Samurai Class

Three classmates in my samurai class were recently cast in a short film, which I think is pretty cool, not to mention amusing, especially since these three are some of the least experienced in the class. I should point out that it's a student film and won't pay anything, but it will give them something to show on their actor's reel.

Today, I trained mostly with one of the veterans in the class. She hadn't been there in a while, so she was a bit rusty. I worked on the "Vegas" routine with her and, damn, it's a different ballgame doing that routine with a girl. I used to train in JKD and my sifu often said Bruce Lee preferred training with his wife on certain exercises because she was quicker than most of his male students.

What that means is that men tend to initiate physical movements with their muscles, whereas women use their nerve reflexes when they do things like hitting or swinging a sword. So this girl and I perform a series of three quick swings where we both connect blades, just above our heads. That girl came so fast with her first swing, I hardly had time to even think before the next swing came, and then the last one. I nearly shit my pants on that last one.

I thought about it all through the rest of the class — that this girl was way faster than Tohoru, my male training partner. Anyway, it was way more thrilling, working out with her.

After the class, I headed to Nijiya Market on Sawtelle. I have a sushi party on Sunday night, just after an afternoon BBQ, so I wanted to pick up some seaweed salad, a head of cabbage, and a bottle of Otokoyama, my favorite sake. I haven't done one of these sushi parties in a while, mostly because I had a falling out with the fisherman who's also an old photographer friend of mine. It's complicated, but basically this dude cancelled out on a photo shoot with me so he could take care of another client.

I have my principles, so I boycotted the dude for the last 2 years. Looks like we're cool now. It's probably because I invited him to the Science of Sake event in April. That was a great event, fyi, and if you should hear about it next year, around this time, get your tickets early because it sells out fast. Anyway, he must've appreciated me getting the ticket, so it seems I'm the one who initiated all this.

I'll be doing much of the cutting duties at the sushi party as I happen to be pretty handy with a sashimi knife.

I also got an invite for a BBQ early Sunday afternoon at a DJ's house in Van Nuys. I met this dude when me and some friends went to a small party at a home owned by one of Bob Marley's kids. It was a lovely home with a kick-ass DJ setup. One of the DJs was from the Groove Junkies, another was Scott K, who is nationally known, and this guy with the BBQ tomorrow is named David Bullock.

They spin mostly house music, which I'm not normally a big fan of. But on that night, Scott K whipped up something my ears could not believe. It was insane, and that's all I can describe about it. He's got a free event called "dig x therapy" next Wednesday, the 30th of May, at a place called Tokio. If you're interested, check out his myspace page.

Unfortunately, I'll probably skip the DJ BBQ and go to a quieter BBQ a little closer to home. It'll probably be another Asian-American celebrity event, but on a much smaller and less pretentious scale. I'm bringing potato salad and a case of Stellas. I'll let you know how it goes.