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Statistics |
| Unique Visitors: 0 |
| Total Unique Visitors: 3951 |
| Visitors Out: 2235 |
| Total Visitors Out: 3512 |
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| Update Your Bookmarks! |
| 2007-12-09 06:19:19 |
This will be the last post at this URL. Striking Thoughts has moved to its NEW HOME.
To read about the move and my usual long-winded posts, please visit me there. Oh and please update your links!
~BCP......
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| Blog Challenges and Self-assessments |
| 2007-12-08 06:40:20 |
Pat over at Mokurn Dojo has posted a challenge for martial arts bloggers. It’s essentially a strategic plan for your blog that’s based on a tried and true business model. Over break I may do this. However, in the next month look for Striking Thoughts to move to the WordPress hosted platform. After the move [...]......
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| Here it comes… |
| 2007-12-06 06:36:52 |
It’s looking like I’ll test for 1st dan the week of Dec. 17. I feel like I’m as prepared as I can be. I guess we’ll see how it goes the day of the test. The school test will be the harder of the two tests. So, with luck, before Christmas I’ll be 2/3rds a [...]......
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| Last teaching for 2007 (maybe) |
| 2007-12-04 06:51:56 |
From here ’til holiday break I should not have to teach anymore. Last night was the last class for 2007 that I have to teach (I hope). From here ’til the end my instructor should be back in the saddle.
I started class off by lecturing while they were stretching. Mainly I wanted to cover some [...]......
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| Training Slows |
| 2007-12-02 17:00:08 |
Due to end-of-the-year stuff at work and another busy weekend at home, my training has slowed. In a way it’s probably good because I notice that when I come back after short breaks everything seems better.
Case in point: I normally have a Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at-home workout. However, this weekend due to many commitments [...]......
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| All Things Mystical in the Martial Arts |
| 2007-11-29 18:43:30 |
Dojo Rat posted about the Occult Nature of Martial arts. His post generated some energetic feedback for sure. Readers of this blog probably know that I’m a self-admitted metaphysical naturalist.
Metaphysical naturalism is any worldview in which the world is amenable to a unified study that includes the natural sciences and in this sense the world [...]......
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| Spreading a Meme… |
| 2007-11-26 05:00:03 |
Chris at Martial Development asks that you help spread a meme by listing three embarrassing personal confessions. Here’s mine:
I’m my own worst critic. This is true in life and in taekwondo. My instructor knows this and it typically manifests itself when I demonstrate a form. I’m not sure if it’s lack of confidence or what [...]......
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| Getting Back at it |
| 2007-11-24 09:25:46 |
So the Pattersons drove to Cleveland for Thanksgiving. Aside from a really nasty cold the trip was restful and uneventful. It’s funny because I joke about my drinking habits. Well after this trip the reality is that I am anything but a hardcore drinker. I might have one or two drinks once a week but [...]......
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| I can’t feel my feet |
| 2007-11-20 07:14:09 |
I honestly think I may rename this blog to “I Can’t Feel My Feet.”
These are from last week. Sabum number one came from a fairly traditional school where you did not always wear protective gear during “light” sparring. Instructor number two came from a school that always had students wearing forearm, shin, and [...]......
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| Training report |
| 2007-11-20 04:57:29 |
Last night was the last practice until after Thanksgiving. We had a very small crowd which led to a much better practice. Having been in a commercial school 10+ years ago I really value our smaller class sizes.
I had to demonstrate another random form. This time I only made one small mistake. In addition, forcing [...]......
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| Head shots and tradition |
| 2007-11-18 08:27:35 |
My last post got me to thinking about the many debates concerning traditional martial arts. Again, that post was not intended to insult traditional martial artists. Many traditional ways of training still have value and are also combat effective. For me, I’m personally turned off by the over-emphasis on character building and discipline that some [...]......
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| Blast From the Past…Or is it? |
| 2007-11-16 23:03:34 |
Dojo Rat is running an excellent video series old school karate. Since a good part of my background hails from Korea’s interpretation of Karate, I’ve especially enjoyed the videos he’s posted.
Video one
Video two
Video three
Video three on Shotokan Karate is interesting for several reasons. In particular, my first experience in taekwondo came from a “McDojang” [...]......
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| Another injury… |
| 2007-11-15 04:15:09 |
Last night my instructor was running late so I kicked off class again. Even though we are preparing some people for testing I got tired of running the same drills. So, after *some* of the same drills I started to teach them some jumping kicks. Included on the menu were the jump front snap, jump [...]......
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| Martial Arts Blogs @ Toplist |
| 2007-10-21 13:31:35 |
I’m pleased to report we now have 60 martial arts blogs on Toplist. There is enough there now that I’ve decided to not allow commercial sites. Since the list helps promote blogs the commercial sites tend to take away from that. So, I went through yesterday and cleaned things up.
If you had a blog and [...]......
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| Books I’m Trying to Read… |
| 2007-10-20 23:18:38 |
Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief by Wolpert and Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon by Dennett.
Reviews to come when I complete each.
~BCP......
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| Training Report |
| 2007-10-20 00:47:18 |
Not much to report that’s significant. At work my lectures have stopped but now I’m rolling into my grading mode. I’m also covering a shift this weekend for one of my employees. So, Bob’s battered body gets some time to heal because he’s busy elsewhere.
I guess that’s the good news. I also get a break [...]......
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| VideoJug: Martial Arts |
| 2007-10-16 23:35:20 |
I recently received an e-mail from VideoJug that solicits a page ranking trade off.
We’ve recently produced a new feature that provides a prominent link to the ‘top 5’ referring websites from every single martial arts video. We have also recently created a huge number of new FREE videos on martial arts. So just pick a [...]......
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| Speed break 1, Patterson 1 |
| 2007-10-16 12:45:09 |
Last night I tested a round kick speed break and a ridge hand speed break on one hanging board. I tried the round kick with flat of foot and ball of foot and failed both ways. I thought for sure I’d break given the fact that I bow the heavy bag when I kick it. [...]......
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| The Legend of Bob Patterson |
| 2007-09-30 22:18:13 |
I had a recent email asking if Bob Patterson is my real name. It is not. After the bread and peanuts incident with Mrs. Esterhaus I now choose to use a pseudonym.
However, I thought some of you might like to know how Bob Patterson was created. “Bob” comes from a previous boss who would always [...]......
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| LibGuides |
| 2007-09-29 14:52:09 |
I generally try to avoid writing about things related to my job because I already spend about 50 hours a week being a librarian. Yes, I went from being a correctional officer to a librarian. Why? Short version: A bad day in the library is still better than a good day in the joint! One [...]......
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| Back in the Saddle |
| 2007-09-29 02:33:02 |
I just ended hell week. It started last Friday with the Red Bull Express trip to Cape Cod. Then I had a total of 11 lectures over a three day period. It could have been 13 but my friend and colleague covered for me by taking two that I had scheduled for Monday. Finally, I [...]......
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| The O.J. Circus |
| 2007-09-21 11:27:26 |
Right now the only thing worth reporting about the OJ Circus is the fact that Jimmy Kimmel got one over on most all the major news networks. He sent his plant, comedian Jake Byrd, to the press conference on Wed. with a “I heart OJ” hat and shirt that read “OJ O7″. Faux News ranted [...]......
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| Fighting a Charger and Other Announcements |
| 2007-09-20 20:39:04 |
We have a bunch of new members which is really good. I think a couple are serious enough right now to stick it out. One of our students from Spring 07 is progressing well too. Last night I watched my instructor spar against this person and noticed that they have become a charger. This person [...]......
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| Koryo |
| 2007-09-16 16:47:46 |
As part of my post-1st gup busy-work this weekend I updated my training hours. I need a minimum of 288 training hours before I can test for my 1st dan. I am currently at 280 official hours and probably well into the 300s if you count the time I put into this at home. I [...]......
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| National Black Belt Test |
| 2007-09-09 15:14:48 |
My instructor gave me a copy of her old testing requirements. I essentially have two tests to prepare for. The first is at my home school and will be harder. The second is before the board of masters and follows the aforementioned “national” requirements which are hard enough. Here’s the breakdown:
Horse riding stance basic punches [...]......
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| In the Beginning… |
| 2007-09-08 17:46:06 |
I just finished reading Joseph Ratzinger’s In the Beginning: A Catholic Understanding of the Story of Creation and the Fall.
Library Journal sums it up well in one sentence:
The readable but challenging meditations attempt a balance between extremes of fundamentalism and rationalism.
Here’s what I surmise of Benedict’s thinking. First, he supports a form [...]......
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| Sparring with Benadryl |
| 2007-09-06 13:06:42 |
Indiana is under an allergy attack. I’m on my second year of immunotherapy due to being tested and told that I’m “highly” allergic to dust, pollen, and mold. The shots are actually helping and I appear to be handling the pollen spike better than some I know who are not allergic. However, last night things [...]......
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| Balance |
| 2007-08-19 14:52:32 |
Something has got to give…
Balance is central to all martial arts. It’s also a good metaphor for life.
Balance, indeed, is a fundamental idea in Taoist philosophy. The philosophy of the Tao has a basic respect for the balance of nature. You don’t upset that balance. You try to find out what it is and go [...]......
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| The No Asshole Rule |
| 2007-08-18 01:12:43 |
A review of The No Asshole Rule by Robert Sutton.
Robert Sutton is a professor of management science and engineering at Stanford University. His recent book has received high praise in many of the typical publications that review new books. According to Sutton, an asshole is one who humiliates, belittles, or de-energizes a colleague or coworker [...]......
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| Beer Drip |
| 2007-08-16 13:04:18 |
After seeing Dojo Rat’s guest post on TDA Training all I can wonder is if they make one of these in a vodka bottle?
What concerns me even more is where they got the hospital gurney? I’m not even going to speculate as to what Dojo Rat may do to Chris Clean.
~BCP
Technorati Tags: martial arts, [...]......
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| Human Weapon: Karate |
| 2007-08-04 15:21:37 |
This week the Human Weapon featured Karate. The stars traveled to Japan to train in a modern form of Karate known at Kyokushin. This style appears to be a blend of Shotokan (linear) and Goju Ryu (circular). However, it is very much a “hard” style of karate. Apparently the founder of this style studied both [...]......
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| Patterson Gets Invited… |
| 2007-08-04 01:01:08 |
The TDA Training blog gets some Striking Thoughts…
Go check it out!
~BCP
Technorati Tags: TDA Training, martial arts......
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| 94 degree heat |
| 2007-08-03 13:29:43 |
Boy I felt every year of 40 last night. We are still training outside and it hit 94 degrees. We are in the shade but with that Indiana humidity last night was brutal. I came to class with neck issues. Occasionally I have bad neck days due to a cervical fusion (thank you 17 years [...]......
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| Blitz Kata |
| 2007-07-28 18:16:22 |
Since I posted the shuffle kata last week (brown belt and above) I thought I’d be incomplete if I did not post the intermediate blitz kata (green belt and below). Both are non-traditional katas designed for tournaments.
The blitz is shorter and has elements that eventually show up in the shuffle kata. Due to the [...]......
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| Because the Pope says… |
| 2007-07-28 14:39:53 |
Exploring our Matrix has two posts from July 28 on the Pope speaking out about evolution. When I saw the reported news I considered a post of my own. However many blogs beat me to it including Matrix. Plus, if you search my archive I’ve beaten this topic to death and am getting tired of [...]......
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| The Value of Tradition |
| 2007-07-28 01:30:57 |
Nathan over at TDA has an interesting post on the value of traditional martial arts. It’s definitely worth a read. This made me think of some of the posts I’ve seen over at Martial Views regarding this very same topic. Again, all worth reading.
I have no issue with honoring certain traditions whether they be created [...]......
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| Korean Techniques via DJR |
| 2007-07-24 12:41:10 |
DJR found an interesting clip of some good joint lock techniques. Some of these techniques look very similar to some of our one-steps and self defense steps. I’ve posted about this before when I tried to figure out if some of our techniques were purposely selected from hapkido or if it was just an accident. [...]......
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| Wing Chun Wooden Dummy Form |
| 2007-07-22 18:56:20 |
The person I trained with in Wing Chun left the area some three years ago. He had the equivalent of a black belt in an “Americanized” version of Wing Chun. Long story short: He was a friend of a friend who was in the area for 18 months due to his job. I taught him [...]......
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| Human Weapon: Mui Thai |
| 2007-07-22 14:13:41 |
I just finished watching Human Weapon on the History Channel. Overall it was most excellent. The hosts are Jason Chambers (MMA background) and Bill Duff (football and wrestling background). The basic show formula seems to be going to a certain martial art’s country of origin and studying all aspects of it. The episode then culminates [...]......
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| Training Report |
| 2007-07-18 12:46:01 |
Rained out again! Only one more month and we have our studio back. Need it to rain in your area? Have your school practice outdoors!
I finally reviewed my instructor’s DVD or her black belt test. She was right: It did ease my nerves. I’d say 20% of the candidates stood out, a few were average, [...]......
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