Returning to the Zen of Iaido

At the beginning of the month, I returned to martial arts training. I was on hiatus for approximately five years, so I was a bit rusty. When I visited my dojo in September, I found that I was craving stillness. My body, mind and spirit were yearning for the zen of Iaido. Why did I stop?

As you well know, there are only so many hours in a day. I wanted to dedicate more time to my own professional development as a musician. During that time, I accompanied five choirs, studied jazz piano, took a contemporary music examination, singing lessons and sang with a live band. Oh, and started to play other instruments.

Fast forward to today. Although my studio is smaller than it was back then, I am writing more and exploring other projects. My days are still abuzz and it's a challenge to find that stillness.

There was a sense of homecoming on my first day back to Iaido training. Ka Muso Kai has changed too during my hiatus: new name, new training location and other folks have come and gone; but when I stepped into the dojo, all that vanished. I was home.

During my first week of training, I made several discoveries:

1. I was completely out of practice with meditation. When sempai called out "Mokuso", my heart was racing for quite a while. With each progressive week,, it has improved.

2. Muscle memory is extremely powerful. Holding my iaito was akin to hopping onto a bike for the first time in years.

3. Having some knowledge of the Japanese language levelled up my understanding of Iaido. For instance, although I was rusty on the steps to "Kesa giri", I knew that I would have to do a diagonal cut.

4. My problem spots of old are still my problem spots.

5. Using a mirror during at-home practice makes a huge difference.

One thing that I've been doing when I practice at home is to empty my mind of nearly all thought. I focus on what my next action will be. Then, I try to quickly attain stillness before executing the action. I can't remember whether I did that the first time round, but has resulted in less corrections and repetitions.

Being able to shed all unnecessary thoughts and emotions, save for the ones needed to execute the kata efficiently is a skill that can be transferred easily into any situation or crisis. That calm but steely focus sure came in handy when dealing with a minor fire recently.

In truth, you can find zen in any activity - baking, writing, photography - it doesn't have to be martial arts. For me, however, the zen of Iaido is where it's at. Jodo, is another thing altogether, which can wait for another time.

Music planning sheets for teens and tweens

This year, I have several tweens and teens in my studio. Some are preparing for a piano exam, while others are studying music for recreation. One common trait among the majority of them is that they have problems staying on track, that is, time management.

I have vacillated from creating a simple exam preparation timeline to a highly detailed list of goals and milestones. Neither have worked particularly well. Last month, I created a six-week project worksheet and a learning timeline.

As a team, I speak with each of my students to build the learning timeline on Google Docs. Afterwards, I share the link with both the parent and student, granting them viewing and commenting rights. Here’s a screenshot of my student W.’s learning timeline. She’s preparing for her Grade 8 classical piano exam through Conservatory Canada:

Using the learning timeline, we proceeded to break down her learning goals using the six-week project worksheet. So far, she says it’s helped her stay on track more than any other assignment sheet we’ve used in our time together. Here are two of her planning sheets:

My student N. is in Grade 12 at school, so practice time is extremely limited. She isn’t preparing for a piano exam. This is what her learning timeline looks like for this half of the school year:

This is a picture of one of her planning sheets:

My students have been using these music planning sheets since mid-December. So far, they like that they contain just the “right” amount of information. They can see their goals for the week and each month at a glance.

Students and music teachers, if you’d like to download the six-week planning worksheet for educational use, you may do so by clicking here. It works well for recreational music students as well as students preparing for a music exam. Here's a link to view the year-planner.

My Top 10 Calgary Japanese Restaurants

One of my classmates from the Calgary Japanese Language School once told me that there are over 300 Japanese Restaurants in Calgary, Alberta. It would take years to try them all. Out of that list, there are a handful that my friends and I like to eat at. This is a list of my top 10 Calgary Japanese Restaurants in alphabetical order:

1. Cerezo Cafe & Bar (1002 Edmonton Trail NE): Japanese tapas and desserts

2. Fuji Yama(908 17 Avenue SW): Traditional and Japanese fusion cuisine

3. Izumi Sushi House(100 - 10201 Southport Rd. SW): Traditional and Japanese fusion cuisine

4. Li-Ao Sushi (2335 162 Ave SW): Traditional and fusion Japanese cuisine, dinner, lunch, take-out

5. Misato (1851 Sirocco Dr. SW): Traditional Japanese cuisine, lunch, dinner, take-out

6. Muku Japanese Ramen(326 14 St NW): Japanese Ramen

7. Sakana Grill (116-2nd Avenue SW and 10 Crowfoot Circle NW): dinner, lunch, teppan, take-out

8. Shikiji(1608 Centre St. NE): noodles and sushi

9. Shogun Food Truck: Try the takoyaki! Book for your private or corporate function, catering or find the food truck out and about in Calgary.

10. Wa’s Japanese Restaurant(1721 Centre St. N): Traditional Japanese cuisine

It's not quite the same as tasting these, but here are some photos of some of my favourite Japanese dishes:

Japanese Strawberry Shortcake from Cerezo Cafe & Bar

Miso Katsu from Cerezo Cafe & Bar

Miso Butter Ramen from Muku

The featured photo is takoyaki from the Shogun food truck. Next time you get a hankering for Japanese food, try out some of these places.

If there are any other Calgary Japanese restaurants you really like, please share!

Why I don't do New Year's resolutions anymore

This Friday has been nicknamed “Fail Friday”. The Independent released survey results which indicated that January 24 is the day that most people are expected to break their New Year’s resolutions. Citing past results, author Adam Withnall states that “the average length of time a person can expect to keep to their promise is around three and a half weeks, or 24 days.”

A few years ago, I stopped making New Year’s resolutions. I didn't see the point of making any if they were only going to be broken. Instead, I have been doing goal setting for the year.

It’s much easier than making a resolution. It’s not a big deal if I take a break on learning a piece for a spell, just so long as I meet my goal by my milestone.

It is also more realistic to meet a goal than try to keep a resolution. If my week winds up being too busy from work, it’s perfectly OK for me to skip learning a new kanji for a couple of days, seeing as I set a goal to learn and master one a week.

Although I haven’t completely written out my goals for 2014, I know that I’ll have up to three goals in the following areas: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, social and financial. Usually, I start with my professional development goals as they seem to be the easiest for me to articulate.

Along the way, I have learned to just start by setting a couple of goals in each area. Having over 10 goals in each aspect of my life wound up being unmanageable.

I know I’m a little behind the 8-ball on this. However, so long as I have all my goals written out by the end of January, I’ll be happy. This leads me to another reason why I don’t do resolutions anymore. Setting goals and achieving them is less stressful than trying not to break a resolution.

My piano students have heard a lot about setting S.M.A.R.T. goals in school at in music. For those unfamiliar with the acronym, S.M.A.R.T. stands for:

S - Specific

M - Measurable

A - Achievable

R - Realistic

T - Time Sensitive (or “Timely”)

There are several variations on what the acronym stands for. You can read about them in Duncan Haughey’s article, “SMART Goals” .

Here are some articles on how to set S.M.A.R.T. goals:

Creating S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Goal Setting Worksheet for SMART Goals: Step by Step

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals and Objectives

On dog boots and dog socks

Winters in Canada can be quite harsh, not just for humans but also pets. Think about it for a minute, we wear insulated boots with grips when we walk the dog. Our furry friends have...paw pads. That’s fine most of the time, but when it’s -20 degrees Celsius or colder? When you’re walking on paths covered in non-pet and non-child friendly de-icing mixes? The concept of dog footwear - dog boots and dog dog socks - doesn't seem so strange after all.

Maestro really loves this dog jacket by Bailey & Bella. Photo by R-M Arca.

Dog boots for winter

I discovered dog footwear when Maestro was just a few years old. At first, I balked at the price of Muttluks dog boots and bought him a cheaper brand name. They didn't stay on very well. In the end, I bought Maestro Muttluks  (approximately $50 CAD). He doesn't keep them on all the time but at least they don’t slide off as often as the knock-offs did.

The soles are leather, which is great when it’s below freezing. It’s a completely different story when the snow is melting. Those boots get soaked - fast!

Since buying the Muttluks, different models have come out. You can now get the leather sole, but you can also buy the fleece-lined model and the all-weather model.

On a recent visit to Pet Valu, Maestro and I watched a Corgi try on a set of Ultimate Trail Boots by Canine Equipment ($70 CAD). This is, by far, the best set of dog boots I have ever seen. There are grips on the soles and the hind paw boots are sized differently from the front paws’. Unlike the Muttluks, CE’s dog boots are water resistant, yet still breathable.

This company makes good quality dog accessories with thoughtful designs. Our family has several dog accessories by Canine Equipment, including the Ultimate Trail Pack, a harness and walking collar. Guess what Maestro is getting for his birthday?

Help! My older dog keeps slipping on hardwood floors

Maestro has always slipped a bit on hardwood floors, but when we visited relatives this Christmas, I saw that he was having a harder time standing up and moving around. He was more stiff than usual and oftentimes, seemed to plant himself in one spot and his expression clearly said, “I’m not moving. You’ll have to pick me up if you want me to move.”

I remembered hearing that other dog owners purchased dog boots or dog socks because their dogs kept slipping on hardwood floors. From the recesses of my memory, I recalled seeing dog socks with grips, so went to Pet Valu in search of these. We first tried Pawks by RC Pets ($10.99 CAD), primarily because I balked at the price of the Pawz dog boots ($19.99 CAD).

I went with medium because that was what was recommended. That was a failed experiment. One of the other dogs in the family tried (successfully) to pull off Maestro’s Pawks. They really didn't stay on well. By that point, Maestro stained the Pawks so I couldn't return them. That meant that I had to go and buy a small set of Pawks. They stay on better than the mediums, but he occasionally pulls off his hind ones when he sits.

In the end, I also broke down and bought Maestro a set of Pawz. I appreciate that there are three sets of reusable dog boots in the package.

Seriously, I need to remember not to go with the cheapest solution. I usually wind up spending two to three times as much.

Anyway, Pawz are ideal for the hardwood floors. Maestro has great traction when walking hardwood. They are also perfect at the vet’s office and pet stores. He gets decent traction on snow.

They stay on pretty well, too. The other dogs don’t try to pull them off, while Maestro rarely pulls them off when he sits on them.

The only thing is you can't keep them on for long periods of time. Remember, dogs "sweat" through their paws.

Where to buy dog boots and dog socks

Most pet stores carry at least one type of dog footwear. However, if you are looking to buy online, check out my affiliate links:

Muttlucks on Amazon

Ultimate Trail Boots on Amazon

PAWks Dog Socks on Amazon

For your first set, I strongly recommend that you buy locally. Bring your dog in so that he or she can try on dog footwear for correct sizing and fit.

Having canine arthritis, Maestro will always move with some stiffness. It varies depending upon the weather. At least I can make his life a bit easier by putting on his dog boots or dog socks so that he can walk on hard surfaces and stand up from a prone position more easily.