So our little film crew traveled downstate to the premiere of all the films for the 48 Hour Film Project. We saw a little over 20 films, including ours. Ours was the worst... hands down. My friend, the director didn't think so, however. He thought there were a couple other worse than ours. The ones he picked on weren't the best films, but were ones that I at least enjoyed. Think my buddy is in some deep denial.
He promised he'd have the "director's cut" finished soon. Just watched it today. A lot better, particularly with the audio and use of both cameras. However, being the first person to see it, my friend was disappointed by my laughter at the fight scene between myself and our friend Rina, complete with very cheesy lightning effects. He was hoping I'd be impressed and not find it comical. I honestly felt bad. He'd put a lot into this, and he's taking this stuff pretty hard. He really wants to make it big one day and be an actual Hollywood director. He's going to have to face some facts if that's to happen, and get his ego in check.
Next year, if I'm to join him in another project, I have to approve of the story, or I'm out. My friend, for his part, at least admits that he fucked up royally, and has apologized profusely for this whole process. Lesson learned.
In other news, looks like John has a good chance at a new job, and we'll find out if he gets it this week. The schedule for our classes might have to change, since his job would be an afternoon-evening schedule. Hope he gets the job. It fits his background and has good benefits, which can be hard to come by.
My material is really starting to sink in again. One thing about our system is we're pretty "form heavy". At my level as a 3rd Dan, I have nearly 30 forms, and putting the peaces of the puzzle together has been challenging, but fun.
So the program's time might be up in the air, but we continue on, with one regular student so far. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Sunday, June 9, 2013
48 hour film project
We were going to close the program down if we didn't get any students by May 27th, then we had two students that night, that have not come back since.
Our Silent Warrior Martial Arts program is slated to continue on into September, but it's kind of pointless to do without students. We're waiting on setting up a time for John to do the Tai Chi program, but since he's not sure what his future employment status is, at least for the summer, we can't do that yet.
I'm thinking we give this another month at the schedule we have. I'm going to do a little more to promote the program, and see where that takes us. Kids program still a possibility.
In other news, yesterday I took part in this year's 48 Hour Film project with our team in Berlin. We'd been tossing around ideas we could use based on what genre we pick out of the hat for the 7 minutes of less film. We ended up getting "Comic Book" movie. Our director had his mind set on a "Sin City" type concept with a plot that was more like the "The Crow", where our friend Rina plays an IT specialist that's just randomly killed, brought back from the dead from some entity, and goes on to kill all the thugs. This led to some frustrating arguments Friday evening while coming up a with a script. First off, this will make the third movie he's made with our friend Rina pretty much just killing everybody. Also, he wanted it to be serious and not "goofy".
I was hoping to have fun with the comic book concept. When some of us protested our director's idea, including Rina, he pouted; then continued to ignore any other ideas thrown at him for another concept/script to the "comic book" genre we had to do. What pissed me off the most was that this wannabe "Crow" film was never brought up before in all the conversations we'd had over the past year, and this was also the first I've heard not wanting to do anything funny.
The next day we filmed, me as one of the big bad guys. I made up the choreography for the short fight scenes. To Rina's credit, she took direction on this stuff well for someone not trained in martial arts beyond some kickboxing classes. Also, she's a tiny 4'9 athletic blond, and compared to my stocky 5'10, 260 lbs frame, we had to try and make it look vaguely realistic for her to defend herself against me.
We were supposed to have a big fight at the end, and Rina and I came up with a pretty cool brawling fight scene. Unfortunately, due to time and our director's stubbornness, we had to cut our fight scene short and with a pretty pathetic ending to it.
So I got to look all big and bad in a short film, while claiming credit as Fight Coordinator. This wasn't nearly as much fun as last year though, which is a shame. While I'm a big fan of the "The Crow", I really think we made a lackluster and unoriginal movie. Unless the special effects they add in look really really good, I think we'll end up just being seen as another unoriginal movie in the competition.
Worst part is, I'm really not sure if I want to be involved in any of my friends film projects again. This was supposed to be a collaborative effort, not something to placate his ego.
Don't mind me folks, just a little frustrated at the moment. To not leave this blog on a sour note: I'm still thoroughly happy right now training again with John, work is going well and I've got a super awesome woman in my life.
Our Silent Warrior Martial Arts program is slated to continue on into September, but it's kind of pointless to do without students. We're waiting on setting up a time for John to do the Tai Chi program, but since he's not sure what his future employment status is, at least for the summer, we can't do that yet.
I'm thinking we give this another month at the schedule we have. I'm going to do a little more to promote the program, and see where that takes us. Kids program still a possibility.
In other news, yesterday I took part in this year's 48 Hour Film project with our team in Berlin. We'd been tossing around ideas we could use based on what genre we pick out of the hat for the 7 minutes of less film. We ended up getting "Comic Book" movie. Our director had his mind set on a "Sin City" type concept with a plot that was more like the "The Crow", where our friend Rina plays an IT specialist that's just randomly killed, brought back from the dead from some entity, and goes on to kill all the thugs. This led to some frustrating arguments Friday evening while coming up a with a script. First off, this will make the third movie he's made with our friend Rina pretty much just killing everybody. Also, he wanted it to be serious and not "goofy".
I was hoping to have fun with the comic book concept. When some of us protested our director's idea, including Rina, he pouted; then continued to ignore any other ideas thrown at him for another concept/script to the "comic book" genre we had to do. What pissed me off the most was that this wannabe "Crow" film was never brought up before in all the conversations we'd had over the past year, and this was also the first I've heard not wanting to do anything funny.
The next day we filmed, me as one of the big bad guys. I made up the choreography for the short fight scenes. To Rina's credit, she took direction on this stuff well for someone not trained in martial arts beyond some kickboxing classes. Also, she's a tiny 4'9 athletic blond, and compared to my stocky 5'10, 260 lbs frame, we had to try and make it look vaguely realistic for her to defend herself against me.
We were supposed to have a big fight at the end, and Rina and I came up with a pretty cool brawling fight scene. Unfortunately, due to time and our director's stubbornness, we had to cut our fight scene short and with a pretty pathetic ending to it.
So I got to look all big and bad in a short film, while claiming credit as Fight Coordinator. This wasn't nearly as much fun as last year though, which is a shame. While I'm a big fan of the "The Crow", I really think we made a lackluster and unoriginal movie. Unless the special effects they add in look really really good, I think we'll end up just being seen as another unoriginal movie in the competition.
Worst part is, I'm really not sure if I want to be involved in any of my friends film projects again. This was supposed to be a collaborative effort, not something to placate his ego.
Don't mind me folks, just a little frustrated at the moment. To not leave this blog on a sour note: I'm still thoroughly happy right now training again with John, work is going well and I've got a super awesome woman in my life.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Onward
By the way, had a great time in Cabo San Lucas at my cousin's wedding. Enjoyed spending time with my family and my cousin's friends. Good times had by all. And there were no sober nights... none... and I've finally recovered :)
So we have a couple new students, on what would have been the last day of class. One of them a former student, another a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu that works at our new federal prison. Both open minded and looking forward to training with us.
So we're going to keep going with the class, and hopefully more will join us. John is also going to teach a separate Tai Chi class, like he's done in the past. Took some convincing, but I think there's a better market for it at WREN, that could bring in more adults to the Ninpo Chuan Fa program.
Last night, an old buddy of mine and his wife inquired about me teaching their 5 year old son. I told them I'd get back to them. An old close friend asking is the straw that's breaking this camel's back. I'm going to talk to John about us starting a kids program, possibly starting next month or in September. I've gotten nearly a dozen requests from parents looking to enroll their kids in our program, and all of them not very excited about enrolling their kids in the other martial arts school in town. I don't know exactly how, but they're really not generating a good reputation for themselves.
I'm going to talk to John about heading up the class on my own, about an hour and a half prior to our adult program on Mondays and Wednesdays, with him assisting with testing and dropping in to show his presence occasionally.
With all that said, wishing good vibes to all of you out there in the world.
Peace and Balance
Sensei Adam Cloutier
So we have a couple new students, on what would have been the last day of class. One of them a former student, another a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu that works at our new federal prison. Both open minded and looking forward to training with us.
So we're going to keep going with the class, and hopefully more will join us. John is also going to teach a separate Tai Chi class, like he's done in the past. Took some convincing, but I think there's a better market for it at WREN, that could bring in more adults to the Ninpo Chuan Fa program.
Last night, an old buddy of mine and his wife inquired about me teaching their 5 year old son. I told them I'd get back to them. An old close friend asking is the straw that's breaking this camel's back. I'm going to talk to John about us starting a kids program, possibly starting next month or in September. I've gotten nearly a dozen requests from parents looking to enroll their kids in our program, and all of them not very excited about enrolling their kids in the other martial arts school in town. I don't know exactly how, but they're really not generating a good reputation for themselves.
I'm going to talk to John about heading up the class on my own, about an hour and a half prior to our adult program on Mondays and Wednesdays, with him assisting with testing and dropping in to show his presence occasionally.
With all that said, wishing good vibes to all of you out there in the world.
Peace and Balance
Sensei Adam Cloutier
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Changes
We haven't had any new students. Tim is training with us regularly, and his grown up son joined in a on a class this past week too. The training is good, and fun! But if we're not getting any students then we can't really have a program.
John and I have decided that if there are no students by the end of the month, then we're going to suspend the program for now, and John will switch to teaching Tai Chi, in the meantime we all still meet to train together, while John and I advertise taking on students for private lessons.
I think there's a much better market for Tai Chi classes (which John has taught in the past), particularly with the WREN crowd. I can understand how hard it can be for someone to devote years to trying to learn a martial art and obtain a black belt. Unfortunately, some "McDojos" and the diluting due to the increase and overcommercialization of MMA have taken away from some of the core principles of the studying the martial arts, particularly improving one's own character.
We might try again in the fall with a regular class program. Who knows. Most importantly, we're training again.
Tommorrow I'm flying out to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a cousin's wedding. I'll see my parents along with my brother and his girlfriend, some aunts and uncles. Should be fun. My girlfriend won't be going, since the plans were made before we started dating last year, and she's busy with a new job.
Looking forward to the vacation. Work has been good, but you need a break every once in a while.
Maybe I'll be enjoying a margarita on the beach when I write my next post...
John and I have decided that if there are no students by the end of the month, then we're going to suspend the program for now, and John will switch to teaching Tai Chi, in the meantime we all still meet to train together, while John and I advertise taking on students for private lessons.
I think there's a much better market for Tai Chi classes (which John has taught in the past), particularly with the WREN crowd. I can understand how hard it can be for someone to devote years to trying to learn a martial art and obtain a black belt. Unfortunately, some "McDojos" and the diluting due to the increase and overcommercialization of MMA have taken away from some of the core principles of the studying the martial arts, particularly improving one's own character.
We might try again in the fall with a regular class program. Who knows. Most importantly, we're training again.
Tommorrow I'm flying out to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico for a cousin's wedding. I'll see my parents along with my brother and his girlfriend, some aunts and uncles. Should be fun. My girlfriend won't be going, since the plans were made before we started dating last year, and she's busy with a new job.
Looking forward to the vacation. Work has been good, but you need a break every once in a while.
Maybe I'll be enjoying a margarita on the beach when I write my next post...
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Mother's Day
And a Happy Mother's Day to all the good mom's out there, particularly my own.
My brother and I consider ourselves very lucky for our mom and dad growing up. Our mom in particular seemed to meet almost an idealized version of what a mom should be: loving, smart, industrious, good cook, hard working in her career as a nurse and at home, and devoted to mine and my brother's endeavors.
I don't get to see either of my parents much since they moved to Arizona a few years back. My old man retired as a firefighter, and was more than happy to get away from our cold winters up here. My mom's job as RN, sometimes travelling, paved the way for their exploration for somewhere much warmer to live year round. They tried a few different places, but both fell in love with southern Arizona. They did some sacrificing for that with time apart while my mother did some travelling as an RN. My old man was able to switch some shifts around to take weeks off at a time to fly out to see her before he retired.
First they had a big camper they'd use to stay at various campgrounds. Then they found a retirement community just north of Phoenix, and bought a house. I haven't been to their new house in a couple years, but maybe next year I'll make the trip.
I'll see my parents next week in old Mexico. My younger brother, his girlfriend, my parents and some aunts and uncles will be out there for my cousin's wedding. Unless my folks visit NH later this year, it'll probably be the only time I see them. At least we enjoy the short time we have together.
My brother and I consider ourselves very lucky for our mom and dad growing up. Our mom in particular seemed to meet almost an idealized version of what a mom should be: loving, smart, industrious, good cook, hard working in her career as a nurse and at home, and devoted to mine and my brother's endeavors.
I don't get to see either of my parents much since they moved to Arizona a few years back. My old man retired as a firefighter, and was more than happy to get away from our cold winters up here. My mom's job as RN, sometimes travelling, paved the way for their exploration for somewhere much warmer to live year round. They tried a few different places, but both fell in love with southern Arizona. They did some sacrificing for that with time apart while my mother did some travelling as an RN. My old man was able to switch some shifts around to take weeks off at a time to fly out to see her before he retired.
First they had a big camper they'd use to stay at various campgrounds. Then they found a retirement community just north of Phoenix, and bought a house. I haven't been to their new house in a couple years, but maybe next year I'll make the trip.
I'll see my parents next week in old Mexico. My younger brother, his girlfriend, my parents and some aunts and uncles will be out there for my cousin's wedding. Unless my folks visit NH later this year, it'll probably be the only time I see them. At least we enjoy the short time we have together.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Well then...
So we had our open house.
One person came. This one person was a lady that used to train at the school way back when. John does not want her there as a student due to some past issues.
I was hoping we'd be able to get the interest of at least a few people, optimally half a dozen.
No one else came. Disappointing to say the least. That one lady hung out for a while, during which John and I practiced some self defense strategies. A decent training at least.
We're going to start regular classes next Monday and Wednesday. If we don't get any regular students by the end of the month, then we're pretty much done. John has told me he'd like to continue training with me if this program doesn't work out, so I think we'll still do that at least. Another possibility to start up again might be checking with the local community college to do a program in the fall if our program doesn't do well; but that's just a random thought.
Once again, I'd be happy with 3 students, optimally 6. I'm skeptical now whether this will work. Unfortunately I think we've more or less just angered a lot of people with the age limit of 14 and up for the class. I've had some friends particularly that have expressed their disappointment in that decision. If we were opening up an actual dojo again, there's would definitely be a kids program, but that would be down the road if all worked out.
In some ways I should have expected the poor turnout. The Aikido program in Conway only has a few of us for students. Only so much you can expect in small communities for these types of programs I guess.
One person came. This one person was a lady that used to train at the school way back when. John does not want her there as a student due to some past issues.
I was hoping we'd be able to get the interest of at least a few people, optimally half a dozen.
No one else came. Disappointing to say the least. That one lady hung out for a while, during which John and I practiced some self defense strategies. A decent training at least.
We're going to start regular classes next Monday and Wednesday. If we don't get any regular students by the end of the month, then we're pretty much done. John has told me he'd like to continue training with me if this program doesn't work out, so I think we'll still do that at least. Another possibility to start up again might be checking with the local community college to do a program in the fall if our program doesn't do well; but that's just a random thought.
Once again, I'd be happy with 3 students, optimally 6. I'm skeptical now whether this will work. Unfortunately I think we've more or less just angered a lot of people with the age limit of 14 and up for the class. I've had some friends particularly that have expressed their disappointment in that decision. If we were opening up an actual dojo again, there's would definitely be a kids program, but that would be down the road if all worked out.
In some ways I should have expected the poor turnout. The Aikido program in Conway only has a few of us for students. Only so much you can expect in small communities for these types of programs I guess.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Coming soon
Just a couple more days until our open house for Silent Warrior Martial Arts. We're going to have our classes on Monday and Wednesday evenings 6-730pm. John and I have been working out, meeting twice a week to get me back up to speed, and the training has been going well. The last time we trained, John and I had a frank discussion about what we can expect. If all goes well, good. If the program itself bombs, John still wants to train with me. And I'd be happy with that too. It's been pretty awesome got get back into Ninpo Chuan Fa again after nearly 8 years.
At best, we have a few people interested. That's fine to start out, and word of the program can build from there. Most people that have trained with John have been impressed with his style and way of teaching. I'm hoping for 3-6 regular students to start. As it is, Jack's Aikido program in Conway has only three of us regularly, and that's after being available for 14 months.
John ultimately wants to open up the old school again. He's become unhappy with the career he's been working in since he closed the school, and is in the process of looking for a new career; daunting for anyone in their 50's. So all the while looking for a new full time job for him, we'll run this program and look for other spaces that could potentially be used as a new permanent dojo if our program is able to generate enough interest.
One issue I keep running into is our demographic for interest. We've only heard of a few adults interested in taking the program I've also had quite a few people ask me about a kids program for our martial art; quite a bit more actually. It's kind of tough for me to explain to parents that our program is just starting up, and teaching kids is a whole different approach than adults. Best I can tell them is that it's an option we may visit next year depending on how well our adult program goes. I hate having to tell people this, considering how good martial arts were for me as a kid.
I asked one friend who wanted to enroll her kids, "What about the other school in town?"
The other school in town is a Kenpo dojo that opened up a couple years after Silent Warrior closed its doors. I've heard very mixed reviews of this dojo. My friend simply said "Have you ever actually been there?" She suggested I take a friend's kid there and try to enroll them to see how the school is run. She was not impressed. And no, I'm not going to take a friend's kid to pretend enroll :)
Kind of a shame to hear that some people aren't happy with that school. However, I'm cautious of people's criticisms of a school I've never trained in. I thought of going to that particular dojo a few years back, but they have a very "McDojo" type of name for the school which is a big turnoff for me, plus the stuff I heard from people that trained there saying that they didn't learn much, and that is was more of a wannabe MMA place.
I'd like to have a kids program, but not right now. Besides, the thing I have to keep telling people is that John and I both work full time. Well, in a couple days we'll see how our part time endeavor will start...
At best, we have a few people interested. That's fine to start out, and word of the program can build from there. Most people that have trained with John have been impressed with his style and way of teaching. I'm hoping for 3-6 regular students to start. As it is, Jack's Aikido program in Conway has only three of us regularly, and that's after being available for 14 months.
John ultimately wants to open up the old school again. He's become unhappy with the career he's been working in since he closed the school, and is in the process of looking for a new career; daunting for anyone in their 50's. So all the while looking for a new full time job for him, we'll run this program and look for other spaces that could potentially be used as a new permanent dojo if our program is able to generate enough interest.
One issue I keep running into is our demographic for interest. We've only heard of a few adults interested in taking the program I've also had quite a few people ask me about a kids program for our martial art; quite a bit more actually. It's kind of tough for me to explain to parents that our program is just starting up, and teaching kids is a whole different approach than adults. Best I can tell them is that it's an option we may visit next year depending on how well our adult program goes. I hate having to tell people this, considering how good martial arts were for me as a kid.
I asked one friend who wanted to enroll her kids, "What about the other school in town?"
The other school in town is a Kenpo dojo that opened up a couple years after Silent Warrior closed its doors. I've heard very mixed reviews of this dojo. My friend simply said "Have you ever actually been there?" She suggested I take a friend's kid there and try to enroll them to see how the school is run. She was not impressed. And no, I'm not going to take a friend's kid to pretend enroll :)
Kind of a shame to hear that some people aren't happy with that school. However, I'm cautious of people's criticisms of a school I've never trained in. I thought of going to that particular dojo a few years back, but they have a very "McDojo" type of name for the school which is a big turnoff for me, plus the stuff I heard from people that trained there saying that they didn't learn much, and that is was more of a wannabe MMA place.
I'd like to have a kids program, but not right now. Besides, the thing I have to keep telling people is that John and I both work full time. Well, in a couple days we'll see how our part time endeavor will start...
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