Thunderdome

I spent the weekend in Mildura in Victoria's northwest at the 8th annual Victoria JKA Gasshuku. I left Melbourne a tad late in the day, which forced me to drive the 7+ hours across Victoria on my own. Driving across what is almost entirely a barren landscape (unless you count drought-stricken wheat crops as dynamic features), I felt a bit like Mad Max on my way to the Thunderdome, but without the bad ass car, leather, guns or any other semblence of coolness.

My late arrival meant I missed out on the Friday evening training, so my weekend kicked off with the 6am training on Saturday, which was quite enjoyable - calm and peaceful, the Murray River flowing past in the background, birds and the occassional "bah" of sheep in the distance. As the sun rose higher in the sky, however, conditions became a bit more challenging, with temperatures reaching about 36C by the afternoon. Training continued through most of Sunday, but with a later start and an earlier finish.

Apart from muscle soreness, I walked away with a new found appreciation for basai dai, a renewed frustration with mae geri, and some useful tips on judging.