Master Chef

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Next time you sit down in a decent restaurant and you order off the menu, think about what it would take to do the cooking yourself.  You first drive to the shopping centre and visit your green grocer, butcher, fish market and liquor shop to buy all the stuff you need.  Bring it all back and prepare it before you cook and eat it.  Then weigh up the countless hours and effort to make it happen (most of us will agree that is too much hard work).

Think of the seminars as restaurants!!!  Everything is table service and brought to you on a silver platter.  You don't have to go wondering around from school to school and from country to country to pick up what you need.  Leave it to the Master Chefs, Richard Norton and John Will who have already done the hard work for you, with over 60 years of combined experience and travelling from country to country. 

The best part of it all is there is no washing up afterwards!  Those who think that can get away with McDonald's (the cheap way out), are only going to get what they pay for.
GA

Ticking away!

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The main fascination of the martial arts is about the many things and techniques we come up with.  Realistically, we are not going to be able to use everything we learn nor would they be useful in most street situations but we like to indulge in our arts by training our minds and bodies to achieve the wonderful moves we might think not possible. 

When we see martial artists perform a fantastic kata or others putting on a good wrestling bout, it gives us reasons to continue what we do.  None of this is achievable without the hard work.  It is interesting to note that we try to attain these results in the best achievable manner and everybody has a different way of doing that which is what makes it all that interesting. 

Sometimes, we need to separate ourselves from the practical stuff and accept the many things we do in the martial arts are purely for personal pleasure.  Martial arts is a clock and moments are ticking away.  If you miss classes or opportunities it is not possible to recover those moments.  One student told me yesterday, 'I wish I had started training with you 10 years ago.'  I said, 'What about me?  I wish had started some of the things I am doing now at 37 and not 47.  At least it is better to start later than not at all.'  He liked that answer.  Unfortunately, there's re rewind button.

The quitters who return are usually those who will quit again.  They've done it once before and they will do it again.  Remember, 'a Black Belt is a White Belt who never gave up' and 'a Black Belt who gives up is still a White Belt.'

Time out!
GA

Another Norton Weekend

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I am fortunate enough to spend every moment with Richard Norton when he comes to Sydney.  It was hard work but it was great clocking up 6.5 hours in BJJ and 4.5 hours MMA with the undeniably best all round martial artist in the world this weekend! 

Saturday was a treat for our school at West Pennant Hills with some particularly good friends and top BJJ/MMA martial arts instructors attending – Richard Sargeant, Rob Naumoski and Simon Farnsworth.  It was a great atmosphere particularly for most of my students who had trained under Richard Norton for the first time.

What I notice with these big weekends of learning is you have to go back a couple of steps and revise some of your material and forward advance again.  Richard Sargeant said to Victor ‘there shouldn’t be anyone in this room who did not learn anything’.  How true is that?  It is easy to say ‘I will give this seminar a miss’, but the many who did turn up, were truly inspired which was evident by the numerous emails, sent to me. Sure, there is always a next time but this one has gone.

Time might be an excuse for many, but for me, it is a limited commodity and I try tol use it in the best way I can.  I was virtually away from home commencing 9am Friday morning and did not get back until Sunday 6pm.  I also got to upload my photos and videos, and write a blog.  Please, don’t anyone tell me they don’t have time. 

Victor and I are planning for another visit toward the end of the year.
GA

Wax on, Wax off!

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There is not a single person on this earth who would not have heard the famous cliche, Wax on, Wax off – straight out of the original Karate Kid movie.  It got me thinking in class yesterday whilst teaching Richard Norton’s Black Belt Complexes to my students.  I passed a comment that the moves might not make much sense or be useful to them at this stage.  One student drew an analogy and said, ‘this is a bit like wax on, wax off.’  The Karate Kid had no idea what and why he was waxing cars and whether he was going to learn martial arts at all but, at long last (as the movie goes), he knew enough, just in time, to beat up the bad guys at the tournament.

The Black Belt Complexes need persistence and commitment and, within time, students will understand them and they will become useful.   These techniques look impressive and there are many Black Belts who are willing to try them but none that I have seen, have made the committment  They can be ‘painful’ and complex (pardon the pun) but once you are over the 50 per cent mark, they are really gratifying which will take you to another level in the martial arts.  It is even better when you finish them! 

I get a natural ‘high’ moving at speed with those moves.  It has certainly changed the way I train and think in the martial arts.  When others make the decision not to do them because they are too hard to learn only makes me feel more determined.  There is something easier for those who don't like to indulge – take your jacket off, hang it up, put it on the ground and then pick it up.  Enjoy!
GA

2010 Australasian BJJ Comp

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This past weekend saw me down in Melbourne, with 3 of my guys competing at the 2010 Australasian BJJ Championships hosted by Mr John Will.  It was a fantastic weekend and a real experience for Joshua, Michael and Antoine who train with me at Belmore and the Burwood PCYC.  I also had a wonderful time catching up with fellow instructors, also friends, whom I have not seen for a long time all gathered at one location at the one time.  This sort of thing happened to me before when I visited Greece in 1999 with my cousin getting married at the time.  I got to see all relatives and friends at the one go which I would not otherwise have been able to do so.

The tournament on Saturday was quite successful with no, or very little hiccups I could see.  Congratulations to John and his wife, Melissa, for making it all happen.  My guys want to do it again and I am hoping to see a bigger team from our school attend next year.  It was really nice of Rigan Machado to greet me at the tournament and even remember my first name (that's 2 years after when I last saw him at a Sydney seminar). What a great (really great) martial artist and wonderful man!

The seminar by Rigan, on Sunday, was a real treat.  We worked very hard and there is no doubt everybody got a lot out of it.  Towards the end of the seminar Rigan drilled us with 60 armbars and 60 push-ups in between and I was up for it, I didn't miss a beat!  Must be because us Karate guys have good core strength (lol).
GA

Why are you Tired?

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We have our good days and we have our bad days.  It all depends how you feel on the day.  Human beings, in all other living things, have a biological clock which tells us when to eat, sleep and wake up.  

If you unwantingly wake up early on weekends or have ever suffered from jet lag, it's probably due the effeffects of your biological clock in your body. The understanding of these clocks can be very helpful to you, for by doing so you may be able to learn to "set" them to wake up at a prearranged time, remind you of appointments or even help you to return to your car before the time expires on your parking meter.

If someone's daily biological clock runs fast, the person will tend to get sleepy early in the evening, but will be able to wake up in the morning with little difficulty. Exposure to the day/night cycle of the outside world will help him or her to reset his biological clock each day- humans being able to do this more easily than animals- otherwise he would go to bed earlier and get up earlier and earlier each day. Because of this need to readjust his internal clock, he is continually under pressure from the external world.

 

The Martial Arts Spirit

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Just thought I would share this wonderful message I received on Facebook from a good friend and great colleague who recently left the Police Force. I believe people do notice and respect people who dedicate themselves to the martial arts and it is something like this which makes it all worthwhile doing what I do.  They say a good Martial Arts Instructor will have a positive and profound influence on students' lives but how good is it when that also extends to people outside of martial arts:

Robert H. September 3, 2010 at 5:21pm
Subject: Thanks Mate

Hey George….
Well mate …., I'm out of the Cops …., as of the 19th of Aug, 2010…, thought the day would never come. I just wanted to say to you that it was both a pleasure and experience to know you over the years I did as we were cops. You are one of those people that come into peoples lives to enrich and better them. You have made me realise how strong some people can be ….., obviously you are one of those people. You are a master at `life'…., not just being a cop, or an international defence expert ….., you're simply a person that most learn from …, whether we know it at the time or some time later ….

I have been busy and getting through all my own stuff with my marriage break up and the `job' etc …, but wanted to make sure you know that I always held and still do, you in the highest esteem.

Thanks George for teaching me about life and never giving up ….

As you always say mate …, there's too much muuuuuunchaussen !!!… lol

Cheers Mate
Bob H.

P.S. Keep on keeping on George …., love ya style …, always will.

And to top it off, I got another message from another work colleague just making sure I turn up to his wedding this Sunday:

Hi George !
 
This is Sam T.  Just a reminder  my wedding is on Sunday.  I hope to see you and your lovely wife on the day.  Paul M, Col T, Brian D & Eddy A are all coming as well.  George you have always been good to me.

I met Sam when he was 15 years old with two of his mates riding an unregistered trail bike which I chased down whilst on a police motorcycle.  That was 25 years ago!  I thought I would give them a break which I thought was a good idea at the time to see if I could do any good with these young persons.  Several years later a young rookie was sitting next to me in a Highway Patrol vehicle and he said, "You don't remember me?  But I remember you.  It's because of you I joined the Police Force."  Sam said that my attitude is what inspired him to become a cop.  People do remember things.

These are great memories!  The training I do now with prominent people and students in the martial arts will also be great memories.
GA 

Kimuras, Crucifixes, 300 Kms

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John Will demonstrating the Crucifix on his 2nd Black Belt student, Sean KirkwoodQuite a few hours of training and a lot of travelling with John Will last Saturday with only a very short moment, between destinations, for a cup of coffee. 

Imagine working in an office or any other job where everything becomes routine and nothing new happens.  Your mind switches off and and that’s when you start to feel bored.  The great thing about the martial arts is about mind stimulation ie gets it thinking again.  John Will injected a little more stimulation into my mind when I was half way through this blog.  If the martial arts were just simple and routine then the same boredom can creep in.  Checkers is far easier to learn than Chess but it’s the Chess people who we give credit to because of the complexity of the game.  It’s the same in martial arts – we need complexity otherwise it can become boring like playing checkers.  The self defence component of the martial arts is only a small integral part of our training but what keeps us there is the exploration and acquisition of new techniques and skills.   

The seminar at our school was truly remarkable with a couple of guest Black Belts, Sean Kirkwood and Simon Farnsworth, also attending.  It is not only the new techniques and ideas that made it a great seminar but also the approach and understanding of them.  John Will's motivational talks gives us reasons why we love to train the martial arts.  Many thanks to the students that came along for the support and share my passion for the martial arts.  Although, they may not remember all the techniques in their entirety but there was so much they learnt ie the little steps in between the start and end of each technique.  It was also great revisiting some of the basic moves because it was like re-igniting the flame.  No excuse in the world will patch things up for missing out on a seminar because the exact presentation can never be repeated.  When John and Richard Norton put these things on, they are injecting over 20 years of their experience into these seminars.

To turn some of our students' faces red, Darren Grieve, our Qld Head Instructor, had come down for the weekend to train with John Will.  On Friday night we trained at the PCYC and Darren was spellbound with some of the variations.  But that’s what happens in BJJ – where things seem to constantly evolve.  Credit must go to Darren for flying down here for the seminar.  I guess not everybody can be like him.
GA

Long Time, No See

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Hello everybody.  I know it's a been a long time between blogs but I make no apologies if there is nothing to write about.  I usually blog on a hot topic or an idea that might pop up and, lately, time has been an issue because of countless hours with Microsoft trying to resolve computer issues. 

There's so much to do and you wonder how we fit it all in but that is with everything we do, whether it be work, time at home etc.  But what would you do with the spare time if you gave up your training?  The answer would probably be 'nothing'.  That sounds good at the beginning but you will soon get bored.  Then you start looking for something to do and you end up committing to something only to find out down the track, it was a bad idea.  Perhaps, 'nothing' might be OK for some people but not for me, thanks!

We are always seeking to better ourselves, and the martial arts creates a channel for us to harness our skills and express our personalities through a challenging environment whilst interacting with each other in a common interest.  I have stepped out of our school's circle by teaching BJJ to outsiders at the PCYC.  Most of these students are already martial artists (some being brown belts) of Karate, Classical Jiu Jitsu.  

Continue your training my friends and enjoy the fruits of life in the martial arts.  There is nothing to gain by doing nothing.  Your computer will still be there when you get home, Facebook will not shut down during training and you don't have to miss any of your TV shows (record them, like I do).  Make your life worthwhile and don't come up with excuses which may make you feel better at the time, only to find out later, you have made a bad decision!

Interesting time with John Will last weekend.  It gave me the chance to catch up and train with him, including Steve Perceval and Richard Sargeant.  An interesting thing I share with John is he is constantly doing things to improve himself in the martial arts so he can be better at the age of 60.  Great philosophy!
GA

Reality Based Stuff gets real!

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We had Shihan Richard Norton in town again.  This time the Police Citizens Youth Clubs (PCYC) had brought him out here for a couple of seminars.  The Friday evening was BJJ at the Burwood PCYC arranged by the Manager, Gary Davies (who is also a Traditional Jiu Jitsu master) and Senior Constable Dave Geremia (student of mine).  It was an excellent seminar which included students from my BJJ school and Gary's Jiu Jitsu school. 

Saturday was Reality Based Self Defence at the Mount Druitt PCYC arranged by Senior Constable Julius Uru (also student of mine).  This is the roughest part of town and the PCYC has a tough job holding its ground with youths in that area which showed at the seminar with people wanting to flex their muscles (including women)  so much so, the Boxing Coach went flat out at Richard to prove a point but ended up getting choked out; he is a lucky man, Richard's awesome strikes were not on the agenda.  It was as real as it gets.  This small group was not easy to convince and found it hard to understand and follow directions, mainly because of their already preconceived ideas about street defence.  Basically, they were missing the point of what was being taught at the seminar.  However, Richard finally won them over and now these people want him back!  Richard also went through some Kickboxing drills with me later that afternoon.

Sunday was at Shihan Adrian Ionita's school; first, it was an hour with kids and then a seminar, with seniors, on the Black Belt Complexes which literally blew everyone away especially when Richard started to speed up.  This was a good class withSeminar at Whitewolf Martial Arts some very senior Black Belts in attendance who really appreciated what was being taught.  After that, Adrian invited us to a Chinese Restaurant before we headed off to the Airport.  It was a pleasure to meet Adrian who is a really great guy and a good martial artist.  

I really enjoyed the weekend having the opportunity to catch up and train with the 'Richard Norton', once again. 
GA