Esslingen seminar

Back from Germany and a visit to Marc Sigle's Bushido ES. I taught some classes for his kids group and several adult sessions. Topics included freestyle drills, tournament preparation, extensions (lots of these) and Short Two.
The item at left was made from a lineage portrait Marc had done by Ed Parker Jr. This one was signed by most of the attendees and given to me at the conclusion. Usually I'm doing the signing but they turned it around. Cool.
We enjoyed some meals together and it gave me a chance to talk with people. Saturday evening we went to a restuarant up on a hill overlooking the valley with a beautiful view. We'd been there before but it's always a treat to go. (The schnitzel was excellent.)
Two other groups from Dusseldorf and Regensberg were represented. It's always a pleasure to talk with Thomas from Dusseldorf and I was introduced to Josef from Regensberg. I didn't know there was a group there. Kenpo is still spreading, guys.
Marc and his wife, Isabelle, are excellent hosts and I always feel at home there. The next visit is already scheduled for March. See you in Deuthschland!

Navy Seal comment

The Strong Silent Type!

 Dana Perrino ( Fox News) describing an interview she recently had with a Na vy SEAL. After discussing all the countries he had been sent to, she asked  if they had to learn several languages?
 His reply:
 "Oh no ma'am, we don't go there to talk."

Deutschland this coming weekend

I am looking forward to visiting my friends in Esslingen, Germany at Marc Sigle's school there. Marc always greets me on arrival with a "Welcome Home". We have a quick breakfast ( it's an overnight flight to Stuttgart) then head off to the studio, where I beat him up for a few hours. I take a short nap and then we go beat up the students, especially Lenny.
   Can't wait.

  

More concussion info

A new book is out entitled The Concussion Crisis by Linda Carol and David Rosner. The subtitle is Anatomy of a Silent Epidemic.  They write that football is the big one for concussions but that girls basketball suffers three times the boys concussions and girls soccer is twice the amount.
   I've read no mentions of amateur martial arts being studied yet. We get punched and kicked in the head and thrown. Lots of opportunity for concussion. Instructors should be watchful, especially with kids.
  I think it's just a matter of time before we get studied and then regulated. 

Concussion news

Brain in the News reprinted an article from CTV news (that's Canada, eh) that concussions in girls may be ignored in some sports. They cite numerous instances of girls being knocked unconscious in dance, gymnastics and cheerleading. Female dominated sports like these are not getting as much attention as in hockey and football injury studies.
Once again, the concern is for long-term effects. Girls are not exempt from the brain damage aspects and there are a lot of repeat injuries reported. Here's the link.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20110812/girls-teen-athletes-concussions-brain-110814/
You might find this interesting, too. It says keep kids out of the boxing ring.
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Health/20110829/kids-teens-boxing-concussions-110829/

Adrianne!

The FBI rape statistics are going to rise

Just in case you missed it, there was a release that the FBI is going to change its definition of what rape is. They admit their present one, which is many decades old, is not broad enough to cover all the variations. (Which is unfortunate that we even need to count this, but it's the real world.) So, expect to see a rise in the rape rate.
When I took Statistics in the university my instructor said he was able to prove a negative rape rate in the US. The point is there are lies, damn lies and statistics.

New Article at leewedlake.com

I've posted the October article for subscribers on my site at www.leewedlake.com. It's in the "kenpo chop". Here's an excerpt.

Mr. Parker likened weapons to sharps and flats in music. He described a sharp as a half-step up in a note and a flat as a half-step down. He went on to say that sharp weapons, like a chop, raise the damage and flat weapons, like a slap, lower damage. He liked to raise damage whenever possible and here we see the kenpo chop.

What even people from other systems call the kenpo chop is a handsword with the index and middle fingers extended as the remaining fingers curl in. The standard chop uses all the fingers extended.

To subscribe go to the site and find Join LWKS. It's $29/year and I just hit 150 items in the library for you.

Upcoming seminars

I'll be in Germany Oct 22-23 at Marc Sigle's studio in Esslingen.
On Oct 28-29 I'll be at Spartanburg Martial Arts in So. Carolina at the invite of Robert Wallace. Subjects include Defending the Third Person and Zone Theory.
The following week I'll be in Covington, Louisiana at Covington Karate Studio. Danny Sullivan is one of my black belts and he runs the studio.
A quick tour of some schools in New England is on tap as is another visit to Chicago before the end of the year.
More info is on my seminar page at www.leewedlake.com.