A visit to 八大白龍大神

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Now that I have a bicycle, I’ve decided to go out and see some local places I can easily reach by bike!

My new used bicycle!

Since today was a very nice day I decided to take my goshuincho (shrine stamp book) and go on a bike ride to a shrine called 八大白龍大神 on Ogase Ike here in Kakamigahara. Unfortunately, I’m not 100% sure how to read the kanji for this shrine. Despite the “taisha” in the name, it’s a smallish~medium sized shrine. It’s probably read one of these three ways:

Hachidai Hakuryuu Taisha
Hatsuta Hakuryuu Taisha
Yahiro Hakuryuu Taisha

If you’re familiar with this shrine and know how to say the name please comment bellow.


Last time I went was for the Ogase Matsuri, but it was so crowded I didn’t really get to see the shrine.

Torii gate for 八大白龍大神

八大白龍大神

When I arrived, I was surprised to see so many people. I wanted to take more photos of the shrine, but there were just so many people there.

It turns out that today was a special day at the shrine: it was the one day of the year people can enter the back of the shrine and see the preserved white snake enshrined within. I’m still kind of shocked by how lucky I was! It’s not every day you can enter a shrine and see that sort of thing. Sadly, it’s not the sort of thing you can take photos of.

goshuin from 八大白龍大神

The goshuin from 八大白龍大神! I love the snake.

This is the goshuin from the shrine. I love the snake pictured in the lower right seal! It’s cute. It was fascinating to watch the old man at the shrine doing the calligraphy. A kid who was running around there also stopped at watched intently while he did it.

This is the fourth goshuin in my goshuincho!

It turned out to be a pretty good little trip.

2 Miles Again + Swimming!?

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Building up miles after an injury takes so long. Last year’s goal was to not hurt myself running and I SUCCEEDED but hurt my leg doing something else entirely. This year I’m hoping to not injure my leg at all.

I also decided to take up lap swimming. Why? Because swimming is awesome and I know how to swim so it’ll be easy, right? Nope. After looking up the freestyle stroke I learned that I know how to get myself from point A to point B in a pool without drowning but don’t know how to swim efficiently. So this is my new challenge!! I got a non-recreational swimsuit, goggles, and a cap. I’d never worn a cap before but as someone with long hair I now I think they are awesome. When I swim my hair always manages to become a tangled mess no matter how I do it up but the cap keeps it sorted and out of the way. 😀

Thursday I hopped in one of the little apartment pools just to try out some of the freestyle stroke things and… it was pretty bad. I kick from the knees and trying to move my body parts like I was supposed to all at once was difficult. I mostly wound up focusing on doing a decent flutter kick.

Despite being REALLY NERVOUS about swimming at a facility today I went to William’s Indoor Pool for the first time to really try this stuff out. It’s only $5! How cool is that? I was a little stressed because I didn’t know how many people to expect and kept worrying that I’d have to share a lane and I’d crash into someone and we’d both drown but there weren’t many people there at all. There were just 3 other swimmers, a dad teaching his daughter how to swim (they were adorable), and a scuba class that took 2 lanes. Had a lane all to myself. ♥

I’d studied videos and also drills to help before going. Started off doing 100 yards with the kick board before just going for it, thinking 25 yards one way, 50 for a lap would be EASY and man was I wrong. 25 yards is far when you’re trying to swim in a certain manner. After each length I’d have to stop and catch my breath, but I enjoyed it. Now I just need to keep it up.

Latest runs:
5/3 1.84 miles
5/5 1.92 miles
5/7 1.9 miles
5/9 2.01 miles

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
These Runs: 7.67 mi
Current: 55.04 mi
Still need: 144.96

Running progress

Second Annual Kobie Memorial 5K

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I meant to write this weeks ago, but just couldn’t get myself to finish writing this. It’ll be short and simple. Here goes!

Way back on April 6 I ran my Kobie Memorial 5K a day early because I knew I wouldn’t have time on the actual one year anniversary of his death on the 7th. It doesn’t really feel like it’s been a year.

I Didn’t advertise that I was doing this ahead of time because I was recovering from getting sick twice and traveling twice in March I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to handle 3.1 miles and wanted an out to do it on the weekend after a couple of shorter runs during the week. This definitely wasn’t my fastest 5K ever: I decided to take it at an easy run for 10 minutes and then walk for 5 until I reached 5K. The location was the new park because I’m pretty sure Kobie would’ve liked it there and because it’s huge.


During my run I came across this dog. She was friendly and had a collar, but wouldn’t let me near enough to touch he so I had no idea what her name was or who she belonged to. She seemed to know what she was about, though, and wound up tagging along with me for about a mile of my run. This kind of encounter was pretty amazing for happening during the Kobie Memorial 5K. I was going to take her to a nearby rescue center after the run if she stuck with me, when we reached the street we needed to cross to continue the run, she turned and went her own way. I hope she went home.

Bonus photos from runs I’ve done since then:

A storm knocked some trees over

Cute ducklings!

From one of the bridges

Runs I haven’t added:

2/16: 1.3
2/20: 1.35
2/25: 1.32
2/28: 1.41
3/03: 1.41
3/07: 1.6
3/23: 1.0
4/02: 1.49
4/04: 1.51
4/06: 3.1
4/09: 1.51
4/15: 1.65
4/20: 1.51
4/23: 1.65
4/26: 1.75
4/29: 1.79

Total: 25.35

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
These Runs: 25.35 mi
Current: 47.37 mi
Still need: 152.63

run4-29-15

ICM 5th Annual Fun Run + Others

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ICM 2015 Mom and me

February 7 was the ICM 5th Annual Fun Run in League City. Mom and I both signed up.

ICM 2015 Bib

I was lucky number 13. It was a small race. ICM gives a lot of assistance to those in need in the area.

The race went very smoothly! I should’ve eaten a little more before the race, but that didn’t hold me back. This was my first race since my injury at the embukai so this race was mostly so I could get back into the swing of things, test out my leg, and also because I think ICM is worth supporting with my registration money.

ICM 2015 Medal

ICM 2015 Medal 2

This race, despite being really small, not only gives overall winner medals, but also first, second, and third for each decade age group and then that is divided by gender. That’s a lot of medals.

After trotting through the finish line and having my timing chip removed, I was really surprised when I checked my time on the screen and it stated I came in third for the female 20-29 group. I’ve never won a medal at a race, not even when I kept a rather fast pace (well, for me) in a small race. My only running medal I have is a finisher’s medal and finisher’s medals in 5K races are not normal.

I’m going to be blunt: I like medals. Much like class rings, I think medals look really cool, with all their various designs. So while I don’t feel like I did anything special, I am nonetheless ridiculously pleased by the medal. I’m also super pleased I ran 3.1 miles without my hip or leg bothering me. It was a pretty great race.

Miles I need to update the progress bar with:

1/26: 1.26 miles
1/30: 1.25 miles
1/31: 1.27 miles
2/07: 3.17 miles
2/09: 1.31 miles
2/14: 1.29 miles

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
These Runs: 9.55 mi
Current: 22.02 mi
Still need: 177.98

Time to build up!

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I have 4 runs to post!

On January 15 I did a quick 1.03 miles around the apartment before game night. I learned there’s a police officer that lives near my apartment. Cool.

January 17 I ran at my favorite place: Texas Ave Park. It was quite lively there that day. I completed 1.51 miles at an average 11:30 pace.

I did another quick run of 1.25 miles on the 20th before Japanese class. It was a so-so run. My GPS didn’t work for the first .25 miles, though. That’s the first time it’s ever messed up.

This evening I ran at Texas Ave Park. I was originally planning to try and run at Katy while staying with some friends, but food was an issue and I get a horrible headache when I run on an empty stomach. I was supposed to do two 1.25 runs, but I didn’t have time so today I combined them into one long 2.51 miles run at 12:15 minutes per mile. It was another very busy day at the park.

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
These Runs: 6.3 mi
Current: 12.47 mi
Still need: 187.53

[progress id=997]

Still Recovering, Still On Track

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Hello! This week I’m increasing to 3 runs a week again! Today I successfully completed my run with my quads unsupported. I’ll start doing this once a week for a few weeks to get it used to the work.

A couple of runs to cover!

1/10 – I Ran at Texas Ave Park for 1.51 miles at a pace of 10:50 minutes/mile, way faster than I’m supposed to be running but it was so cold!! It was a morning run, too, be it was supposed to be cold AND rainy in the afternoon so I decided a dry cold run would be better even if it had to be in the morning. Ugh. At least I had my new cool full length tights I got with a Target gift card I received for Christmas. Having the chance to run in them for the first time gave me some energy. There were very few people there this time. I guess most people were smart enough to stay home.

1/12 – Today’s run! It was nothing fancy, just laps around the apartment complex because it was dark and familiar. I ran 1.54 miles at a more reasonable training speed of 12:23 minutes/mile. It’s still cold.

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
These Runs: 3.05 mi
Current: 6.17 mi
Still need: 193.83

[progress id=990]

Texas Avenue Park

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IMG_9461.JPG

Today I went to Texas Avenue Park for my run. It’s a largish park with two baseball fields, a large gazebo, a covered basketball court, a couple of tennis courts, and a playground. There’s also a nice gravel track that’s an odd distance: .392 miles.

This is actually my second run here; I did a run at the end of December. It was super busy today. People were playing basketball, there was a soccer team practicing a bit in a small field, other people were using the field. I was surprised. It was nearly empty last time I ran there.

I ran 1.61 miles at an average pace of 12:14 minutes a mile.

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
This Run: 1.61 mi
Current: 3.12 mi
Still need: 196.88

[progress id=983]

New Running Year

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Well, I failed last year’s 200 miles in a year goal. I tore the scar tissue in my right leg’s quadriceps at the 2014 koshukai in late November so I had to drop it in the last month in favor recovering for another year of running. So this year I’m giving it a second try!

For my first run of the year I went to Walnut Park for the first time. It has a nice .25 mile rubber track around the park. It would’ve been an awesome run if it weren’t also 45 degrees and damp and drizzly. When I started my warm up walk, I thought to myself “OK, at least a mile. AT LEAST A MILE” but after I started running and my body warmed up I was able to easily do the full 1.5 miles I’m running while my leg gets better.

My only company in the park were the squirrels and the Christmas decorations.

Goal progress:
Goal: 200 mi
This Run: 1.51 mi
Current: 1.51 mi
Still need: 198.49

[progress id=978]

Hatsunuki 2015

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Sensei's Kamidana

Happy New Year! 明けましておめでとうございます！ Lets have an awesome 2015!!

As usual, I woke up dark and early for Hatsunuki, this year 5:00 because I didn’t have to do much in the kitchen.

Also like usual, I look totally out of it.

Also like usual, I look totally out of it. More like “WHY.” Haha.

Once I was dressed (It took two tries; I forgot the extra winter layers the first time) and ready to go, I headed over to sensei’s house.

Photo from Emily-sensei's Twitter.

Credit: Emily-sensei

New Year's Decor

Emily-sensei had lots of cute decorations. I got my stuff ready while she finished getting dressed and then got a little tour of the house. Since she retired, she’s been cleaning and decluttering a lot and it looks very nice! Her hard work is paying off.

Hatsunuki time was drawing near and it was raining. We normally do Hatsunuki in her back yard towards the sun, but we stayed indoors and did it towards her kamidana due to the weather. I didn’t need the extra layers against the cold.

There were only two of us this year, so it was pretty quick. Our dojo keeps getting smaller and our one other regular member is in Japan. ^^;

Hatsunuki Breakfast

She made moffles out of maru mochi and we had breakfast!

This is the smallest Hatsunuki we’ve ever had, but it was nice. Time for another year of iaido!

Leather Bokuto Tsuba Review

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After finding the site over a year ago, I finally did it. I ordered a leather tsuba.

Leather Tsuba

Why a leather tsuba?

When I first started iaido, I, like many other iaidoka, started off with a cheap bokuto with a plastic tsuba that served me well until I started doing kumitachi waza and needed something that could take the impact. For this, I bought a lovely white oak bokuto but it didn’t come with a tsuba. Instead of buying one and paying more for the shipping than for the item, I just popped the old tsuba on the new bokuto.

Don’t get me wrong, the plastic tsuba works, but it has its disadvantages. My knuckles stick out past the edges despite having small hands. When we practice Tsubadome, the hard plastic can dig into my partner’s hands, which can’t be comfortable. Also, after so many years of use it was getting pretty tired looking.

I was overdue for an upgrade.

The leather looked super nice and I figured it would age more elegantly than plastic. I was right about the first: the leather tsuba is quite lovely to look at. The mon on either side of the tsuba is the maru-ken-katabami, which is the kamon that’s associated with iaido styles that trace back to Hayashizaki Jinsuke Minamoto Shigenobu-ko.

The detail I appreciate the most is that the mon on the ura and omote sides are properly rotated. When the bokuto is in your obi and the edge of the blade is facing up, the mon facing forward is right side up. When you’re in seigan no kamae with the blade facing outwards with the edge down, the mon facing front is right side up.

image2

It’s a bit wider than the old plastic one and the edges are rounded. It’s still very rigid, so if it strikes my partner’s knuckles doing Tsubadome it still won’t be comfortable, but at least it won’t be a hard edge.

I’m extremely pleased with it. Only problem I’m having is that while the width is great for my hands, it’s a bit of a challenge to get my two-sword bag zipped with both it and my iaito inside. But it’s totally worth it.

As for whether or not it ages elegantly, I guess I’ll find out in a few years.