Finally got internet

Wow I started this blog post back in December. It's now February, where does the time go?

I finally got internet after six months! It’s been way too long since my last update. Lets see a brief summery. Influenza, Mr.Miyagi arm wrestles, Thailand, lots of Onsen’s after cold kayaking sessions, judo beatings, cycling and random stuff in there that would only happen in a place like Japan. e.g. I saw a guy standing straight up on his chopper motorcycle doing about 50mph down the road, one foot on the handlebars one foot on the tank. Maybe that happens in Ireland too but I’ve never seen it.


Influenza...
I’m not sure about other people that have had N1H1 but I was having cool vivid dreams that would make million dollar movies! Yeah that good! I’m telling yeah. If you haven’t had N1H1 yet you’re missing out. I had a great time when I was asleep!!

Mr. Miyagi...
I met japans kayaking version of Mr Miyagi aka Master. The guy is 61 years old and still kicks ass in a kayak. He is a professional and teaches regular private one on one classes. He owns Chapel kayaking shop and it has writing and signatures on the walls from the likes of Ken Whiting from back in 97’, and then some posters with Rush Struges, Yonton and Jay Kincaid’s names from when they were there a few years ago. Master gave me some very detailed coaching on the river not holding back from telling me how faulty my skills were. It was motivating to hear what he had to say. Everything he said was translated for me by my good friend Nanae. She is a cool kayaker that has prefect English who actually made the whole weekend possible and invited me to go kayaking. It was also nice to see a 61 year old man school me in an arm wrestle with both arms I must add. One of his arms had been busted in a judo accident he showed me, but he still followed through and schooled my “sick” ass!...;) I was sick ok! You can see the red fever face I have in the photo on his blog found here.

http://image.blog.livedoor.jp/mchapel1/imgs/c/f/cfa9e6a3.JPG

Two birds with the one stone...

I decided to go shopping in kobe’s Ikea and get some stuff for my apartment! For a while I thought I was turning into a materialistic fool but I was getting fed up of the old bed sheets, cutting with blunt knives and of using the kitchen table as an ironing board, so I got that sorted out. But on my way to Ikea I decided to get off at a random train stop with Ikea in sight about a mile walk down the road. A lot of japanese folks were going into a building so I followed the crowd to see what was going on and I found this.....

Just another random day in Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Moeterboater#p/a/u/0/BLTNDM1KuZ0

Judo in Japan, a great experience.

The weekend gone by I went to a judo practice on Saturday. My club in Osaka went to another clubs dojo to play a whole range of fighters who were all various levels of black belt.



In my club we do 3 minute flights at a time, but at this club they where doing competition length 5 minute flights. I did about ten fights, with very few breaks. Needless to say I was in bits by the end of the training but I'd learned alot and gained confidence. It was also cool being the only foreigner at the training.




So I started judo on the 4th of September. My teachers in my high school where I work thought I was crazy to join a judo club 22km from where I live. They also said it would be impossible to cycle there for the lesson. But the club is unique in the fact that the Judo sensei is a seventh or eight dan black belt that teaches in both Japanese and English.




Because of this it's a rather international club with a great mixture of judo styles. http://www.daishin-judo.com/index1.htm Next month a judo team from Israel are coming for a month to train with us and the month after that a judo team from Greece are coming to train in the club. I cycle three times a week to and from practice when there isn't some party or important thing that comes up during the week. I used to take the train but have since had my road bike shipped here to save money and increase the fitness. The streets of Osaka are busy and keep me on my toes all the time. But the cycle sure beats the train and I'm not as stiff the next day. Takes about 50-55 minutes each way almost as quick as the train. I think there must be at the least 15 minutes worth of traffic lights.


After the special practice on Saturday we all went to a Christmas party for a few beers. After the intense workout I knew the lads would be on their ears after one or two. You can checkout the pics here... http://www.flickr.com/photos/daishin-judo/sets/72157622879974391/








I was equally as surprised as the seventh dan black belt in the photo above, who I was fighting with (far right in photo), when I got a leg sweep and he dropped to his back. But as a friend said to me afterwards, "even a stopped clock is right twice a day"!!