Deep within an exotic adventure

In an effort to "keep the adventure going" the warrior decided to go on a search for the extreme here on our home planet. We ended up in this unknown place with strange catwalk structures, exotic females, and warrior males. The shadow warrior just smiled and said "This is where I belong!"

Back from the home planet...

I was a little worried when the warrior wasn't back at the room when we awoke this morning. I did find him as I was headed to breakfast. He was in the "sports" room taking in all of the odds. His memory was a bit fuzzy from the night before, but he said Nabard is now interstellar. He put a sticker on the back of the starship...

Taking Nabard to the stars above

Well the warrior met these aliens here in Vegas. Strange how that happened. You see they were watching the tram car incident with the rufians and decided that they needed to take Nabard back to the home planet. So he is taking a little trip tonight. We'll report on his adventures later...

Clearing out the rufians

This action shot is at the end of a 432.7 degree spinning, summer-saulting, punch-kick combo. The evil rufians, which were the recipients of this devastating move, are now "asleep" on the floor just out of camera shot.

After a long day in training...

The warrior is ready to take on the Vegas strip again. Starting with
this obelisk.

Breakfast and a better mood

Well we all woke up a little tired. With the 2 hour time difference our schedules are thrown off a bit. The warrior was ready to go at 3:00 this morning but I had to convince him to wait a little. When we finally had breakfast he devoured this bannanna and muffin. It caused a bit of a scene, but security was able to disperse the crowd...

End of Day 1 Relaxation

It was hard keeping up the the warrior today. He just wanted to keep going and going. I guess that is due to all the training he does. In the end I was able to convince him to pace himself for the next 4 days. We are now winding down the day with some wine, beer, and blues.

Hanging out in the Venetian

Busting some moves on the marble floor and playing Q-bert on the floor when nobody is looking.

Ready for the games

Wow

Hanging out at the Luxor

Just hanging out with some old friends.

Time for the fun to begin

We are now in Vegas. Let the games begin!

Shadow Warrior Enroute to Vegas

After a small delay and a missed flight in Atlanta, the shadow warrior is over Arkansas at approximatley 35,000 ft. He is getting a little excited and won't stop talking about the slot machines.

Sitting in an airplane at PNS

The warrior woke up a little groggy, but made the flight from Pensacola to Atlanta...

Follow the Nabard Warrior as he travels to Las Vegas

Follow along as the Nabard Warrior travels to Las Vegas with Michelle and I next week. I will post pictures of the places that he visits during this trip. These photos however will be the only glimpse allowed into this trip because we all know; "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas...".

Thanksgiving Week & Schedule Correction

Well, Thanksgiving week was a little slow around the academy as expected. Many people were traveling out of town or feeling a little over stuffed. Next week however should be a bit different where there will likely be some guilt with regards to the amount of food eaten and the lack of exercising throughout the thanksgiving week. Time will tell how many of us fall into this category.

Schedule Correction: There was a communication error between Master Safakhoo and myself when I prepared the updated schedule of classes. A corrected schedule is shown below.

Monday
5:30 am - Nabard Combat
5:00 pm - Nabard Combat
6:30 pm - Log Training

Tuesday
5:30 am - Nabard Combat
5:00 pm - Nabard Combat


Wednesday
5:30 am - Log Training
5:00 pm - Nabard Combat - Sparring
6:30 pm - Log Training

Thursday
5:30 am - Nabard Combat
5:00 pm - Nabard Combat

Friday
5:30 am - Log Training

Saturday
9:00 am - Log Training

A Continuation of My Last Post...Kind Of

Tonight I was engaged in a nice conversation with Master Safakhoo and Brian over coffee at Panera. Throughout our discussion we covered many topics. A few of those topics lingered with me more so than the others. These topics are included below for continued discussion and observation. They are, in a way, a continuation of my last post "Knowing Your Body...The Greatest Quest"

The first of these topics is "learning how to learn". All new students. I repeat; all new students, struggle with learning how to learn. Without fail, each new student experiences an inner feeling of failure at some point when they struggle with their body. Every new student quickly realizes that although attached to their body, the feet and hands are not always where you expect them to be. Through our training there is constant focus on the position of the feet, hands, head, and overall movement of the body. It is here where the frustration starts. When a new student focuses on the feet, the hands, head, or body is often problematic. The same can be said for each of the other parts. These problems can only be overcome by time and practice. The Nabard Combat style involves total body movements and therefore attention must be given to each part individually and within the collective as well. It is therefore a critical component of each student to learn how to learn. Preconceived ideas and the refusal to submit oneself to the exploration of their body positions and movements are the largest barriers to learning how to learn. I should also note that every new student experiences this issue, and it is for this reason that we are all so willing to help one another. We know how uncomfortable this can feel, and we also know how empowering it is when we make progress within ourselves.

The second topic is "working through the resistance". If a student stays completely within a comfort zone, then their growth is limited at best. Each student has their own set of limitations and while care should be given to prevent injury, the student should be continually pushing their own limits. It is through stretch-goals that a student progresses the most. Each student should constantly seek that next level in speed, weight resistance, stamina, and technique. Working through the resistance is critical for growth within Nabard Combat.

The final topic is "respect". Each student within Nabard must respect one another. Through mutual respect we all learn, even if we are responsible for the teaching of others. Respect is also crucial for trust, which is a requirement for true knowledge sharing between instructors and students. Without respect and trust, growth and progression of the student is severely limited. Respect for oneself is the most important of all however. If you do not respect yourself, how can others respect you?

These are but a few of the things we discussed tonight. I am sure there will be more thoughts similar to this as we move forward in our journey through Nabard Systems.

Knowing Your Body...The Greatest Quest

It has been a little over two weeks since my last post due to my work/life schedule being so busy. Well, now things are a little more normal and so here goes another post.

Today I was helping a few students during our Combat class and then in Log Training class as well. During my time with these students, each differing in time spent within our academy, I was able to see how much we rely on our developed ability to understand our body.

It first started when I worked with a new student who has participated in Combat and Log Training classes for a few months now. Although he still feels at odds with his body (most notably his feet), he is doing quite well. I worked with him for a while on his footwork at the end of Line 1 and tried to explain to him how I was able to feel when my feet were correctly positioned within a front stance. I explained how the pressure on my feet is noticeably different when my feet are turned in or out too much, and how the pressure feels against the outside arch of my foot when I am in a proper front stance. I explained that it comes from repeatedly focusing on how my body sends signals to my brain and that it becomes more natural and easy over time. After moving on to work on my own forms I observed him paying attention to his feet more closely and within a few minutes he was much more consistent with his stances and he looked much more comfortable as well. He still needs to continue working on his stances, but he picked up on it very well when he was made more aware of how to focus on his body.

My second exposure was when I was working on the fan technique with a fellow senior student. We were both reviewing our form and were helping one another with various parts of the form. Working with her in this situation provided a very different experience for me. Our hand, foot, and/or body position was more of a remembrance factor than a new discovery like a new student. We have each been exposed to the signals our body provides in these situations for quite a few years now, so it was much easier for us to rediscover and correct some of those form movements which were fuzzy to us for some reason or another.

Lastly, I was helping a very new student during our second class of the evening which was Log Training. She is a student of another martial arts style, and has recently begun taking classes within our academy. During this class, which was her very first Log Training class, she had some difficulty flowing into the training movements. This was not because of her fitness level. On the contrary, she is very fit. The difficulty however was due to the lack of experience with our movements and how she could not coordinate her body as well as she liked. In the end she confirmed the merits of our Log Training class, and is looking forward to her next class where she feels that she will perform much better. She also believes that our Log Training exercises will benefit her transition into Nabard Combat, which requires a lot of movement and fluidity that is not a part of her previous martial arts style. All of this confirmed to me that once we better understand how our bodies move, behave, and react, we are much more able to develop ourselves.

Each of these situations reinforced to me how important it is to know your body. Knowing your body does not come quickly, and not always easily either. Through continued exploration and self study, each of us can become much more than we are currently. Once a person becomes aware of this and accepts the inherent challenges therein, that person begins one of the greatest quests in life. This is the quest of constant improvement. Within this quest, a person realizes that the more they know and understand currently, the more there is to improve upon and the more there is still to learn.

Unique Log Training Movements

Many times a new student will have a strange look on their face when we perform some of our log training exercises. It is a typical thing for this to happen to a student participating only in log training or to a new student of the Nabard Combat System. In each case, these students have not experienced the more dynamic ranges of motion or the unique movements associated with the Nabard Combat Systems weapons. I have tried to explain this to the new students before their first class, but it has always been better received after a class is complete and the student has experienced the movements and motions first hand. Once they have seen an entire class doing the movements as they are trying themselves, it just makes more sense to them through a connection. In the end there is always some amount of surprise at how much sense the movements now make and how much fun it can be.

A few examples of our log training movements relate to our Nabard Combat Systems weapons are included below:

Butterfly Sword Blocks - Nabard Short Logs

Butterfly Sword Attack Around the Head - Nabard Clubs


Butterfly Swords Forward Thrusts - Nabard Clubs


Stay tuned for more to come...

Watching a Sparring Class...

Normally I take part in every sparring class that I can. Not only is the sparring class the culmination of everything that we are learning and have been training for, but it is also where we are to push ourselves beyond our current boundary limitations that we put upon ourselves.

Well today I had to participate in an all day meeting in Biloxi, which is almost 2 hours from Pensacola. We departed for Biloxi at 6:30 am and I arrived back in Pensacola at 5:00 pm (which is when sparring class began). Not anticipating being able to participate, I did not have my uniform or shoes with me. Never-the-less, I wanted to go to class and observe others and learn from them. What I learned was interesting:

1. When you are not exhausted, you can really observe others pretty closely.
2. It is a lot of fun cheering on your friends and encouraging them to open up and do more.
3. Observation can teach a lot!

Not only was I enjoying myself, but I was able to closely watch everyone and see from a "different eye". By this I mean that I was not focused on catching my breath while observing. However I was able to truly observe what was working for some and not so much for others. Although I knew this already, I really "saw" how those people that did not move so well from exhaustion or less experience really were hit much more often and were unable to control the outcome as well.

Master Safakhoo has often said that in order to control the situation, you must first "not get hit". If you are getting hit, then you are vulnerable. That is why we have practice drills or reaction training. These drills are to teach us to "not get hit". If we move correctly, we reduce the exposure to hitting and can therefore control the outcome more easily. Through our movement, we are also able to quickly adjust and adapt our attacks further increasing our ability to control the situation. This is also the reason that some of our drills are set up to make us overcome our lack of control. If we can block with control faster that the other person is able to punch and kick, we can then take control of the situation.

All of this from observing a sparring class. I encourage everyone to observe someone else whenever possible. You can learn a lot by watching and studying someone else.

Log Training Review (week ending 10/01/2009)

This week there were a number of new students that joined in on log training for the first time.  Some of them were first exposed to log training last weekend at the Power Expo in Fort Walton Beach.  At the conclusion of their classes, each one talked about how fun and engaging log training was for them.  Some were very surprised at how log training was able to provide such a total body workout with only a few devices.  Each time they were smiling and sharing the virtues of what our training has to offer.  Once again it was a pretty exciting week in Nabard Log Training.