My Wushu Blog

Pretend you are a dog, specifically my dog (oh if only you could be so lucky!) Coal. You’ve got that cute little muzzle with a cute button nose; but since you are such a smart little aussie, your brain-pan is bigger than your mouth. This gives your head a particular triangular shape, the kind of shape that will let you easily shove you head into a tight spot. Well, you better hope you can squeeze your whole body through, because if not, there is no way your head is backing out at this point.

Oh, you can’t? Well, better call the fire department…

This is unrelated, I just wanted to post how funny he looks when that hair is flattened

One of my Christmas gifts was a magazine subscription to Guitar Player. The biggest enjoyment I get out of a magazine like this, is I get to read about bands and musicians I normally wouldn’t hear about. I live in a musical vacuum, which is odd since I seem to like it so much. I don’t listen to the radio, watch MTV, and for some reason I don’t like computer software telling me what I might like (like iTunes, Pandora, Google, etc…). Over the past decade I’ve probably ‘discovered’ 3 or 4 groups or albums that I actually like. However, in the past two months I’ve found that many artists or groups I’m really digging because now I get to read about them more.

One artist I came across is Buckethead. The first image that comes to your mind when you read that name is exactly what you should think of. He is a man who wears a bucket on his head, and he, Brian Patrick Carrol, has been doing this for 20 years. That sort of fascinates me, because the only picture of buckethead with out the mask on was taken before he created the character. When he is interviewed, he will either talk through a hand puppet ( a gruesome head ), or he will write down what he wants to say.

But you know, considering how your typical rock start tends to look (especially 20 years ago):

Or, what other soloist guitar “Virtuoso’s” look and act like:

I’m just sayin’, I don’t mind this as much as the above examples:

Besides the look to make him stand out, he is WICKEDLY talented! I’ve seen a LOT of footage by now on youtube, and I’ve purchased a few of his solo albums, and this guys plays on another level. Some of it is pure shred, and its almost obnoxious, but it just doesn’t feel like he’s jerking his guitar off in your ear like Yngwie or Steve Vai. I offer the follow clips to explain what I mean, and why I’m really getting into this guys music. Yeah, I’ve found something else to fixate on His guitar is a serious piece of wood too, it’s a chambered over-sized Les Paul with 24 frets (awesome, most guitars have 21 or 22) and two kill switches which he uses a lot.

He can bust out a pretty traditional rock song, and it makes sense why he was Slash’s replacement for Guns and Roses (I think he’s much better than Slash, but I was never a big fan of GNR, and Axl is another rock star dick).

Then, he can have something thats really mellow and full of soul

Those arn’t technical breakthroughs, so here is a “Lesson” by Buckethead. It is not so much a lesson, because you can’t learn this. I would say he’s a robot, but I think even a robot would screw this up. Check out the 4 note tapping, then the really cool riff afterwards.

It’s not all rock n roll though, he also plays some amazing chicken pickin’…

…and break out the Nunchaku’s followed up by a Robot Dance… Because he just couldn’t come off any more scarier.

I read in an old interview that he wears the mask because he wants his performance to be about the music, and not him. That, and it lets him feel like to can do more and take more risks on stage (like dance). I can understand that, and appreciate the emphasis on it being about the music. He is also a horror movie fan, and that shows. Most of his music would make a killer soundtrack, he should do one of the Silent Hill games. I’m adding him to my short list of concerts I want to make an effort to see.

I signed up for Muay Thai at Crosley Gracie Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Brentwood. I’ve been eyeing the place for a while now, it seemed to be one of the few well established school in the Antioch/Brentwood area. I was looking specifically for some type of boxing program, and they have both western boxing and kick-boxing.

It also helps that the price is right, I pay about 90 a month for two classes. They have  a nice full schedule too, classes are at 6am, 12pm, and 6pm on most days of the week. I like Mondays and Wednesdays after work, and its really nice that it is on my way home. Commuting to Wushu West had always put a good dent in my wallet, then factor in that I was paying the same price (100 a month) for just ONE night a week. It was hard to choose going somewhere else, but I was priced out of Wushu. Variety is also good.

They have a great curriculum, and this was the first week I was able to make it two nights (I had a terrible flu last week). The first two classes I had were simple, and I worked on my own, where the coach (Juan) would come over every ’round’ and either have me continue what I was working on, or show me something else. He has a great personality, and I’m usually laughing really hard on the inside when he’s showing me something because the way he describes the moves and why you do it is hilarious.

The classes are 1 hour, and there is a buzzer that goes off every three minutes. We normally switch to something else every three minutes, so the classes are very fast and there is little room to catch your breath.

So the other night, Friday, was the first time I partnered up with someone. His name was Mike, and he was very nice, and he punched very VERY hard. It was a great experience for me to hold pads for someone else, as it takes a lot of effort and concentration. whenever James would work with me, he was always the one holding the pads, which now I feel like he really spoiled me. It is something I’m going to have to practice, I’ll have to figure something out.

Right before class was over I felt like I fractured a bone in my foot. I still tend to kick the pads with my feet, which I know is a bad habit. I should be kicking more with my shins, so after an hour my left foot had finally had it. Juan was cool, he said “You okay? Good, lay off your foot and use your knee’s on the pad”. Ha, I like him, resting is for after class.

So, my foot is a little bruised now, and I iced it for a while when I got home. I should be good to go by Monday.