Category: Popup Karate

May 14 . Issue #90

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date May 14, 2021

“Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart
and try to love the questions themselves
like locked rooms and like books
that are written in a very foreign tongue.
Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you
because you would not be able to live them.
And the point is, to live everything.
Live the questions now.”
– Rainer Maria Rilke –

Hello all and welcome to my weekly journal. This week is all about getting back to the park for outdoor training. The Toronto Japanese Film Festival announces the 2021 lineup, the top ten jazz records of all time in my opinion and more…

1. The featured photo is my partner Nina, my life partner and my training partner. This was after our one-hour training session in the park. A photo opportunity to pose with beauty.

I miss training with groups of people and I look forward to those days. My body craves a training regimen and the best training can be done outdoors. The fresh air, nature in abundance and mostly for the serenity. My outdoor exercise routine is very similar to my indoor exercise routine but I use up more space.

2. Ontario, the province I live in, has been in lockdown for a long time. Far too long, and today we were notified by the Premiere that the lockdown has been extended to at least June 2nd. I was so looking forward to starting our popup Karate program. Karate in the park — training with a group of like-minded folks.

3. The Toronto Japanese Film Festival which runs from June 5 – June 27, has released the lineup of the films for this year’s festival. A great lineup, I’m considering a festival pass.

The passes and tickets are on sale now, the complete festival will be a virtual affair. Some of the movies I want to check out: A Garden of Camellias, Mio’s Cookbook, Sumido, Successors of Samurai, a documentary on Sumo, the Japanese wrestlers and a film about a former Yakusa gang member, Under The Open Sky.

4. I was listening to Jason Ricci and he played a tune on harmonica that got me thinking about great jazz albums. This is a reach but, “Mo’ Better Blues” the movie had an incredible soundtrack, by one of my favourite jazz musicians, Branford Marsalis. Now, not only Branford Marsalis but his quartet, Kenny Kirkland, piano; Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts, drums; Robert Hurst, bass and Terrance Blanchard, the guest artist, on trumpet.

For a full list of my top jazz albums check this out. The top 5o Jazz Albums of all time in my opinion.

5. What I am reading this week? Just happens to be a children’s book on Yoga. Little Mouse Adventures, Yoga at the Museum, written by Teresa Anne Power, illustrations by Emma Allen.

I received an ARC, Advanced Reader Copy, my review will be out by May 18th, the release date for the book.

My creative writing workshop at the Richmond Hill Public Library was a huge success. The librarian who facilitated the virtual meeting and all the children attendees had a wonderful time.

Many of the kids are well on their way to writing a short story. I hope they share them with us.

Thank you for reading. If you think someone you know would enjoy my newsletter please share it with them. If you are looking for a great children’s book check out my new book, Samba in Brazil; on sale for a limited time.

Or one of my other books, Samba on a Snowy Day or the Brazilian/ Portuguese version Samba em um Dia de Neve.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.

Popup Karate Reading Writing

January 22 . Issue #74

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date January 22, 2021

“I Have A Dream.”

Hello all and welcome to this weeks edition of my weekly journal, where I share with you 5 things that I found to be of interest and I hope you will enjoy it too.

1. MLK Day in the USA. I celebrate that day in every way. It was nice to hear a younger Yolanda Renee King, the granddaughter of Martin Luther King Jr. deliver her speech on another special MLK day a few years ago.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day, officially the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and sometimes referred to as MLK Day. This is a federal holiday in the U.S.A marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.

It is observed on the third Monday of January each year. This year on Monday, January 18th. King’s birthday is actually on January 15th. The earliest Monday for this holiday is January 15th and the latest is January 21st.

I found these 11 Children’s Books that honour the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and his impact on the civil rights movement.

2. Laurie Wright is an author, a consultant, a podcaster, a parent and a marketing advisor to other authors. I dropped her a line recently and checked out her online presence. Impressive!

I have joined Laurie’s newsletter and I share with you some of her free resources including these great podcasts; The Writer’s Way Podcast, that helps me while I work on my newsletter. Make sure to check out the blog on Anxiety – Resource for children, spot-on for these strange times.

3. My book promotion is still happening, free e-books, all genre; a big promotion. Check out the many different authors and books available, including book 1, in the Samba the Dog series, Samba on a Snowy Day.

4. What I’m watching this week, news of course. Our American cousins are having a big inauguration party and I have been enjoying the joy and hope.

I still like watching the older television series that I missed when I was working full time, one that gives me plenty of much-needed laughs, Monk with Tony Shalhoub.

5. My virtual karate program will be going ahead starting February 2nd, even though our province, Ontario is in a full-blown lockdown; planning for plenty of virtual fun.

I have dug out my agility ladder, cleared up my family room and put together an in-house dojo.

This morning, Thursday is my Japanese sword practice day, I start out with a suburito, a heavy, wooden practice sword about four feet or one and a half meters long. Once you practice with this heavy wooden sword your real sword feels lightweight.

After thirty minutes of suburito practice, I picked up my iaito, practice sword and start to go through the standing forms. I do each form three or four times.

On the seventh form, I hit the light fixture in our guest room, my temporary training room and the fixture broke, with part of it crashing on my head and the other part crashing into a million pieces on the floor.

I was uninjured, the light will need a new fixture. I am now banned from practising in the guest room.

There are no ceiling light fixtures in the family room, my new training room dojo.

Thank you for reading. If you think someone would enjoy the newsletter please share it with them. If you are looking for a fun children’s book check out one of my books. Samba on a Snowy Day or my new book, Samba in Brazil.

Stay safe, stay well, stay strong and keep going.

Tags Laurie Wright, MLK Day, Monk, Tony Shalhoub, Yolanda Renee King

Books Popup Karate Reading

Newsletter 49

Post author By Paul Yanuziello
Post date July 31, 2020

“Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.” Max Ehrmann

Newsletter 49

Hello all. Welcome. This week I found some older books, I share a video on how to find happiness and I am pumped about my new initiative, karate in the park. Some other things to share with you as well. These are my five items of interest this week, hopefully, there’s something of interest for you too.

1. My basement is full of books and now I found time to review my library. I came across a book I had forgotten about Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson and I started reading it after my morning workout. It’s a great story, one of the books I read when it first showed up on a bestseller list back in 1995.

I also found a gifted copy of a Farley Mowat book, And No Birds Sang this was a gift from my father.

He gave this book to me a month before he passed away, along with his war medals and a couple of other books about his regiment. The History of the Second Field Regiment R.C.A SEP 1939 — JUN 1945 and The Pictoral History of Canada’s Army Overseas 1939-1945.

It got me started on writing a book about his life. I hope I can complete it one of these days.

2. Sacred Geometry is a concept found in modern dance. My daughter, Adrianna, a dancer, and founder of Dance Migration, a Toronto dance company — was recently describing one aspect of sacred geometry applied to dance movement and I found it fascinating.

PLATO – The Athenian philosopher also found the concept intriguing. In particular, he was convinced that geometry was the key to unlocking the secrets of the universe. The sign above the Academy entrance read: “Let no-one ignorant of geometry enter here”. In the original model Plato came up with, each shape represents an element. The Cube represents Earth, the Tetrahedron represents Fire, the Octahedron represents Air, the Icosahedron represents Water and the Dodecahedron represents Aether.

The designs, the art, and the meanings, of Sacred Geometry.

3. This week I look forward to starting a pop-up karate class in the park. I contacted a few karate buddies and students. I asked if they felt like training. We will do our part to limit the spread of COVID by maintaining physical distancing and limiting participants to only 10 people. Our city has finally gotten to phase 3 of stage 2, meaning more people can congregate in the outdoors.

4. The poetry of Max Ehrmann, beautiful poems that I have been reading this week and finding comfort in the heartfelt prose.

This is a week that reminded me of a tragedy that occurred in Toronto at about this time of year, back in 2018. After this rampage occurred I felt the need to write something.

On Finding Happiness

Watching a youtube video that my friends at Sunday Morning Keiko shared. Something of interest for many who may be suffering during these times when the future seems uncertain. The secret formula of human happiness.

5. For the children and parents, a link to a book promotion that is running for a limited time. Picture Books Celebrating the Outdoors, and I share the link with you so you can enjoy an assortment of fun children’s books, including my book Samba on a Snowy Day. To receive my book all you have to do is provide your e-mail address. I then add you to my newsletter and that keeps you in the loop for more great things to come.

Thanks for reading, if you think someone you know would like my newsletter please share it with them. If you’re looking for a great children’s book, check out my book, Samba on a Snowy Day.

Please consider a contribution to our next book project by buying me a coffee, swing by Ko-fi.com. Every coffee really helps out during these crazy times.

Check out my blog, follow the link, sign in. Get the weekly newsletter in your inbox, no spam I promise.

Tags Dance Migration, Happiness, Poetry, Popup Karate Program