February 2012
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Watertown Savings Bank raises more than $17,000... →
This is what I participate in every year ever since I started working at Watertown Savings Bank. This fundraising event is very important to me!
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My new Nikon D7000 Battery Grip!
As I continue with my photography, I am always trying to find ways to perfect my technique or maximize my comfort from shooting and carrying gear all day. In the last few years, I never considered a high-end DX-format DSLR. Why, you ask? I assumed that the camera body itself would be too big for my hands. I also felt that the camera would be too heavy to carry for long periods of time. That was...
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Introduction into Scotch and Bourbon Whiskey = New...
One of my experiences from my trip to Switzerland was trying certain types of alcohol for the first time. I tried both scotch and bourbon whiskey, along with cognac. My favorite was the Macallan 18 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. I felt in love with the taste and realized that I was missing a whole other world of liquor to enjoy. Too bad I realized afterwards that the scotch I loved...
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Kung Fu: Improvements Achieved and Improvements...
In the last couple of weeks, I have been drilling into my Kung Fu classes. Despite it being tax season, I am still trying to budget my time accordingly so that I can go to class 3-4 times a week.
In the last two weeks, my Shi-Fu complimented me on two things I haven’t been able to achieve in my 1.5 years of training. Last week, I was doing side kicks on the heavy bags. Shi-fu stated...
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January 2012
18 posts
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Addictions from Switzerland
Once I finish my photos of my trip to Switzerland, I will give a full report. But until then, here are some things Ben and I got addicted to while in Switzerland:
espressos and cappuccinos (bought a Nespresso machine when we got home)
marroni (hot roasted chestnuts)
scotch (bought my first bottle when we got home, a Macallan 12 year)
chocolate
tartufi
coconut chocolate yogurt
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Reflections from Today's Choy Lay Fut Workshops
This Sunday, I was able to attend two Choy Lut Fut workshops with Sifu Daniel Tomizaki. The morning workshop involved Choy Lay Fut Applications. In this class, we utilized some of the ten elements (strikes) by applying it with self-defense techniques. For instance, I learned Kum Jong, which is a palm strike to the neck. The applications class was wonderful because you saw how the strikes could be...
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Choy Lay Fut: Ng Lun Choy and more sparring...
Beginning last week, I started to learn my orange belt form under Choy Lay Fut. It is called Ng Lun Choy, or 5 Wheel Fist. I learned the beginning of it, which made me realize that the transition of my blocks, like when doing a gwa choy, is not smooth enough. I had to take time on the wooden dummy this evening to practice the speed and efficiency of the block.
In other news, I got to...
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Choy Lay Fut Lessons: Ten Elements, Butterfly...
This week, I learned and practiced the ten elements (or ten strikes) of Choy Lay Fut. My instructor and some of the advanced students came up with a way to better memorize the ten elements, by categorizing them as: 2 linear, 3 rolling, 2 uppercut, 3 swinging.
Broken down:
2 linear: chuen na (shooting arm bridge, to seize), chop (panther fist)
3 rolling: kum (circular over the head as slapping...
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December 2011
23 posts
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Yay for Kung Fu sparring!
After a challenging day of work, I almost went straight home to recuperate. Thankfully, I forced myself to make it to my 4th night of Kung Fu in a row. And although I was tortured in the first 30 minutes with excruciatingly sore stretching exercises, I was rewarded with the first opportunity to do light sparring in class!
The idea is to go very slowly in your sparring, to get an understanding...
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First night of intermediate kung fu
After getting my orange belt on Monday, I decided to suffer thru my body aches and attend my first intermediate kung fu class offered on Wednesday evenings. Surprisingly, I was a little nervous because I wasn’t sure what to expect. There were only 4 of us in class last night, one green belt and three orange belts. After warm-up, the class broke up into who was focusing on each style,...
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