The Adventures of a Digital Sensei
Even people who know me would be surprised to find out that I have a serious love hate relationship with technology. The constant need to stay up to date created by new equipment apps and languages can be overwhelming and tiring. How it is the same constant process of development, and the ways in which these new tools impact our lives, that I also love.
It blows my mind how easy it is for 10 friends in different parts of the city, country, and globe to get together on a Saturday afternoon.
I was fortunate enough to start the year off right with the team over at New York Cine Radio. The gang and I sat down and talked about Danny McBride’s East Bound and Down which Tom binged watched over the weekend. Ken and I sparred a bit over our impressions of James Franco’s and Seth Rogen’s controversial movie, “The Interview”. And finally our conversation took a weird turn as we veered into talking about Joe Rogan and Continue reading “New York Cine Radio: East Bound and Down and UFC talk”
The other day I was talking to my old martial arts instructor, Kyoshi Giles, and musing over the fact that only fellow martial artists seem to understand how getting together with close friends to punch, kick, and stab one another over and over can be a beautiful thing. The camaraderie that can be developed by working out with other like minded individuals is not only fun, but also uplifting. I bring all this up because I had just returned from an early morning knife fighting class at the Krav Maga Federation and was feeling pretty good about getting back into the swing of training on a regular basis.
Over the past year or so I had made a number Continue reading “No more excuses”
A few months back I was interviewed on the occupational activities of former LaGuardia Media Studies student and Cannes filmfest participant, Girard Tecson of Dayside Productions. The interview appeared in a new documentary on Girard’s unusual decision to make a career shift from independent Filmmaking to professional Wrestling. I wish him luck in his new endeavors. At 5’5″ and 150 lbs, I think he is gonna need it.
The martial artist in me is conflicted by the recent turn of events in Colorado, and the anniversary the mass murder in Oslo, Norway. The Norwegian gunman had more than an hour to hunt down and attack his victims. More than an hour, which means that he had to stop and reload at multiple points. As a person that trains in self defense based arts, I can’t help but think about what I would do if faced by such a threat. Would my training make a difference? Would I freeze or rise to the challenge? Are the arts that I am studying really effective in real combat situation? In truth, I don’t have any answers. I would hope that be able to protect myself and my loved ones. Or at the very least make the son of a bitch regret picking me or mine as a target.
My father was gunned down when I was fourteen as he was closing down his candy shop for the evening. The murderer was never found. Even as a young man I often Continue reading “If I can’t be famous, I’ll be infamous!”
The kid is trying to get back into shape after a long and rough year on a number of fronts. It has been about eight months since I was working out on a consistent basis. Still, in that time I have been able to adequately maintain my weight and general health by eating right. However there is no substitute for regular exercise. Plus the wife and kids have been telling me that I am a great deal more pleasant to be around when I workout. Who could have guessed Continue reading “The Slow Road Back: Solo Training”
I frequently get a good deal of questions from students and educators on what type of video camera should they buy if they have limited money and they still want great quality. In order to answer these questions I have been looking around for the cheapest rig possible that can still offer decent image and sound quality to recommend to these budget conscious videographers. I did a little research and set aside a maximum budget of 400 bucks for the entire project. The basic criteria for the video Continue reading “Affordable Mini HD Camera setup”
After a week of really crappy weather it was great to get out of the house and attend a combat Judo seminar taught by Peter Muldoon this weekend. Pete, is a 3rd Dan black belt and one of the senior instructors at the Krav Maga Federation headquarters in Manhattan. He was gracious enough take time out of his schedule and share some of his knowledge of throws and takedowns with a group of us on a cold Sunday afternoon.
I had been looking forward to this seminar ever since Continue reading “A judo chop, chop, chop!!”
