Thread: hobbies

hey guys, well , i too am married with a small child, 14 months, and now find it difficult to enjoy what i used too,I love to golf...especially when i visit the in-laws in NC...its the weather, although i live in an area surrounded by good courses, the weather in this part of scotland can be kinda poor but we get the occasional cracker of a day.
My other love is more of an occasional treat and that is my motorcycle, now I am no mechanic, but i do love to ride, its not a Harley,i like Japanese crotch rockets, first it was a Honda Transalp, then a VFR,then it was a Suzuki GSXR1300 Hayabusa, then sold it when i got married then after a year I bought a Goldwing Aspencade only to discover Im not grown up enough for it so I swapped it for what I have now, a 1991 ZXR 750H1, nice but i miss my suzuki...
I also after breaking my ankle a few years ago got into PC building seemed logical cos of lack of movement and i tinker alot with PC's, i dont buy and sell or anything just upgrade and assist folks a little, i enjoy that, its a technical challenge also it may give me a leg up when we move to the USA later this year...hopefully, (wife wants another kid before we move....june is the cut-off date)
Since discovering my enjoyment for straight razors and having had barber shaves this hobby has me ...havent used a conventional razor...mach 3 ...since starting....i enjoy the routine....the shave...the experience ...and the knowledge that is here, seeing what you guys do and hearing about what youve done with razors....and especially the creative ones amongst you...makes me want to do better with what I have....

enough said I think you get the picture, I am going to add a few links so that you can see where I am in scotland.....hope you like them!!!

http://www.scottishholidays.net/visi...an-buckie.html

http://www.buckie-town.co.uk/

http://www.findochty.com/index.asp i used to live here

my local and favourite course....
http://www.strathlenegolfclub.co.uk/

ok guys this is me...cheers for reading my rant

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

Kyle, let me know when you finish that book so I can get a copy. The way it was originally practiced, Judo was a true martial art -- mind over matter. Too many modernized martial arts are focusing on the technical/competitive side while neglecting to teach the mental/spiritual side of the art. And don't even get me started on the belts... They were meant to keep your pants up!

Will do. It will likely be a while yet. My original outline looked great on paper, but once I started writing I found it was just not going to work. I've had to reorganize my thought patterns on discussing things and group stuff together in ways I didn't originally intend. Then started writing only to discover that wasn't going to work either. Argh!

Too many places these days are interested in building contest champions, rather than the development of people. There are lots of places to go train where it's a damn fight every class, but that is a shiai-jo not a dojo. You really have to look at the -do aspect of arts and what makes them different than the -jitsu/-jutsu arts.

As for belts, I hear you. The original way back in the early 1900's was white, brown, black -- it started as white, and with enough training, sweat, and dirt it got dirty and turned different colors. The colored belt ranking system serves as a way to keep folks interested, especially in the early stages of their training where dropout rates exceed 50%. They also serve the purpose of letting others know a rough level of ability, i.e. what throws I can do where you can safely fall, what throws/chokes/armlocks I can teach or perform, etc.

I'm well aware of the difficulties in the writing process, or for that matter, any work of art. The satisfaction of a job well done is well worth the trouble though.
As for the belt system, I can see the ideal practicality of it, but I have several objections to it:
1) If you're training in one dojo/dojang, the people there already know your level of skill, so it's redundant.
2) No matter how much they try to standardize it, there will always be vast gaps b/w people of the same rank from different schools. At the green belt level, I had to teach some visiting black belts some beginner level techniques (like how to execute a proper roundhouse kick). By that time, I could have got a black belt, but my focus was on my development and not on my wardrobe. On the other hand, there were people with a lower rank who were significantly more skilled than me (especially if they had a background in other arts).
3) If getting belts is what takes to keep you in keep you in my school, I don't want you in it.
In all honesty, while I trained, I was heavily focused on the competitive side of it. It is ironic that I figured out the significance of the way long after I stopped training.

Originally Posted by FiReSTaRT

As for the belt system, I can see the ideal practicality of it, but I have several objections to it:
1) If you're training in one dojo/dojang, the people there already know your level of skill, so it's redundant.
2) No matter how much they try to standardize it, there will always be vast gaps b/w people of the same rank from different schools. At the green belt level, I had to teach some visiting black belts some beginner level techniques (like how to execute a proper roundhouse kick). By that time, I could have got a black belt, but my focus was on my development and not on my wardrobe. On the other hand, there were people with a lower rank who were significantly more skilled than me (especially if they had a background in other arts).
3) If getting belts is what takes to keep you in keep you in my school, I don't want you in it.

I completely agree with you on point #3. People whose sole motivation is the color of belt they wear have little or nothing to offer others because of their own selfish intentions. Likewise, I have no use for belt factories who essentially sell the belt to the students. I am against anyone under the age of 16 having a black belt rank, as they most often lack the maturity the rank brings with it.

Unfortunately the trend in the martial arts is selling package deals to students (earn your black belt for only $1,000 -- everything included!). The other money making trend is children's classes, which are essentially cheap daycare or parents thinking you have the silver bullet to deal with their child's behavior problems.

I don't completely agree with you on point #1. We have over 80 active members at our dojo, and I only train 3 days a week (7 classes). There are quite a few students I don't know or haven't trained with, because there are 14 other classes on the schedule. It's fairly easy to gauge someone's skill level once you start your training session with them.

Rank standards within an organization should produce students across the board with comparable skill levels. As you move from organization to organization though, the differences show up. Some organizations require much more of their students than others. I'm not saying either is right, but I don't want the government to step in and create a universal body to establish rank, because now you have politicians instead of martial artists.

Miyamoto Musashi probably said it best: The field of martial arts is particularly rife with flamboyant showmanship, with commercial popularization and profiteering on the part of both those who teach the science and those who study it. The result of this must be, as someone said, that "amateuristic martial arts are a source of serious wounds."

I wouldn't want a government to regulate martial arts. That should be done on an IF level. You alluded to a major problem in martial arts training. Large classes. If the class is too big for the instructor to know the skill levels of his students, thus pairing them up accordingly (with specific advice on what each one of them should work on), most students aren't getting proper martial arts training.
The school I was in was subject to commercialization, but at the same time it offered proper training for people who set higher standards for themselves. Having to bow whenever addressing a 9-yearold just b/c he had a black belt still irked me though lol.

Sorry guys....don't know too much about Jodu/martial arts... I did judo when I was a kid but quit after 2 years because my sensei (the one that was awesome) got a new job training police officers and the new one wasn't as nice or fun...(bear in mind I was around 8-10 years old at the time). I still remeber some falls/throws/hooks/holds though and they've assisted me in self defense throughout the years.

As for my hobbies...
I'm a fervent reader. My favorite at the moment is Terry Pratchett although I'll read pretty much anything that's recommended to me...Dune is also a favorite.

I play guitar/piano/harmonica and sing (not at the same time). I play in a band (as guitarist and singer) and enjoy a good singsong in church every now and then.

I'm quite active in the church I'm a member of. I have meetings on a regular basis and there are loads of activities I go to, these include camps, sport days, dances musical evenings etc etc.

I have a girlfriend/fiancé (somehow I haven't gotten over the idea that she's my fiancé.....or I just don't like the word..not sure on that one) that I do fun stuff with, daytrips, movienights, cooking and all sorts like that.

I rollerblade very actively. This doens't mean I go for a few miles every few days though. I do halfpipes, vertramps, handrails and such things. It's fun, it has enough of the thrill of danger and I'm decent at it. My girlfriend has also discovered the "joy of rolling" so she suports me in this.

And lastly I'm now a fervent straight shaver. (with in this short period of doing it a decent small collection of....12 razors)

I blow glass, collect and smoke pipes, smoke cigars, design Websites ... the razor thing too.

Ah, a fellow pipe smoker! Yes I collect & smoke pipes too. I have around 70 or so counting corncobs, clays & etc. Started at 16 (I'm now 55) and worked either full or part-time at tobacco shops in NYC, Boston, & now P/T in home town of Ft. Wayne, IN. Full time job is night auditor in a hotel which is nice because it accomodates my main hobby, reading. Working nights in a very public place started my most recent interest, hand-gun shooting. On the recommendation of the off-duty LEOs I work with, I got my concealed carry license, and after much study have become a fervent 2nd amendment supporter. I also collect knives, hats of all types but favoring fedoras in felt or straw, walking-sticks, and of course BOOKS! This is one my wife and I both agree to, so the house is full of them, as well as boxes stacked in the garage. Bible study is important to both of us. Theatre is what I was trained for, and my wife and I are founding members of all for One productions, inc. (www.godsdrama.org) so we keep very busy w/ that as well. As for straight razors, I started using them in the mid 1970s, but after I grew a beard in the mid '80s I used them very infrequently, preferring a Merkur HD Slantbar for going around the beard. Last year I went clean shaven briefly to play John Adams in AMERICAN PRIMITIVE by Wm. Gibson, and renewed my interest in str8s. Recently my 17 yr old son hijacked my Merkur so I kind of went back to str8s by default, cutting down the beard to goatee size, so there's more room to work w/ them. These forums have been very informative, and I see I was doing many things wrong for yrs! Thanks for all the good work!

I run everyday, lift weights and play tennis (used to be a teaching pro), but my main obsession these days is traditional bowhunting (including camping and woodsmanship), bowmaking and archery in general - shooting 100 + shots per day. I'm 55 and one of the things I like about this is that there is no reason I can't keep getting better at it. I also used to play soccer and bicycle race. In addition, I have a '73 MGB and try to do some of the work on it.

Hobbies I dont really have much time for,apart from this new razor addiction.
I am a Baptist Pastor/Missionary and most of my time is taken up with Church and overseas work,finished main BA Theology degree a few years ago,then completed my Divinty doctorate 2 years ago. Main area of work is in the Near to Middle East..Iraq,Lebanon etc. Finished writing a couple of books,which are being translated into Arabic.

Its a family thing,wife is a teacher of handicapped children,daughter works with special needs kids,my specilisation is building,bringing business into Middle East. Currently based in Scotland,but within the year will be going overseas full time,probably Iraq or Beirut.

Sounds boring...no real time for hobbies as such. Nice to see a few members have Church connections.