Gun's lane run near Histon

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Great 3 mile run around fields and along ancient lanes: the greatest way to spend a bright November day!

 

Just for fun....

Yours for only $1286. Oh yeah and you have to speak Chinese.

Go see the fancy promo video here.

Nagasone Kotetsu 1597-1678

Nagasone Kotetsu (長曾禰虎徹) (c. 1597-1678) was a gunsmith who later took to making swords and earned a reputation for making simple sabres which were extremely strong. Said to have only made 31 swords in his working life which bear his name, he later became a Buddhist monk whose successors were Nagasone Okinao and Nagasone Okihisa.

Practice is like...

...farting!

I didn't originally say this although anyone who knows me will feel it very fitting for me.

"You can’t even trade a single fart with the next guy. Each and every one of us has to live out his own life. Don’t waste time thinking about who’s most talented"

Sawaki Kôdô Rôshi

I read this as being described as a metaphor for making practice your own: the guy next to you can't practice for you just as he can't fart for you!

Another run...

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1.62 miles and a wonderful view of swans, moorhens and ducks. Just ignore the noise from the A14!

Building up strength and stamina by running

I've been feeling a little stodgy lately. Maybe it's the weather coming in cold or maybe the extra chocolate biscuits I pack into me but either way I knew one thing: I had to run...

One Saturday morning was a turning point for me. Flo took the kids for the day and I planned a good long route along the roman road near Cherry Hinton and into Wandlbury ring (an iron age hillfort). I obtained details from this really informative site: http://www.plcane.clara.net/cambridge/wandleb.htm and parked where suggested but ran straight along the road to the start of the roman road and on to Wandlebury. What an amazingly beautiful, autumn day. The run invigorated me and when I got home I was tired out, sweaty and getting cool so I jumped in a really hot bath with a cup of green tea. The bath was so hot I nearly burned my balls off. 



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Tunnel vision

Tonight in training I was consumed. Consumed with a feeling of well-being. Unfortunately this meant I lost all focus on the techniques I was executing. The exercises we were doing demanded attention on distance and visual focus, especially limb length and penetration. When the teacher explained which techniques we were to do I very ably visualised what I had to do- I imagined myself moving thrrough the technique and where the problem areas might be and ironed those out. Problem was half way through the sequence I realised I had this warm fuzzy feeling. Maybe I was feeling smug but I managed to drift off whilst still going through the motions. My execution was perfect. Well, it was good but I lacked focus on what was ahead of me, my opponent, my reach-where was I hitting? Where was my target. 

I looked up Zanshin as I felt that this was what was lacked but wasn't sure of the phrase and found this sentence which sums things up I think:

"When body, breath, speech and mind are broken from each other and scattered in concept and strategy, then no true action can reveal itself."

http://www.wwzc.org/teisho/zanshin.htm