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Kyoshi James' 50th
On behelf of all the readers of the newsletter, and all members of GKA, I would like to congratulate Kyoshi James on his 50th birthday.
Celebrations for Kyoshi's birthday were held at Wu Lin retreat, and a gerat time was held by all. Here is a sample of some photos availalbe at the Goju Kensha social club web site, users.froggy.com.au/briana/ and at members.optusnet.com.au/cookeemonster/.
Thank you all for raising $1000 for the Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal.
Fitness Form - Training Power?
Last newsletter I covered the definition of muscular strength in relation to our martial arts. I covered strength training concepts, hoping that those who felt they wanted more information, would ask their training or health care professional. Anyway, it has come to pass that a few people have asked me to shed some light on what exercises can be done to improve strength. Well unfortunately, I am not suitably qualified to recommend any strength exercise, from a legal stand point. As I have stated from the beginning, these article are designed to provoke thought and discussion, and are based on my research, experience, interests, and knowledge I have obtained though different mediums, and associations I have had. I will reiterate that if you want to know more, see your instructor for advice, or your health care professional. I am willing to discuss these further of course, and invite people to ask questions and make points and opinion, either through the newsletter, or confidentially with me. Muscle strengthening exercises, like weight training, involves some level of risk of injury. especially if performed incorrectly, and I feel should be carried out under professional supervision and guidance.
Another area in which I wanted to cover as part of these columns in Power. Having thought more about it, I feel Power is not something you can train per-se. Now in this article, I am talking about power, in the theoretical physical definition. Many people will talk about power with another meaning, and this is quite acceptable, as the English language allows this. One example is when we talk about ‘generating power’. Now if ‘generating power’ is talking about generating as much force as possible, then in this context, it is ‘generating force’, however if it is talking about generating as much force in the least amount of time, or as efficiently as possible, then it is closer to what I am talking about, and is what I believe martial arts strives for in ‘power’. So I do not want to contradict anything you may have been told about power, as the meaning may be different in different contexts.
In physics, Power is a ratio of Work/Time (P = W/t), and Work is a product of Force times Distance (W = F x d). Now I don’t want to teach a physics lesson, but Power can be derived to mean a product of Force x Velocity(speed). From this, we can see, to increase power we need to provide the greatest amount of force at the greatest speed (or if you like, in the shortest amount of time). So to relate this to what we do, Power is reliant on Force, Speed and Time, or providing the maximum amount of force in the most efficient manner. So you may ask, why can’t we train force generation, speed and timing. Well in return I say, exactly, you can train all these things, but you can’t train power per-se. Maximum power will only come to you if you have your timing exact, and your force(power) generation techniques spot on. The way we improve these elements is to get the body to learn what the best motions are for power, and the best timing for those motions in any given situation. I was watching a documentary the other day about human reactions, both mental and physical. It spoke of reacting to everyday life situations, to reacting to fearful/unexpected situations, and it mentioned we learns such reactions by developing the pathways in the brain to recognise and react in certaint ways. ‘React’ in this sense means automatically or without thought. These pathways are usually only developed by repetition, and they talked about thousands upon thousands of repetitions. So when your sensei talks to you about muscle memory, instinctive reaction, or requests that you drill something 20, 30 or even 100 times, this is most likely what they are talking about. I don’t mean to discourage anyone with such large figures, and give the impression training should be boring. From what I have read and studied, I believe what science is sure about, is that habits/reflexes, both physical and mental, can be trained, and even repetitive training in its initial stages shows changes, so don’t be discouraged. It just proves that in our martial arts, many things just take time and lots of practice, and to get philosophical, this long journey all has to start with one step. I believe obtaining power, the product of timing and application of force, is one of those journeys. Make up you own mind.
Cameron Adrain
Video and Photo conversions
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Have your old videos, photos and documents put on to DVD or other media for life long archiving, professionally.
Many people have access to the technology to make basic home movies, create and basic slideshows. However, few have the time, technology, experience or skill needed to add professional touches to these projects. So for a small cost, you can have your memories archived, and presented in a personal, professional and striking way, that will catch the attention of anybody who views them, now and in the future.
Having your old videos, photos, negatives, slides and documents put onto DVD, SVCD, VCD or CD has the the following advantages:
- Future protection - if placed in the latest format, when a new format is released, the ability to convert to a new format is more likely.
- Digitally stored - loss of data is less likely, as these media have an expected lifespan of up to 100 years (depending on the media, and writing method).
- Maintain quality - magnetioc media, such as VHS, DV and video tapes, can stretch, or lose magenetic permanance, resulting in loss of quality, if not total loss of information.
Contact Cameron Adrain for more information. Discounts given to GKA members, and for martial arts related projects (not martial arts movies). Claim it on tax if it is for a business.
Cameron Adrain,
Ph: 0407 544 500
email: cameronad@netspace.net.au
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When, Why and How
All submissions can be emailed or given to Cameron Adrain (Shodan) goju-kensha@netspace.net.au, or given to a local representative at your dojo.
All submissions are preferred emailed, or on a disk (CD or floppy). Typed or printed submissions may be accepted. No hand written submissions will be accepted.
Submissions must be received by the 15th of the month prior to the release of the newsletter. The newsletter will to be issued on approximately the 1st of the month.
Please state clearly the month(s) you want the article to be in, otherwise it will be submitted in the next available newsletter once only.
For any announcements of any events, functions, etc, at least 6-8 weeks notice is suggested.
Email List
If you wish to have the newsletter emailed to you, just email me by clicking on this link, gkanews please. if you do not use this link, ensure the email address is goju-kensha@netspace.net.au and the subject is gkanews please.
To be taken off the email list, just email me by clicking on this link, no gkanews please. if you do not use this link, ensure the email address is goju-kensha@netspace.net.au and the subject is no gkanews please.
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