Twenty-four of us trained in a range of Kihon grading exercises and Sensei Manning offered me detailed feedback which I have absorbed. His comments included:

Faster snap back and punch combinations. He offered the analogy of a boxer’s rapid punches combinations designed to overwhelm an opponent.

Not to take a second step in the basics. A mistake I made twice because I was trying too hard.

Ensure the relevant punches in the 1st dan combinations are Jodan, as appropriate. Mine were drifting down to Chudan.

Otherwise, my 1st dan combination was ‘strong and solid, which can sometimes result in small errors.’

Ensure I snap back mae geri, rather than let the foot fall to the floor during katas.

Kata went well enough until I opted for Heian Nidan and again I tried too hard and didn’t relax my shoulders and stay properly upright. Steve Chittim very thoughtfully pointed this out mid-flow and I was able to correct.

I gave 100%, I’m proud to say, with limbs and muscles holding up well and a complete absence of sciatic pain.
Which brings me to Milly’s physiotherapy exercises:

Milly demonstrates therapy exercise number 2 for curing sciatica. This should be performed only under close supervision.

Hold position for 2 minutes and repeat three times daily.

Back to the day job. I have set aside the heady glamour of professional rugby and interviews with international players for the rigours of training in karate at Keyworth Dojo.

Milly is visiting and before anything else, we shall go through my physiotherapy routines, the first of which she demonstrates above. Of course, we shall wear our Columbia University matching sweats and sport our matching hair styles. Milly’s a team player to her fingertips.

The second exercise is the harder of the two, unless you’re six months old.

Reblogged from Richard Buller's Karate Blog:

I’ve woken up freezing at this ungodly hour, to discover that my Nike sports vest’s quick-wicking cooling qualities work round the clock. I’m shivering but bone dry. I resist the temptation to go for a run and turn to my computer’s warmth until I get drowsy again. Sometimes, I feel sorry for my subscribers who in these circumstances will hear a faint ping as their personal blog-copy arrives in the dead of night. I’m training-lite today. The hand hurts but it’s mending well.

Important notice: I have a new website dedicated to reporting Nottingham Rugby in the first instance and rugby generally as the site and my skills develop.

As you all know, yesterday Mary and I entertained the multi-talented Filipo Levi of Nottingham Rugby at our beautiful West Bridgford home. It soon became clear that we three shared a passion for cookery, all triggered by Mary’s innocent question, “Do you get hungry after training, Filipo? Richard’s always ravenous after training or a big fight.”

Filipo describes last night's evening menu for fellow team mates Sean Romans and Matt Holloway: Sapasui and Talo. Where did he buy the ingredients? From the Market on the 1st Floor of the Victoria Centre in Nottingham

I am inexperienced in the conventions of professional sport and need guidance on where the lines are drawn. Sometimes, I don’t even see the lines.

I am an enthusiast, completely independent and write purely for fun.

Despite these characteristics, Nottingham new signing, Samoan lock Filipo Levi accepted an invitation to visit Mary and myself at our beautiful West Bridgford home today for interview and YouTube filming.

Yet again I have discovered a tenuous link with karate, which I shall exploit for all it’s worth. Filipo speaks Japanese and we chatted informally in Japanese and the language of karate for some of our time together.

He spent two seasons in Japan and part of the contract involved 45 classes in spoken Japanese with one-on-one tuition for 55 minutes a session. Additionally, there was some martial art fitness training thrown in. Namely, wrestling versus rugby. Unfortunately for Filipo and for me recently as my readers know, upper body strength does not always equate with the shorter opponent’s leg sweeps. So, a 5’8″ wrestler overcame the 6’5″ rugby player.

What else did we talk about?

Our families, Filipo’s Fitness Trainer wife Natalee, Samoan Cuisine (Filipo is an excellent cook and this will be subject of a future Power Food for Rugby Players Blog), a fractured eye socket which resulted in missing the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Filipo’s brother Ronnie and his wife Pin (an excellent cook of Thai Cuisine), physiotherapy and Sensei Rob Manning’s holistic view of sport which has inspired me to take a broader view.

And finally, for now, we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses. From now on I shall be shown where the lines are drawn and helped to adjust to this new world of professional sport and it’s conventions.

For this, Filipo, I am in your debt. Thank you.

Part way through our ‘no blame’ review the shadows in the room lengthened and the lights dimmed.

“The sun’s gone behind the clouds. Nice while it lasted though.”

Mary looked up.
“I don’t think so. The room’s full of giants. I think I recognise one or two of them, but you’re going nowhere ’till we’ve finished this analysis.”

I couldn’t help myself and listened in on Chairman Nathan Jones (scrum half) conducting media interviews with his peers: he demonstrated professionalism, adept management, lightness of touch, humour and excellent listening skills. His interviewees responded respectfully, knowledgeably and with enthusiasm. That’s quite a test of informal leadership and teamwork in a semi public environment and a credit to Nottingham Rugby. Nathan should consider a career in Media and Marketing one day.

I joined Olivia Stephens, Nathan Jones (scrum half), Matt Holloway (hooker, Sean Romans (scrum half and fellow martial arts student) and Filipo Levi (2nd row) for an encouraging, amicable and absorbing discussion on my role as CEO of Richard Buller Reports sport internationally and how we might work together. They were enthusiastic and made me feel a part of their team. After the meeting, all took the opportunity to introduce themselves to Mary and welcome her on board.

How did the players feel about one-on-one at-home interviews with the Bullers as part of a startling new initiative?

They all seemed to love the idea, with one proviso submitted by the Chairman under ‘Any Other Business’:

“Decent biscuits with the tea and definitely no ginger ones.”

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Nathan Jones left with Matt Holloway

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Olivia Stephens: alert, well-informed and corporate

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Sean Romans. In another life Sean studied Tae Kwondo and expressed an informed interest in karate

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A reflective Filipo Levi (right) with whom I struck up an instant rapport

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Good in that I was able to observe and photograph our six black belts training in advance kata with Sensei Rob Manning – Niju Shiho.

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Good that I stretched out and practiced Tekki Shodan and Bassai Dai in the open spaces of the Dojo.

Not so good that my mind went blank when I heard the familiar Japanese words ‘Sanbon Tsuki’ and made a mess of an otherwise competent 1st Dan Kihon.

Not so good in the changing rooms when I heard only partially and participated in a conversation between Kerry Lee, Alex Townsend and Sensei Manning about ammonia/sweat/quick wash gi techniques and then asked a question which suggested I wasn’t listening or was deaf. Sorry chaps.

Good in that at 10.10am this morning I truly visit the ENT Department at QMC (more beloved acronyms – see last blog) to have my blocked ears syringed. Honest Gov!

As my involvement with international sports reporting has developed, I have discovered the power of the acronym. The right combination of letters can propel you to global recognition. KUGB for example could not be more eye-catching. Similarly, JKA has immediacy, power and inherent brand recognition.

Ben Elton once wrote about the power of branding to elevate and cast down
in his wonderfully funny book, Gridlock (available on Amazon for £6.07 inc. p and p). His example? The introduction of a brand new car model, named by a continental focus group the “Global Crappie.” Would you have bought it? VW may have done something very similar with the launch of the Bora.

But I digress. I confess that the initials KG after my name (Karate Grandpa) have done me no harm. I am often surprised at the number of free upgrades to first class I am given and the eagerness of celebrities to invite me into their homes.

Now, where is all this going?

I shall tell you. With the complete loss of severe pain that has dogged me for a year until Michael Clark’s physiotherapy yesterday, I have had an exhilarating mood swing and rediscovered my sense of humour. Occasionally in the last 48 hours, I’m told, I have started to giggle uncontrollably.

Tonight I train at Holme Pierrepont.

My mission, should I choose to accept it?

Feature individuals in such a way as to raise their profiles yet further.

Feature Meadow Lane, Nottingham Rugby’s home ground. Not everyone knows where it is. I suppose it’s easy for me, as soon as the floodlights come on I can turn off all the lights in my flat and still read the paper, as well as bask in their warmth. It’s saving me a fortune in utility bills.

At last, I have found my line of approach.
It only remains to convince Glenn Delaney:

I have clearly made some sort of first impression on Director of Rugby Glenn Delaney ...

Here’s an excerpt from their website:

Nottingham Rugby announces that the match on Sunday 5th February marks the start of our “Push for the Premiership” and as a special promotion the club is making it a special family day out and are offering Adult tickets for just £5 and Kids for a £1.
We have a host of World Cup stars and home grown players playing against last year’s premiership side Leeds Carnegie. This is our penultimate home game at Meadow Lane before the premiership playoffs start. Our aim is to get as many people as possible to the game to enjoy a fantastic day out. We really want to get the people of Nottingham behind its professional rugby team and help us try to get back into the top league in the country. We want to be in the premiership, to bring teams like Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints to play at Meadow Lane.
The top 8 teams qualify for the playoffs which start on the 9th March. There are two pools of 4 teams in which each side plays 6 group games. The winner and runner up of each pool progress through to the semi-finals. The overall winner qualifies for promotion to the premiership.