Aikido Shodan Grading

I graded for shodan in aikido today. It was like being at a big party much to my surprise. I'd been deliberately not psyching myself into it as if I had spent any time thinking about it at all, I'd have an attack of nerves so I had figured my best tactic was to forget about it as much as possible. Since it had been a busy week workwise, that was easy enough.

For the non-aikidoka among you, getting shodan is the equivalent of getting a blackbelt. It signifies that I've learnt all the foundation techniques and the real journey of learning now begins. Our sensei (teacher) always says the kyu grades (all the grades before shodan) are when one is a baby, and now you begin to walk (at shodan). I think it's very true. It's also for us to remember that learning is a journey and when we're in the process of learning a large body of techniques it can be easy to forget that the real importance of it lies in being able to use it well not just know it.

The fun bit about the grading was really watching my seniors grade. It turned out there was the largest number ever of senior dan grades (all grades shodan and above are dan grades). So there were the usual multiple attacks with weapons which are a joy to watch. The spectacular, and funny, bits all occur during these gradings because it becomes glaringly obvious when someone leaves themselves wide open to attack or not. The was a girl who's very good with strong clean wide technique who was otherwise performing superbly but she kept forgetting to disarm the attacker armed with a wooden knife. She'd very efficiently take him down and then leave the wooden dagger lying in his hand while taking on the second attacker. It was only in round 3 that it occured to her that hey, maybe I should take the knife away so after flattening the guy, so she had to go back and get it out of his hand while he lay on the ground. Which of course made her mistake all the more obvious. But at least she remembered while grading and not after.

I as usual forgot one technique. There's always at least one technique that I forget and this time it was yokomenkaitenage which is a throw that looks like a windmill from an attack to the side of the neck. I ended up having to glance over at my fellow testees to see how they did it before I could figure it out. Fortunately, this isn't regarded as cheating but as common sense during a grading.

Being able to grade with some of the top 1st kyu (grade just before shodan) chaps in my dojo is also why I chose to grade this time around. I just graded last round so I really should have waited till the next round another 4-6 months when I'd have been further along the learning curve and been able to handle the test with ease rather than struggling through. But when I realised what good company I'd have on the mat, I went for it. And sure enough, it was definitely the right crowd to be a part of, not just my own grading but also because after me, the largest ever crowd of senior dan grades graded. That took a lot of stress out of my own grading since it meant that my uke (attacker) wasn't changed halfway through and naturally he got tired during the 45 min long test. And that I had someone to copy from, and that the chief instructor's attention was diverted to the later gradings and that the rest of the 8 person panel almost to a man all had to come down and hit the mat so I'm sure they were more charitable with the marks :).

So as always, gambatte! train on! It's the daily day to day practice that is the ultimately the main thing and is the part I love most, not these highlights.

Pink Martini

I've been drinking pink martinis or really I should say I've been metaphorically drinking in Pink Martini, the group. They've produced two excellent albums a few years back, which a friend of mine gave me for Christmas. I've been listening to them while filing financial documents (yawn), researching the latest company I am doing due diligence on and it helps give a mellow mood to my afternoon with the latin precussion. However the band is definitely more than latin band...it starts out sounding latin then morphs into swing and then one of my favourite pieces, The Gardens of Sampson & Beasley. Later in the album they turn to even more stark but still very melodic pieces with just voice and violin or cello singing charming French pieces such as autrefois and the hauntingly beautiful U Plavu Zoru.

My favourite pieces are the smaller intimate ones where the singer, China Forbes, and just one or two accompanying instruments weave an intimate simpler melody as if she is singing to just me. The title of the second album, Hang On Little Tomato, is an apt title but the tune remarkably happy for a song which starts in a sadder mood.

Reading the notes, I realised one of the albums was recorded in Portland, Oregon in a place called the Kung Fu Bakery. then I noticed the picture on the end of the insert booklet was that of a happy retriever lying on its stomach, with tongue lolling out, over a magazine. Quirky little touches that speak to whimsical me. At any rate, the albums have won me over and for any of you who might be interested in listening to some samples, their website is www.pinkmartini.com

Christmas Cheer

I love Christmas. During the 12 days of Christmas, we as a family have usually gone a-visiting our slightly more distant relatives. This year, as one of the further flung ones came back from Australia, that particular family opened its doors for lunch. This was a special treat indeed for many reasons. First among these is of course the people: being a typical bunch of Singapore Eurasians, the banter flew, warm and friendly and filled with humour covering the entire gathering with a warm glow.

Second among these was the venue: this family lives in a beautiful little one storey house, with a little verandah and with an extremely well kept garden. From my childhood I remember it being immaculately kept and that still remains. They have added an amazing little bunch of finches of various hues in a small aviary on the side of the house. The finches clearly find it a hospitable home as they're breeding. The house also has an old dog and a little aquarium. That's not to mention all the varieties of flowers and plants around the house. I cannot imagine how much time must go into getting the place to thrive so with life and yet remain so tidy.

The house has remained as an extremely well kept icon of a past era when life was a little slower and there was more space, literally...no huge built up houses or apartment blocks. And it's a house so it never imposes on its guest but rather welcomes them into its very tropical open doors and windows. A house built before airconditioning so it blends well into the surrounding garden. So the many guests whiled away the afternoon spilled out of the house, sitting on the lawn, spread across the verendah, trading stories to catch up and create that warmth so characteristic of the Eurasian community in Singapore.

The third reason is of course the food: the food was delectable always but the star of the show was one of the desserts. This very special cake is what I used to look forward too all year when I went to visit as a child. This household specialises in a cake that is both difficult to make and rare. I've never seen it baked anywhere else but in this house and it was done to perfection by the mistress of the house, who since passing on, very fortunately did pass on the secrets to her daughter. Sweet, brown, large grained, nutty and rose scented, it is suitably named: lovecake. It remains a culinary challenge to me to make one. I tried many years ago, over two christmases but mine turned out with a stodgy layer on the bottom and no fluffy large grains emerged. So alas the secret remains hidden from me. Nevertheless I was glad to hear the family has decided to those hankering for it, they will gladly bake on demand at the cost of $50 per kg which for a cake of its uniqueness is a price worth paying.

We took our leave reluctantly late in the afternoon, filled with the warmth of families and long lost friends reuniting, sprinkled with the outrageous Eurasian fencing humour and our bodies filled with lovecake...my dear dad ate 4 slices.

Advent

Christmas is coming! The sense of expectancy in the air is there and I now wait like a child for christmas. I've been helping with the household preperations and of course one of my favourites is putting up the advent wreath and the tree. This year sadly because of the renovations ongoing in my house, we have no room for the rather delicate crib (might get broken if out) and will not be able to hold our usual large hearty christmas party.

Nevertheless, I'm in a very holiday mood and have been getting my christmas shopping done. I will also need to do my christmas confession, never the pleasantest of exercises, but nevertheless which leaves my soul feeling squeaky clean. And then there are my christmas cards to write, late as usual, but well, christmas does last 12 days, so many people forget this...so you see, I'm really not late...

Anyway, to all readers, may you have a very blessed advent season!

Little Old Japanese Sensei

Tamura Sensei came along to our dojo to conduct a seminar. Tamura sensei is a slightly built, 5'5" 70+ year old aikido shihan (very senior teacher) who's 8th dan (8th grade black belt). He has enormous power despite his size and it's one of the big reasons why I picked aikido as a martial art, that there were all these little old Japanese guys able to floor guys less than half their age and twice their size. Tamura Sensei is one of those little old Japanese senseis who can do that. He was sent out to France many years ago to start aikido in France and much to his credit, aikido is now flourishing in France.

I spent much of my time during the seminar trying to figure out his techniques which were slightly different variations from the ones usually taught. Naturally the easier he made a technique look, the harder it was in practice. He came with a small contingent from France and visitors appeared from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia and Thailand, such is his fame and pull in the aikido world.

I am still waiting for the photographs of the seminar to turn out and will post at least one on this spot. However for those of you who might be curious as to what aikido might look like, do visit www.ueshibaaikido.org which is the website of the dojo I normally practice at.

Bellini Room, St James Power Station

The Bellini Room is a jazz bar at the newly opened St James's Power Station at Sentosa Gateway. I went there with a few friends last night who wanted to go karoke and despite my not particularly liking that activity, figured it was worth checking out St James' Power Station and I'm glad I did.

The highlight for me was the resident jazz band and singer, the Bellini Room Band. A 7 piece band of mainly local jazz artists, it's led by a very strong music director, keyboardist and singer. The two older musicians, the drummer and the trumpeter both wear these fedora hats adding to the mood. The saxophonists are much younger and do excellent technical renditions. The singer that night was what really made the band stand out much more: a young Aussie jazz singer called Dylan Foster originally from The Flying Pickets in London.

I somehow really liked this guy's performance. It helped that he was cute and could engage the audience with ease by doing the occasional stroll amongst them to get a little audience participation. He really does as he says: put the soul back into swing. Best at the more soulful jazz numbers, he excelled at the more urban pieces as well as the latin jazz ones. He then unfortunately did a Michael Buble number at the request of one of the members of the audience in the exact same style of Michael Buble. While it was a very good imitation, its a bit sad that he felt he should imitate Michael Buble and I hope in time that he will do less of that and more of his own style which has enough individuality to make him stand out.

He then switched to some rock and roll numbers but despite his ability to belt them out, his personality so did not go with them so I hope he sticks with what he does best: soulful swing and latin jazz. And I hope he sticks around. There aren't any other singers like him on the Singapore scene that I know but I figure he's good enough and young and ambitious enough that he'll move on to better pastures soon.

Zaru Soba

In quest for a healthier lunch now that the healthfood store next door to my office has doubled its salad prices, I have decided to try cooking a little at lunchtime. Nothing major ie boiling soba noodles for zaru soba which I love.

I managed to find chasoba noodles at the Holland Village Cold Storage which come prepackaged into little serving sized bundles. I also managed to find tsuya which is the soy based dipping sauce for noodles and a tube of wasabi. I stuck religiously to buying only Japanese brands with ingredient labels in Japanese, and the odd sticker of English translations as to my dismay, any Korean or chinese or even some Singaporean brands have been adulterated to local tastes.

Chasoba is made from buckwheat and green tea so maybe it'll even help me stay awake after lunch instead of falling into a postlunch stupor. Soba is also rich in fibre and selenium and vitamin B...apparently it is the noodle of choice of health conscious Tokoyites.

I boiled this together with some Chinese watercress and rinsed it. And discovered that one rinse with tap water is insufficient to remove all the starchiness. I have a wonderful bottle of australian made organic brown rice miso which I added a tiny teaspoon of to the mixture as well as of course the dipping sauce and gobbled it all up in 5 minutes.

Taste-wise, I need to either go really pure and eat proper zaru soba or convert it into hiyashi noodles, as there's something missing or which doesn't quite gel although overall it's not bad. Hiyashi noodles however is usually made with ramen, though in the interests of experimentation, I can always try a soba version. Overall, I think what's missing is a bit of protien for both taste and nutrients so next time I should try some cold tofu dish topped with bonita flakes in some soy sauce or add slices of omelette and ham.

These however are strictly for alone eating. I don't think it's the sort of thing I'd inflict on anyone else other than myself for a quick working lunch.

Aikido Grading

Grading for aikido ranks is generally a very helpful affair although it's still tense. I arrived just as the white belts were starting out but didn't really watch them as I was distracted with talking to my friend who was grading for her 2nd kyu (black belt). It's always nice to have a friend to go through these milestones with. It's also we had a pact that we would uke (attacker partner) for each other which was possible since we were grading one after the other.

Turned out fine on the whole. I uked (partnered) for my friend as her first uke. I think I ended up making 2 mistakes as uke but corrected them immediately and fortunately these didn't unnerve her. I have to say my friend was quite composed, far more than I was when I was doing my grading at her level.

When it was my turn, I had three very nice guys be my ukes one after the other after sensei (instructor) made my friend step down as uke as she had just completed her grading. Usually at this level the gradings are longer, so ukes tire out and sensei changes them. The last guy I had was a very nice shodan (dan grades are the grades beyond black belt) and he was great as he's got beautiful ukemi (partnering techniques). We ended with tanto (wooden dagger) techniques which were a surprise...shows you how much I've been paying attention at gradings! I should have realised there were going to be these techniques.

The funny thing is now I actually like the freestyle (respond how you want to an attack) section best which is the bit I used to be the most wary of. It's partly that I'm less nervous than the last time, and partly that I know I can't forget a technique since I'm allowed to employ any aikido technique that I know. Whereas now there are so many more techniques that I can be tested on, I could easily forget some of them on the spot.

And of course the best thing about it all is that it's over and generally while I don't think I did that well technically, I'm unlikely to fail. So I'm pretty happy.

Confessions of an Aikido-holic

I'm an aikido-holic. I practice aikido 3 times a week, two hours at a time. When I can't practice you may notice I begin to display symptoms of restlessness, inattention to whatever is at hand unless aikido-related, a predilection to thinking in terms of blending and movement and in extreme cases, a dashing off in the direction of the dojo.

Tomorrow is when I grade for what they call first kyu which is the last stage of learning the basic movements in aikido. Everyone sits in this very large glass walled hall, where the parents, friends, supporters can sit outside and watch. But in the hall itself, it's generally quiet and discipline that rules. They call the white belts up first and then it proceeds up the ladder of seniority. People grade in groups before a large grading panel of sometimes up to about 8 examiners. I'm always hoping that I won't have to be lined up right under the noses of the examiners. Then they call out for ukes or attackers to partner the candidates and off it starts.

I'm grading at intermediate level so it means I sit on the mat for an awfully long time before I get called....that's bad for me because I get increasingly tense and the adrenaline starts flowing but has no where to go. By the time I get up there, I'm so pumped and jumpy I tend to forget movements. not good. But after it's over, everyone is all smiles and saying what they did right or wrong, and since in the time I've been there no one has ever failed, usually everyone is happy although the formal results don't come out for a month.

So wish me luck!

Ribboned Courts

What a woman wants: comfy fun shoes to wear on sundays or working days that don't scream work or sensibility but are still a hoot to wear and won't give me blisters after a 20 minute walk.

Found: fun pair of shoes which however did not quite pass the blister test of a 20 minute walk from buona vista MRT station to my office in Holland Village. Too bad...but I'm still hoping to break them in.

At any rate, these shoes were discovered at a sale at one of my one-time favourite shoe stores called Pretty Fit and since they only cost just under S$30 I figured they were a good buy even if they didn't pass the blister test. Needless to say, I did try to then buy some cushioning for the edges of the back of the shoe but the supermarket only had those little edge things in black. Alas, clearly supermarket stockers (undoubtedly male) have no clue that girls' shoes come in many colours other than black. What's a girl to do??

Musica Antiqua Koln

Me, various members of my extended family had to privilege of attending Musica Antiqua Koln's concert in Singapore at Victoria Concert Hall last Thursday evening. It turned out to be a superb performance of baroque period music by a quintet of 2 violins, 1 cello, 1 double bass and a harpsichord. The harpsichord was what I liked best because it is rarely heard in performance in Singapore. As a little aside, my friend who was from the organising team that brought them into Singapore, has the task of transporting this harpsichord up to Macau for the concert there this Sunday.

I have to confess, that I have a very narrow band of classical music that I like and will listen to, and an even narrower band of tolerance for live performances. I do not have a particularly sensitive ear for classical music. And I was never a very good music students particularly at composing. While doing music exams, the part I I knew I had no clue at was composing a few small bars...I would simply put notes together almost at random and hope that my music teacher would declare it music. Fortunately for me, most of the other parts of the exam were very analytical so I could get past those as a swot.

The one great classical composer that I do understand to some degree however, is JS Bach. For some reason I react to him as I do to virtually no other composer and I am very particular about intepretations of his works as a result. To me, his music has an undertone which is always there of the joy of creation. It is for me a deeply catholic work, written by a man who understood the deep stability of creation being held lovingly in God's hand. I hear it most clearly in his smaller pieces...pieces that were written not as large orchestral pieces but small groups or even just the one player. I hear it in his brandenbery concertos, in the inventions, in the concertos etc. I think it is because I tend to like smaller groups of people in general. I love Glenn Gould and yes, I can hear him humming in some of the recordings.

The musica antiqua koln's performance was technically superb as I would have expected. And I predictably reacted best to the Bach pieces. Nevertheless, I think in order for me to fully appreciate their intepretations of Bach, I might have to listen to some of their recordings. Somehow I find I'm a lot more sensitive to recorded music. Perhaps it is simply because I need more time to decide whether or not a piece will really grow on me or not. But yes, Bach has been with me since childhood listenings of Walter (now Wendy)Carlos on the Moog synthesizer on a vinyl LP. I have listened to that umpteen times and it was with regret that i realise that the new recordings on the supposedly improved moog synthesizer do not somehow have the same emotional depth of intepretation despite the new sounds.

Reactions from my family to it varied: for some, like my 7 year old nephew it was their first time ever hearing a chamber group live. Worth at least that experience and I actually rather suspect he has probably a better sensitivity to music than I do since although he looked like he slept through the second half, he came out with some intelligent comments on it the day after.

To those who are interested, this is the link to Antiqua Musica Koln's site
http://www.musica-antiqua-koeln.de/

Alice in Wonderland a la Dali

Don't dilly - dali is what I imagine dali would have said to alice in wonderland...this is his portrait of Alice. I liked the face: it was composed of leaves. It made somehow the whole thing so much more tactile. It was also just very whimsical which is my favourite kind of art. Also not really typical Dali.

One half of the Two Cows

The Catholic variant of the two cows was to have a cow and a calf reminescient of the mother and child images. But yes, to all ye doubters, there really really was a cow present at the St Francis day celebrations at St Mary's and here's the picture to prove it. The cow was set up with its little calf at a milking station and brought into the piazza for the blessing of the animals. It sure smelled of the country there!

Poor cow was a bit stressed by the time I got to see it though but it was a nice touch. And I sure hope the kids finally know that milk comes from cows as opposed to packages in the supermarket.

I have to say it's really nice to have the animals welcomed once a year in this very urban society called Singapore. We have become so very detached a lot of the time from nature with many mothers teaching their children to be afraid of animals in general so that the next generation will be completely unable to talk to the animals.

Transitus of St Francis

In honour of the Feast of St Francis on 3 October, the local franciscan community at St Mary of the Angels blessed all creatures great and small in the piazza of the church. This is the resident franciscan beagle and his franciscan friar.

Unicorn Falls

In Love. This is the Dali statue that stands before guess where: the UOB plaza. The innocent virgin and the piercing of love at the basement of a bank. Was the irony lost on the sponsors?

Dotty Dogs

A lazy Saturday morning...my dogs sure know how to enjoy it!

The Little Nun Who Could

Meet Sr Rosalind, the nun at one of Bintan's girl's hostels and schools. She runs a spick and span operation, licking a bunch of 20+ girls into shape and maintaining the hostel without running water, a little infirmary and helping teaching with the help of two other nuns plus four lay staff.

Here she stands in front of the new well which has yet to be paid for. Apparently on Bintan, she's been able to persuade many suppliers to extend them credit so now she has been raising funds to pay off the tradespeople who've given them the well, plus for other things such as new cupboards for the girls.

A little missionary group from the parish church Immaculate Heart of Mary went to pay a visit to assess their needs and are now in the process of seeing how they can assist with financing some of the girls' education. Not all of them can afford the fees.

chicken tikka masala

I could not resist taking this photo as I was walking through Changi Village last Saturday. It looked so much like char siew but I realised when I walked closer it was chicken tikka which I also love eating. This Indian stall served it along with other roasted meats and breads. Unfortunately by the time I saw it I'd already filled up for tea on kaya toast and I think my friend would have been horrified if I'd suggested we eat a full blown meal on top of that at 4pm in the afternoon. So alas, this yummy chicken will just have to wait for the next time I'm there.

Changi Village Gentrified

Changi Village is slowly undergoing gentrification. I went there with an old friend today and we sat and caught up in a flourescent bright cafe eating kaya toast and drinking homemade barley. After the rain stopped and we wandered around outside, I was was enchanted to find little bohemian touches such as this shopfront shutter. It had been merrily painted with a sitcom like mural. It sat along the main road in the village and along side it was a fully stocked happy liquor store, also shut, but one that had an array of liquor to rival an American store. But brighter and happier looking rather than seedy. That store even had Skyy vodka which I'd been looking for as the very interesting inventor of this liquor had it made to be hangover free.

Then we walked along the boardwalk which reminded me a great deal of the East Coast Parkway area. A lot more paving, and lo and behold, ferries which even departed for Pengarang, Johor. Maybe the word is more bumboats than ferries with the fare a mere $7. One wonders at that rate how long the journey would take.

I certainly wouldn't mind going back. My friend was making plans to stay at the funkily coloured Changi Village Hotel, fka, Changi Meridien, in December for a short break.

Authenticity

I have been asked both by a non-Christian friend and by Catholic friends what makes the writings in the bible stand apart and why are they regarded as the Word of God?

Very good questions. The answer is that all these writings, each of the different books which form the canon of the bible, have passed the three fold test of apostolicity, catholicity, consistency.

Big words, what do they mean?

Apostolicity: the writings are traceable for the new testament writings, directly back to the apostles. Either writen by the apostles themselves of direct disciples of the apostles.

Catholicity: "catholic" in its wider sense means "universal". The test of catholicity refers to widespread useage by the early church.

Consistency: that the content and teaching of the book do not contain anything which is inconsistent with other church tradition and doctrine.

Hence all the writings in the New Testament as we know it pass all these three tests. They have been historically traced by biblical scholars back to the apostles, known to be in widespread use by the early church as divinely inspired and all their teachings are consistent with each other. Note that the tests all have to do with chuch tradition. Church tradition is the basis for establishing the authenticity of the bible.

Next question: What about the old testament canon? Clearly they don't pass the test of apostolicity right? They were in existance long before the apostles as writings regarded by the Jewish people as coming from God. So is there an alternative test for apostolicity?