Category: Opinion

Either Way, It’s Not A Game…

Karate has a rich history, running back hundreds of years (thousands, if you subscribe to the theory of where it originated). I’ve often considered myself blessed to be part of that history in my own little way, even if karate and the martial arts are sometimes poorly viewed or badly portrayed through various channels. Movies and television certainly do the art no favours, and watching a tournament can be quite deceiving as well, since there’s a big difference between karate as a sport and karate as an art.

So, which one is better? At their very core, the easy answer is neither one is better than than the other. They both suit their purpose, they both have benefits and they both have disadvantages. It’s important to be able to recognize the pros and cons and acknowledged them, as well as hold them up against what your ultimate goals may be. Otherwise you may find yourself caught by surprise at what you learn and experience during your time in the dojo.

Let’s take sports karate for example… To clarify, I refer to sports karate as a style that trains primarily for competition, display purposes and to score points against an opponent. There’s nothing specifically wrong with this type of karate, provided you aren’t training with them for the art aspect or to use it in a real fight scenario. You’ll still learn, you’ll still develop and if tournaments are your thing, it’ll be right up your alley.

The issue comes from trying to use it for self-defence. If you ever find yourself in a real fight scenario, stepping in and delivering a strike and stepping out because you’ve scored a point likely won’t work on the street. I say “likely” because a kick is a kick and a punch is a punch, right? There’s a good chance that if done properly, you may stop your respective threat despite the training you’re doing. But sports karate may not give you the comprehensive toolbox you need to address the very real obstacles you’ll face in life.

If you study karate as an art, you’ll likely learn more comprehensively from a style standpoint but you may be lacking some of the hands-on contact that you would get from fighting in tournaments. Punching bags don’t hit back and “no contact” sparring matches will likely result in the practitioner never knowing what it feels like to have an impact on a hard surface or against another living target. Not only could that be dangerous but unlike what one may see in the movies, attempting flowery, complicated techniques in a real-life scenario will likely get you creamed.

That’s why it’s important to know what you’re after when training in karate or the martial arts and recognize the pros and cons. Although neither did inherently bad, it’s important to ensure it aligns with what your overall goals may be. And don’t be afraid to dip your toes in the pond to get some of the skills your style may not provide. For example, my style doesn’t do a great deal of floor work or grappling, making it ideal for me to occasionally practice with Judo or Jiu Jitsu in order to better complement my martial art’s toolbox. Food for thought…☯️

Your Style = Your Way Of Life

I’ve written on several occasions about how one’s martial arts style needs to be more than walking into the nearest dojo and training with whomever they find, there. Although not the original intention, there are hundreds of different styles currently practiced throughout the world and each one of them has its own specific nuances and techniques that have the potential to suit one person more than the next. Choosing a style of martial arts to commit years of one’s life to, can be a lengthy process involving more trial and error than most people are willing to work through.

But the importance of finding a style that suits the practitioner is important enough that it took me almost five years to land on a style that suited me, worked for me and fit my my overall goals. Not everyone is willing to do this. For many if not most, once they decide they want to train in the martial arts they’ll look up the closest dojo within their community and walk into it. This can be detrimental to that person’s journey since, if that style doesn’t suit them, they’ll walk away disappointed and if their community happens NOT to have another dojo, they’ll likely assume martial arts simply isn’t for them.

For example, even the people who know me likely didn’t know that I hold an orange belt in Hap Ki Do or that I studied Judo and Kendo for a number of years prior to joining karate. It wasn’t UNTIL I joined karate that I came to terms with what I was looking for and what suited me. Leaving those previous dojos was difficult, especially since I was climbing the belt process in Hap Ki Do, but since my main goal was my overall health and not my ranking, it didn’t matter. And I have no regrets.

My point and the point of today’s post, is that students will come and students will go. It can be difficult to see a student with solid potential start training within your dojo, only to quit and walk away. Sometimes it happens for the silliest and most frivolous reasons. Sometimes, it’s pride. But almost universally, it comes down to two categories: behavioural or technical. And now, I’m going to share the story of a student from each category.

Behavioural
We are not the sum of our behaviours. This can be a difficult lesson to learn, especially for a Sensei. When one becomes a teacher and takes it upon themselves to train others, it has to be through the lens that every person is different will not only learn differently but will likely behave differently. This should be common sense but in an art where discipline and obedience are key to learning the style, this can be a difficult pill to swallow. This is where a student that I’ll simply call “John” comes in…

I met John when i was still a white belt myself, albeit just a kyu or two shy of achieving green belt. He was younger than I was and quite brash and carried a significant chip on his shoulder. He acted out and behaved like a little shit within the dojo, often farting, causing distractions and teasing other students. Despite all of those things, he showed an affinity to karate and began learning quickly. He gained skill to the point that in only a couple of short years, our sparring matches saw us almost even matched and until I fractured my rib earlier this year, is the one responsible for the only time in my life that I’ve broken a bone. But I digress…

As John grew from a young boy into a young man and began to come into his own, he started to close the gap in rank with me and the promise of getting some green on his belt became a real possibility. Until he allowed his behaviour to trickle onto Sensei. During a rather heated sparring match with Sensei, John made some verbal comment that was more than Sensei would stomach. He delivered a single blow that sent John sprawling to the floor. Although he had been training to block, absorb or deflect such impacts for years, John walked out of the dojo feigning pain and lack of breath and went home. His pride had been wounded.

Now this situation has been hotly discussed on two fronts: The first being, John should have learned the lesson, returned to the dojo and continued training through the lens of having learned something important. The second that Sensei should have been more tolerant and SPOKEN to John about his behaviour and he shouldn’t have struck him. I fall under the former category. If you’re foolish enough to start mouthing off at me during a sparring match, I’ll likely bury my big toe in your spleen as well. But i once again digress…

John never came back to karate. Ever. Which was heart-breaking because he had significant potential and would likely be well on his way to being an instructor himself, by now. To this day, I believe he still regrets having never stuck with it and I genuinely believe that although Sensei’s rigidity could have softened, it’s John’s pride that prevented him from making his way back and achieving his goals. true story.

Technical
My technical example takes the story above and demonstrates the total opposite. I used to train/teach a younger student that I’ll simply name “Donny.” Donny was a teenager and by most views, was a respecting and appreciative student of the way. He had a keen interest in the martial arts and was hungry to learn. He followed all direction and instruction and was always pleasant to train with. Realistically, he simply wasn’t very good. I need t be clear on what I mean by this, since everyone’s level and skill is subjective. Learning and properly mastering techniques and forms did not come easily.

Despite this level of skill, which could have improved over time, Donny had no patience and began questioning when he would climb in rank. Although this was a question that many students had, it was somewhat rare to hear it from one who consistently required correction on material he had been practicing for years. The effect was that Donny began to realize he wouldn’t climb in rank, which caused impatience to rear its ugly head. As most of you know, impatience has no place in the proper learning of karate, although it tends to peak its head out more than it should.

The end result is that Donny left karate and joined a local Tae Kwon Do school. In my teens and my 20’s, I spoke a lot of smack against TKD but as I’ve grown older and wiser (please hold the comments) I’ve come to recognize that it’s a substantial style with a lot of fantastic history and techniques. It simply sin’s for me. For Donny, however, it held the promise of what he was ACTUALLY looking for: ranking. It took very little time to realize that he was climbing the almighty belt ladder and was happier than a proverbial pig in shit.

Within a few short years, Donny held a black belt and was beaming with pride. Traditional martial arts won’t allow you to reach such a skill level or belt rank that quickly as one simply can’t absorb all the material necessary to get there in so short a time but hey! Good for him! Hopefully that belt also holds up his pants… I sound a bit bitter and in fact, I am. I firmly believe that the skill is more important than the belt and if Donny had stuck it out and put the time in, he would have improved and grown exponentially. But if all he wanted was the prestige of a black belt around his waist, so be it.

The thing to recall about the martial arts is that it isn’t a sport that you play for a few key years then walk away from. It’s a life-long journey and commitment, requiring sacrifice and occasional disappointment. But those things can also be used to fuel one’s forge to keep the hunger alive and train towards one’s ultimate goals. It’s gotta come from you. Although I would never want someone in my dojo who doesn’t want to be there, these two stories reflect the student losses that have stuck with me. Sometimes it’s hard to watch someone with potential walk away. But everyone has their own journey to complete. ☯️

The Older I Get…

Life has a strange way of making one ride a very particular curve. When we’re young, we get to experience a lot of really exciting firsts… It all starts with one’s first steps, first words and first using the potty (you know who you are!). As one gets older, a batch of new firsts blesses one’s life; first time driving a car, first time kissing a girl, first time getting a paid job. For some, we could even include the first time enjoying a cold beer, first time living on one’s own and first time taking steps towards adulthood. But as we reach adulthood, we hit a lull in that curve that has all the firsts come to an end and life begins to cash out the debt.

“The Older I Get, The More Things I Gotta Leave Behind. That’s Life.”

– Rocky Balboa

As we get older, all of those firsts begin to seem like a distant memory in the rearview mirror. In fact, everything seems to fade to black; old friends become old memories, all those exciting firsts step aside for the realities of life. We even reach the point where loved ones begin to leave us behind for whatever comes next. Y’all know what I’m talking about. It can be a difficult part of life to navigate, especially if one isn’t prepared or it. it can make life seem pretty bleak and leave one wondering what the point of it all may be.

In the past couple of years, life has hit everybody pretty hard. The pandemic changed everybody, and even the ones who don’t seem to believe it changed everyone were affected. For myself, significant life-altering decisions have been made in the past two years; choices I likely wouldn’t have made if the pandemic hadn’t come along. Since I’ve written about some of those changes ad nauseam and this post isn’t about that, i won’t get into those changes but rather, I’ll focus on the changes I’ve seen most recently.

Back at the beginning of August, I travelled out east to visit my folks. Although I should have been greeted the way I have for the past four decades, with a family pleased to see me, I was met with silence. With most trips involving so many back-to-back visits with friends and family that i barely had time to breathe, I came home to family with no time and the ones who did, made no time for me even when they could. And that was WITH my two adorable children, my wife and my mother in law adding to the pleasant ambiance.

It was a strange change to the dynamic of my life. I think that to some extent, my family and friends back home were always a bit of a safety net. Somehow, I could make my way through life and accomplish my goals with the knowledge that even though we had thousands of kilometres between us, they were a universal constant that brought balance to the universe. The most recent incident where for the first time in almost 40 years, Sensei made no time for me over the few days I was home was the nail that drive the message home. And home became the operative word, since the east coast was no longer a place that I could as such.

For the better part of a month, I’ve made my peace with the possibility that I’m just being a little over-sensitive about the entire thing. But I recently realized that it isn’t a matter of over-sensitivity; it’s simply the natural progression of life. I think there’s an old saying about repeating the same actions over and over but expecting a different result. Life doesn’t remain the same and only a fool would assume that there will never any change. The key is to accept those changes and see them for what they are; a different branch in the path of one’s overall journey.

When one takes the time to open one’s eyes and take a look around, there are plenty of firsts remaining to be had. My children will go through all of the joy and firsts in life that I did and I get to be there for it. The only difference is that I get the additional happiness of seeing the joy in their eyes as they experience it all for the first time. It isn’t about what one has lost. It’s about working towards what can still be lived. And experienced. Food for thought… ☯️

A Chilly Reminder…

It’s somewhat difficult to believe that the summer season is already starting to dwindle… Just last week, we actually had a frost warning for the early morning hours in Regina. A little bit hard to believe, since we’ve spent the majority of our time fighting through laboured breathing brought on by extreme heat just a week or two prior. We’ve had some warmer days since, obviously. But the vestiges of summer are starting to disappear, with the evenings coming on earlier and a colder chill on the morning air reminding us that fall will soon be upon us.

With the change in weather comes a change to one’s body chemistry and a propensity for catching colds and all sorts of other fun stuff. As a Type-1 Diabetic, I often harp that just about everything affects my health and my blood sugar levels and an overall change in weather is no exception. As tends to happen at least twice a year when the weather changes to an extreme, I recently caught a pretty nasty illness that saw me bed-ridden whenever I wasn’t actively doing chores or working.

Getting sick definitely sucks and speaking personally, I’ve been through enough in my life without having to deal with every little bug that floats by. Unfortunately, such choices are not up to us and none of us are immune to the effects of changing weather (see what I did there?). That’s why it’s important to continue to work towards the betterment of one’s health and make sure that smart choices are taken.

Ensuring that one is properly hydrated is the first step towards those smart choices. Good hydration not only helps maintain good blood sugar levels but it helps with all sorts of other things as well, such as blood pressure, immune system and also helps to keep your heart from working harder when pumping blood. Keeping the heart happy is kind of a good thing from a, you know, staying alive standpoint. I’m definitely guilty of this since the majority of my fluid intake (at least in the mornings) are in the form of caffeine.

Eating a healthy diet is also very important as one needs all the food groups and a proper balance of vitamins, nutrients and minerals are required to ensure a strong immune system and over all health. This can be difficult, especially if you do shift work, have little or no time for meal prep or somehow manage to have fresh produce go bad before you actually have a chance to consume it. Given that the cost of everything is going up these days, spending that much money on stuff can seem redundant if all one does is toss it out.

Last but not least is exercise. It’s no secret that exercise can be an integral and important part of one’s weekly and even daily routine. It’s pretty hard to focus on exercise when one is sick and honestly, if you’re feeling like a bag of smashed ass, it may not be the time to start trying to beat your personal push-up record or breaking a heavy sweat. You could end up doing more damage than good, compromising your immune system and making it take longer to heal. On the flip side, sitting idle for long days on end isn’t the greatest, either. The idea is to find that “sweet spot” where you do something to keep your blood flow going and prevent undoing any of the progress you may have been making before getting sick.

Getting sick sucks but there’s no way to avoid it completely, so taking steps to mitigate the effects and the damage are important. Naturally, one can’t go running to the ER for every batch of sniffles (especially nowadays!) so if you get ill, you should prepare for a few days of fighting through it at home. If you see that it’s been well over a week and you’re still ill with no signs of getting better, you may want to consult your doctor or medical practitioner as it could be a sign of something that will need a push in getting over. ☯️

Silence Is Golden: A Review…

There’s no debating that life gets pretty noisy. Between the hustle and bustle of the outside world AND the hustle and bustle within one’s own household, finding a few moments of silence can be daunting. That being said, there are other ways to find a moment of silence besides loading up and physically leaving your house. Bluetooth listening devices are all the rage and in fact, have been for quite a number of years. While Bluetooth used to refer to a single-eared device used to answer one’s phone, it’s become a standard means of connecting devices without cables and wires.

Wireless, Bluetooth earbuds are all the rage at the moment, with Air pods being the expected standard when using such devices with one’s phones. My workplace actually gifted their staff a pair of Bluetooth earbuds last Christmas but I quickly discovered that the shape of my ears wouldn’t accommodate the earbuds. I tried buying a set of generic ear buds to see if it was maybe the specific set, to no avail. It seems that jamming something into my ear doesn’t work for me. Go figure. I noticed months ago that one of my valued colleagues invested in a set of Bluetooth headphones, which allow for a better level of comfort and is supported by the head instead of trying to stay inside the ear.

I think I belong on GQ… Thoughts?

I decided that it might be worth looking into. I examined several sets from different brands until I landed on the pair I’m wearing in the photo above. Between the several retail locations I stopped at and all the brands I looked at, I started getting a little flustered. There are a LOT of different headphones out there. I was trying to balance price, quality and functionality, since I knew these would cost a small fortune no matter where I went. A few years ago, i purchase a small JBL Bluetooth speaker that has a carabiner on it, allowing to be hung or attached in various places. I absolutely LOVE that speaker and frequently use it when working out and cleaning. Since I was familiar and comfortable with JBL, I figured that was a great way to go.

I landed on a set of headphones, model JBL LIVE660NC. I purchased them because they were on special, came from a brand name I trusted and boasted a noise-cancelling function. Once I charged them up and got them tethered to my phone, I discovered that on top of ambient noise cancellation, it also allowed for sound and track control, answering phone calls and the noise cancellation is trippy. I mean, I can put the headphones on and hear my own breathing in my ears. I turn the headphones on and the sound of my breathing disappears. It’s quite weird but it’s a good thing. It allows for things in my environment to be blocked out so I can focus on either meditation, exercise or whatever.

If you can get your hands on a pair of these headphones, I would highly recommend it. It can be useful in the workplace, during exercise and even just during typical, household chores. It’s also an effective way of getting some white noise in your ears to help calm oneself and improve one’s overall mental and physical health. Go grab yourself a set, you won’t regret it. ☯️

The Modernization Of Martial Arts…

Martial arts is old. Very old. Like, worse than Mr. Burns or Professor Farnsworth old (if you know, you know). For that reason, it’s pretty hard to “modernize” martial arts and still keep it traditional. The world’s sensitivities and the onslaught of snowflakes in the past decades, coupled with how everyone gets offended at the smallest things these days, also poses a challenge for the martial arts teacher who still tries to teach the art in the manner that it was intended.

That being said and I’ve written about this before, it’s a bit like riding a razor’s edge in order to find that balance between teaching in a traditional manner and trying to navigate the modern world’s sensibilities. If some things are changed or taken away, it will effectively destroy the spirit in which many of these styles were founded, which ultimately means you aren’t ACTUALLY learning the style; you’re learning some watered-down bullshit meant to accommodate the student I stress of passing on the teachings. And that’s never a good thing.

So if we shouldn’t alter our teachings in order to keep up with the times, is there ANYTHING that can be done to modernize martial arts? Some would argue that no, there isn’t. However, a touch of enlightened thinking should tell any genuine practitioner of a traditional art that where there’s a will, there’s a way. here are some things that modern dojos can do to step into the 21st century without compromising the quality and traditions of their style:

1. Allow Water in the Dojo: Most dojos consider food and drink a hill worth dying on within the walls of their environment. And I totally get that. in fact, I spent my entire childhood seeing Sensei toss people out fro bringing in their coffee while watching their kids. I’ve always understood the food part; a karate dojo is not the environment to be wolfing down your Big Mac while people are trying to train. But given the benefits to fitness and the maintenance of health that proper hydration provides, allowing students to bring a water bottle into class can go a long way towards helping to keep students moving, which brings me to my next point…

2. Take Breaks: I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of this one but I have enough of an open mind to see the benefit behind it. Most traditional instructors will argue that once you bow in for the class, you don’t need, nor should you take a break until the class concludes and you bow out. I’ve always agreed with that concept, since part of point (besides learning karate) is to get a workout in. It’s hard to do that if you’re constantly stopping. That being said, even the most die-hard fitness buffs will take rest periods between sets, so why shouldn’t a karate practitioner?

3. Call in Sick or Injured: Sensei used to have a concept that even if you were injured, you could still train. Although that’s true in some respects, one needs to be mindful of one’s body and injuries and how they can be accommodated in a limited fashion. For example, if you have a sprained wrist, there’s nothing wrong with doing kick drills, practising forms, etc. But you should avoid crushing out push-ups and striking techniques until the wrist has healed. Anything is always something more than nothing, right? But if you have an illness and aren’t feeling well, sometimes it’s not only better to stay home so you don’t share your typhoid with the entire dojo, your body will sometimes require a reasonable healing period to prevent being out of the game for longer than necessary.

This is a pretty short list, if I’m being honest. The truth of the matter is if you want to learn karate, you need to be willing to learn it as it’s taught. If you don’t like or you aren’t satisfied with what’s being taught or how it is done, maybe karate isn’t the right place for you. Part of the responsibility is totally on the practitioner’s shoulders. If you don’t want something traditional and authentic, there are plenty of sports, hobbies and fitness options out there that may accommodate a person a bit better. ☯️

It’s Hard To Be Humble…

Most people would be inclined to accept that they know what they know. Makes sense, right? If you’ve been doing something for any number of years, one may feel as though they know how to do it and may not feel as though they can necessarily be taught anything further on it. A good example I can provide for this is when I finally decided to take the leap and start on an insulin pump. I went into it thinking I already knew everything I needed to know about effective Diabetes management and just wanted to hook up and start the pump and be on my way. How very wrong, I was…

It wasn’t until I went through the pump training that I realized there was still a great deal to learn. Until that point, my insulin boluses were mostly “guest-imated” and I had never heard of, nor was I was practicing, carb counting. And the reality is that I’m still learning today, almost seven years after I first started on an insulin pump. I’ve learned to temper my perspective and have removed the Diabetic chip on my shoulder and stored it appropriately where it won’t interfere with my medial education.

The same can be said of martial arts. Sometimes it can be difficult recognizing that what one knows should prevent the learning of something new or accepting information from teachers you may have otherwise not sought out on their own. This is especially true if you’re cross-training in a different style. Given that I’ve been at this for several decades now, I’m beginning to encounter more and more scenarios where the person I’m getting instruction from wasn’t even alive when I started doing karate.

For some, this can be a bitter pill and quite difficult to consolidate within themselves. After all, in many situations I would be inclined to believe that I’ve “been there, done that.” The important aspect is that I may not necessarily been there and done it THEIR way. And if I’m genuinely there to learn and include these different styles and techniques in my overall toolbox, I need to be willing to humble myself long enough to recognize that knowledge can come from many different sources.

There’s absolutely nothing worse than someone who thinks they know better but still wants to advance and progress within your style. Guess what, pal? You don’t put in the work, you don’t reap the benefits. I’ve seen it countless times throughout my youth. Sensei used to have boxers, hockey players and students of other styles who may or may not have been trying to belt collect, walk in with MASSIVE chips on their shoulders. Only to get served and shown the error of their ways by Sensei before leaving with their tails tucked. Don’t be that person. Broaden your perspective and be willing to learn. You’ll be all the better for it and you’ll go much, much farther. Food for thought… ☯️

Information Overload

It seems as though the world is slowly going to hell and is doing so in a very poorly constructed hand basket. Or at least it APPEARS that is is… I know that recent events right here in Saskatchewan have had a ripple effect on the population and have woken some folks up to the fact that even the “quiet” corners of the country have their fair share of noise, if there really is any such thing as a “quiet” part of the world….

The state of the world can often seem overwhelming, especially to those who spend the majority of their time online or following the news. Although I would be the last person to ever suggest simply nurturing one’s head in the sand, I think it’s worth noting that the entire world’s information is available at the average person’s fingertips, unlike a couple of decades ago where you would depend on your local news to deliver the majority of major happening to you.

And let’s be clear; unless that major happening was in fact, major and directly impacted the area where the news was being broadcast, it would often go unheard. These days, a remote village in a country thousands of miles away may make your news feed and deliver information about what’s happening in their neck of the woods. For the most part, I think most people would agree that this is a good thing and the younger generations certainly don’t know any better.

But despite public opinion, how good is it ACTUALLY that all of this information is freely and readily available at the world’s fingertips? I’m sure the high school student who needs to write a paper about some arcane and little-known philosopher from centuries ago considers Wikipedia to be a blessing and a god-send but I mostly mean in general. People are more connected than ever before, weighing in on issues that just a number of years ago, they would never even have heard of.

For the most part, there’s nothing wrong with the receipt and absorbing of information. The trick is to have the understanding that not all pieces of information should consume your attention, ad nauseam. If I were to give an example, a good one would be the current military conflicts taking place overseas. The world is shocked and appalled that this is happening, as well they should be. The availability of all this information has made that conflict a public matter. But it might surprise many t know that there have been over a hundred conflicts of this nature in the world since the end of World War II; they’ve simply never heard about them.

The advent and growth of the online environment has led to people becoming more brazen and often inappropriate in their interactions with other people. After all, how easy is it to mouth off to someone through a computer monitor as opposed to in person? The online environment has also caused a majority of the population to become armchair experts in law enforcement, medical professions and politics. Light help the world…

As with all things in life, nothing is inherently bad or good. It’s how we choose to absorb and use what we’re given that defines how it’s perceived and accepted. The world has never changed. There has always been crime, controversy, famine, war, poverty and medical epidemics. We simply have the benefit of knowing it all immediately as opposed to reading it in the history books. I don’t know if the world is going to hell or not but I’m thinking we may have been in the hand basket longer than we previously assumed. Food for thought… ☯️

Jupiter’s Legacy: A Review (Total Spoilers)

I’ve always been partial to the superhero genre. big surprise, right? Ever since Superman: The Movie was released in 1978 (ironically the same year I was born, coincidence?) I’ve been enamoured with the thought of super-powered individuals who use their gifts to save the world and its people. In the decades that followed, I was able to get into comics, movies and cartoons that all addressed the genre. The superhero genre is nothing new and despite the passing of generations, many classic hero arch-types keep being brought back, again and again. In recent years, we’ve seen the creation and release of multiple television series that feature classic superheroes like the Flash, Green Arrow and Superman.

The way we enjoy our media intake has changed drastically since the old days where my father had to jam a dusty BetaMax tape into a huge, boxy machine in order to let me see the classic blue-tighted boy scout fly across the screen. Modern streaming services make it easier than ever before to access more people with more content in shorter periods of time. Remember the old days, when you had to wait a full week to find out if your favourite protagonist made it through whatever they were dealing with? I do, although it’s quickly becoming a faded memory…

I’m not typically one to jump onto anyone’s bandwagon and people who know me will acknowledge that it’s often difficult to get me to commit to a new show or some new trend because, quite frankly, I have very little free time when I’m not working, writing, training or hanging with my fam-jam. This means that I take free time very seriously and am very selective as to how I spend it. But once in a while when I have a few moments, during writing or when the rest of the family is occupied, I’ll pop on to something that I know I may not be watching with them. That’s when I landed on a short-lived show on Netflix: Jupiter’s Legacy.

Jupiter’s Legacy is a short-lived show that streamed on Netflix in early 2021. I remember reading all kinds of stuff about it, especially since the world was still reeling from the pandemic and everyone was stuck indoors for extended periods. I never gave it much stock, especially since they foolishly cancelled it after 8 episodes. Even if it were a shitty show, which it’s not, who the hell does that??? Regardless, I started watching this show while sitting outside with a cigar, which was a great way to relax. I have to say that being someone who’s usually well-versed on the genre, I was NOT disappointed.

Jupiter’s Legacy is based on a comic book arc where a man in the 1920’s sees his father commit suicide during the stock market crash. He soon begins to have hallucinations and leads a small group of people on an expedition to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean where they’re all endowed with super powers. They begin fighting crime and protecting the masses, following a specific code of no killing. The premise of the show is the original heroes’ children struggling to live by the code in a world where the villains have no qualms about killing even if the heroes do.

The tempo does tend to be on the slower side but features great costumes, excellent super-powered fight scenes and an excellent storyline. The show was cancelled and never renewed for a second season, which royally fuckin’ sucks since the first season ends on a cliffhanger where one of the main protagonists turns out to be the villain they were searching for all along. The show’s main character, Utopia, has two children who are struggling with their way of life in their own way. The son, Paragon, has embraced the hero life and is trying to live up to his father’s expectations, until he kills one of his opponents, violating the hero code. The daughter, Chloe, has completely abandoned the family and the hero way of life and soon joins up with one of the team’s main criminals’ sons.

Although the show was one of the most-watched series on Netflix during the first half of the month of May in 2021, viewership declined significantly and was considered too slow-moving. To be honest, I went into it knowing that there were only 8 episodes and used it mostly as a sound filler for when I’d be doing other things. But the storyline and visual dynamics have got me wishing that show-running decisions weren’t solely based on the nay-sayers. With 40-minute episodes, you need to have some time to get through each one but if you’re looking for something short to watch that doesn’t include a dozen seasons of something, Jupiter’s Legacy may be for you. ☯️

A Month Without Alcohol…

Last month, I decided to spend the entire month of August without consuming any alcohol. My unfortunate habit in the past couple of years has been to enjoy a drink when writing or even just after a hard day’s work, while sitting in my garage with a good cigar. In the following video, I explain that month and some of the things I’ve noticed as a result. ☯️