MANDALA

Mandala. Ceramic trivet painted by The Wife. 

It matches the color and decor of our dining room.

BACKYARD DOJO

I spent some time out in the Pacific Northwest sunshine this afternoon, training in the backyard dojo.

(You know that friend that takes up cross training and then only ever talks about cross training? I'm afraid I may have become that person!)

Board breaking. Working on some karate kata—Taikyoku Shodan, Heian Shodan, and Heian Sandan. Working on bo (staff) basics and a training kata. Working on sai basics. Working on nage-sai. Working on a few punches and kicks with the training dummy I built. Working on some stances for karate—back stance, front stance, horse stance—and for kobudo—cat stance and a variation on fudo dachi (immovable stance).

SAI in the SNOW

How about a bit of nage-sai (sai throwing) in the snow before starting the workday?

NAGE-SAI

There is little good instruction on how to handle sai out on the internet. But I found one person on YouTube who has provided (and continues to provide) a series of videos on kobudo (the way of ancient weapons). 

Check out Kohji Katoh's YouTube channel HERE.

One of his videos provides instruction on how to throw sai. I learned the two ways to throw sai, as well as how to properly wield them so that they will "stick" upon impact. (Keep your thumb on the moto!)

During a couple of recent breaks at work, I've practiced what I've learned about nage-sai (sai throwing) in the sunshine.

WORK in PROGRESS

I took advantage of the Presidents Day holiday to spend some time on a piece of artwork for a Holy Week series. The current work in progress is the gates of Jerusalem as Jesus approached them on Palm Sunday. I built a template for the gates out of Contact Paper and put down some black and gold Montana BLACK spray paint. Then I added some layers of watercolor for the jewels of the gates, as well as the clothing and cloaks the people of Jerusalem threw down as the foal carrying the Christ arrived.

INTERACTIVE DOG TOYS

I took the dogs to the local Bark Park, which is four acres of fenced and forested land. This off-leash dog park has trails that the dogs like to walk, so we went and made a few loops through the park.

Afterward, we stopped by a pet store to pick up an interactive dog toy.

Neither of the dogs play with typical dog toys, but they are very treat-motivated, so we selected something that allows them to "hunt" treats.

I tried to get Banjo to play with it first, but he wouldn't. So it was Wrigley's turn.

Wrigley was the first to really "figure it out." He was using his teeth, paws, and claws to open compartments and flip panels/lids. (Leave it to the blind dog, who is relying on a different set of senses to be the bolder canine!) 




Banjo needed a setup that was mostly open and needed a lot of encouragement, but soon started realizing how to get treats.

The funny part of Banjo's interaction with this toy is that the rescue that we adopted him from years ago told us how much he loved his toys. He has never played with a toy, with the exception of a Kong, and that is because it (once again) is treat oriented. He's not interested in a toy unless it involves treats.

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This is an intermediate level toy. The easy toy is the orange portion, when it is stationary. On this configuration, the orange section rotates like a lazy Susan and the blue level adds a slightly more difficult set of challenges.

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UPDATE: On their second turn at the toy, each dog was more comfortable with it. Wrigley was actively opening compartments and really using his paws, teeth, and muzzle to move doors and get at treats. Banjo was still a bit timid at first, but once he realized how many tiny treats he was getting, he became fully engaged and got to work.

SAI

I received a gift card from my father for Christmas and this is one of the purchases I made: a pair of sai. 

I'm looking forward to learning how to properly wield these traditional Okinawan martial arts weapons.

I cannot explain what joy these bring to me. 

I have learned the various parts of the sai—the handle (tsuka); the butt of the handle (tsukagashira); the two guards (yoku); the tips of the guards (tsume); the center of the sai, where handle, guards, and blade meet (moto); the rounded and unsharpened blade (monouchi); and the tip of the blade, which is also unsharpened (saki). I am learning how to flip the sai from its natural grip (honte mochi), with the handle grasped by the hand and the blade extended, to the reverse grip (gyakute mochi), with the blade resting along the forearm to protect from strikes, as well as back again.

LUCIFER on the SOFA

Release day for a new Spoon album is always a reason for celebration and Lucifer on the Sofa is no exception. It is familiar and yet brand new. And yet, somehow, simply Spoon.

Favorite tracks on first listen: "Wild," "Astral Jacket," and "Lucifer on the Sofa."

SAKE STYLE SAISON

Extra Dry Sake Style Saison Ale, a Saison/Farmhouse Ale by Stillwater Artisan Ales.

16 ounce can served in a mini snifter. Marked as "Batch 32."

4.2% abv.

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The flavors are grass, wheat, sake, white wine, lemon zest, yeast, sage, Seabreeze.

The mouthfeel is medium. The finish is dry. So is the start. And the middle. Dry, dry, dry. Dry.

This is a weird beer, which is exactly why I like it.

It has hints of farmhouse, saison. Hints of sake. The low alcohol content makes is very sessionable.

I have three more cans and I'm going to enjoy each one.

YI JIN JING

I've been searching for a set of exercises and stretches that complement my martial arts journey. Learning that modern karate as presented by Master Gichin Funakoshi is a direct descendant of ancient karate as presented by Master Daruma Taishi (Bodhidharma) at Shaolin Temple made me curious about the exercises of the Yi Jin Jing (Muscle/Tendon Changing/Transforming Classic).

Every morning for three weeks, I participated in "21 Days of Qigong for Beginners" taught by Qigong with Kseny. This gave me a good foundation, as well as basic moves of qigong, so I was ready for Kseny's qigong exercises based upon the Yi Jin Jing in both shorter and longer versions.

Many of these quigong forms and movements have echoes in karate. Tiger Catches Its Prey is an exaggerated front stance. Lotus Growing Through the Mud is a squat that ends up in a horse stance. So I've continued practicing qigong and yi jin jing each morning, as a way to meditate and exercise, as a way to jump start the day, and as a way to help bolster my karate training.

THE BOUNTY

This morning, I participated in "Outside the System: Using Blackout Poetry to Explore the Relationship Between Motherhood, Money, and Capitalism," a writing workshop facilitated by Christina Vega of Blue Cactus Press and hosted by Creative Colloquy.

I ended up creating a poem ("The Bounty") using two sources—a paragraph from "Doubloon," chapter 99 of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville and language and lines from a section of the recent Texas "abortion bounty" bill.

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The workshop was intense. It also allowed me permission to think differently about erasure/blackout poems and how to create them.

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"The Bounty" is related to my recent postcard poem series, "O Eschaton."

It is also related to my poem "Funeral," published by Creative Colloquy.

UMAB

It's an ugly build, but this rebreakable board holder serves it's purpose.

I reconfigured a catapult The Child built for a school project three years ago. The holder is sturdy, but also has enough give and movement to absorb some of the shock of the blow.



What's beautiful about this holder, though, is that it does exactly what is intended: it holds the rebreakable board in place, but allows the board to collapse as it should. Hammer fist!

GYEONGHEO

"Don't expect to finish doing something easily. If you happen to acquire something easily the will is made weaker. So an ancient once said, 'Try again and again to complete what you are doing.'"
—Gyeongheo / Kyong Ho