Up at 6. Washroom. Running clothes. Meeting at 6:45. We ran up the hill here twice, which is one very long slow slope up. Then we did some sprints. After that, shower, and breakfast. Now we had our first decent break.



Since we had some time, and I knew that at the end of the week, I wouldn't want to do so, I went out for a walk, and took some pictures of the surroundings (Fujimi Heights, Nagano, Japan).

Now the next practice was my first time doing something like this. We made our way outside in front of the gym with just our gi tops. We ended up doing about 30 minutes of gripping exercises outside, in the sun, in shoes, shorts, and judo tops. I thought we would end there since we do have a third practice, but no. We grabbed our stuff, and headed to the open gym area where the trainers had prepare a series of exercises. They had placed various weight exercises tools in two big circles, one for the heavy weights, and the other for us, the light weights. We each grabbed a partner, and I was paired with Fubuki. What happened next was what I had watched many of them do just before a tournament. We do every exercise for 30 seconds, then move to the next one. Fubuki went up first, and I cheered him on through the first round. Then it was my turn. It was hard, yeah, but I just felt glad I was part of them doing it. I had always wondered how it was to do so.

I'm thankful for Fubuki for cheering me on the whole time, it kept me pushing. Sometimes, Masaya from the group right ahead of us would cheer me on too, yelling "Mamoru! Hayaku!" with means hurry up Mamoru (my Japanese name). We did two rounds each, and then finished off bowing.

After changing, straight to the food hall. This time, I was forced to sit with many of the 4th year students. I didn't really talk much, but when I didn't I was stared at harshly. Then one of them called me Michael, and then said he didn't know my name. I realized that because of the language barrier, I was an easy pray for them to pick on.

This is going to be a hard week. Physically, but also mentally. One can even say emotionally?

Next practice. Was hard. My back, neck and arms were completely ripped off their skin. Lots of gripping we did. Lots of gripping.

Now after supper, I did something I never thought I would do at a training camp. I went for an extra workout. Fubuki was the one who invited me. He said he was going to do some exercises, and asked if I wanted to join. At first, I thought it was crazy. I was thinking about the next day to come, and how I didn't want to be too tired, but then I thought, hey, if he can do it, so can I. And so I went to the gym area of the camp, and worked on my abs, my back, and my pectoral muscles. Unbelievable. As my father often told me before I came here, this is not the kind of level of dedication I will find when I come back to Canada.

Now that school is over, I do actually have a break! The judo club is also off for a bit so I can now take time to breathe, think, and yep, you guessed it, plan. Even though it's summer, I want to take advantage of this time to centre myself, to take time to think, and prepare myself for the next wave. So what are my plans for the summer?

First let's talk about what I want to accomplish.

 - I really REALLY need to clean my room. Since I am not even sure that I can stay here in the Kaikan after September, I might as well prepare myself for the worst scenario. On top of that, I found my mind going a little crazy last semester, due to the status of my room. It took me more time to find things and in the end caused me more stress.

 - I would like to make some music. I haven't really talked about my music here yet, but I'm still doing as much as I can to continue making music during my spare time... This summer, I want to make a couple more tracks and a few more mixes. I don't really have time to do so otherwise.

 - I want to go to the beach! And I already made plans to go!

 - I want to keep working out. I have a training camp with the team during the third week of August, so I want to be at my best for that.

 - I want to eat well. I want to gorge myself with fruits since I haven't really done so since I've been here. I also want to find easy recipes that are full of vegetables, high protein, and so-so carbs. That way I'll be ready to go for the next term.

 - I want to keep my studies going. Japanese (language) is now part of me, but I still need to keep at it, especially while I'm here.

 - Lastly, I want to have some fun. I think I've had a lot of fun already since the summer started, which is great.

Now a few events that are going to happen this summer include going to Disney Sea with my girlfriend (August 9^th), the training camp with the team (August 17^th to 22^nd), and climbing Mount. Fuji, most likely at the end of the summer.

Now I have one last goal. I want to write a lot of blogs, so as much as I can, I will try to write one blog a day (or week) for most of the summer. The topics might get a little wild, but that's just more fun isn't it?

Also, I should probably say that most of those with whom I have studied with for one year now will be heading back to their own country throughout the summer. Miguel will be leaving soon, Carlos already left. Slowly but surely, the Kaikan is becoming more and more empty every day. Quite sad to think that I will most likely never see any of them again. But who knows.

(Note to self: I have to keep in mind that I need to start looking into resuming my courses at the University of Winnipeg in January.)

During the month of March, Miguel and I had decided, after a few discussions, that we would like to do some exercise together. We ended up with a few choices, and one of them was wrestling. Miguel, being crazy, dared to fight me in the Kaikan's backyard.

Miguel and I had a few matches, which I enjoyed for more than one reason. This was exercise, and at the same time I could practice judo which would help me come back from my injury. I must say, Miguel is quite brave, but there is no way I would lose to him. I threw him a few times on the ground, sometimes being dangerous due to the fact that Miguel has not done judo, and does not expect certain movements.

After this first time, we invited Chipa to join in. He accepted and one day, we were all out in the back of Kaikan, pushing each other around. Now Chipa is much stronger than Miguel, and probably stronger than me, but he still has no experience in man-to-man combat. He got me down once or twice at first, but then I got the hang of his style and to his surprise, made him fly all over the place.

Why is this important? Well like I say, I could "practice" some "judo" without being watched or judged by everyone else. Also, when fighting Chipa, I really felt his strength. I mean, he's 10 kilos heavier than me, and he plays rugby, which made him quite hard to push around. But I still stood in there, and managed to find a way around it. Now yeah, it's not a fair match, but it still gave me a little boost of confidence and also showed me that our biggest enemy is ourselves. I think it's time I overcome my own fears.