00

Mushin is defined as a state of warrior or practitioner of an art being in such a state that they are without thought. They are calm, collected and are in a state of just being. In other words they don't think, they just do. They are in a state where there is no emotion, ego or fear. Everything flows like water in a stream. This state is not just for combat. A person in this state can be doing kata, everyday activities or work. The point is it is a state where all distractions cease to exist and only true purpose takes over the entire being. Pretty deep stuff....

Food

2016-04-27T10:41:00.000-04:00

If you know me....you know I know food. So that being said I love to try new recipes. One I loved the other day was a quiche I did with a "crust" made of sweet potatoes. It looked something like this..

You take the sweet potatoes and slice and bake them in the pan...then simply do a quiche on top of it. I think it was wonderful...and you could use that crust thing for other things too.

The other week I made redneck sushi for a friend of mines birthday. You take bacon, seasoned meat of sausage and cheese and roll it up into a log of goodness. Be sure to use buttrub and bbq sauce on the top....Italian sausage or seasoned beef work equally well. Cook it slow over indirect heat for about 1:30 to 2 hours til is good and done.

And last but not least I was in a cabbage mood....nothing better than steamed cabbage and meat.

Karate Bunkai

2016-04-26T17:30:00.000-04:00

Just my take on it, but if you study a karate kata and can do all the moves...shouldn't you be curious about what it means and how it works? I have run into a number of karate folks who say "this is the application" or "I know this kata and it is for this". Really? I have been studying Tekki kata and I saw something today and went "OK!!, maybe?". Maybe it will work...got to try it. Not all bunkai work for all people. Big, Tall , Short, Fat...we are different and bunkai will change with YOU. Off to the dojo to try it out...maybe I can figure it out...maybe someone will help me see yes or no. Either way it is a journey...and there is no 100% answer. We must all make our own path...the Do we are on..
Just my .02
kw

Spring is here!

2016-04-01T10:51:00.000-04:00

Well it is finally spring. My wife hates it due to allergies. I actually love spring and fall. Been working in the yard, around pool, rebuilt my grill. Time to start enjoying the warmer weather.

Last July I planted a mango tree and it is now about two feet tall. Time to take it home and repot and put on the back porch.

Time to play a little music too. Hope to get some studio time in this month. Have several songs I have been working on that need to go to tape.

Not sure what I was thinking when this was taken.

Have a good weekend.
k

Happy Easter

2016-03-29T11:46:00.001-04:00

I know it is a few days late..but Happy Easter...or as I prefer to call it Resurrection Sunday. We had a great crowd at Grace Church in Bainbridge, Ga. www.gracechurchga.org Saturday I cook ahead of time..made a turkey, greens, dressing and mac n cheese. My parents have been under the weather so they could not make it this year.

Spent some time training. Have been working on Jion kata. Like the Heian katas...there is so much to learn. You can't learn a kata in a week...a year or longer..maybe. I still find myself finding new light bulb moments in the most basic kata. I would suspect that is how it is supposed to be. Kata may be set in writing...but their applications are organic and can change to the situation which is why you never give up training every kata. It never gets old.....

Just my .02
Kw

2016-03-10T09:42:00.000-05:00

So..I converted my blog over to Google+...been on blogger and noone seems to be going to blogger anymore...not much at least. Lets see how this goes.

Other than that yesterday was my birthday and I went and got a massage, my taxes done and sushi with friends. Great day overall.

Throw back Thursday for ya.

Food for thought

2015-06-08T14:58:00.000-04:00

I have seriously thought about starting a blog about food. I mean...if you follow me on instagram or facebook I will make you hungry. I thought about a potato chip blog, since they are like crack to me. But I figured I would stick to good food for the time being. Here are some pics. Let me know what you think.
Kirk

And we have not even scratched the surface of my food madness... :)

karate...del ray beach...

2014-08-26T11:31:00.000-04:00

Went to the summer SAKA camp in Del Ray Beach FL....wow is all I can say. I love Del Ray. We stayed at the Hyatt and eveything you could want was in walking distance.
Hats off to Jeffery Lynne and Tom Leeman and others for putting together a wonderful expierience.
Master Koyama did and excellent job teaching his view of karate. He is 80 years young...I hope I look that good at 80. All in all it was one of the best camp experiences I have ever had.
k

Banjo....

2014-08-06T08:27:00.001-04:00

I got a banjo....and it is a lot of fun. You should try it sometime cause it is hard to not smile and play a banjo. :)

Monday is here. Happy mothers day.

2014-05-12T12:06:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday and Happy Mothers day yesterday to all. We are almost to the end of school...and the summer is starting to fill up...wow. Hope to get in some fun time....get some fishing in with the buds and son.
Got to help my son train hard for karate and pass his black belt test in the fall....pray it works out. He is also involved in tutoring this summer...hope that helps him for the fall and school.
Kids are already heavy into swimming and things look good so far...meet in a couple weeks...
Had a good mothers day with my wife and my parents came over for dinner...got leftovers...which is a good thing. Anyhows....hope yall have a great week....
until later...

kendo

2014-04-24T11:11:00.001-04:00

I have a bag full of kendo gear sitting in my office. Why? Because I am interested in learning. Learning what? As you may know I am a karate practitioner. Okinawan karate was based partially defending one's self against the guy with the sword and armor. So why not learn some of how that works and be able to understand the other side of it? Plus it is fun. I am excited about beginning this learning experience. More later.

I got a viola for Christmas

2014-01-02T10:30:00.000-05:00

So I got a viola for Christmas. Now I have to find some instructional materials and get the basics down and maybe get some lessons later...maybe. I figure I can learn a good bit on my own and have friends who are string players who I know can help me out. I already play mandolin, so I know a little about instruments tuned in 5ths. Viola just sounds interesting. It is pitched lower than a violin and generally plays harmonies. Strings are C G D A...and since I play guitar and sing baritone it should fit well in the range of stuff I do....even playing melodies. I tuned it up and bowed it some and it has a bigger sound than I expected. The low end resonates well...If I can learn to play it I think it will be a lot of fun. So we shall see how it progresses in 2014. My son takes strings at school and plays violin. May in the future we will be able to do some stuff together or with friends....here's hoping.

cleaning house..still

2013-11-22T13:51:00.001-05:00

I know that sounds kind of redundant but we have been slowly cleaning out and redoing stuff for like 2 and a half months. What I have found is that we as people tend to hang on to things...for no reason. We went thru the game closet the other day and got ride of like 5 games and a bunch of puzzles. We never play them and the puzzles...well right now we just don't have the patience to put together a 500 piece or more puzzle. My daughter kept a couple of them to do later...but...the moral of the story is too much is too much. I plan to work on the next closet this weekend....the hall closet with all the Christmas wrapping paper and bags in it. This ought to be fun...not.
I have learned something else too...if you go to clean up, clean up what you have already cleaned up first and then tackle something new so the stuff that was clean stays clean. I am trying to apply this at my work office too...which is presently better, but I have a work room that will need mega work.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving....we have so much to be thankful for...

cleaning house

2013-09-12T10:49:00.001-04:00

It is amazing how much junk you accumulate. Seriously. Clutter is not my friend. I bagged up two bags of stuff to go to Goodwill this morning. And I seriously think it will take me 6 more months of throwing stuff away to get rid of it all....argh!!

Sensei

2013-09-11T11:12:00.003-04:00

Sensei Takashina passed away last week. I was out of town when I heard the news. I will miss seeing him. He was a good teacher. I am proud to see his name on my belt. I am proud to have trained with him. He was a very interesting man. It is hard to put into words what he meant to others. But to me I will always remember his joy in seeing people perform well. He loved kids and it was great to watch how much he enjoyed working with them.
His memorial service is the 28th of Sept in Ft. Lauderdale. I doubt I will be able to go, but I signed his memorial page.
I wish much peace and comfort to his family, friends and fellow karatika at this time.

State Swim meet

2013-07-23T10:53:00.001-04:00

Well Thad did well at the state swim meet. He came in 8th in 100 IM for 11-12 boys...which is not too shabby. We were talking about what he needs to work on and he is determined to improve. I am proud of him and all the others for doing well. We had a number of kids place at district. Three including Thad placed at state. I enjoyed seeing him do well...and look forward to seeing him do more in the future.

2013 ATAC LC Swim meet...

2013-07-01T10:06:00.001-04:00

Spent this last weekend helping run the 2013 ATAC LC swim meet in Tallahassee, Fl. Had a great time working with a good group of officials. Had 400 kids in the waters swimming. Had some rain delays...but overall things went smoothly. Hope to work it again next year...

Blackbelt party!

2013-06-20T16:50:00.002-04:00

The folks at work threw a little office party for me for receiving my black belt. I was totaly taken back and I thank them all for it....the cake was just cool.

Was asked yesterday what I thought about "the black belt". I told them that it weights on you. You are now an example. You are the one they are going to watch. You have to lead. You have big shoes to fill. You must keep your ego in check. In other words it is a lot of work. The darker the belt..the more humble the karateka.

Black Belt!

2013-06-17T09:14:00.001-04:00

Well, I got the results of the testing and I passed! Am now officially a Shodan...cool. But seriously this is just the begining. I had someone ask me what I was going to do now that I had my black belt...I said continue learning. A black belt signifies that you have the ability to learn and now are ready to do more work learning the art of karate. It is a life long journey that most folks who start out in karate never even get close to...why? Well if it was easy anybody would do it. It takes many hours of practice and sweat to get there. Would I do it again..yes...that is why I am going to continue.

Congratulations to all the others who tested...we had 3 other for Shodan and 2 for Nidan. Time to get back to the dojo and learn some more good stuff. My next goal...in 2 to 3 years be ready to test for Nidan...got 4 kata to learn and more perfecting of all the rest of the stuff to work on. That may not sound like much for 3 years...but it is.

My wife said I looked like I was concentrating....I was.

Karate is a way of life....seriously

2013-06-06T10:01:00.000-04:00

The other week I went to Coral Springs, Fl to the South Atlantic Karate (SAKA) Summer Camp. This was the 38th camp they have held there. We missed having our chief instructor Sensie Takashina there, but Arizona Karate chief instructor Sensei Koyama did a wonderful job as guest instructor for the camp. He emphasized that Karate was not just for defense, but was for life...a way of life. He pointed out the health benefits of karate, which are numerous...but also the spiritual/mental benefits. The development of a sound mind and body thus can lead to a long healthy life. He challenged us to seek to follow the dojo kun and exercise/physical development of karate to help us maintain ourselves.

-seek perfection of character
-be faithful
-endeavor
-respect others
-refrain from violent behavior

I enjoyed my time at the camp and agree that karate is a lifelong journey. You don't just get a black belt and quit....you continue on training... Sensei Takashina made a comment at a camp I went to several years ago. He said life is like a swan dive...the object of karate is to make it into a glide. Makes sence.

sho dan test...Coral Springs

2013-05-29T14:25:00.001-04:00

Well went to Coral Springs for the 38th South Atlantic Karate camp. Sensie Takashina was not there. He is still not feeling well...missed seeing him. Sensie Koyama was there from Arizona. I enjoyed his teaching and we all had a really fun time. Camp lasted Friday thru Sunday. Sunday I tested Sho Dan. I do not know the results of the test yet...but I felt I had a good test. If I passed great...if I didn't then I will go back and test again at the next camp. Either way I have learned a great deal about myself and karate over the last couple of years. I plan to keep it up at any rate....seeking to learn more about myself and the art.

Swim season is apon us.....summer time is here...so between karate, swimming and church..I believe I will be plenty busy.

Well we must wait again....

2013-01-24T14:47:00.001-05:00

In Novemeber I posted that I was going to wait to test for black belt till febuary....well i will have to wait again. Sensei is in the hospital and even though he is doing better he probably won't be doing any testing at the febuary camp in Tampa. So I guess I will wait till May and test in Coral Spring. Only disheartening thing is I will miss out annual Memorial day fishing trip...or at least most of it. I will miss my guys...but you got to do what has to be done.

I am confident that all things happen for a reason. There is a reason I am missing this chance to test...I do get to go to the Father Daughter dance with my girl. And if I get to at least go spend one day with my guys...yeah it will be ok. There is a reason....I just don't know what it is yet. But I am confident that all things will work out in the end.

more training....

2012-11-13T15:37:00.003-05:00

More training. I decided, after a talk with my Sensi that I would wait till Feb 13 to test for my black belt. So many new things I am learning and fixing...the little things...those are the things that make the difference. Did compete in a tourney while at camp. Got 3rd in kata and 3rd in sparing in my age group. Fun stuff...had fun..learned a lot. Now back to more training. Want to make all my other karate friends proud when I do test...we shall see....