'tooned!

One of my new year's resolutions was to start reading more blogs as a way of getting inspiration for both my martial arts practice and my writing.  

In starting this I was particularly pleased to find the blogs of Mark Cook, who writes with verve and wit.  As a bonus, he is also a visual artist and adorns his posts with fun little cartoons.

Anyway, blow me down if he hasn't gone an done a cartoon of (or at least inspired by) me: 

and also added some kind words about this blog:

For those of you that don't know Daniel Prager he is a Jiu Jitsu instructor "Down Under". He was kind enough to leave a comment on my blog. This cartoon goes out to him and his crew. I don't think he can draw, but DANG the man can write. Talk about content!

Well! I am certainly flattered by the sentiment, and am honored to be the subject of a cartoon (a first for me!), but who told Mark about our secret Aussie training methods?

Anyway, I recommend stopping by Mark's blogs:

• Oldman's Boobishi, and
• The RDA PMA experiment

And it seems that if you leave comments, there's a chance that you too may be 'tooned.

They come; they go

One of the distinctive things about teaching at a university martial arts club is that there are students who -- having completed their studies -- move away to continue onto the next phase of their lives.

Many of the members of the Monash Jiu-jitsu Club stay with the club following graduation, but a significant proportion of oversea students choose (or are obliged) to return home. One of the nice aspects of this is that one gains friends in other countries. On the other hand I miss seeing them in class.

Here is a message of appeciation from Leonard, who will be returning to his native Singapore in a few weeks:

Hello Sensei,

... I have been very fortunate to have stumbled upon a federation with such good methods of instruction and active participants. It will be hard to find another association that can compare, it has definitely enlightened me on the journey that is martial arts, and given me a finer appreciation of finding a discipline that one can relate to.

Best of luck to Leonard on his journey in the martial arts and in life.