Moves from 1459

A Slovenian group of martial artists who study in the the European (rather than Asian) tradition have recreated the wrestling moves from the Thott 290 2º manuscript, written in 1459 by Hans Talhoffer. It looks like they had a lot of work to do, since each move only had a single illustration. Fascinating stuff.

Good judo clubs in Ontario

The list of athletes on the Ontario judo team makes for interesting reading. Some clubs are very well represented; others, not so much. If you are looking for a high-quality judo club in your town, you would do well to find one that produces top judokas, and the list makes it very clear where they are coming from.

Both of the clubs in Kitchener, Asahi and Kaizen, are well represented with 11 and 14 athletes, respectively.

Camp Budokan

This looks interesting.

Camp Budokan is a week-long all-ages day camp focused on judo instruction, with an impressive roster of coaches. The website itself doesn't give dates, but according to the Judo Ontario website, Camp Budokan was run Sunday July 29 to Saturday August 4 in 2012.

Looks like a good bet for next summer.

Judo going well

After a lot of to and fro about getting back into martial arts, I finally got my act together after Labour Day. On the 4th of September, I began training at Kaizen Judo Club in Kitchener. Today, I had my fifth lesson.  

Things are going well. I'm studying with with a good group of other beginners who started around the same time, and we are learning a lot together. The early classes spend a lot of time on breakfalls, with a few basic techniques (foot-sweeps, hold-downs) occasionally included. It's a fairly slow ramp up, but I appreciate it. If they threw us right in among the more advanced students, we'd just get frustrated (not to mention exhausted), and we could well get hurt if we didn't know how to fall properly when thrown.

If everything keeps going well, I should earn my yellow belt before the end of the year.

Onward!

Chasing Mavericks

Chasing Mavericks is a film about one of the world's greatest surfing spots, back when it was still obscure, almost a myth. Jay Moriarty (Jonny Weston) is a young kid who's desperate to ride it, and Frosty Hesson (Gerard Butler) is the gray-haired voice of experience who discourages him on account of the dangers, but finally agrees to train the kid to ride the biggest of big waves. The trailer's a real treat and hints at some dramatic depth on the home front.

 The film opens October 26th.

Judo results are well distributed

In the 2012 Olympics, there were 14 judo events -- seven weight classes for men, and seven for women -- for a total of 42 medals being awarded. Yet no country won more than seven of them, including Japan, the country where the sport was invented. France, hardly thought of as a judo superpower, did just as well. And eighteen countries managed to win something. That impresses me; judo is a very international sport.

Canda, for what it's worth, picked up one medal. Antoine Valois-Fortier won bronze in the men's 81kg class.

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters

Looks like someone in Hollywood found another 60 megabucks between the couch cushions, and used it to remake a fairy tale as an action movie: Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is due out in January. If Van Helsing was your thing, this one's for you.