All Journal Entries (393)

Good Morning Martial Arts Family!

I'm writing with a different purpose this morning. Some of you have heard me mention that I'm doing a bike ride this April. Well, here's the scoop on what the bike ride really is:

I'm participating in the MS150. It's a 150  mile bike ride to raise money for MS (m…

I'm writing this post from San Diego (rough!), and the first professional conference of my year.  A lot of my workday involves sitting at a computer.  At conferences though, we do a lot of running--back and forth down the convention center--as well as a lot of sitting, which is often on the floor in the back of the room by the power outlet (for the dying laptop).



This is also my first conference since starting karate, and in particular, starting UBBT. It's only one day in, but I've…

Week 5:

• Brought in the new year (woo!)
• Ended the first month and started the second
• Achieved the rank of Shichi Kyu
• Broke the 5000 mark on push-ups and sit-ups
• Started learning my first kata!

That's one busy week.

Feeling pretty good about things but thankful that I spent some time on my tracking spreadsheet. Staring at that thing and color coding rows, cells,…

A firebomb at the Arden-Arcade branch damaged 1,000 books this morning! Let's get a book drive going and see what we can do. This would be a great project idea for any of our students.

Who's game for taking this one on?

News 10 Link: …

Tofu Goodness Just For You

2010 was a great year for our dojo.  For those of you that have been with me for a long time, you've seen us grow from a very small school (2 or 3 of us at the Robertson Center) to some very full classes now at the Coloma Center. Here are some of the great things that we accomplished together in 2010. (And I have to tell you, you are getting famous in the community for all of the wonderful things that you are doing).

 …

Another week is gone. Chirstmas has come and gone. The new year is close behind. This next year proves to be a good one. So far I'm keeping apace with my running, pushups, crunches, squats, kata and kindness.

This new year should prove to be one of the greatest challenges of my life. I

am changing schools, starting at a real university (Finally!) and am continuing

to train apace with my runnning and workout. Though this challenge will be

great, I'm glad…

I had planned on posting this on Friday, and then Christmas happened. 



Successes the previous week included persisting with the routine during the darkest days of the year, and overcoming some deficits after a very social day with dinner guests. Adjustments to basics made during class have been incorporated to practice at home, and I feel my balance improving with the kicks that require it most.



I've been able to redirect, at least a little bit, the weasel mind, who likes…

Days away from the first month. Doesn't feel like it's been that long. Things are starting to feel like part of a routine, and don't feel so much like I have to make time for it. I think that's my biggest accomplishment so far. 

Now, I'm feeling like listing, I'm a lister:

• I got a new gi for Christmas... karate is everywhere in my life. :) My partner was doing push-ups with me and exclaimed, "I don't want a black belt! I don't even like belts!" This made my day…

The Relay CA, 2011

I'm trying to get a team together for The Relay.

Date: April 3oth - May 1st

Registration Deadline: March 1st

NOT competitive, just for FUN!

Here are the options:

Run: 199 mile relay from Calistoga to Santa Cruz. 12 team members, each person runs 3 legs that are from 3 - 9 miles with about 50 miles between each leg. The registration fee is $80 per…

No... not yet. But...

Definitely getting stronger. I say that for two reasons: My push-ups are getting easier, and, more importantly, 150 push-ups a day doesn't feel as scary. Still scary, just not as scary.

I had some rough days this week. Fighting off a cold by leaving work early for a nap so I'd have the energy for karate class :) I noticed though, that even if I felt a bit blah on my way to calss, I felt completely reenergized by the end of…

I've contacted Brie's Father to see if there is anything that we can do to help. In the mean time, here's the alert.