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<blogEntries>
<blogEntry id="4609">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #8 And finally.....]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Blog #8
  
Well, my final blog of my West Coast sojourn has arrived. 

I was looking forward to the Saotome Sensei Seminar at the Redlands Aikikai dojo. I am glad that I attended, however, it was the most frustrating of all my aikido experiences so far. The reasons for this were as follows:

The Redlands dojo is a beautiful facility, with all mod cons including air conditioning! A luxury for most aikidoka practicing in the heat of southern California. Great for everyday practice, but for the purposes of this particular seminar, in my view, a luxury that I would have preferred to go without. The problem was the volume of the noise it made. Anyone who has attended a Saotome seminar will know that he is not the loudest of speakers, coupled with the fact that his english is a little stilted as may be expected, meant that unless I was very close, I got to hear little of what he was saying. Which was a great shame. My lip reading abilities are not that good, so much of the time I was straining to understand what he was trying to get across.

Speaking of speaking, on the 2 hour saturday afternoon session, over an hour and a half was spent listening to a lecture, mostly based around society, government, responsibility and such. Which for me was a frustrating and pretty irrelevant use of time. Maybe it was just me, most other people there seemed to be hanging on his every word, maybe they had much better hearing than me (very possible, I have tinnitus), also they were probably much more used to his speech patterns. The speech was very US centric, adding to my feeling of being an outsider.   

Now it is obvious that Saotome Sensei is a treasure to the USA aikido world, his connection to the founder and his expertise and deep understanding of both the practice and philosophy of aikido are to be both admired and emulated. However, here lies the central point of my main frustration. I felt that his method of teaching was pretty poor. I know that may upset some people, but I can't really help that. I watched (and sometimes heard) him demonstrate various aspects of aiki. It is patently obvious that he can show and do what he speaks of, however, many of the opportunities he gave the students to practice what he had shown was, a) way too short, often stopped before we had chance to do the exercise more than a couple of times each. b) very little individual instruction was given when we were all practising and c) many of those I practised with, didn't seem to be on the same page as him, when it came to using intent, relaxation and minimal physical force. Preferring the time honoured method of muscling through.

So overall, not the best seminar I have ever attended. I did spend a fair bit of time in self reflection, wondering why I had had such a negative reaction. I feel that what it comes down to, is the fact that my own experience with my own teachers training methods and exposure to folk like Dan Harden and Mike Sigman has shown me that transmission of the mind body 'aiki' skills that so many aikidoka want, can be done so much better than that which I came across in Redlands.

Anyway, I'm glad that I attended, despite the drawbacks, overall I may well learn more from this experience than some of the more pleasurable experiences I have had so far. Being outside of ones comfort zone is a pre-requisite for learning. 

The Redlands dojo was like every other dojo I have visited on this trip though. Very friendly, very welcoming and full of people of great sincerity, doing their best to practice our wonderful and I now realise diverse art of Aikido.
Immediately after the end of the seminar, I climbed into the VW and started on the long drive  from south-east California to the Pacific north-west. I managed to cover the approximate 1000 mile journey in 4 days. And what a 4 days it ways, mile after mile of spectacular drive up the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada's, passing from the Mojave desert into the high desert lands of western Nevada state.

I did have it in mind to head over to Lake Tahoe (I have been once before long ago and remember it to be very beautiful, however, just as I was about to turn off of US395, the van started to misfire, so I limped into Carson City, feeling very apprehensive about heading out into some of the vast distances between civilisations. Anyway to cut a long story short, a fairly cheap fix got me back on the road with my fingers and toes firmly crossed. 

Out of California into central Oregon, more great distance through high plains and stunning vistas, now with trees making an appearance. I spent my last nights camping on the side of Mount Hood and the following morning taking a long loop north and east into Washington and onto highway 410 to take me as close to Mt Rainier as I could get, stunning views!

So I finally arrived back, from where I set out. Somewhere between 4 and 5 thousand miles and around 18 different dojos visited. 

My visit has confirmed many things to me. American people are incredibly open, friendly and welcoming folk. My experiences have been overwhelmingly positive. I was offered amazing hospitality and I know that I have made friends who will remain so.

From an Aikido point of view, I appreciate all of the teaching that I received. The West Coast has some excellent teachers and there is a great variety of styles and affilliations to choose from. Many aikidoka (particularly in the Bay area) are spoilt for choice. And one thing that I am aware my American friends love is the concept of choice! I thank all of the Sensei that I met and who were so welcoming, and all of the students I had the pleasure of practising with.

All of this exposure to such variety of practice, also makes me appreciate my own teacher Ken Williams, as I feel that I was more than able to cope with what I encountered. I feel very fortunate to have had such a good aikido education.

I'm sure my learning is not over yet. I feel that over the coming weeks and months I will be processing all of this great experience. Hopefully it will all sink in and ultimately emerge in the future aikido I embody and attempt to teach to my own students.

Where and when that will happen, is in no way clear to me yet, as I am still in travelling and exploring mode. After I get back to the UK and reconnect with loved ones, family and friends, I will be off on the road again. 

I will endeavour to keep updating my blog, from wherever I go... so keep looking for updates, but don't hold your breath!

I return home a happy man, having spent just under 3 months, doing what I set out to do. I have rekindled old friendships and made valuable new ones. America is a beautiful country and great to travel around. I hope to return before too long.

Thanks also to all those who have taken time to read my ramblings, particularly those who have left encouraging comments.

A special thanks to those who put me up in their homes on the way, Allen Beebe, Janet Rosen, Gary Welborn and Corky Quakenbush, your hospitality is appreciated. 

To everyone I met, if you ever find your way over to my neck of the woods, you are most welcome to visit me (I'll let you all know when I have finally stopped moving!).

Cheers everyone, keep smiling and enjoy your practice!

Mark]]></body>
	<date>09-06-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4602">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #7 9 days in the LA Lab]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Blog #7

I write this entry whilst sitting in the Joshua Tree National Park. After a beautiful desert sunset, the moon is up and the stars are starting to appear. The day began with breakfast in amongst the Mojave yuccas, Joshua trees and countless other desert plants that are covered in sharp points. Before I'd even got to finish my cooking, I had been joined by an Antelope ground squirrel, who once he'd got over his initial shyness, spent the best part of an hour, trying to find a way into my van. He was very persistent, trying each wheel arch in turn, then finally settling on jumping up onto the front fender, scrabbling up the spare wheel and doing his best to get through the windscreen. Whilst all this attempted burglary was going on, I saw some Gambel's quail, a Black tailed jack rabbit, a humming bird, some cactus wren and a road runner. A nice start to a very  quiet and peaceful day. 

I had fully expected to be gasping from oven like temperatures, but to my very pleasant surprise, it rained! The first rain that I had felt since just before Independence day. It was great to feel the liquid drops on my body. Only a few light showers though and the clouds kept the temperatures down to a pleasant heat for most of the day.
All this is a nice contrast to the last week or so in LA. 

When I set out on this trip, I was determined to have an open mind to every type of practice I came across. Figuring that there is wisdom in the old martial arts adage of trying to cultivate a beginners mind. I was also hoping to meet someone who would 'open my eyes' a bit, and if I met that person, stay and try to learn what they are doing. Well 9 days with Corky Quakenbush, practising what he is doing, completely fit the bill.

I am sure you all dying to know the detail of my practice, which I will come to, in due course. I feel that first I need to give you a little of my understanding of where Corky is coming from. If I may be so bold as to coin a new phrase, I believe that the what and the how of what he is doing should be seen as 'Post Modern' Aikido. If we are to accept the voices of quite a few out there who say that Modern Aikido was born through the 2nd Doshu, Tohei and others and that 'pre' Modern Aikido was everything before, then Corky's method could well come to be seen as the development of a new and valid approach to learning the fundamental spiritual elements of Ueshiba's art.

Corky had an experience after eighteen years or so of practice, which caused him to rethink his relationship to aikido, what was being practised  and how it was being taught.  He felt that the focus of 'conventional' aikido was all about nage and what nage was to do to uke. This can often be, depending on the relative hard/softness of the style, quite 'violent'. The end result of a typical aikido encounter is usually a projection or an immobilisation, uke having little choice but to protect themselves in the process. He was left pondering the question, "if Ueshiba said that aikido is 'the loving protection of all things' then where is the manifestation of that in conventional practice?" 

He saw the role of uke as being the primary player. It is uke's attack that has to be present to make aikido happen. He felt that a great deal of the attacks offered by uke in standard practice are not really attacks at all. Static grabs without a desire to control nage's centre are a case in point. He felt that the real valid attack is only when uke commits to a spear-like attempt to control nage's centre in some way. This could be manifest in any number of different, grabs, strikes, blows or shoves etc. 

Now, what is it that forces someone to attack another in this way? Well Corky's understanding is that the attacker is in some way, trying to connect or re-connect with their own centre or source via nage's centre. 

Where Corky's method is different from conventional aikido as I understand it is, his approach is coming from the study of energetics. This doesn't exclude the physical, as the physical realm is the means by which the energies are felt. In fact the attacks are a very real and pointed threat to nage's centre. The difference is in the resolution of the attack that the real exploration is manifest. By accepting the attack fully, maintaining centre and connection to uke, and extending ki (or as Corky labels it 'benificent intention'), then the dynamics of the encounter are transformed and an 'aiki' resolution is found. As uke continues their attack on nage's centre, they find themselves going to ground, the difference with this and conventional aikido, is that uke is completely 'supported' by nage, all the way to the floor.

It is this concept of supporting or looking after the attacker's needs, despite their intention, that I feel is reaching for the true meaning of Ueshiba's "loving protection of all things" and is a tangible way of really connecting with the concept of  'budo is love'.

I'm not sure if I have done justice to Corky's method in my short explanation above. What I will say is, I am convinced that this type of practice is absolutely valid in the broader world of aikido study. It is certainly different, in that there are no recognisable techniques to perform as such, having said that, often a spontaneous happening of a recognisable technique can happen. Not having technique to fall back on is the biggest challenge to anyone approaching this new way of practice. I found myself quite lost at times, during practice, when all I had was the quality of my intention to rely on, rather than 'making it work' with something I knew.

If anyone reading this is interested to find out more, then I am sure Corky will be happy to speak to you, with a clearer explanation, or a with a view to sharing through practice at his dojo or yours. He has a number of vids on youtube (some with yours truly involved), where you can see some aspects of what he is doing. This link will take you to one of them: You can also reach him via this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oy_ek6ItOLc 

Corky has developed a system of teaching to introduce beginners to a variety of 'stretches' and 'spots', which help them understand the physical shapes, movements, postures and footwork required to make best use of the energetics practice. This is being built on all the time, from the work they carry out in the 'Lab'. This in itself is very different to the conventional approach of some dojos I have visited, where it feels that the waza practice is like a fly preserved in amber, something that must remain the same for all time. I like the idea of evolution through time and constant questioning of the status quo.

Let me say that Corky is great fun to train with. He is completely committed to discovering the truth in each encounter, including uncovering his own shortcomings. He has a wicked sense of humour and an uncanny ability to mimic people and their speech patterns. During his attacks, he is liable to slip into various characters,  the desperate drunk or pan-handler, the panicking bystander, the aggressive motorist etc. He can completely mind-f**k you with these antics, which have you searching around for the right response. Through the practice, it is revealed that the only true response is the outpouring of ki/benificent intention/unconditional loving support, which seems to miraculously transform the encounter in the blink of an eye, from one of confrontation to resolution.

Some may well feel that this 'spiritual' approach somehow leaves behind the physical/martial aspects of aikido practice. Trust me, this could not be further from the truth. I haven't felt anywhere as near under so much pressure in my aikido journey so far.  

So thanks to Corky for an enlightening 9 days of practice, and some great hospitality. Thanks also to his students Joyce, Jim, Steve, Ethan, Rene etc for making my practice so challenging and enjoyable. 

What I came away with, that has been hugely beneficial to me is this -- We practiced "flooding the system with ki" which is tapping into the 'source' of all life from the big bang on, when this is expressed, all is transformed. Now my biggest breakthrough is that, I now understand that internal conflict can be transformed in the same way. If I am troubled by my thoughts (and I am quite good at doing this, as I imagine most of us are), if I accept what is and 'flood the system' with ki/benificent intention etc. then all the negative energy is transformed. This insight alone is worth its weight in gold to me.

It is something I will be practising for many years to come. 

How all this will change or alter my practice of aikido will remain to be seen. But once you have seen/experienced something of this magnitude, you can't just ignore it, well not if you want to be true to your own search for meaning and truth.

So, now I am off to a Seminar with Saotome Sensei in Redlands CA. I will write about this in my next and final blog on this American West Coast adventure.

So till then...stay safe and keep smiling...]]></body>
	<date>08-24-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4588">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #6 LA and points beyond]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Blog #6

After finally getting my head clear, by being thrown around by Pacific Ocean waves, rather than Aikidoka, I begin Blog #6. This is my most interesting one to date (for me, anyway).

After a relatively short drive along the coast from Santa Barbara, I finally made Interstate 10 in Santa Monica, which took me to the mid Wilshire district of the city of LA. I was there to meet Corky Quakenbush, who I had wanted to meet, since Graham Christian had sent me a Youtube link of him, over 18 months ago. I had found the videos very interesting, and wrote to Corky to tell him so. We exchanged a couple of emails, and I said I would see him, when I made it down this way.

I remember speaking to Allister Gillies (a UK aikidoka and occasional contributor to aikiweb) at one of Dan's Seminars in London. He had trained with Corky in Japan when Sunadomari Sensei was still alive. Allister was a student of my teacher (Ken Williams) for a number of years, until around Nidan/Yondan I think. He said that Sunadomari was one teacher that he felt, who was even softer with more power than Sensei Williams. Personally, I would have loved to have felt that for myself. 

Anyway, back in LA, I found Corky's place, and within a short time of my arrival, was on the mat training with him and Joyce, one of his students. 

Now, it is going to be quite difficult for me to give a proper account, of what occurred in the following hour or so, that we practised. One of the qualities I feel I have, is the ability to adapt to what is being trained on the mat, very quickly. But Corky's method of training took me a little by surprise. I knew from his video's and from his website, that he is doing something that does not involve practising formal waza. Rather, he is operating a lab/experimental practice, that is fully focussed on the spiritual tenets of O'Sensei's teaching. This is why I wanted to meet him in the first place. What I fairly quickly found out was that, my 'training' in particular techniques, was often the thing that got in the way of the effortlessness of Corky's method. He is pursuing the formless (hence, no waza) resolution of conflict, in a way that I have not encountered elsewhere. 
Anyone who has practiced with me will know that I will follow a technique with ease, however, I  wont take a fall unless the technique is applied cleanly. We practised with attacks fully focussed on dominating tori's centre, often with unorthodox grabs applied to the whole arm, or sometimes even grabs to the throat. 

The big difference between what I am used to, and what Corky is doing, is in that I was wanting to 'do' something to uke (which sometimes met with failure), and he was wanting let uke know that he was there, full of 'compassion' helping him to find a way back to themselves. Which as long as uke continued their attack on tori's centre, usually ended up on the mat. Rarely was there a recognisable aikido technique used, only connection and a correct mental/spiritual feeling extending to uke. There is much more to say about what is being done, but I am going to leave my attempt to explain more fully, once I have spent more time in the LA lab/dojo

Now, this may all sound a bit baffling, and it is, at least to me. I thought I was soft in .my application of aikido. But after a few minutes with Corky, I realised that if my limbic system is triggered (which it almost never is, in my regular practice) I can be as 'pushy' as the next man.  

We sat up late into the night talking and drinking tea. I was glad that my instinct had brought me to this meeting. I know I may learn some profound lessons from this very interesting fellow. 

We practised more of the same and many more variations, the following morning when there were a few more students present. 

I left in plenty of time to make it down to Seal Beach and Dan's informal Friday night beach practice. 'In plenty of time' has a whole new meaning in LA, it was only about 20 or so miles down to Seal beach, but LA freeway driving is worse than the M25 London's orbital motorway. 2 hours of stop start driving...yuck! 

It was good to see Dan again and good to meet Gary as well. The beach session was fun and not too taxing, a nice start to the weekend.

The seminar itself was the same but different, from those I had experienced in London. As has been pointed out on the form thread, there was much more focus on detailed explanation, lead by questions from the floor. This suited many if not most of the participants. Personally, I would have preferred a bit more paired training, but that is a minor gripe, I was happy to soak up the detail along with the rest of the folk there.

In some ways it was a difficult weekend for me. I was pretty exhausted from the previous almost two weeks of daily aikido practice and travelling. Plus I had just encountered a method of practice that had really piqued my curiosity. And while not completely completely different, the two methods were creating a mental tension, My mind was pretty occupied and Dan's formidable knowledge was was wanting to find it's way in as well.

Dan is a formidable fellow, a more consummate martial artist I have not yet met. He has an excellent model for achieving the aiki body and a great way of teaching, plenty of humour and a total focus on transmission of what is needed to be done to achieve progress.
Anyone reading this, who may be considering the possibility of going to see Dan, I suggest you beg, borrow or steal the time and money and go and get some hands on time with him. He may be the closest you ever get to Ueshiba's aiki.

Having said that, I am looking forward to my return to spend more time with Corky in his lab, to explore the more spiritual/philosophical approach. So I'll write up what occurs, once it has.

Anyway, a special thanks to Gary Welbourn for being such a great host for Dan's weekend and for insisting that I sample some of his fine Tequilas. Absolutely superb, up there alongside the best single malts, mmm...

So after all of that focus on training, I definitely needed to take some time to decompress and spend some me time.

Fate, in the shape of a set of broken points on my bus, washed me up on the beaches of San Clemente, where I write this blog. It is a neat little town (the Spanish Village by the Sea), where I managed to kit myself out with a bodyboard and some fins. So a few days of surfing and reading are doing a great job of restoring me back to relative sanity.

I did nip down the freeway to Oceanside on wednesday evening, to visit Micheal Hackett's home dojo (Aikido of North County). Unfortunately the head teacher was unable to make it, but the class was ably lead in his place by Sensei 'Ron' one of the senior students there. This was the first AAA dojo that I have attended. This was also the first dojo to run through a similar set of aiki taiso exercises during the warm up, that I have been doing for many years. The class itself was all focussed on Jo exercises. All of which were new to me, so I am happy to add those to the ever growing grab bag of new variations that I have picked up on this trip.

So, as I sit on the beach, watching the pelicans, dolphins, surfers and the bikini clad californian girls go by. I am left pondering the dilemma, “to waza or not to waza?” that is the question. Where this aikido journey will lead me I am not quite sure. It certainly is interesting. My focus will remain on searching for the truth in both the practice and myself.

I'll let you know how I get on....]]></body>
	<date>08-10-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4582">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #5 Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Blog #5

So I made it down to Santa Cruz via Hwy 35 and a nostalgic visit to Alice's Restaurant (where you can get anything you want!). 20 years ago I had pulled up there on a motorcycle, along with many many others, showing off their mean machines, still ticking with heat from the thrashing along the skyline drive. This time I burbled up in my air-cooled VW and sunk a creamy topped hot chocolate (how times have changed).

Friday evening class at the Santa Cruz dojo was lead by it's chief instructor Sensei Linda Holiday. This was a well attended class of about 25, with a mix of grades. As usual I am writing this days after the event, so I don't remember the names of all the techniques practised Suffice to say, I enjoyed the practice as usual and Sensei Holiday's calm, knowledgeable and focussed teaching style. When doing her rounds of the mat, I practised with her a few times, nice aikido, soft and direct. After the class I spent some time talking to her, as she expressed a fair interest in my lineage and aikido in the UK. I decided to stay for the following morning's class which would also be taken by her. Besides, Santa Cruz is a nice place to hang out for a while, I might even make a weekend of it.

Saturday class was started with some misogi exercises that had learnt during her time in Japan. The class then followed a similar format to the previous evening, although this time, there were more kokyu projections, an exercise I always enjoy to both give and receive, they were similar to my own practice and I couldn't help myself reverting to the leading -- virtual no touch throws that I am accustomed to. There were a few surprised smiles from the ukes as they rose from the mat.

After class, Peter Sol one of the dan grades there, asked me if I would like to join him on visit to a couple of 'pot luck' parties, later on that day. This I was happy to agree to, and drove off to the beach to while away the afternoon with my kindle (I have just discovered a writer that I can't get enough of -- Christopher Moore -- recommended to me by the Deadhead in the VW back up on the Oregon coast, remember him?). 

So I picked Peter up and off we went. The first party was fairly quiet and conventional, but I had a nice time chatting to some interesting folk. The second party/gathering was pure Santa Cruz Ca. We arrived slightly late, so the eating had been done and all present had moved into a large Yurt, we were encouraged to join them. Luckily we found places by the wall close to the door. The chap who's birthday it was lead the gathering, by starting off with some 'heartsong' accompanying himself rather ineptly on the guitar, everyone (apart from me) seemed to join in the singing of the rather uninspired, simple, repetitive lyrics (at this point I thought of poor old Charlie Parker turning in his grave). Anyway, I thought, it's the old guy's birthday, give him a break. I hate to sound so disparaging, but there is such a fantastic body of brilliant music that we are all privileged to have access to, my ears just can't take much in the way of 'new age' wiffle waffle). Most of the throng did their singing from the lying down position, where they all seemed to be cuddling and/or stroking everyone else. I was starting to feel that I was observing a weird mating ritual, luckily the throng remained clothed at this point.
 After a short video, which featured a brief section of a talk given by a youngish German philosophical type, in which he seemed to be saying that there are two types of people, those that are 'givers' and those who are not. And it is the givers who are on the higher plane, they are the ones to lead us into the brave new world. This seemed to please the writhing throng as there were mm's of agreement. I just thought, that they are in the us (we are the chosen ones) camp, and the rest are not. There was talk of the need to build community (as if this is some new idea). I managed to make a break for the relative cool of the dark forest night and a thoroughly unenlightened Camel cigarette. Which I smoked with relief, knowing that I had escaped the semi naked dancing that was now starting up in the Yurt. Overall I enjoyed the experience for it's pretentious theatre, but I come from Totnes, this type of thing is old hat there.
If you are reading this Peter, I hope you don't think I am ungrateful, I enjoyed it and thank you for the experience. I was just a little thrown by feeling that I had stepped into a time warp, where people feel like they are at the cutting edge, but are really just stroking each others rainbow coloured opinions.

So back to Aikido- The Sunday morning class was lead by Sensei Aimen Al-Refai. Who is normally in charge of the youth programme. A very enjoyable class, I liked the humour (which my own teacher has used so effectively over the years) and the focus on intent. Nice clean lines and dynamic movement. Sensei Al-Refai mentioned that he had been instructed by Sensei Holiday to ask if I would like to teach a section of the class. This I felt was both an honour and a pleasure. So I demonstrated a few exercises from my repertoire, Shihonage from both static and dynamic, then a Shomenuchi kokyunage. My emphasis was on leading the mind ahead of the body. My footwork and approach was different to theirs, but everyone threw themselves into the practice, and I thoroughly enjoyed going round making adjustments and demonstrating the principles. Aterwards, I had many thanks and words of enjoyment of what I had shown. It made me stop for a moment and reflect on the raison d'etre for my trip. I simply love to teach. However, I have more to learn, and as far as I can make out, a teacher who stops learning is short changing his/her students.

Peter and I had some time to discuss different teachers we had both experienced, he mentioned that on of his preferred teachers was teaching on Monday evening, and suggested I join him there. This I did, and so I met Sensei Glen Kimoto one of the dojos most senior teachers. He is a delightful and humble man, I really liked his energy and approach, as well as the bokken work he showed. He too passed the class over to me for a while and a couple more exercises from the Brit visitor. 

I left Santa Cruz feeling tired (9 sessions in 7 days) but happy, nice place, nice people, lovely dojo, the longest I had stayed anywhere so far, thanks to all there, for making it such a pleasant stay.

Anyway, a short drive down the coast saw me in Monterey. After a pleasant afternoon strolling around the marina and fisherman's wharf, I turned up at Aikido of Monterey and a session with the dojo head Sensei Danielle Smith. Sensei Smith had been recommended to me by Sensei Hendricks. It seems that most of the long term teachers on the West Coast have trained with each other at some point. The Monterey dojo is one of the most beautiful, It has a wonderful light from the large windows at one end and a pristine white mate, which gives a nice feeling of air and space, the dojo is by no means large, just a lovely space to train in. The class was fairly small, with one other dan grade, a junior dan grade preparing for his full shodan, a couple of kyu grades and a brand new student (still with all the starchy creases in her gi). Sensei Smith lead a class appropriate for the mix, calling on me to help her with the rolling practice for the students by us projecting them repeatedly. Sensei Smith teaches with great empathy and care for precision. 

After a sleep and pretty foggy drive along the Big Sur coast (spectacular!) and nearly running out of gas. I discovered how supply and demand works in the land of free market capitalism. They wanted over $6 a gallon, so filling up the minimum, to get me to the next hopefully cheaper pump, I finally made it to Santa Barbara and the Dojo of Sensei Lia Suzuki. 

Sensei Suzuki's class was very interesting, most/just about all that I experienced, was new to me.
The warm ups, the ki-ai's, the Shoto (a small bokken which I guess represents a wakazashi) work (I'd never even seen one before, let alone practised with one). This I really liked, as I felt being completely outside of my normal frame of reference was a great learning experience. The movements were much more linear than I have ever experienced. However, it was Sensei Suzuki's shear gusto, brio and elan in the way she performed the techniques that won me over. A mentally and physically challenging session, phew!

Afterwards I was invited to sample some of the local Brewhouse ale (A custom that we observe almost religiously in the UK). I spent a very pleasant evening, talking aikido, eating some lovely food, and drinking said ale, with I must say, delightful company, Thank you Lia.
 
One of the topics of conversation prompted by me, was the high proportion of Dojo's headed by accomplished women aikidoka, that I had visited on the West Coast. Just an observation, for which I and she had no real explanation for, it is just the way it is.

It was late when I returned to my van, and my desire to get my head down, I didn't drive around too much looking for the right place to sleep. So I awoke with a parking ticket and a fine to pay. Oh well, an expensive mistake I won't make again.

Off to LA and a meetings with Corky.... and Dan...

more later...]]></body>
	<date>08-02-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4576">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #4 Bouncing around the Bay]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Blog #4

So, after taking a wrong exit off of the very confusing freeway intersection. I took a long detour over the Oakland Bay Bridge and a double back on the Merlin(?) Island. I managed to avoid the toll, by being completely flumoxed by the signage and drove down a lane reserved for those that have paid. I have no idea if I was caught on camera, only time will tell.

I finally arrived at Aikido of Berkeley, was invited in and another practice began. Sensei Feder lead the class. I liked what she was doing.  She has a great energy and enthusiasm in her style of teaching. Sensei Feder seems to have a fairly eclectic style having trained widely. Anyway, she was very clear and concise in her descriptions and demonstrations.

As usual, I got to train with just about everyone on the mat. In all of the dojo's I've visited so far, they have followed the same pattern. A technique is demonstrated, students pair up and the exercise practised for a short space of time. The teacher then demos again, usually another technique, a new partner is found, and the cycle repeated.

This is different to the way I have been accustomed to. I have been used to less frequent changes of partner and more study of the technique being demonstrated. When I return to teaching, I will definitely take some aspect of this way home, but not all. I think the changing of partners more frequently, has the obvious benefit of everyone getting to practice with multiple partners. However, I think I will stick to my own rate of changing techniques and more focus on exploring the technique in more depth. The other reason is, that when more time is given to one exercise, I can visit each pair/group, watch what is being done and make corrections to their practice. 

Anyway, back to the practice in Berkeley. During the start of practice, I realised that my right shoulder and elbow, had been affected by the previous weeks daily Tennis game with Dee. Probably the 35 year lay off from the last time I'd played the game, didn't help. That coupled with a few throws executed with more effort than was required, and I had a case of pretty painful, tennis/aikido elbow. A nights sleep didn't do much to heal it.

Even so, I decided to take the 7.30 class with Sensei Brandon Williams. I reckoned that I could take care of my arm. Sensei Brandon's warm up routine was well worth the effort or the early rise and the minor discomfort of the apendage. He gave the class a constant commentary on precisely what to do with the body, the shifting of weight, the moving from centre, the balance etc.
Excellent teaching in my view.

Along with quite a few recommendations from the Northern dojo's, and an invitation from Rob Watson of Aikiweb. I headed for Sensei Pat Hendricks' place in San Leandro. I'm glad I did. Sensei Hendricks was very welcoming. This was my first opportunity to train in the more traditional Iwama Style, (although I believe that Kayla Feder's lineage is Iwama, the training felt the same as elsewhere, if not a little bit more linear in application), which I was looking forward to anyway. Sensei Hendricks inquired of my rank and lineage, she was interested in some depth, having just returned from a teaching trip to the UK, as she has some affiliated dojo's there. She has been the first teacher so far, to have been so formal . Up until now, most teachers have not enquired about my rank, and I have been happy to remain a ronin black belt. My Godan grade is only recognised by the Ki Federation of GB. As everywhere else I have trained, I was made to feel very welcome, but here, I was afforded a more 'elevated' status. It felt very polite and formal (but in a laid back California way).

The practice was good, the style less different than I had anticipated. Sensei Hendricks puts everyone through their paces, changing techniques often, directing partners together, making sure that students up for grading soon are getting what they need.  I managed to adapt fairly well, and every one was patient with me when all the techniques being called where in Japanese. 
The weapons class was particularly taxing on my learning capacity as nearly all the jo against jo katas were completely new to me. So I had to watch and follow the best I could.  

I slept close to the dojo as there was a class at 6.30 the following morning, which I managed to make, fuelled only by coffee. A much smaller class of course, mostly Dan grades. Sensei Hendricks lead the class, half open handed, half weapons. It felt good to get some training in so early in the day. 

A short drive over a very long bridge, found me over the other side of the Bay, I spent a relaxing day over by the Hetchy Hetchy water system20, reading and catching up on some writing. Later I headed into Redwood City in search of Aikido West and Sensei Frank Doran, who has been the most recommended teacher to see on my travels. I arrived early enough to attend the beginners class, which was being lead by one of the senior students there. Practicing with beginners, I find focusses my mind on what it is like to have a 'beginners mind'. It also helps me understand what is needed to help them move forward. As a teacher, I am always looking for the words and the exercises that are going to help students get the principles being demonstrated. One of the things that makes Aikido so fascinating to me, is that even the simplest actions, can take so long to really embody. Once there, you wonder why it took so long, but it seems to be a long process for just about everyone I have come across.

Anyway, Sensei Doran's class, was very well attended (around 30), the largest class I have attended. As he stepped onto the mat, He had the same dignified presence that I recognise from my own teacher. Maybe age has something to do with it, my teacher is over 80, Sensei Doran must be in his 70's. Either way, you had no doubt that here was someone who knew what they were doing. Interestingly, the first few exercises were demonstrated wordlessly, everyone just got on with it. I wondered if the whole class would be conducted this way. Luckily he started to give instruction in subsequent techniques, often using the bokken to demonstrate both the movement, intention and principles involved in correct execution. He seems to come across as quite stern and serious, but when he met me on the mat, he was very warm and welcoming, and any instruction given was accepting of the difference in style that I was in. 

Near the end of the class, we were working on sankyo which had a different start but a familiar end to me, anyway, I was really getting into the flow of it, having repeated it enough to let go of the steps. Sensei Doran happened to be behind me watching, I must have impressed him, as he said “that was beautiful”. 
  
So onwards and southwards. I am heading down the coast towards Santa Cruz and points beyond... I have squeezed in 5 sessions in 3 different dojos inside 3 days. And if I get my backside in gear and out of this wi-fi providing Starbucks, I might make the early evening session in SC.

I'll let you know in the next installment......]]></body>
	<date>07-27-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4575">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #3 From the coast to the valley.]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Blog No 3

Up early and over the hills to Ukiah, a beautiful but very winding drive from the misty cold of the coast, to the dry heat of the valley. At the first sight of sun, I found myself outside of my van, basking like a lizard, warming up my blood before dropping down to the valley floor and the welcoming faces of Janet (Rosen) and her partner Stu. A welcome shower, some cool drinks and much pleasant conversation covered most of Friday. 

On Saturday I travelled with Janet, down to The Wellspring Dojo in Santa Rosa, for a day seminar with Wendy Palmer. I was pleased to be able to do this, as I had read one of her books back along. The morning session was not aikido as such, rather a taster of the somatic work that Ms Palmer is engaged in with her wider client group. It was interesting, but not really new to me, as I had been doing similar work to this, with corporate clients back in the 1990's. The afternoon session was aikido, which was a pleasant session. Sensei Palmer is a very erudite, calm and graceful teacher. I managed to practice with just about everyone there (it wasn't a huge group). I had fun and enjoyed the day, it felt very 'Californian' though, which is not a bad thing, just very flavoured in the 'West |Coast' style. There were a few students there who practice with Richard Heckler, so they suggested I stop by their class on Tuesday, as Sensei Heckler would be teaching. This I decided to do.

On Sunday Janet and I cruised down to her home dojo, spending an hour or so, swapping techniques and practice methods. As we both have Tohei Sensei in our lineage, we found many similarities, as well as some differences in the way we train, cool.

I left Janet and Stu (and their great hospitality, thanks guys!) on Monday, and decided to head on down to Aikido of Marin in Fairfax, as they had a class on that evening. The class was lead by Sensei David Hawley. It was only a small group with 2 you young guys and one new older lady student. I had fun practising with the young guys, as they were into being thrown around quite vigorously. I also enjoyed practising with the new student, it reminded me of my own first practice. I also admire anyone of advancing years, who has the courage to take on this aikido practice. It is not the easiest thing to do or to learn. Just about everything is unfamiliar. So hats off to all new students everywhere.

Anyway, after another movie ('Ted' done by the makers of 'Family Guy' – crude but funny as expected) and a sleep, I headed back north to Petaluma. I spent a pleasant morning in a great music store, very nearly buying myself a new guitar. I managed to stop myself as I already have a good one back home, but it did make me realise how much I miss my musical mistress :(

The class that evening was at Sensei Heckler's ranch/dojo in Two Rock. I must say, it is a beautiful dojo, with some lovely views. The class was good, and Sensei Heckler is as good a role model for an Aikido teacher, as I have met. He exudes calmness and peaceful intent. He has a great bunch of students, who invited me to join them for a beer and pizza fundraising event after practice, which was great.

Then off to Modesto, to pay an old friend a surprise visit. I hadn't seen my friend Dee for over 16 years, when he came to visit me in the UK. I first met Dee in 1990 when I was travelling in Mexico, we became great friends, with us staying at his place in Bonny Doon (near Santa Cruz), when we travelled north. It was at Dee's place that my own aikido journey started. I was there one day on my own, just browsing the books on his shelves, when I came upon 'Aikido in Daily Life' by Koichi Tohei. Within a dozen pages of this book, I knew I had found my path. I told Dee that evening on his return, that I had found my path, and that I was going to practice this art, then teach it for the rest of my days. He was dumbfounded that I could make such a decision, I too had no real explanation for him. I just 'knew' that it was going to be this way. To this day, I still can't explain why I was hit with such certainty. But 20 years later, it still holds true.

Anyway, Dee was delighted by my surprise visit. I spent a great week with him and his lovely partner Mary Jane. Dee and MJ are 79 and 80 respectively, but they both live as much younger souls. Theirs is a life of quality and adventure. They still travel to Mexico every winter and cross the states every year to visit family on the east coast. They looked after me superbly :). 

I managed to practice at Aikido of Modesto for one session. Unfortunately, the head instructor was away on tour. However, the class was lead by a very competent guy (Brandon, I think). I had a pretty strenuous practice in the Modesto heat. I don't think I have ever done quite so many forward rolls as in that session! We did some Jo practice that was completely new to me, and some bokken practice that wasn't. I was asked to show them one of the bokken taking exercises that had spontaneously cropped up in practice. This I was happy to do. It is always good to be asked to show something, and the guys there were all open to new methods of doing things.

So time to leave the heat of the valley and head on back to the relative cool of the bay area. My first point of call will be Aikido of Berkeley, as many folk have recommended I meet Kayla Feder, so this I will do and let you know about in the next instalment.

To be contd....]]></body>
	<date>07-25-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4572">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog #2 Heading South on the North Coast]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[So, entry number 2, about time too.

Monday night practice at Aikido Ashland. Sensei Michael Friedl took the class. Michael epitomises the instant generosity of American folk, that had so surprised me when I first visited the US back in the 1970's. Within moments of meeting, he had offered me his dojo as a place to sleep and clean up, we hadn't even got to the changing rooms!

The practice was good, the temperature was still pretty hot (it had been in the 90's all day). So the doors were wide open and we all practised without hakama, wearing white belts. I liked this approach, but felt slightly at sea with each change of partner, as I didn't have the 'known' grade of the new partner to gauge things by. Not a problem though, each new person I feel is just another new colour in the kinaesthetic pallet. 

I learnt a number of variations of techniques I recognise. I am finding that my footwork is are where there is most divergence from my own habit. The hands are relatively easy to change, but my feet instinctively want to react in the way I know. Much of the footwork I have encountered over here, is of a more linear nature than I am used to. So I am aware that in learning, my mind is focussed in a different way than when I just 'do'. 

I have decided by this point to just practice and not try to remember everything, which is virtually impossible, given that everywhere I go, I encounter things that are being done differently (if even only slightly). I will trust that this varied exposure will find it's way out in my own aikido eventually.

I enjoyed Sensei Friedl's class and the friendly, informative atmosphere he creates. Anyway, I felt very welcome there.

I had decided to take the class the next morning, so having seen the showtimes earlier, I took myself off to the Cinema. I saw the new Oliver Stone movie 'Savages', which is pretty typical of him, stylish, sexy and very violent. Not to everyone's taste but I enjoyed it.

One of Michael's senior students (Shawn?) took the morning class. Not so many students, but to be expected for a midwek morning. I really enjoyed the warm up session that was conducted using the Jo, I want to incorporate some of those into my own. I also like the jo exercises we did, again mainly because of the difference to that which I am used to. I was also one of the first opportunities given to me to show the rest of the group 'my' variation of a technique. In this case we were working on what I know as 8th Form, which in English is a two handed grip in the one arm. I am still a neophyte on the Japanese terms for each attack. I'm not sure that I need to learn them either as I can get by perfectly well without.

After the session, James Irvine kindly offered to throw my gi in the wash with his. So we spent a couple of hours drinking 'real' English tea and chewing the fat over aikido and related subjects, while the kit was being done. James sent me off with a stash of teabags and some spare oil for my van, thanks James!

So, over the hills to the northernmost section of the California coast. Spent a night free camping on the beach where I was joined by another couple in a white VW Camper Van (theirs was about 25 years newer). We had a lovely fire on the beach, where fresh fish, corn, potatoes and stirfry, were cooked up, mmmm nice. The sunset and the lines of Pelicans skimming the waves were a magical backdrop to the fine dining.

First Aikido stop on the journey south, was at Acarta. I attended the class given by Sensei Peggy Ilene. Again, I enjoyed the practice (this is becoming a bit of a theme). This class was comprised of young and old, I practised with virtually everyone. The warm up routine was done very quietly, and there were quite a few yoga inspired stretches, which were, I feel, useful in preparing aikidoka for general practise. 

The class itself was a combination of slow study of basic movements, and later much more dynamic movement. Sensei Ilene gave clear instruction and was able to demonstrate the power that was inherent in the technique without using force. 

The common feeling for me by this stage, is that the footwork and mode of moving that I have learned so far, is different in many situations. So as I watch the technique being demonstrated, I am having to pay attention to what I don't know, as opposed to what I already do. So when I partner up with someone, my first rep, is usually focused on foot placement. I fully realise that when one is focussing on the what, how or why of technique, one is not doing 'aikido'. However, if I want a wider set of responses to any given situation, then this vital stage can not be bypassed.

Also, I fairly big difference to the way I normally practice and teach, is the strength that is used in the grip made by uke. Many of the folk I have practiced with so far, use far more 'juice' than I would normally do. I personally have no problem in moving a uke who is 'clamping down', -  relax, extend, move centre etc. I know that the way hold is not the norm here, and some people find that they are 'clashing' in a way they are not used to. I certainly don't want to be a pain to anyone in practice, so I find myself adjusting in their favour, knowing that, the technique was not being executed as well as it could. All part of practice and no cause for concern or conflict.

Interestingly, when I practiced briefly with Sensei Ilene, her grip was of the kind that I am used to, relaxed and connected.

I did consider staying a couple of days to hopefully catch Sensei Tom Reed on the friday evening session, however, there was some question over whether he would be there, as his health was not so great. So I decided to move on down the coast the next day.

After my ubiquitous stop at Starbucks for caffeine and wi-fi, a google search showed up an Aikido class in Mendocino that evening. So I decided to make that, before crossing over the coastal range (again!) to meet Janet Rosen in Ukiah.

My journey south on 101 took me down through  'The Avenue of the Giants'. Spending time in the presence of these magnificent trees was a pure treat. To be with such old living things, is to be made to feel humble, and to reflect on ones own impermanence. So after a forest meditation, I continued south, feeling calm, refreshed and renewed by my short time with the mighty Redwoods.

I made it to the Mendocino dojo with time to spare. I waited for folk to arrive for the 7.00 p.m. Class, however, they never did. What did happen though, was a single guy turned up, who I introduced myself to. I discovered that his name was Adam and that he knew nothing about the Aikido class that was meant to be on. He was there as a practitioner of [B]Seibukan Jujutsu[/B]. He was planning on doing some solo weapons kata practice. He invited me in to watch and or join him on the mat,  to do some of my own solo practice. This we did for a while. Then we started a sequence of showing and practising with each other, a typical technique from our respective arts. This was incredibly useful for both of us. For me, I experience some of the real martial/battlefield roots of my own art. For Adam, I was able to translate some of what he was doing into a much more liquid/flowing movement, which he was fascinated by, as he told me that his focus in his personal practice was to move up to the 'water' level that he knows is in the higher level practice of his art.
So after a time of trading techniques, we spent at least half an hour of taking it in turns to attack each other and see what came out of the encounter.  I found this process both hugely enjoyable and invigorating. I have had little exposure to this type of training. Randori with other aikidoka, is not the same as someone throwing punches and kicks (Adam was proficient in TKD as well as Jujutsu). I was pleased with my own account of myself, Adam (I think) was surprised how effective the 'non-resistive' approach could be. 

I fell asleep that night pretty exhausted from the strenuous practice, and  happy with another door having been opened up in this interesting journey into aikido on the West coast.

To be continued.......]]></body>
	<date>07-22-2012</date>
</blogEntry>

<blogEntry id="4558">
	<title><![CDATA[Blog # 1 West Coast USA]]></title>
	<body><![CDATA[Well, finally, I can put some time in at the keyboard. I had intended to keep a diary of each days events, as they unfolded. But, I have come to realise that, quite often, my intentions  do not always manifest themselves in reality.

So a little like the pattern of the journey itself, I will write when I feel the urge, not when I think I should .

	I have been in the US for two weeks now. Much of the first 10 days were taken up with 	essential work on the old VW Bus that I had  won on ebay, before I arrived. 
I could probably create a blog just on the trials an tribulations of the “Twinkie” (as my old friends kids quite aptly named the white bus). However I am here supposedly to tell y'all about my adventures in aikido, rather than give you a running maintenance log on the V Dub. 

Having said that, if there is anyone out there reading this, who has  decent knowledge of the Type 2, 2 litre fuel injected van, then please make yourself known to me via PM, I may need to pick your brain at some point.

Anyway, back to aikido...

After a slow start, I managed to make it down to the very lovely dojo of the Two Cranes Aikido group, in NE Seattle. I managed to train there for three separate sessions, with three different teachers. More of this in a moment.

I know that some of you reading this, will be disappointed in my reporting style. I am not great on detail, and particularly not great on remembering the names of the techniques that were practised. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, it is going to take me a while to get used to all the Japanese terminology being used. I know this may seem odd for someone who has practised aikido for nearly 20 years. But my teacher preferred english wherever possible. We still used the Japanese terms for all the techniques e.g. Ikkyo, Nikkyo, Shihonage etc. but just about everything else, we used english. Secondly, I am just not that into fine detail (being an INFP an all). I am more comfortable with big picture stuff, purpose, flavour, feeling etc. However, I will try to discipline myself to drill down a little, but that will remain to be seen. 

If anyone wants the answer to a question, they feel I have left hanging in the air, please ask for some specific info, that will hopefully make me focus.

Back to Two Cranes... I was made to feel extremely welcome by everyone there. The dojo space itself is beautifully presented, and I could feel how proud the group were to be practising in such a pleasant environment. My first session was with Sensei Richardson, her style was very smooth, graceful and full of purpose, her communication was clear and direct. Although some of the footwork and movements were different to my own practice, I found it relatively easy to follow what was being done. Having said that, as soon as speed started to increase I found myself reverting to my own habits. This was not really a problem, as everyone I practiced with, both dan and kyu grades, followed the techniques well, trying to maintain connection throughout. I lost count of the number of different partners I had in the session, as we switched, every few minutes. This is something I will do more of, when I eventually get back to teaching my own group.
After the session I felt completely human again, as the previous week had been pretty stressful. I had left behind me, my girlfriend, my family, my friends and not least of all, my aikido teacher and my own students, all of whom, I had grown to love. To head out into the unknown.... 
So to be made so welcome and to have such a good first session, I felt was a good omen for the rest of my trip. One of O Sensei's sayings that means the most to me is “Aikido should be practised in a joyful atmosphere” (that might not be the exact quote, I told you I was not good on detail!). I have tried to maintain this in my own dojo over the years, and this was the feeling that I got from the two cranes people. 

My two subsequent sessions were a basic class with Sensei Jen Stoakes, and a more advanced class with Sensei Dan McAbee, both of which were equally as enjoyable as the first, however, the teaching style of both was to give less verbal instruction ( I cannot really compare, as one session is not enough to make any meaningful evaluation. ) I did not mind this, as I was just happy to be practising. As teacher myself, I have found that I love the role immensely, it feels like something I was born to do. I do however, miss the joy of continuous making ukemi and switching, there is something very liberating (not to mention fitness inducing) about being thrown and recovering with some gusto.

So my thanks to all of the two cranes crowd, I hope to revisit, on my return to Seattle on my way to the next leg of my trip.

I had hoped to meet with the Eastside Aikido group, but circumstances prevented me each time I made the attempt. I will try to see them also on my return.

To anyone else who may have invited me to train - Matt Gano et al, my apologies, I wish I had had less mechanical work to do and more time to be in touch.

So, van running relatively smoothly, I picked up a very old friend (my friend is not that old, I've just known her for a very long time) and headed south on I5. I stayed with my friend's daughter and her 2 very sweet granddaughters. 

I left them the following day to travel up to Portland to meet Allen Beebe. Dan Harden had recommended I seek out Allen on my journey south. After getting frustratingly mixed up with the US road numbering system, I finally made it to Allen's place, and spent a very informal but informative time with him, before he went off to do 4th of July things with his family. Allen invited me to meet his group to do some training with them. 

So after a day out, spent at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival, which I have to say was a real treat for me. The first couple of hours was spent in some dance classes. I had first come across 'Blues Dancing' as a separate dance form, when I discovered it by accident on youtube. I was immediately drawn to it, for it's sensual and expressive quality and the fact that it was specific to the blues music itself. Anyway, one of the instructional videos I had come across, was by a young couple from Portland Or. I made a vow that if I ever passed through Portland I would look them up. Well I'm not sure if I actually met the same people as in the video, but I am sure I had a great day of music, dance, and a fantastic atmosphere down on the waterfront. Not only that, the sun was out! Those of you in the rest of the US will wonder why that was such a big deal. Those of you from either Western Washington or Western Oregon or indeed anywhere in the UK, will know how momentus, that is, I seem to have been under permanent grey clouds for the past six months.

So this evening I am writing this blog, after a really great session with Doug Walker and Tom Wharton. I wont even begin to try and explain everything they ran through, in the hour and a half I spent with them. What I will say is, I am glad that I have practised my ukemi skills! The techniques we practised were precise and very effective. I thoroughly enjoyed the complete contrast to what I normally do, although I saw and felt enough of what I understand, to be able to make a decent attempt at what was being done. 

So I am going to fall asleep, pretty exhausted but smiling on Allen's dojo floor ( not so austere, as Allen has kindly provided me with a blow up mattress). After a kip, I will be up and ready for the Saturday morning session... more training.... then a trip out to the coast and my first glimpse of the Pacific ocean, for a long time.  To be continued.... 

contd... Well, I spent a really good morning session with the 'budo boys' of Portland, we were working exclusively on IS stuff. These guys are really serious about getting it. They really helped me see the progression, by gradual increasing stress. It is one thing to be doing standing solo/paired testing to get the model. Getting it to work under load is where it really starts to make sense. Particular thanks to Tom for his patience in our practice. Cheers guys, an awesome morning. I hope to see you if I get a chance, at the back end of my trip.

Two days of driving along the spectacular Oregon coast, and over the equally spectacular Klamath Mountains, finds me in Ashland. I could write much more on the social side of the drive – I met some really interesting folk along the way – An old hippie in a VW Bus, picked up two young musicians, who were walking from Tacoma to San Diego! and met some very colourful folk, high up in a mountain campsite.

I am looking forward to meeting Mike Friedl this evening, as he has been recommended by a number of West coast folk. 

I'll let y'all know how it goes when I reconnect, from somewhere in California.

Till then, 

regards,

Mark]]></body>
	<date>07-09-2012</date>
</blogEntry>


</blogEntries>