Now that you are about to have read this, you will have been knowing what has or has not been going on!

The Olympics are great! As a long-time swimmer, in heart if not always in fact (I started swimming at around 6, did varsity in high school, and took a break in the first few years at UVA before getting into club swimming for about a year and a half), that’s the event that I’m mainly following. I don’t follow swimming much outside of the Olympics, except of course for that of my two younger brothers (at RIT and George Mason), but the Olympics always get me pumped up. And Michael Phelps and the rest of the American team are delivering an amazing performance.

Olympic Judo is also cool; it’s not televised, but NBC is doing a great thing by putting full videos of the competitions for most sports up on its website at www.nbcolympics.com. If your local cable company doesn’t have a deal with NBC, you might have to fudge your zip code and cable company.

Speaking of judo, my judo buddy and all-around good friend Will, who has been working with Hands On for the past couple of years, made the surprise announcement that he has accepted a job with the Coordination Center and will be staying in Biloxi for another half-year or so, rather than moving back home this weekend to Boston as planned. Great news! It’ll definitely keep me motivated for judo. Not only that, but Will will be moving into our house to replace my roommate Phil, who’s left for Oregon. The future of bad movie night and Scrabble is therefore assured.

While Will is staying, there are a number of people in the volunteer circle here who have left recently or will be leaving — Phil, Ian, Doug, Andy, Katharine, Chris, and more. I expect that the beginning of fall will bring a new wave of folks moving in, but for now it’s a little quiet around here.

Work is going well, although that’s another post. And the evenings and weekends always seem to produce some interesting events. I’d like to take some road trips, but money’s pretty tight, so that’s on hold until I get my long-lost-uncle-or-aunt-inheritance. I need to start swimming and lifting more — the Olympics are certainly motivating me for that.

Well, that’s more or less it. How’s everyone else’s summer going?

I was heavily distracted, yesterday during work and again after frisbee, watching judo and mixed martial arts videos online. Pretty awesome and inspirational stuff.

(Not me. Via Wikipedia)

It’s official – I’m now doing judo over in Ocean Springs along with Will/Nick/various other Hands On folk. The first few classes have been very fun; it’s a new martial art for me and I’m learning a lot already.

I think that setting some goals is the most important thing you can do when you’re starting a martial art. Ideally a martial art is something you’ll continue to do throughout your lifetime. But this isn’t a realistic goal for me right now. I’d like to persevere at it while I’m here in Mississippi, but who knows where I’ll be next. That being said, here are my martial arts goals:

1. Attend class regularly and give a full effort.
2. Learn well a variety of techniques (rolls, falls, throws, chokes, pins).
3. Through whatever style I’m practicing in (judo, karate, etc.), develop my understanding of the fundamentals behind martial arts (stance, force, inertia, body knowledge).

In talking with a non-martial-artist the other day, I was interested by her perception of the idea behind martial arts: that the goal is to achieve victory without having to hurt the other person. Now, without getting into the elaborate philosophies associated with martial arts, I don’t think this is accurate – in any real-life application of martial arts, concern for the opponent’s well-being comes dead last behind protecting yourself and those around you. This is particularly the case for styles like Shotokan karate, which I trained in for several years. Shotokan counts “Refrain from violent behavior” among its core principles, but when force is required, every technique is potentially a killing or crippling blow. Judo practictioners, on the other hand, may use pins or holds to achieve complete control over their opponents without (necessarily) incapacitating them.

Karate and judo have very different techniques, but it seems to me that their spirit is similar. They emphasize the controlled application of force. The first and most important element of control is to know when the use of force is appropriate.

But essentially, judo’s fun. I’m finally getting into an active routine with judo, occasional running, ultimate frisbee, football, and construction, and my body’s making me pay for it, but it’s all good.