Raya in my house

It was a friday . The 23th . All my relatives and cousins came to my house for raya . But this year was special . I invited my friends as well ! My friends met my cousins and all of us had a fun time playing . Also , my cute baby cousin came along . I was happy that i got to carry her and pinch her . It was a really enjoyable time and i am looking forward to next year .

Having this sad and moody feeling as usual . After relatives or cousins come over , my house goes quite again . They only visit my house once a year . The last time they visited was last year . Only now , i get the true feeling of hari raya , eid mubarak . It only happens once a year . The family , fun , gathering . Really miss those days . Looking forward to next year's hari raya .

Donn Draeger . The original Steven Seagal

Now , if you have read my earlier posts , you know how i wanted to be like Seagal , going to Japan and training there . Well , it seems that there is this one guy whom Seagal himself admired ! Donn Draeger , short form for Donald Frederick Draeger . Here is a short bio about him

 

      Born on April 15, 1922, Donn grew up in Wisconsin and began his martial training
       in the art of Jujutsu at a very early age. He soon switched to the practice of Kodokan
     Judo and received the rank of nikyu by the age of ten. He continued his involvement
       with Judo throughout his life. 

Donn Draeger was recognized as a world authority on Asian martial culture and
human combative behavior. As a research historian, author and lecturer; he was
considered the leading exponent of the Japanese martial disciplines. He held a large
number of expert ranks and teaching licenses, and investigated Japanese martial
culture more deeply than any non-Japanese in history.

  

After retirement from the service, Donn made his home in Tokyo, Japan. From this
base he pursued his interests in martial training and research. Approximately four
months out of each year was spent conducting expeditions to various countries to
study and document their diverse combative traditions. Southeast Asia was an area
of special interest to him.

Donn followed a simple and natural lifestyle. He neither smoked nor drank and he
had no heat or air conditioning in his small Japanese style apartment. He got up
with the sun and usually jogged around his hometown of Narita. The rest of the day
was spent training, teaching and conducting research.

 Sadly while in Sumatra in the 1980s , Draeger and his research team were poisoned .   Draeger was the only one that didnt recover fully and unfortunately , died from it . 

Here is a picture of him . How i wish i had a body like him .

Last day of fasting for 2013

Today is the 7th of July , the last day of ramadan . Honestly , i feel quite sad at the fact that ramadan is leaving us . We only get this once a year . I am really happy that i managed to fast for all 30 days ! This is the only time where i actually fasted for the whole month . Alhamdulilah :)

Also today in school , we had national day celebrations . The two sec 5 classes came together and sung two national day songs . A few singers from the two classes were leading , while the rest of us were at the back doing some movements :) I was feeling quite shy . But still , i put up a good play .
The good thing is that we , the sec 5 , made history . The principal was so impressed by us that he made it compulsory for all the sec 5 classes starting from next year to perform for national day :)

Finally got a training partner !!

Today , during aikido class , I met a black belt . The funny thing is that I only saw him last year once . I remember him using me as an uke to demonstrate a gun disarm technique . Anyway I partnered with him twice and started talking and talking . Even after class ended , he showed me a few techniques .

We walked home together and sat at park and started talking about martial arts . To my surprise , he trains in wing chun as well !! My eyes lit up as soon as he told me that . He has a brother who trains in wing chun . He showed me a few wing chun techniques and we even did some chi sao !!

I was happy as a peacock !! Time flew fast and he had to leave . The good thing is that he only lives a few blocks away from me . We exchanged numbers
and planned to meet up every weekend to train together at the park !!

This is like a dream come true for me . I think I finally got a training partner who also has a big interest in martial arts .

The Last Samurai

The man pictured here is Sokaku Takeda , the headmaster of  Daito Ryu AikiBujutsu . At a young age , he trained in various weapon arts and other arts such as Yarijutsu and Battojutsu from Tanomo Saigo . In 1880 , Tanomo Saigo passed on all his knowledge including the secret teachings to Sokaku Takeda . From that day forward , Sokaku would be the headmaster .

The thing that fascinates me about Sokaku is how much of a true warrior he was . He gained his nickname " Little Demon Of Aizu " by travelling all around Japan and challenging people and defeating them . He was true fighter and a warrior . There is even one story where he was in a gang fight with 30 construction workers . He killed a few and them and injured many . He only came out with a few injuries .

It's quite sad that many people do not know of this man . The only person that could come close to him is his student , Morihei Ueshiba , the founder of Aikido .