I would like to thank Sensei Riley for everything he has taught me. Taking his marital arts project has made me emotionally and mentally in tune with myself to a much larger extent. Even though I'm not in the class anymore, I will still practice the kata he has taught me and the others. I will also continue with my daily stretching and meditation as well as working on my foot work and hip movement. Thank you Sensei Riley and I wish you a happy and safe summer vacation. Osu

Blog 5 projects closing

Blog 5
June 2

Today is the last day of our martial arts project. I have really enjoyed this Spring Phase Project from listening to the philosophy of great people like Bruce Lee, -- to realizing my ability to change and improve so quickly. From the class I was able to learn various lessons from being in the classroom, dojo or even from watching movies.

Some first thoughts about being in an activity such as martial arts or boxing is that it is only about violence and brings trouble. But it was after the class viewed the movie, Never Back Down, I began to realize that during this month in this project is where I was most at peace. The part of the movie that made me understand this is when the mother of the main character visits the mixed martial arts trainer and says, "You use people's anger to make money." But the trainer responds by saying, "When they leave they are not as angry as when they came in." Martial arts and boxing have kept me focused. More focused on the task at hand has made me realize more about myself. As I continue my journey in life, I hope that I can find more time to continue martial arts.

Chanbara Tournament

Omedeto and great budo to class members that competed in this year's chanbara tournament! 

The last day of our class proved appropriate to view the film, The Last Samurai. 

I have had very good times in this class for the past month. I have enjoyed this class just about everyday. But the first day was bored and I wanted to leave this class. After two days, I thought that this was the best project I ever had. I learned so many things in this class. I never knew about martial arts from Africa. I always thought that they were only from Asia because most of the time you see Asian people doing karate.

Sensei gave us good training in several styles. Before I use to think that if you know karate, then you will kill people when they anger you! Now, I do not have this mentality, because now I know that karate is about peace and is not about violence.

The only things I still can't believe, is what we learned about about Shaolin Temple. They do impossible things! I really wish to see Shaolin face-to-face to see if the feats are true.

Daily Journal

Yesterday we saw Enter the Dragon with Bruce Lee. Today is our last day because on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday are presentations. I liked all the movies and documentaries we viewed because they were good and interesting. We learned good defensive techniques as well as the kata, Heian Shodan (Peaceful Way Number One).

Last day of class

This class has been fantastic! At first I didn't even sign up for this class, they just gave it to me. I was mad at first but it turned out to be an amazing learning experience for me! 

The history of martial arts is phenomenal! Because of this class, I now have a better understanding of the real meaning of martial arts, the philosophy, their origin and the founders of these beautiful arts. I never knew what Shaolin was until this class. I never knew that in martial arts there was more to it than just fighting. Martial arts is a way of having a placid state of mind; calm body. It is a way to ensure protection for yourself and loved ones. 

Throughout this class I learned techniques to defend myself, vocabulary words in Japanese, as well as names of weapons that were used by ancient martial artists and still are used by practitioners today. I learned about Bruce Lee's impact on the martial arts world, as well as normal people in the world that look to him as a role model. However, the most important thing I learned in this class is that discipline, dedication, and respect are the keys to success. Your future depends on your choices. It's up to you. Either you want to be successful and put the work in, or choose to be a failure.

Final Reflection

This is our last class of The History of Martial Arts course with Sensei Riley and it turned out to be a great experience! We have learned about martial artists who have had a huge impact on peoples lives back then and now. We have also learned fighting techniques that we should only use to protect ourselves. We saw many informative, exciting, action packed, and hilarious movies throughout the class. One thing they all had in common was a good guy or girl fighting to do what is right, and not for just revenge. I have honestly enjoyed my time here in this class and have not only learned many new things about martial arts but especially things about myself. Osu

The End!?

What is karate? It is the way of the open hand. This class has helped me more mentally and physically. I have learned that being a martial artists of any style is more about the fight within you than fighting your opponent. There is a Chinese proverb that says, "He who overcomes others is strong. He who overcomes himself is mighty." I believe that says it all. Not just in martial arts, but in life itself  as well. Being in this class was amazing! I have learned a lot and have done a lot! That would not have been possible without taking this magnificent project. Osu.

-signing off is Lucky Laughing Leader

I have learned plenty of valuable lessons while I was in this class like empty your cup. I have gained a lot of Japanese words and their meanings. Sensei taught us many facts about different martial arts and who mastered them. I have gotten way more flexible since starting martial arts too.

In this class we watched a lot of great documentaries and throwback movies from way back in the day. We went to Jersey Gardens to see the new Avengers movie and even went to visit a cool dojo in Brooklyn, the Shorinjiryu Kenryukan Imperial Dragon Dojo. While there we saw some really deadly weapons and learned a few cool techniques. I definitely learned how to punch correctly too.

What has this class taught me

This class has taught me a lot. I've learned spiritual things like how to calm myself and focus on one task. Sensei has taught us how to achieve a goal that we have set for ourselves, and to have a clear mind in doing so. This class really opened my eyes to martial arts in a fun way, and has made me want to continue in it. Mr. Riley has done a great job at teaching us the history of martial arts and how to do several styles. In the dojo, we have learned many stances and how to defend ourselves. I recommend this class to everyone because of its spiritual aspects. This experience has truly broadened my perspective on martial arts and life. Arigato.

BRUCE LEE LIVES ON

Started viewing Enter The Dragon yesterday. I am surprised and cannot believe that so many of this generation have NEVER seen this film. Definitely made some new Bruce Lee fans!

Dojo and Chocolate

Blog 4
May 28

Yesterday, we went on a trip to Brooklyn New York to train at the Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo. The trip was worth it, even though we had little time for one day. The practice at the dojo was very painful! My knuckles are still in pain and purple from punching the body armor!  However, I learned how to escape from a grab. This technique was very effective because it puts me in full control of the battle but yet the technique was so simple and effortless.

This project is making me wish I had continued karate during my younger years.

Gray Bees Entered the Dragon

Our project traveled to Brooklyn, NY and had an informative and wonderful training session at the Shorinjiryu Kenryukan Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo. Many thanks to Hanshi Myron Lubitsch and Nidan Dai Decland Paul-Roper for their warm hospitality.

 

Today in class we reviewed our notes from the first week. We also watched the comedy Balls of Fury for Fun Friday.

Stances , blocks , and styles .

Today we went over all the stances, blocks, styles and their founders. Sensei Riley wrote the translations in English so we as a class could have a better understanding of them and to make sure we know these terms for the final exam on Monday. We also watched the movie Balls of Fury, which was a very funny movie. It contained a mixture of ping pong and martial arts. The part that I enjoyed the most was when the girl beat up all those guys when they disrespected her by touching her inappropriately. So far it's been a good day and I'm hoping to learn more new things.

We are in our last few days of the History of Martial Arts project with Sansei Riley and we are reviewing what's going to be on our final.  Today we saw the movie Balls of Fury and it was hilarious! The movie had some martial arts scenes in it and they were well choreographed. I wish I had more time in the project to be honest.

Today we saw a good movie called Balls of Fury. It was so funny! Also we reviewed many of the styles we've studied in the martial arts project. I want to spend more time in this class because I have learned some really good stuff that can help me in the future. Now I know that karate is not all about killing people, but it's for defending and protecting yourself and others.

Daily Journal

Today we saw Balls of Fury. It was a good movie and pretty hilarious too! We reviewed notes in our notebook about different styles, stances, origins of the style and founders of the styles.

Today we watched a movie called Balls of Fury. It was a really funny movie!

Martial Arts in Balls of Fury

We watched Balls of Fury today because the references it has towards martial arts and the training Randy Daytona went through. His girlfriend in the movie, Maggie Q demonstrated some very good martial arts moves.

Deadliest Warrior: Samurai vs. Viking episode

I realize that the samurai was all over the viking attacking like crazy.  Even though I liked the brute strength of the viking, the samurai was technically stronger in agility and weaponry and was able to defeat the viking.

Daily Journal

Yesterday the class went to Brooklyn, NY to visit and train at another Shorinjiryu Karate dojo. The dojo was called the Imperial Dragon Hombu dojo. The instructors there were Hanshi Myron Lubitsch and Shodan Decland Paul-Roper. Both teachers were great and I learned more than I thought I would in one hour. I enjoyed yesterday very much!

Blog

Today we saw a movie called Chocolate. It was very good and it was even funny a little bit. The action in the movie was real!

Yesterday we went on another great trip! This time to Brooklyn, New York to train at the Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo. There we learned many different skills and techniques with Sensei Riley and the other Shorinjiryu instructors, Hanshi Myron Lubitsch and Shodan Decland Paul-Roper. It was really fun!

Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo in Brooklyn

Before leaving on the trip we watched an episode of The Deadliest Warrior: Samurai vs Viking. Once again, I learned that the samurai skills and weapons were way superior than the viking's brute force. This truly demonstrated that martial arts is more about skill and technique; rather than brute force.

The trip to the Imperial Dragon Dojo in Brooklyn was excellent! We met Hanshi Myron Lubitsch, who is a great master and person as well. We learned as soon as we got there that he is very disciplined and responsible. I could see that nothing bothers him more than people being late to his dojo.

He showed us new techniques to control your opponent with simple but effective moves. He also showed us authentic swords that he has collected from all over the world. He did a cutting demonstration with a katana by slicing a card into pieces just by touching the blade. I realized that the katana is a weapon you should not play around with.

Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo

Yesterday we attended class and trained at the Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo in Brooklyn, NY. We met Hanshi Myron Lubitsch. He was our chief instructor of the day. I was the uke of the day, which is the practice dummy. I got the chance to see a real katana up close and learned a new wrist lock that's very effective and painful. At the end, I was rewarded with a red Shorinjiryu shirt that says demo team on it in Japanese. Hanshi told me that I should be honored and I most definitely was honored and grateful. Hanshi was a cool and great instructor. Maybe some day I'll go back.

Yesterday we went to the Imperial Dragon Dojo, in Brooklyn. We learned some new techniques and had fun along the way. Today we watched a movie called Chocolate. It was about a girl with autism who was also a great fighter. This movie opened my eyes to autistic kids. It showed me that they can do great things and their disabilities don't stop them. The main character also did her own stunts and we saw how brutal the movie actually was.

A view of the World Trade Center Liberty Tower in Manhattan on our way to the Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo in Brooklyn, NY

Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo

It was a long but worthwhile trip to Brooklyn to visit the headquarters of Shorinjiryu Karatedo in North America. Hanshi Myron, the head of Shorinjiryu Kenryukan Karate was a cool guy! He didn´t look like he could hurt a fly, boy was I wrong! He was very helpful and I learned how to avoid getting yolked up while also doing some damage to my attacker. It was also a real eye opener to how people train in Shorinjiryu under Hanshi Myron.

Great trip!

Yesterday we went to the Shorinjiryu Kenryukan Imperial Dragon Hombu Dojo in Brooklyn. The head of that dojo is Hanshi Myron Lubitsch. He was a cool guy. He showed us a lot of cool techniques when people grab you. He showed us a lot of cool and really sharp weapons too!

Bruce Lee

Blog 3
May 13


Today we watched a documentary about Bruce Lee and how he changed the world through martial arts. I am getting a better understanding of his impact because he also encouraged people that had nothing to do with martial arts to be more. My favorite quote from him was one where he talks about being like water. "Pour water into a cup, it becomes the cup. Pour water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. Pour water into a tea pot, it becomes the tea pot. Water can either flow or crash... Be water my friend!" This quote made me realize that the greatest gift our body has is the ability to adapt but we must first push our body past perceived limits.

Karate Girl and Jujitsu

BLOG 2                                                                                                                                 May 26

Today in class we watched a movie called Karate Girl. One of the strong lessons of this movie was the purpose of karate, which is to be used for protection. From the movie I also learned that in the past, martial artists identified enemies and allies by their fighting stances. This was an important component in the movie because the main character's sister was kidnapped at a very young age. However, because of their father's lessons in their style of martial arts, the two sisters were able to recognize one another and reunite in the middle of dueling each other. I think this concept was very creative because realistic cultural ideas were put into this movie.

In the dojo today we trained in jujitsu and how to break our fall (ukemi) when being thrown. Learning jujitsu is exciting because I always wanted to learn how to throw someone bigger than me and its one of the oldest styles of martial arts.

Chanbara = Sword competition

Today was a great learning experience of how to use the sword. It was very enjoyable, even though the techniques were more challenging than anything we've learned up to this point.

My first day in this class was boring and tiresome, as Sensei introduced us to more about the history of martial arts and how many came to be sport.  I am now very interested in martial arts and I'm looking forward to taking lessons in the future.

Today in class we saw the movie Karate Girl which was about a teenage girl named Ayaka, who at a young age was already a martial arts master. The movie centered around female martial artists instead of the average male fighter. After the movie we went to the dojo and learned some ground techniques. I felt like I got the hang of it so far but I still have a lot to learn.

Today we received certificates and medals for our participation in the Chanbara Tournament from last week. I placed 3rd.  We watched a movie Karate Girl. The moral of the movie was what karate is all about. You only fight when you need to defend yourself or others. We learned a little jujitsu in the dojo. Those armbars looked cool.

Daily Blog

Today was another good day! I finally got flipped and I was put in an arm bar by Sensei Riley! We learned a little bit of  Jiu Jitsu, my favorite Martial Arts style/technique. Today we also discussed MMA and UFC fighters. My favorites are George St. Pierre and Royce Gracie.

Before training in the dojo, we watched a movie titled Karate Girl. It was an interesting film. The movie was not only about the fighting but about the true use and meaning of martial arts.

Week 3 :

 This class has been amazing up to this point. During these three weeks I've learned so much about martial arts and what it really means. It is clear to me now that it's not just about fighting , but rather about the spiritual side of it and defending yourself. Martial arts helps to keep your mind and body calm. It helps to keep your soul at peace.

From the documentaries and movies we watched, I've learned about Shaolin Temple and how it influenced the world of martial arts. Also how Bruce Lee completely changed the game of martial arts by introducing his own philosophy and creating a way of no one way with Jeet Kune Do, which is a mixture of all martial arts. He was a role model to everyone and his legacy still impacts millions of people around the world. He changed the way people in the world view his people by showing his skills in the cinema after only making four films.

Last but not least, I also learned how to put into practice new techniques in real life combat situations. I really like this class because I'm learning new stuff on a daily basis. I almost forgot to talk about the documentary, The Smashing Machine, about an MMA Champion Mark Kerr, which completely changed my mind about a future in joining professional MMA. I don't think I could deal with all the things and damage that these fighters deal with after every fight. 

Throwing techniques

Today I learned Judo/Jujitsu techniques for throwing someone. Though I did not throw anyone because we do not even know how to fall correctly, it still was an interesting experience. I was put in an armbar and realized how dangerous it is. I really look forward to being able to perform that technique myself.

Samurai = To serve

Today I learned that samurai were here to serve and I think that's pretty cool because there are a lot of things that we can learn from them. Especially how to be courteous and respect each other in the classroom and in the dojo.

FIRST DAY AT THE DOJO

Blog 1
During the first day of entering the dojo my body was in lots of pain from boxing practice. Every movement I made was a struggle as a result  from soreness and cramps. However, through all this pain, I enjoyed my time at the dojo, especially during the stretching techniques. While performing different stretching techniques I felt all the body pains in my muscles disappearing as if I was self repairing myself.

In the dojo that day, I learned how to perform blocking techniques which are very different and more difficult than blocking techniques are in boxing.  However, Sensei Riley taught me that the purpose of blocking is to deflect and changed the direction of my opponent's attack. Do not meet force with force. I experimented with this idea by incorporating it into my boxing and I realized how this gives me a greater advantage in boxing in much the same way it works in karate.

The first week of martial arts wasn't as much fun as I thought it would be. Watching documentaries everyday about the history of martial arts got people sleeping in class like the picture. However, we got use to it. At first, those documentaries were very boring, because I thought that during the first day of class we were all going to learn some powerful moves and be able to fly like Bruce Lee. Instead we learned some defensive moves and a little bit of striking techniques. It was only after several days of training that we were allowed to try our moves on each other in the dojo.

Today we had an UNEXPECTED kata test!

Tournament roster

Today's Class

Today we watched a film on one of my favorite UFC fighters of all time Royce Gracie. He's my favorite because I like takedowns and submissions. I'm strongly considering taking Jiu Jitsu now more than ever. In the dojo we competed in Chanbara, which is a sword competition. I hope that we do more Chanbara in the dojo and other competitions.

Royce Gracie is the Man!

I realized today that being strong isn't everything, the technique is key. Royce Gracie showed me that. I was impressed because despite of his small frame, he was not ashamed of it and he always did his best.

Today was another great day! We saw a good documentary about Royce Gracie. His family Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was so good, he won all or most of his matches in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). We went to the dojo today and had a compétition "chanbara" (sword play).  It was really great!!! It was one of the best days we have had in the Martial Arts Project! I enjoy this class everyday!

Chanbara

Even though I was unprepared for physical training, the fighting tournament of today's class was pretty fun to watch and I learned a lot from actual class. The documentary today on Royce Gracie was really informative. I learned that Gracie Jiu Jitsu was necessary for UFC to evolve.

No Training

Today was okay even though we haven't trained. We watched The Deadliest Warrior, which featured a Shaolin Monk destroying a Maori Warrior. I knew the Shaolin Monk was going to win. The Shaolin Prince was an awesome film! I liked how they portrayed the 3 Holy Fool Monks because a funny monk is rarely seen. The only thing I would have liked was to do better in getting a higher score on the recent test.

Today's Class

Today in class we watched the movie Shaolin Prince. It was a pretty good movie. We didn't train today even though I was looking forward to it. We took a quiz today as well. I feel that I did okay on it. This class has been great so far.

Martial Arts Opened My Eyes

       Since I have started this class, I have seen the effects of the training in everything else I do. When I play basketball, I see that I can run faster and I am more flexible. I never thought I could improve as much as I did. Today we went more indepth for the kata, which I hope to learn to do without any help. I think it is important because it teaches the basics and it is all still very effective. I never thought that pointing your fist downwards would increase the strength behind a punch. On a lighter note, I know to never cross my arms in front of Sensei because that means I am challenging him and challenging him means losing or broken bones. Lol

It's about to get real y'all!!!

Changing

     I have started to undergo changes that have effected me greatly. Physically I am greatly improving in flexibility and speed. The intense stretching incorporates many parts of the body and is very helpful. The pain can be horrible at times, but in order to get better we must go on. As a soccer player this makes me lighter on my feet and quicker on and off the ball. I am also getting stronger in my core because of the exercises we do.
      In addition to the physical aspects there are also many spiritual parts to karate. My mind is calm and I can sense a huge change in my life. I am more attentive in class and I can focus better because we have learned how to clear our minds of the outside world, and that is the biggest part of my growth.

Can You Guess The Correct Answer?

Today we enjoyed and learned about one of China's greatest heroes, Wong Fei Hung 

(Hung Gar Kung Fu) as we viewed IRON MONKEY

The class really loved the story as well as the realistic fighting that took place in the David Mamet film, REDBELT starring Chiwetel Ejiofor and several famous fighters from the world of Mixed Martial Arts

Field Trip to Jersey Gardens Cinema to see The Avengers: Age of Ultron!!! Great movie!!!

Nobody is messing with me when I'm wearing my Bruce Lee t-shirt