Author Topic: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations  (Read 34856 times)

Crafty_Dog

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Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« on: October 21, 2009, 04:29:16 AM »
Woof All: 

Just a thread for my momentary ruminations.  Feel free to jump in.

Guro Crafty
===================

   Every so often (roughly once a year) I go through a squat cycle.  For me I agree with the notion that there is something fundamental and primal about the squat.  My back and hips do better when I am sound from squatting.

   My routine is simple.  First day back I start with a few 10 rep sets at 135 (roughly 60 kilos).  The next couple of weeks I add 20 pounds each week, then I add 10 pounds a week.  Sets above 135 are done at 5 reps.  As long as I can comfortably do 5 reps at the peak weight of the week, the next week I continue to add 10 pounds.

  Essential for me is that I have another day during the week where I challenge the legs vigorously in something athletic modality e.g. 100 yard dashes at at the football field with some basic agility work (e.g. cairocas) or better yet, a day at "The Dune" in Manhattan Beach-- which is close now for several months :*-(

  I never use a weight belt, and prefer to go barefoot.  If the gym doesn't allow that, in the past I used wrestling shoes, but now I have the VFFs.  Fortunately my current place, Boxing Works, is very beach casual and I simply can go barefoot, and take off my shirt (during the day there's hardly anyone there) and work on my tan.

   After squats are done, I do "Running Dog Rows" and put the "hanging ab straps" up one of the the chin bars and do certain waist exercises (both of which can be seen in the "Running Dog Game" DVD).

  The pace is extremely leisurely-- between sets I might do some staff, double stick or knife, or some Kali Tudo punching on this weird looking thing mounted to the wall that is great for hooks and uppercuts.

selfcritical

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #1 on: October 23, 2009, 12:19:19 PM »
"There are few things written in stone, but one of them is this- If you don't squat, it's because you're a pussy"

Mark Ripptoe, Wordsmith.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #2 on: October 23, 2009, 05:41:11 PM »
I started my BJJ life with the Machado Brothers in the summer of 1990, when all 5 of the brothers were under one roof.  Out of that time I developed the greatest of admiration for Jean Jacques Machado for many reasons, but today I will speak only of him as an extraordinary BJJ/submission athlete.

At the time of this story, it was about a year after JJ had won the Abu Dhabi submission tournament (widely held at that time to be THE definitive submission event in the world) by submitting every single one of his opponents AND winning "the most technical fighter in any weight division award".  Now we all know the phenomenal levels of athleticism and fitness of these fighter-competitors and to achieve was in essence was "the best pound-for-pound submission athlete in the world" speaks for itself

It is in this context that one day when I was having some achiness in my lower back that I asked JJ for some suggestions and was intent on hearing what he had to say.  I was expecting them to consist of specific physical things to do and so when he simply asked how I was sleeping I was surprised.  That his answer was outside the expectations of my physically oriented mental box simply made it all the more valuable-- instead of trying physically to impose an answer of the "do this" or the "do that" sort, his answer was to give himself permission to chill and recharge.  

Upon reflection this made more and more sense.  When we are tired, what energetic system of the body is overworked?  The adrenal comlex (adrenal glands, kidneys) which are found , , , in the lower back.  So maybe the pain in my lower back was not muscular, but energetic?

In the past few days, I have had benefit of this wisdom and wanted to sally forth with a howl of thanks to Jean Jacques for the benefit today of this lesson of so many days ago.

The Adventure continues,
Crafty Dog
« Last Edit: October 24, 2009, 04:00:52 AM by Crafty_Dog »

Jonobos

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #3 on: October 23, 2009, 08:48:14 PM »
That was a hard lesson for me to learn Crafty, but one that I am glad to hear confirmed by those much more experienced than I. Every 3 - 4 months I seem to break down. My attention is always elsewhere, my energy level bottoms out, my sleep is troubled and irregular, and I feel generally irritable. Sometimes I can recover by cutting back training to a few light sessions for a couple weeks, and sometimes it takes a full week off of everything. I personally find it starts out as physical fatigue, and in the following weeks my brain follows right along. After a break I always come back feeling better than ever, and with a fresh perspective. My biggest breakthroughs are usually in the month following these periods of rest. I feel like it really pays to step back and decompress once in a while!
When life gives you lemons make lemonade
When life gives you hemlock, do NOT make hemlockade!

Crafty_Dog

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Barefooting
« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2009, 09:28:33 PM »
Exactly so.

=====

At the most recent DB Gathering I was very impressed by dramatic improvement in Linda "Bitch" Matsumi's footwork-- particularly so in light of her broken ankle of a year or two ago.   I was intrigued by the "Vibram Five Finger" "barefooting shoes" she was wearing (google them). 

Now of course "barefooting shoes" is an oxymoron, but basically the idea is that the "shoe" is essentially nothing more than an additional layer of skin-- think of the Apaches as great distance runners wearing mocassins and you will have the idea.

As inferred above in my rumination on squatting, I have always intuitively gravitated to the barefooting concept and so inspired by Linda about two to three weeks ago I got my own VFFs (the RSO model) and absolutely love them.  My feet and calves are feeling much stronger, my hips roll much more fluidly, and my back feels better.

Today was the first time I did full bore sprints in them.   The circumstances were ideal for a first time test.  It was a lacrosse field (synthtetic grass over ground up rubber tires) and I was assisting my son's coach with the drills.  The first 30 minutes were working on scooping ground balls on the run catching passes while jogging/running.  Then it was time for some 2 on 2 attack-defense drills.  As the workout wound down I tested myself with a full on sprint the length of the field (a bit longer than a football field if I am not mistaken).    My speed felt both good and effortless.

I really like these VFFs.

PS:  For you single guys: They are outstanding for getting fun conversations started with women.   I have had several women notice the shoes and start animated converstions with me about them.  If I were not a happily married man, it would have been easy to score several phone numbers ;-)

Karsk

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2009, 11:01:17 AM »
Hiya Crafty,

I have had a pair of Five Fingers for about a year now.  I have used them for practice, for weightlifitng, running on a track,  road running and even for field work for my job (which earned me some interesting comments).  I have been doing lots of barefoot minimalist things over the years so it was not a leap to get into these shoes.  But they really are cool aren't they? 

The ideas of this post... squats are good,  Resting is good,  FF are good.  Couldn't agree more.   Another thing that I have been doing alot of is resting between sets of things by squatting low (squat-sitting?).  Its that whole thing of being limber and functional in the whole range of motion of your legs that I find to be exhilarating.

Karsk

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2009, 02:00:04 PM »
Good point!

"Squat-sitting" is one of the primal human positions, yet has become completely alien to modern man.  Just watch modern man try to defecate in nature-- let alone hang out in this position the way normal people can and do. 

Dog Howie

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2009, 03:01:13 PM »
Good point!

"Squat-sitting" is one of the primal human positions, yet has become completely alien to modern man.  Just watch modern man try to defecate in nature-- let alone hang out in this position the way normal people can and do. 

I can't tell you how "strange" and unfamiliar it looked when I saw a Vietnamese father and son who used to live near my in-laws constantly "squat sitting" when they were outside.... just hanging out there for long periods of time.  That 'position' alone culturally separated them in a somewhat intolerant neighborhood (intolerant if one was not extremely "white"). It is EXTREMELY alien to me.... sort of funny.

Crafty_Dog

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Dracula and the Stake
« Reply #8 on: December 07, 2009, 08:06:40 AM »
Woof All:

As some of you may have noticed, I enjoy naming things in a way I find humorous.  For example, in our "Kali Tudo" (tm) subsystem a particular movement is named "The Dracula" (see our first KT DVD for an intro to this material).

In this regard, this past weekend I named a particular Dracula-based combination as "Dracula brings the stake, hammer, and cross.  Punning horrifically  I start riffing about wanting your steak well done, medium, rare, or bloody , , ,  Someone asked how Dracula could use a cross.

I explained:

"Many years ago there was a movie called "The Fearless Vampire Slayers" by Roman Polanski (yes the one who hides in Europe from US rape charges concerning drugging a 13 year old girl) and starring Sharon Tate-- who was later murdered by the Manson family , , , but I digress (as I so often do). Anyway, there is a scene where a vampire bursts through Sharon Tate's window and she, bosom bursting out of her nightie, whips out a cross and holds it towards the vampire; the vampire responds in a heavy Yiddish accent "Ach! Haff you gott ze wrong vampire!"...   

"As Dracula I can bring the cross, unaffected by it, precisely because I am Jewish."

Then, in an example of the strange erudition that runs through the DBMA tribe someone brought the following to my attention:

http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/Shokel/011025_Vampires.html#fn0

The Right Vampire?*
 
First Publication:
Jewish Free PressOctober 25, 2001, pp. 8-9.

Bibliography:
Dan, Joseph. The Esoteric Theology of Ashkenazi Hasidism. Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1968.
Trachtenberg, Joshua. Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion, Temple Books. New York: Atheneum, 1970.
In that 1967 film classic "the Fearless Vampire Killers," there is a memorable scene in which a lady tries in vain to fend off the vampire Shagal by waving a cross at him. The creature of the night, with an unmistakable Yiddish intonation, retorts "Boy have you got the wrong vampire!"

Indeed, the literary and cinematic depiction of vampires, from Dracula onwards, has been so strongly imbued with Christian symbolism that the very idea of a Jewish vampire makes an easy target for such comedic moments; notwithstanding the tragic medieval blood libels that charged Jews with using Christian blood in the preparation of Passover matzah.

Nevertheless, the study of medieval Jewish texts teaches us that a belief in vampire-like creatures was very intense in certain Jewish communities. Not surprisingly, this belief tended to surface in settings where it was also prevalent among their non-Jewish neighbours. That the concept was of foreign origin is also indicated by the non-Hebrew names by which the fearsome creatures were designated.

Most of the Jewish references to vampires are contained in the writings of the Hasidei Ashkenaz, a mystical pietistic movement that flourished in thirteenth-century Germany. The monsters were usually female, and were referred to as estries. The term is French, and derives from strix, a Latin word for a night-owl. The ancient Romans believed that the owls consume human blood, and Petronius tells a scary tale about a certain Cappadocian who was snatched away by a strix, and later found dead. The striges were said to be terrible women who could turn themselves into dreadful birds of prey, with huge talons, misshapen heads and breasts full of poisonous milk. In medieval folklore, they continued to be associated with screech owls

Cannibalistic behaviour typified the medieval German estries, who were believed to have a special fondness for the flesh of children. During the Middle Ages, the striges were given a Christian interpretation, and they were perceived as servants of Satan and his demons. They were usually portrayed as witches who practiced sorcery and flew through the air.

Several chilling stories about them were preserved by the Hasidei Ashkenaz, especially in the most important collection of the group's lore, Rabbi Judah the Pious's Sefer Hasidim.

According to Sefer Hasidim, the Talmud was referring to estries when it spoke about beings who were created at twilight on the first Friday, and whose bodies were not completed when God ceased working at the onset of the Sabbath.

A different theory was proposed by the fifteenth-century commentator Rabbi Menahem Zioni. Basing himself on midrashic sources, he claimed that it was the builders of the Tower of Babel who were transformed into vampires, werewolves, wood- and water-spirits, and sundry monsters.

The same author speaks of men and women who, by anointing their bodies with special oils, are able to fly. They must, however, return home before the break of dawn.

The sixteenth-century exegete Rabbi Obadiah Sforno speculated that supernatural beings like demons could not consume normal food. It follows, therefore, that their diet consists of the most subtle and spiritual substance, and this must be blood, which the Torah equates with the power of life. By extension, humans who desire to befriend the spirits will offer them blood; while those who aspire to partake of supernatural powers are likely to consume blood themselves.

In one story that appears in Sefer Hasidim, a woman who was an estrie fell ill, and was watched over during the night by two unsuspecting ladies. When one of the guardians dozed off, the patient suddenly stood up and began to unravel her hair. In true Dracula-like style, the estrie tried to fly off and to suck out the blood of the slumbering lady. Fortunately, her alert companion managed to cry out and wakened her, and the two of them were able to seize the estrie and prevent her from carrying out her nefarious scheme.

The Sefer Hasidim had no doubt that the estrie's survival depended on her success in slaying her victim. If prevented from doing so, the estrie perished. "This is because a being who was created from blood needs to swallow blood from flesh."

The medieval texts prescribe several different ways to restrain the estries--none of which involve crosses, holy water or wooden stakes. They could be controlled by the imposing of an oath upon them. Furthermore, since their powers were somehow dependent on the loosening of their hair, they could be rendered harmless if the hair was somehow held in check. And if a known estrie was included in the prayer for the sick that is recited in the synagogue, then the congregation was cautioned not to respond "Amen"!

Although an estrie could be injured by a physical blow, the effect of the blow could be undone if she was allowed to eat bread and salt belonging to her assailant. Conversely, bread and salt also worked as an antidote to injuries inflicted by the estrie.

At first glance, it is hard to imagine how anyone would be stupid enough to offer bread and water to an estrie after taking the trouble to attack her. However, we must bear in mind that the creatures were capable of morphing themselves into different forms, and therefore were not easy to recognize. Rabbi Zioni described this ability in detail, and noted that they had a special propensity for turning into cats.

Sefer Hasidim records a case of a suspected estrie who had assumed feline form. However, a certain Jew recognized her true identity (the source does not indicate how), and struck her. On the following day, a lady asked him for some bread and salt, and the imprudent Jew would have complied, had it not been for an old man who appeared on the scene and warned him of his folly.

As with our familiar vampires, the malevolent power of the estries did not cease with their deaths. For this reason, it was important to examine their corpses very carefully. Rabbi Eliezer Rokeah states that if the estrie has her mouth open when she is buried, you may be certain that she will continue to devour children for a year after her death. In order to curtail such anti-social behaviour, it is crucial to stuff her mouth with earth.

Most of the Hebrew descriptions of estries seem to assume that the creatures were not Jewish. However, at least one story implies otherwise.

Thus, we read in in Sefer Hasidim about some students who wanted to inflict capital punishment on women who were accused of baby-eating. The rabbi reminded them that, while in exile, Jewish courts did not have such authority. He did, however, suggest that an announcement be issued in the synagogue, in the presence of the suspects, that if any harm should befall the children, then they would have their teeth filed on the stones surrounding the well. If the accused were in fact guilty, then the ordeal would result in their inevitable deaths.

Of course, the fact that the estries in this story attended synagogue proves that they were Jews--and observant Jews at that!

To the best of my knowledge, Jewish sources have not recorded any vampire sightings for several centuries now. Nor is there any truth to the widespread rumours that the blood-suckers have been recruited as fundraisers for the United Jewish Appeal.

Nevertheless--purely as a precaution--parents are advised take some precautions the next time a sweet old bubbeh tells them that their precious infant looks "sweet enough to eat."

Kaju Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #9 on: December 07, 2009, 09:40:55 AM »
Your too much ....   :lol:

woof woof
V/r,

Kaju Dog
dw.kajupit@gmail.com

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #10 on: June 10, 2010, 10:57:03 AM »
ttt

stilljames

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #11 on: June 11, 2010, 03:18:28 PM »
Almost everyone I know who was in the US Army in the 80's and 90's learned to relax in this squat-sitting posture  or in the 'rice-paddy prone' variation.  We probably picked it up from all the Vietnam veterans that were still floating around.   that and because  it is a natural resting posture to adopt in situations where sitting is not feasible. 

Good point!

"Squat-sitting" is one of the primal human positions, yet has become completely alien to modern man.  Just watch modern man try to defecate in nature-- let alone hang out in this position the way normal people can and do. 

I can't tell you how "strange" and unfamiliar it looked when I saw a Vietnamese father and son who used to live near my in-laws constantly "squat sitting" when they were outside.... just hanging out there for long periods of time.  That 'position' alone culturally separated them in a somewhat intolerant neighborhood (intolerant if one was not extremely "white"). It is EXTREMELY alien to me.... sort of funny.

JDN

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #12 on: June 11, 2010, 07:17:22 PM »
I go to Japan quite often.  In the countryside, and even occasionally in the large cities, squat toilets are often all that is available.  They say it's healthier.  Perhaps,
but I find it rather "challenging".  :-)

Perhaps my most "memorable"  :oops:  experience was having to squat on a moving train.  For an "extremely white guy" like me, it's hard enough when I'm still.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #13 on: June 12, 2010, 02:49:49 PM »
We had a riff about this on the DBMA Assn forum:  "How does one defecate without dropping the load in one's pants?"

Rarick

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #14 on: June 15, 2010, 05:24:41 AM »
Wad up the cloth around the knees, or "One Leg" it.  The rice paddy prone also tunes your balance..........

Jonobos

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #15 on: June 18, 2010, 05:43:15 AM »
Wad up the cloth around the knees, or "One Leg" it.  The rice paddy prone also tunes your balance..........

 :lol:  Wow, there is always something to be learned on these forums!
When life gives you lemons make lemonade
When life gives you hemlock, do NOT make hemlockade!

stilljames

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #16 on: July 03, 2010, 11:57:46 AM »
There's a certain angle of hip and torso that opens things up and lets everything relax.  Consider that a diet heavy on rice often has a constipatory effect, I can see why the style would develop.

 As an amusing note, it is also a very common angle for the Chinese internal martial arts.

stilljames

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #17 on: July 05, 2010, 02:40:08 PM »
Another advantage of keeping the cloth of one's pants up past the knees, even on a typical US style toilet, is that it reduces the opportunity and effectiveness of the Public Toilet Takedown and the Public Toilet Wallet Grab.

Wallet Grab is where someone simply grabs your wallet while you are sitting on the pot.  The Takedown is where someone grabs your ankles and/or pants and yanks you from the toilet in an attempt to get you to crack your head against the toilet or the floor.

Mick C.

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #18 on: July 05, 2010, 04:11:49 PM »
Another advantage of keeping the cloth of one's pants up past the knees, even on a typical US style toilet, is that it reduces the opportunity and effectiveness of the Public Toilet Takedown and the Public Toilet Wallet Grab.

Wallet Grab is where someone simply grabs your wallet while you are sitting on the pot.  The Takedown is where someone grabs your ankles and/or pants and yanks you from the toilet in an attempt to get you to crack your head against the toilet or the floor.

And if you carry concealed, you pretty much have to do that to keep your weapon from showing if you're in the stall doing #2.

There was an exhaustive manual on the design of toilets and bathrooms that came out (was released? It's hard to talk about this subject without making unintentional puns) in the 1960s (I remember the Whole Earth Catalog had a review and short excerpts from it) which stated that the full squat was superior for full evacuation of the bowels, and the upright-sitting posture promoted by western toilet design didn't promote the full evacuation of the bowels.

An additional method used by bacpackers and soldiers to avoid befouling your pants is to grab ahold of a slim tree trunk, stand close to the trunk, extend your arms straight out out and squat and do your business without hitting your clothing.  I had to do this a lot when I caught dysentery in Turkey back in the early 1980s  when I had to deal with explosive diarrhea about every 50 paces. 


Crafty_Dog

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The Song of My Youth
« Reply #19 on: July 09, 2010, 01:34:24 PM »
“The Song of my Youth”
By Crafty Dog
(copyright 2010 Marc F. Denny—all rights reserved)

A:

When I was a young man, I thought country music was rather awful, but as it and I have grown up, through my exposure to it through my wife I have come to discover that there is a lot there now that I like a lot-- to the point that occasionally my wife is shocked to discover me listening to country music on my own.

One of my favorite songs has this refrain:

“I ain’t as young as I once was, but I am as young once as I ever was.”

What a perfect battle cry for those of us past our prime! 

Amongst the reasons that it is such is that it sings mightily to the eternal internal battle to distinguish quitting, accepting the inevitable consequences of living past one’s prime, and discovering just how much more one can grow.  Perhaps more importantly, it is a good anchor for summoning up our fighting spirit when fight we must against those younger, stronger, more agile, more fit, and more durable.

B:

I remember my teacher speaking from time to time of a student whom he had back in the days at the legendary Kali Academy of the 1970s and early ‘80s.  The man was a spectacular athlete with, as the saying goes, “a body envied by men and desired by women”.    As the Sticks of Life Twirled On as they are wont to do, this young man moved on until a chance meeting some ten years later.   My teacher did not recognize the now not-so-young man for in front of him stood some thick-waisted slouching man of little athletic appearance.

From there he spoke of how some young men train in a great frenzy and sharpen their edge to extraordinary levels of sharpness, but that after they peak, so too does their motivation and subtly and slowly, or perhaps not so subtly and slowly, they find themselves in a spiral into the death of mediocrity from which they never recover.

For him he said, the idea was to stay on the path for the long haul.  This caught my attention on a deep level.

No surprise this, for it was the essays on the manongs in the beginning of Guro Inosanto’s now out-of-print “The Filipino Martial Arts” that had drawn me to the FMA and Guro Inosanto, particularly the essay about Manong John Lacoste.  This is why the mission statement for Dog Brothers Martial Arts is “Walk as a warrior for all your days.”

C:    When I was 48 I had a really nice Dog Brothers stickfight which really manifested most everything upon which I had been working for many years and it came to me that it would be a good fight on which to retire. 

With about 140 fights to my credit, along with Top Dog and Salty Dog I had been one of the “Big Three”.  In Gatherings when neither of them was there I had been the man to whom people ultimately looked to represent the Dog Brother name—and during those years the Dog Brother name continued to grow.  This I did while running the Gatherings, ring mastering the fights, and coaching my students who were fighting—these being part of my responsibilities as “the Guiding Force”. 

I confess to being rather proud of this.

During these years my annual training cycle consisted of getting into fighting shape for the two Gatherings of each year which were held  in early May and late September.    Thus there was less than five months between the May and September Gatherings, and more than seven months between September and May.

This flowed very nicely with the rhythms of the seasons.  For the early May Gathering the weather had been nice for long enough to get into good fighting shape, and the for the September Gathering (held on the Saturday closest to the Autumnal Equinox) we had had all summer long to get into peak fighting shape.   

With the seven and a half month winter break (not a brutal winter here in SoCal it is true, but wimps that we here are, it is winter for us) between the September Gathering and the May Gathering, it was time to work on the lessons learned and develop one’s game to the next level, whereas the summer break was more about taking one’s physicality to the next level.

But with my retirement from active fighting, in a subtle way my inner rhythms began to lose their propulsive power.  For a few years I trained “as if” I were going to fight and this worked somewhat, but as time went by each year my efforts became a bit less.  Fighting students were becoming more “respectful” as I sparred with them to help them get ready. 

D:

Wat happens when one no longer is fighting? 

Of course, we continue to train.  After all in DBMA our mission statement is to “Walk as a warrior for all your days”!  But less us be candid, motivation is easy when one knows that one will fight at time and place certain in the not-too-distant future.  It is not so easy when one knows one may never be actually touched by the flying fickle finger of fate—and it is all too easy to remember oneself as one once was. 

A good training cycle includes peaking, but if one is past fighting age what is one to do? 

I am reminded of something Guro Inosanto (around 65 years old at the time if I remember correctly) said to me one time after going an amazing forty-five non-stop minutes on the Thai bag “From time to time, we should test ourselves to see where we truly are.”

E:

Recently I was invited to join a tactical tracking course.  The course description said to show up in shape to do four to twelve hilly miles a day in Arizona’s Sonora Desert for 5 days while carrying 45 pounds.   In that the area in question is quite near the Mexican border, a bit of danger and adrenaline are in the air.  (I want to make perfectly clear that this is NOT a militia thing and is 100% legit.  It is done with full knowledge of the US Border Patrol.  We look to track only and avoid all engagement!

How perfect!  Although different than the peaking required for a series of three minute explosions as in a Dog Brothers Gathering, the physicality required here is no less.  As the oldest man on the team my motivation is to keep up with fit young men of elite military background—and so for the first time in nearly ten years I have a particular mission of being ready at time and place certain.  What a gift this is!

F:

I do much of my training at Boxing/Muay Thai Works in Hermosa Beach.  Those of you who have seen our “Bolo Game” and/or “Combining Stick & Footwork” DVDs have seen it.  I have a key and during the day I pretty much have the place all to myself save for an occasional trainer and client; and so it came to pass that there I was  on the rowing machine with the music system playing my CD of “The Jefferson Airplane live at Woodstock” REALLY LOUD.

A few words about the Jefferson Airplane.  For me, they were THE band and the music they played was, and is, the song of my youth.  As a young man I saw them 23 times.  They would play the Fillmore East in the Spring, in August, and over Thanksgiving.   Though I had a midnight curfew, I would catch the early show, and go home (the Lexington Ave IRT subway line) in time for my curfew.  My folks would then go to bed and I would sneak out the backdoor and take the subway back down to the East Village and catch the late show.  This meant I usually missed the opening band and some of the second band, but the Airplane usually did not come on stage until about 01:30.  Typically they then played until 04:30 or more.  Then I would go home and sneak in the backdoor and to bed before my folks awoke.

The Airplane was an incredibly talented (and erratic) jamming band.  Its bass player, Jack Casady, was my guitar hero. Jimi Hendrix’s drummer Mitch Mitchell wrote in his book that Jimi invited Jack to join the Jimi Hendrix Experience but that Jack passed to stay with the Airplane.  Still, the two bands were close.  Often Mitchell, who was a truly great drummer, would sit in with the Airplane and Jack sometimes sat in with Jimi (see e.g. Voodoo Chile on “Electric Ladyland” and on “Hendrix Live at Winterland”) Jack was a musician’s musician.   His technique and rhythm was unique and his expression at a level beyond description.  Often his bass was as much a lead instrument Jorma Kaukonen’s guitar (the two later formed Hot Tuna). 

When Jack would take the lead typically he would stand behind drummer Spencer Dryden turned sideways to the audience.  The music was not a vehicle for him to demand attention, the music simply was what mattered, and what he played took us in the audience to places impossible to describe.  The sounds, the vision of his eyebrows dancing in counterpoint to his rhythms, the band’s women dancing (typically, nearly naked) around the band, drummer Dryden propelling and supporting on the floor tom toms, rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner texturing on his Rickenbacker 12 string guitar, Grace Slick in a trance (we too in the audience) as she absorbed Jack’s playing, the psychedelic light show in the background, all this and more is the song of my youth.

And so as I have Boxing/Muay Thai Works to myself and train to prepare myself to be ready to go into what is as close as my middle-aged life gets to “in harm’s way” and I put on “The Jefferson Airplane live at Woodstock” (I was at Woodstock by the way, and the Airplane was the headline act for Saturday night by the way though due to the vagaries of the event they did not get to play until dawn on Sunday) the music takes my spirit to the song of my youth, to the place where I am, in the words of that country music song, “as young once as I ever was”.  My spirit soars, the words of my mind cease, and I am filled with unfettered joy.  I am the Crafty Dog.

Postscript:  With about one month to go until the tactical tracking course,  I was at 8 miles of hilly terrain (the clip of me along the bluffs overlooking the ocean) with 50 pounds when word came in that the course had been postponed until October.   Such a moment offers a tempting invitation to feel let down, but I think I would rather focus on the fact that my resting pulse on a good day is now 48 and I have put on several pounds of muscle. 

The Adventure continues!
Crafty Dog

JDN

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #20 on: July 09, 2010, 06:45:28 PM »
What a pleasure to read; I am looking forward to G-Z!

Crafty_Dog

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The Wuss Test
« Reply #21 on: November 16, 2010, 10:44:31 PM »
From a friend currently training police in Iraq:
======================================================
Well on this the final morning here I decided to give my partner the "wuss test."

Since his arrival here 6-weeks ago he has been like a clingy bitch (no offense meant to women) when it comes to being alone in the IZ.  Most of the contractors in the IZ have to get around by themselves at some point.  I personally know a 19-yeard old kid, a 57-year old woman, and a limping 65-year old man (who walks around the 'hood) who have no problem getting around alone as needed.  But not my partner.  Now mind you I love the man, but today was the "wuss test."

I know he is starving when he gets up in the morning.  It's all he can think of doing...to go eat.  This morning I advised him I had decided I was going to pass on breakfast.  It took him a lot of thinking before he made his decision (which I predicted with accuracy) that he was "going to pass on breakfast also."

It must be killing him right now.  Hungry as hell and has the power to kill those hunger pangs (by simply getting in the car and driving over to the DFAC by himself).  But he just won't do it.

And so, by social engineering, the bottom line is what it is.  And it is always good to know the level of cojones that the person who "has your back" really has, and to know it before cruch time comes.

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #22 on: November 24, 2010, 01:16:50 PM »
About once a year I go through a squat cycle.

My routine is very simple.  The first week I start at  3 sets of 10x135, then the each weak I add 20 or 10 pounds for the top set and do it for 5 reps.  As long as I can do the 5 reps, the next week I add weight.  In the 7-8 days between squat day, I make sure to have one explosive day for legs, typically sprints (100 yards for time) and basic football/lacrosse agility type drills on the neighborhood high school's football field.

Today I spent the $15 to go to a special gym (The Yard in Hermosa Beach) frequently the site of various pro athletes.  One of my favorite gizmos there is the "powerplate", a device which vibrates in a special way and releases muscles, blah blah; it is excellent for performance preparation.  Then I I did my squats  and accomplished today's mission (5x195) rather easily.  Yes, the numbers are humble, but for me it works best to plug along steadily adding 10 pounds a week (20 for the first few weeks) until the rate of return diminishes-- typically somewhere around 5x255.  Then I am done with the cycle and on to something else. 

Also, for some strange reason I did incline bench today.  I have no idea why I prefer incline to flat bench, but I do.
« Last Edit: November 24, 2010, 03:10:39 PM by Crafty_Dog »

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #23 on: November 26, 2010, 09:52:19 AM »


For several months now my hip joints (especially the right one) and my sacral joint have been really annoyed and my usual methods for putting things right have been working very slowly. 

One of the things I like about the Powerplate that I mentioned in my previous post is that it allows me to release my quads in a way that for me other methods just don't get as well.

Lo and behold!  My hip and sacral joints are feeling quite a lot better and it occurs to me that perhaps the underlying problem all along included my quads being really tight-- perhaps induced by the downhill portion of the rucking training I was doing.

Crafty_Dog

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A man could go further and do worse
« Reply #24 on: November 20, 2012, 08:19:49 PM »
My new friend Diego is in town from Brazil for one month to train with me. Today I took him with me to Bluff Cover in Palos Verdes for the second time. It was a perfect LA kind of day, with the temperature in the mid-70s and not a cloud in the sky. Not bad for late November! I took a slightly different route so as to go along the promenade overlooking looking the beach in South Redondo along the way. It is a very low traffic area and I pulled over for a moment to take advantage of our overview of the ocean and beach (about 50' up) to point out a shallower area just outside the break. I commented that dolphins often looked for such spots because the currents often made fish more easy to catch. As I spoke, lo and hehold! several dolphins appeared and put on quite a show of jumping and surfing the waves. Quite a magical moment.
 
We continued on to Bluff Cove and did my usual four trip routine. Having just had a heavy breakfast, our pace was leisurely, but a nice mild sweat nonetheless. There was a bit of a south swell, so the waves were good and several surfers were there to celebrate.

After we went to Gold's Gym. For me it was chest, shoulder, and forearm day.
 
The Adventure continues!

Crafty_Dog

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A new block of material is born
« Reply #25 on: January 17, 2014, 02:31:56 PM »
Woof All:

In the Dos Triques DVD we worked against a stationary opponent.

Why?

1) So that we would have to develop the footwork for crossing the "triangle from the third dimension;

2) To make it easier to learn where the angles are-- throwing in a moving training partner would overwhelm most people-- the integration of footwork and striking being inherently challenging/frustrating for most people-- especially when I am razzing from the sidelines with comments such as "You're looking very Caucasian today!"

That said, always implicit in the Dos Triques material was the idea of a second level of training method wherein the training partner would be moving, either away, or towards us.

I was reminded of this as yet undeveloped level of training method today while working with the Chatsworth branch of the Hermosa Clan today and they showed me something upon which they had been working.

As many of us whose foundation is FMA have experienced in learning Krabi Krabong drills, our natural response to a right KK caveman is often to meet with the right, either with the right foot forward or perhaps with left whereas the drill calls for meeting with left stick and left foot forward. It may fell awkward at first, but KK footwork is very much worth the learning.

The flash of insight that came today was in using the natural opposite hand/stick and foot response as a portal into reversing the retreat into a Dos Triques attack. As we started playing with it, I had several ideas new to me pop into mind.

It is safe to say that a new block of material has been born.

The Adventure continues!
Guro Crafty

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #26 on: July 10, 2014, 06:08:34 AM »
ttt

Crafty_Dog

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Re: Guro Crafty's momentary ruminations
« Reply #27 on: July 29, 2014, 07:19:48 PM »
Before my Sistema class today Rigan walked in with John Lewis (UFC fighter of note from the mid-90s) John gave me a really nice compliment back at the 1996 BJJ Pan Am Games and we laughed a moment about that. Rigan started talking about his new "secret" game, then demoed it on me-- my first movement on the mat since my shoulder separation in December and I have Rigan "the Anaconda" Machado on top of me playing a pressure game! (He was very nice and gentle-- thank God!)

Then Guro Inosanto had a conflicting commitment, so I got a private with Martin Wheeler.

After class I got together with Rigan and John. Good conversation. Then we walked by a pizza joint with Andrew Dice Clay sitting in front.

A man could go further and have a worse day, , ,