What do you get a guy who has everything?

An Injured Calf...

As anyone who trains martial arts knows, if you train long enough and hard enough, sooner or later you get injured. Not sore muscles, or a tight hamstring, but really honestly injured. I believe I'm a victim of such circumstances right now.

Our martial arts school had a rather important grading this past Friday: the remainder of the students who are qualifying for our black belt exam in May had to perform, and I was quite pleased with my fellow candidates. During the test the three of us who are going for second and third degree black belts had to perform, specifically in forms, self-defense and breaking.

My forms went okay, and my breaking was partially successful (I broke all my boards, but my nice combination break suffered from a poor set up, and didn't come off exactly as planned, much to my hand's chagrin.)

It was during my self-defense test that SOMETHING happened. I'm still not sure exactly what it was that I did, but it somehow involved me injuring my calf. I've either severely sprained it, strained it or tore it just where the bottom of the interior muscle joins the Achilles tendon. I think it happened as I was locking down my 'opponent' when we were rolling on the mat. I was trying to keep him from getting top position and was maneuvering for a sweep when we ended up stalemated. He was pulling his leg in one direction and I had trapped my leg against his and was pulling in the opposite direction. My calf and Achilles was held at maximum extension for a REALLY long time, I think that's what caused the injury. I didn't feel anything really bad until after the grading was over (and the adrenalin dump was over with). I couldn't walk properly the next day, and today (Sunday) it is now beautiful array of colours from my mid calf to my ankle. It is still tender, although I can walk a bit more normally today.

This brings up the issue of training with injuries. As noted above, if you train long and hard enough you will get injured. You should try and avoid it, and when it happens you have to modify your training to allow your body a chance to heal -- but I have always felt that what you should not do is stop training.

The martial arts (at least the ones I study) are well suited for a variety of training regimens, and I have seen people in full leg casts still working on technique.

My concern with my injury right now is that it comes at an awkward time: I'm entering that final 7 weeks before my black belt test, and I was intending to pick up my cardio and sparring training substantially in the next few weeks. That's in danger because of my injured calf. There are a lot of things I can do, but running, quick kicks and explosive movements aren't on the menu.

Fortunately this is a short week at the dojo because of the Easter Break, so I was going to have a shortened training week regardless. I may see if I can see my chiropractor and get his advice on what he can do for me. I've been really impressed with the results I've gotten under his care over the last two years, and recommend him to anyone seeking relief from sports related injuries: he works with Canadian Olympians, and the focus of he and his partner's practice is on sports injuries. What's great about him is that he never talks about what you can't do, only what he can do to get you better.

If anyone is looking for a healer, check these guys out (my guy is Tim Marshall)

Arms Control

I read in the New York Times on Friday that the US and Russia had signed a new arms control treaty as a first step to retarting the START regime which expired last year. I have to say that this is one of the most important underreported pieces of news to have occurred in a loonnng time.

I realize that when it comes to politics, arms control has ceased to be a really sexy creature (if it ever was). It's understandable that issues like Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, not to mention US domestic squabbles like health care and financial ruin, push a little arms control treaty off center stage. BUT what it indicates to me is that the Obama administration has its priorities set correctly (which was never the case IMHO with Bush). The Cold War may be a distant memory to many, and in fact we now have an entire generation that has grown up without the Soviet Union, but that doesn't mean that the overwhelming nuclear arsenals that exist on the planet are not potential threats. Bush completely ignored these issues, choosing instead to waste American blood, treasure and political capital on a misguided adventure in the Middle East.

Controlling the nuclear arsenals of the world is even more important now than it has ever been, and I actually take a great deal of solace in knowing that the current US administration is actually focusing on these issues. I also take great solace in the fact that everyone involved is talking about this treaty in realistic terms: it is a first step to re-establishing a more comprehensive arms control regime that was withering, and sets up a framework under which the US and Russia can discuss points of friction like NATO expansion and missile defense. Reading about this made my day.

Book Club

So my book club met today. I was always a bit ambivalent about book clubs, but I've really enjoyed the one that I'm in. We have read a really wide variety of books, most of which I never would have read unprompted by them. Many have been completely unenjoyable, some middle of the road and some have been spectacular.

The one I enjoyed the most was the one we read last year:



Junot Diaz brought me a novel that transported me to an entirely different place. The language was challenging, the writing engaging and I was swept away by the story of Oscar Wao. My own past as a D&D playing, comic book collecting, nerdy high schooler played a huge role in my enjoying the novel. But that is only the hook. The real success of Diaz's prose is his ability to force his readers to accept a polyglot use of spanish, english and fanboy references that force you to think and move with the story.

I loved this book and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a read like none other. Enjoy.

Health Care

I used to live in Washington DC, and so am always interested in the goings on down in the States. For the last year I've been following with some amusement? bewilderment? astonishment? the incredible political process that has been acted out in DC over the issue of health care. I think most Canadians are a bit confused about what is going on -- never mind the byzantine process that legislation has to thread its way through in order to become law -- especially when it comes to the substance of the bill: you mean after all this you still are not going to cover everyone???

Politics in the US has become so vitriolic over the last fifteen years that I'm not sure whether or not there is actually a way of making the voice of the sensible middle of American society heard. Which is why I am in the camp of believing that Barack Obama is the best thing for the US right now. I don't believe he is a radical leftist as some would paint him, nor a closet conservative as others would as well. I think he is actually a true representative of the sensible middle road -- pragmatic, committed and determined. The starkest contrast between the opposing sides in this debate are captured in Paul Krugman's column in the New York Times today:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/opinion/22krugman.html?hp.

Obama essentially said that this was an issue worth staking a career over. I will follow his career with great interest. I really think that as Jon Stewart says, Obama is the Jedi Master playing 3-D chess in the dark with his opponents...

It Might Get Loud

Jimmy Page, The Edge and Jack White sit down to discuss the electric guitar, the creative process and their art and life with Davis Guggenheim, the director who brought us Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth.

First and foremost: if you have any interest in guitar centred music -- see this movie! and, make sure you see the DVD with all of the deleted scenes and commentary. BIAS Alert: I have been a true fanboy of Led Zeppelin for most of my life, and U2 was central to my high school experience, so I have a skewed viewpoint to evaluate this movie. That said...

I have been profoundly interested in how things work and how things are created for all of my life. For that reason alone, this was a movie I wanted to see from the moment I heard about it. These three artists share their ideas about the impact that this instrument has had on their lives and art. They speak in very open terms about their lives and the events that have shaped them. You also get to see the sheer joy that music brings to them (in different ways for each of them).

It is also incredible to see the range of music that can be created by three men with very different perspectives on art and sound and life. I loved this film, and was really grateful that my sister gave it to me for my birthday.

The movie intersperses audio interviews with all three men with clips of their music, stories about their lives and a 'summit meeting' of the three guitarists sitting down in a warehouse studio to talk, jam and share their perspectives on art and music.

Some of the coolest scenes are the ones where the three artists jam together: someone shows off a favorite guitar, or plays a lick and the others watch, fascinated until they start playing along with the lead. The best scene is the look on the faces of The Edge and Jack White when Jimmy Page steps up and plays Whole Lotta Love -- they are in complete awe and I imagine the whole crew at that moment was captivated by what they were seeing. Then imagine you are Jack White and Jimmy Page wants to learn how to play Seven Nation Army! Jack looks completely giddy afterwards.

My only complaint with the movie is that I would have loved to have seen more of the 'Summit' scenes. I'm sure there must be enough film to cut a whole other movie with just those clips, and I would pay to see it.

Davis Guggenheim has done an impressive job in bringing this film to screen. I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy it.

Training Day

This morning (like most Saturdays for the last 5 years) I got up a 5:30 am to train a group of people preparing for their black belt testing at DeSantos Martial Arts Studio here in Toronto. Today we decided to move our training session down to the R. C. Harris Water Treatment Plant (the Waterworks).

This is truly one of the most spectacular venues in the city to visit, and even better to train at. There are challenging hill runs, stairs and plenty of open flat terrain to work sprints, footwork drills, body weight exercises and partner drills. The hill on the far eastern side provides a great mental challenge as well for the group that is training with me. Here's a bit of what we do:


Training has become an important part of my life -- both in terms of my own health and evolution as a martial artist, and in terms of the sense of fulfillment I get from training others and watching them improve.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend taking the time to visit the Waterworks. It is an incredible example of Art Deco Architecture and the facade is currently being restored. If you can, visit at dawn and watch the sunrise over the eastern part of Lake Ontario. It's also kind of cool on a foggy night, which is why it's been used in several films as the 'evil lord's castle'.

Why a Blog?

On the advice of someone I respect alot, I am starting a blog. My friend seemed to think that people would be interested in what I had to say about many different things.

I chose Five Rings as a title because I have always been fascinated by the martial arts and the people who practice them. In 17th century Japan a samurai named Miyamoto Musashi wrote a book on strategy entitled A Book of Five Rings. It is a difficult book to unpack, but has been wonderful to go back to over the years. I don't claim to be a scholar of any sort, and so won't try to explain what the book is about, but if you get a chance, read it.

This blog will be a place for me to share ideas I have on a lot of different subjects: culture (books, film, music), politics (I live in Canada, but am interested in the world), philosophy (Aristotle to Charles Taylor), martial arts (technique, training and philosophy), and finally family -- my own and others as need be. Those are my five rings.