Gymnastics: A Basic Class

Lately, I have been neglecting my gymnastics posts. There are various reasons, but the main one is I have been in pain and therefore my gymnastics has become sporadic and reduced to complete beginner.

The coaches for my classes lately have been Zak, Randy and Damir. Until today, mostly Damir and Zak worked with the advance beginners while Randy worked with the rank beginners. Since about August or September, I have been in Randy’s class. Staying in a mild state of fitness while giving my joints and muscles a bit of a break and time to recover.

I don’t think I have given a decent rundown of how classes progress, so this time around, allow me to illustrate my basic Adult Beginner’s gymnastics class.

The class I attend is at Chelsea Pier’s Pier 60 Field House in Manhattan. The Adult Beginner Gymnastics class officially begins at 12pm and lasts for 1.5 hours. At 12pm, one instructor(coach) starts the class with warm-ups. Sometimes, the warm-ups are actually pretty physical and other times the warm-ups are just enough to make the student sweat. It depends entirely on the coach.

After the warm-up, a large circle is formed on the mat and the stretching begins. My favorite style is more akin to yoga or pilates, but there are some coaches who do the kind of stretches I remember having in gym class, and every coach does something completely different. Although the styles and methods are different almost all the stretching ends with handstand practice before we take in some water and return to the Floor area for Conditioning and skill practice.

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Books: Young Samurai Series: The Way of the Warrior by Chris Bradford

Title: The Way of the Warrior
Series: Young Samurai
Author: Chris Bradford
Publisher: Disney/Hyperion
ISBN:
Paperback: 9781423119869
Hardcover: 9781423118718

Synopsis (from website):
August 1611

Jack Fletcher is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan — his beloved father and the crew lie slaughtered by ninja pirates.

Rescued by the legendary sword master Masamoto Takeshi, Jack’s only hope is to become a samurai warrior. And so his training begins…

But life at the samurai school is a constant fight for survival. Even with his friend Akiko by his side, Jack is singled out by bullies and treated as an outcast.

With courage in his heart and his sword held high, can Jack prove himself and face his deadliest rival yet?

Review

Last year, when Young Samurai hit the bookshelves, I passed a cursory look over the book, read the back, looked at the one-line reviews and was all-together unimpressed. I didn’t bother seeking the book out or adding it to my review list and basically I ignored its existance.

Last week, I saw book two coming down the line and the first book fell neatly into my lap. Again, I was unimpressed with the synopsis or the reviews. However, I became intrigued by the look of The Way of the Sword so I decided to check out the The Way of the Warrior first.

I have been interested in the Japanese language and current culture for only a short period of time, however I have a past in Japanese Karate (shourin-ryuu), Shinkendo and had a fantastic sensei (teacher) or two who tried to impart the ways of Bushido (Way of the Warrior) and encourage a path to modern samurai. Because of my history, I started reading this book with a basic knowledge of some swordsmanship, martial arts and Japanese historical culture. Chris Bradford’s mini-glossary at the back of the book, minor notes on Japanese culture and full quotes with references started to make me a bit more excited to begin reading.

Twelve-year-old rigging monkey Jack Fletcher’s story didn’t pull me in right away, and it took a couple chapters to capture my undivided attention. When it did, I was helpless until I set it down at the end.

Everyone is sleeping uneasily in their dark ship, keeping a watchful eye out for pirates after the final repairs are made, dark shadows begin flowing silently throughout the ship. Soon our little hero comes face to face with what he later learns is a ninja. A ninja with a single bright green eye. Dragon Eye demands the rutter, a tome of sailing knowledge and secrets, from Jack’s father. Jack’s father gives the invader the wrong information and lurches to protect his son from the knife the ninja is bringing to bear on Jack. Dragon Eye in swiftly kills the man and runs off to find the prize. Soon Jack rescues his father’s secrets from the correct location and escapes the ship as the gunpowder is ignited by a dying bosun.

Jack was rescued by Masamoto Takeshi and brought to heal at his sister’s house. Here, during his recovery, the richness of ‘the Japans’ is introduced to the boy little by little. Jack learns the strange language and customs of the house in his frustration to communicate with the strange people. After a meeting with a Portuguese priest and Masamoto-sama, Jack is left at the house for the winter to learn how to speak Japanese, to use hashi (chopsticks), table etiquette, minor social etiquette and even some light swordsmanship. He entices Masamoto Yamato, Masamoto-sama’s only son, to teach him the basics of using a bokken and the two end up having randori (free sparring) all about the beautiful garden.

After Dragon Eye attacks the house he is staying in, Jack and his new friends—Yamato and his cousin beautiful Akiko—who stood against and repelled the invaders, are moved to Masamoto’s samurai school in Kyoto, Niten Ichi Ryu, where they are to become samurai warriors and study techniques and bushido.

Once the children entered the school, the story becomes almost typical. As one would expect, the children meet teachers, take their first classes, learn new techniques, and of course gain enemies from day one. What good school setting doesn’t have enemies? Since Jack is a gaijin—an outsider/foreigner—he is immediately set upon by those who hate outsiders and he must prove himself worthy of samurai training in the eyes of his fellow students, despite being vouched for by the school’s master.

As I was following the children through their day, I was reminded of my days as a student in the various classes. From seiza to sensei rei and through sword forms and meditation, it made me want to return to my classes and seek out my old instructors.

I was amazed by how Chris Bradford pulled me in little by little until by the end of the story I found myself a fan and wanting the next book. I closed the book when I finished and looked again at the back of the book and at the reviews. Even though I had just finished the book and knew the story for what it was, I was still unimpressed. Don’t judge this book by its cover. Ignore the eye rolling reviews of “…this book gets a black belt…” These do not do the story the justice it deserves.

This book was not only an ultimately fun read, but it was also informative. The story was backed with research and history that was fun to explore later, such as information on women samurai. I had no idea there were women samurai, it was quite a shock and found myself enjoying the research.

The book is recommended for ages 10 and up. I do recommend it to anyone even remotely interested in karate, swords, Japan or any looking to expand their knowledge. I also recommend it to anyone who likes Ranger’s Apprentice or Harry Potter. The worlds may be different, but the feeling is about the same: friendly companions in a school setting battling school rivals and occasional outsiders.

Movies: Alice in Wonderland

I saw Alice in Wonderland over the weekend. I am not reading anyone else’s reviews before I am typing this entry.

My history of Alice in Wonderland isn’t very big or atypical. I have seen the Disney version and few TV Miniseries. I must’ve seen a few other places as well, but one thing is definite: I have never read the books. I once tried and I even bought the book in French. For whatever reason the result is I have read a few of the poems and I know most of the storylines, but that is all.

Armed with this lifetime of information about the story, I walked into the theatre to view the 3D version at an IMAX. I was feeling a little trepidatious. I have a weak eye that has a history of getting a bit sore watching 3D shows, resulting in a headache halfway through the movie and forcing me to remove my glasses and close my eyes. I was worried this would be a factor, but I didn’t want to view this flat either. I bravely took my glasses and made my way into the theatre. To my immense relief, this is the second 3D movie in a row that hasn’t set off my weak eye. The first was Avatar. The 3D effects were all subtle and simply present, very few, if any, deliberately broke the fourth wall. I simply felt as though I was walking through the scenes next to Alice.

The coloring in the movie intrigued me, it was the first thing to strike me. It was as if the world was sort of dipped into a sepia solution. The colors were there, and they were brilliant, but not the brilliance of technicolor, it was more billiant in contrast to the sepia overall.

Before long, I learned the reason for the ‘old’ feel. This story wasn’t the story I was expecting. All the favorite characters existed and even the story to the rabbit hole was pretty typical, but in this story Alice is nearly 20 years old and apparently they all believe someone named Alice had visited long before that time. The world is at war and most likely dying, the dead trees, the feel of being burnt out and seer, barren.

As the story progressed, I realised this wasn’t actually Alice in Wonderland, it may have been more like Through the Looking Glass, but since I never read the books so I don’t know for sure.

With certainty I can say, I loved Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter. When I answered the question a friend asked about the madness of said hatter, my response along the lines of: He wasn’t as mad as Captain Jack Sparrow nor as intelligently mad as Willy Wonka, however he was definitely mad as a hatter. In my opinion, I believe Johnny Depp pulled off yet another amazing role. I was rarely reminded of the actor as I watched the movie. Only small bits and parts, reminded me this hatter wasn’t a real person. I do love actors who get consumed by the character. It makes for a much more interesting story.

The graphics were beautiful. There was amazing detail in every corner and it seemed like a world I could walk through. The Cheshire Cat has to be my favorite bit of art. I have always liked the cat, but in this story he was more cuddle-worthy than typical.

Although I enjoyed the movie, I have to admit the storyline was simple and straight-forward with few points to detour from, almost bland and typical in make-up. While it was all these things, it also gave a chance for every actor to shine brilliantly in their roles. Without extraordinary actors, this movie would fall flat in spite of the art direction, filmography, special effects and costuming.

On the whole, I was extremely satisfied with the experience and I eagerly await the opportunity to own it on DVD.