Exploring the Way

 Paul asked, in the comments on my  Blogiversary II post, if I had stayed active in the martial arts.

Yes, Paul, I did. I have stayed with Aikido and have been promoted  beyond my own expectations. It has been and continues to be an amazing part of my life. There are many different styles of Aikido and I believe the organization I am part of is working to maintain the martial aspects of the art.

For the last five years, I have added Arnis, a Filipino stick and knife art that provides a interesting set of different skills to my practice. I have a very talented instructor, making no claims to any sort of personal mastery, but I continue to learn and only wish I had started them both when I was much younger.

 Here's a photo from the national summer camp several years ago, I'm out there in the middle being tested for promotion to the next black belt rank. The senior leadership is on the stage, my instructor is watching from the right wall. 

[Update Borepatch 1 July 2025] Let me point out that ASM826 goes to martial arts camps on the regular.  In the south.  In the summer.  Camps with no air conditioning.  Yeah, he's tougher than I am. [/Update]

 

 

And here's a group shot from camp in 2012, the year I tested for shodan.

Glen Filthie could not be reached for comment

Do Manatees control their buoyancy by farting?

Manatees are incredibly intelligent marine mammals who show long-term memory and associative learning skills on par with dolphins. They are thought to have inspired the myth of the mermaid. (In 1493, Christopher Columbus saw three “mermaids” — in actuality, manatees — while sailing near the Dominican Republic.) And the sea cows talk to each other while playing and during intimacy.

Butt here’s the kicker: There is scientific evidence to suggest that they regulate their underwater buoyancy — their ability to rise and fall in the water column — by farting.

 Huh.  Who knew?