http://www.extricate.org A subtle blend of technology geekery, music and Judo Sun, 04 May 2008 12:38:19 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en I have a battered Orange SPV M3100 (HTC Hermes), which normally syncs fine over my USB connection at work, but is currently being somewhat sporadic with my Vista laptop. Sometimes, nothing will happen. The mobile will draw power from the laptop, and you can even establish Internet Connection Sharing, but ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/05/04/windows-mobile-vistas-sync-center-and-bluetooth/ Well, it is a week ago now, and I think it has finally sunk in! I attended one of the final Kyu gradings before the new Technical Syllabus kicks in. Due to it being one of the last ones, there were Judoka from as far afield as Wales, Dorset and ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/04/12/1st-kyu-and-the-first-10-points-for-dan-grade/ So, training continues... I'm back into the swing of weight training. Slow improvements, but they are there. As previously posted, my stamina has been letting me down in competition. Aside from the attitude that I'll have to push myself more in Judo sessions, I'm supplementing the weight training with two ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/03/12/training-update/ I took my Area Referee Practical Exam at the Hampshire Closed Trials last week. As I now live and (mostly) train in Surrey I wasn't eligible to compete in this one. It was certainly stressful and pressured to begin with, but by the afternoon I was into my stride, and ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/03/12/qualified-area-referee/ So, the Southern Kyu and Dan Grade Cup 2008 has been and gone. This was hosted at K2, Crawley - a very impressive venue. It's a shame I didn't get to explore it all. I was entered in the -90s Kyu category, although on arrival I was given the ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/03/04/southern-kyu-grade-cup-2008-silver/ I think one of the first throws I was taught was Ippon Seoinage. I struggled with it. A lot. "Fitting in" was wrong, rotation to complete the throw... you name it, it wasn't working. With Judo, common advice is to never compare yourself with others, but rather look at your ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/02/23/from-suck-to-seoinage/ The weight training is still going well, and I am succeeding at sticking to my three times a week routine. I'm being mostly sensible and waiting until the form is right before increasing the weight at any point. One problem I have noticed recently is in the Bench press. ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/02/21/bench-press-and-wrist-pain/ It's strange. After my last grading (where I went from 5th to 3rd Kyu) I decided I should really wait around a year before trying again. I've promoted pretty fast in my view, and as that is mostly contest oriented, it would be a good idea for my ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/02/20/grading-and-competing-the-future/ Now that I am a high enough grade to qualify for an Area Referee (3rd Kyu), I went along to Bexhill Judo Club where they were hosting an introductory refereeing course. It was an excellent day (We'll forget the nightmare of parts of the A27 being closed!). It was a ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/02/20/judo-refereeing-the-beginning/ A good session tonight. More things are starting to click, and Randori feels like a natural flow. I am getting more comfortable at not just playing left-handed, but also adjusting my grip to suit the throw, Uke and so on. In other words, adapting! The Grip Like A ... http://www.extricate.org/2008/02/08/the-flow-of-judo/