Jan
21
Unusual places to train and teach.
ByA while ago, a young man contacted me via my blog for a private class. We mailed back and forth and I met him yesterday, had a great class and then went back home.
On the drive home, something hit me: We did part of the training in the narrow hall of his hotel because there wasn’t enough space in his room for a specific drill. Which got me thinking on some of the unusual places I trained and taught people over the years. Here’s my top three:
- The roof of my parents’ house.
- A speeding car.
- Dungeon of a medieval castle.
What’s yours?
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perhaps not in order of strangeness…
-on a hearth surrounded by cacti
-in an airport concourse in Houston waiting on a flight to arrive
-in a hotel, using a bed as a crashpad
-once i threw a roommate over a car, and another I threw into the kitchen sink.
Over a car is pretty nice! :-)
perhaps not in order of strangeness…
-on a hearth surrounded by cacti
-in an airport concourse in Houston waiting on a flight to arrive
-in a hotel, using a bed as a crashpad
-once i threw a roommate over a car, and another I threw into the kitchen sink.
Over a car is pretty nice! :-)
I’ve done it in the LAX airport terminal, but not sure I’ll do that again.
Strangest place I’ve seen? In a Beijing freeway median. There were a few small trees and bushes there, so I guess that was the closest thing to a park for a few miles around.
I’ve done it in the LAX airport terminal, but not sure I’ll do that again.
Strangest place I’ve seen? In a Beijing freeway median. There were a few small trees and bushes there, so I guess that was the closest thing to a park for a few miles around.
Some of the strange places for me are normal place, with bonuses: in the park… in the middle of a sleet storm, snow storm, heavy rain… at dusk, in deep night, and on the fragile frosts of morning.
More: in the corner at big-party gathering, Pondersa forests in the High Deserts of Utah, in the deep desert (Goblin Valley Area) I taught a class from 10pm-6am (with revolving sleep patterns)… a little cabin yard in the deep forest up American Fork Canyon.
Oh there’s so many great places to train.
Some of the strange places for me are normal place, with bonuses: in the park… in the middle of a sleet storm, snow storm, heavy rain… at dusk, in deep night, and on the fragile frosts of morning.
More: in the corner at big-party gathering, Pondersa forests in the High Deserts of Utah, in the deep desert (Goblin Valley Area) I taught a class from 10pm-6am (with revolving sleep patterns)… a little cabin yard in the deep forest up American Fork Canyon.
Oh there’s so many great places to train.
The hallway of a Hotel, Marc MacYoung’s yard, High School basketball court with no pads (Judo).
Marc’s yard, done that too. :-)
The hallway of a Hotel, Marc MacYoung’s yard, High School basketball court with no pads (Judo).
Marc’s yard, done that too. :-)
for me it is,
- in a very tight hallway,
- in an alley way,
- On some stairs (stairs sparring is very different by the way, well worth the practise)
- In a swimming pool
Swimming pool, yes. That also brings a couple fun memories of people looking at me as if I’m nuts. (I am but that’s besides the point)
for me it is,
- in a very tight hallway,
- in an alley way,
- On some stairs (stairs sparring is very different by the way, well worth the practise)
- In a swimming pool
Swimming pool, yes. That also brings a couple fun memories of people looking at me as if I’m nuts. (I am but that’s besides the point)
In a maximum-security disciplinary segregation cell.
On a cliff (not near, actually climbing) at the coast during a wind storm.
On a pile of T-Walls in Baghdad.
Fun, fun question Wim
The wind storm reminds me of the time I spent a few hours doing tai chi in the Sonoran desert. Great fun, until 8am came along and I started melting… :-)
In a maximum-security disciplinary segregation cell.
On a cliff (not near, actually climbing) at the coast during a wind storm.
On a pile of T-Walls in Baghdad.
Fun, fun question Wim
The wind storm reminds me of the time I spent a few hours doing tai chi in the Sonoran desert. Great fun, until 8am came along and I started melting… :-)
While studying the Vietnamese language in Washington DC, I had a room that was roughly 8′X8′. Put a bed in there, your bags, and a dresser, and movement became an act of creativity. I lterally had to open the window so I could kick. Three stories down, passersby saw a foot appear, disappear, reappear… (I like to think at lightening speed).
In a forest clearing in Kyoto, Japan, as ghosts of long-dead samurai snickered.
Loren
It must have been some sight for those passersby. Probably scared the shit out of them. :-)
While studying the Vietnamese language in Washington DC, I had a room that was roughly 8′X8′. Put a bed in there, your bags, and a dresser, and movement became an act of creativity. I lterally had to open the window so I could kick. Three stories down, passersby saw a foot appear, disappear, reappear… (I like to think at lightening speed).
In a forest clearing in Kyoto, Japan, as ghosts of long-dead samurai snickered.
Loren
It must have been some sight for those passersby. Probably scared the shit out of them. :-)
On a small fire base in eastern Afghanistan.
On the roof of our “crack house” in Iraq.
Taught a group of 15 school boys in an abandoned Taliban warehouse. They all earned their gold belts before I left.
“Crack house” in Iraq… The mind boggles thinking of what that would look like. ;-)
On a small fire base in eastern Afghanistan.
On the roof of our “crack house” in Iraq.
Taught a group of 15 school boys in an abandoned Taliban warehouse. They all earned their gold belts before I left.
“Crack house” in Iraq… The mind boggles thinking of what that would look like. ;-)
After hours, in a pizza shop parking lot using car headlights to see.
Hotel hallways, pool areas and restaurants.
After hours, in a pizza shop parking lot using car headlights to see.
Hotel hallways, pool areas and restaurants.
In a grassy area behind a warehouse used to house Gurkha security guards at the former Republican Palace in Iraq. Trained next to a statue of Saddam’s head that used to adorn the top of the palace (at the time used to dry the guard’s underwear).
Zak, I’d love to see the pics of Saddam’s laundry head! :-)
In a grassy area behind a warehouse used to house Gurkha security guards at the former Republican Palace in Iraq. Trained next to a statue of Saddam’s head that used to adorn the top of the palace (at the time used to dry the guard’s underwear).
Zak, I’d love to see the pics of Saddam’s laundry head! :-)