leaving Yakutsk...

November 21, 2010 2:35 pm Yakutsk time

Well, I had mixed feelings when I heard about the fight results back home. I am very happy that Mike achieved his second MMA victory and disappointed to hear that Jessee suffered a loss. These things happen.

Other than that, it has been a great birthday weekend for me.
On Friday, Olga, Polina, and I were picked up and taken to a city on the outskirts of Yakutsk. Once there, we met up with other international martial arts instructors here for the International Martial Arts Festival.
We were taken to the city of Pokrovsk, about an hour outside of Yakutsk.

Upon arriving, we were taken to the Lena River. The Lena is the 10th largest river in the world and is the 2nd largest in Russia. It flows into the Arctic Ocean. I have visited the Lena every other time I have been to Yakutsk, however, this was my first time in the winter.

The river was frozen and we were taken there to go ice fishing. We walked out onto the river. The host said that the ice we were walking on was only about 20 centimeters thick and that the river was about 5 meters deep beneath us.

We really didn’t do much as far as fishing goes. We just watched the process as the fisherman checked his lines at the 3 holes he had in the ice. The fish we caught were a type of catfish native to the area.

After that, we toured the city and were the honored guests at the grand opening of a martial arts school. We took part in the ceremony which had all of us drink horse milk from a traditional Yakut cup while an old Yakut shaman sang a song.

The students of the school did an exhibition of their styles and culture. It was very interesting. The kids that did the judo demo were especially outstanding.

We were also guests of honor at a crafts exhibit where we were introduced to local artists, including blacksmiths that make traditional Yakut edged weaponry. Like the Japanese Samurai swords, the Yakut swords are folded and hammered steel. The Japanese and Yakuts were the only ones of that era that made blades in that particular shape.

From there, we went to a local school and were given the honor of handing awards to winners of a children’s art contest. Going along with the theme of the martial arts festival, the kids were asked to draw something to do with martial arts. The artwork was impressive in all age groups.

We finished the day by going to the VIP room at the local restaurant for dinner and toasts. As is tradition here, we sat at a long table and each of us was introduced to the group. The introduction includes who we are, what our martial arts background is, and how we are involved in the event.
After the introduction, you give say a brief toast. After everyone at the table has been introduced, dinner is over and vodka bottles are empty.

On Saturday, the international instructors attended a press conference. We were asked questions mostly pertaining to the Festival.

Later, we went to the Festival and watched Muay Thai, San da, K-1, and MMA matches. There were also several demonstrations performed by the local martial arts schools in between watching fights.

I was very impressed with the skills of the Yakut fighters. Their kickboxing program has really become formidable. The Muay Thai tournament was between Mongolia and Yakutsk. It ended with 3-1 in favor of Yakutsk.

On Sunday, I attended the International Martial Arts Forum. While there, I did a short speech about the application of modern science to martial arts. The Mongolian instructor, Thailand instructor, and I were inducted into the International Martial Arts Federation.

That evening, we attended the Festival again. There were more Muay Thai matches. The final match of the night was for the Asian championship title. It was Yakutsk vs Thailand. The fighters got off to a slow start, but made it exciting later with dynamic sweeps and lightning fast combinations.

After the fights, we went to the awards banquet and received awards for participating in the Festival.

I made some valuable contacts including the Minister of Sports for Republic of Sakha, Eastern Russian President of Combat Sambo Federation, President of the Mongolian Kickboxing Federation, President of the Russian Kickboxing Federation, President of Eastern Russian Wushu Federation, Secretary of Federation of Wushu and Sanda from Laonihn, China.

I was asked to bring a team of MMA fighters to next year’s Festival.

November 25, 2010 1:42 pm Yakutsk time

Last night I visited the Budo Center and did a seminar for Sambo, Judo, Aikido, and Jujitsu students. It was a nice school with very attentive students. The instructor, Sergy was my uke for the demonstrations. He will be my uke again at Genshinkan this Friday when I go there for another seminar.

While there, I was interviewed by another local sports newspaper. The reporter was also interested in my Scottish heritage. It seems he is a big fan of the movie “Highlander” with Christopher Lambert. I must admit, it is one of my favorites as well.

November 29, 2010 2:46 am

Well, we are flying from Yakutsk to Moscow later this morning. So much has been happening in the last several days that is worthy of writing about, yet, I haven’t had time to write. Anyway, I have a lot of big news for the dojo when we get home.

Leaving Yakutsk is always hard for Olga. She doesn’t get to see her family very often and gets to see her homeland even less. This is the first time she has been home in the winter since 2001.

Leaving will be especially difficult for little Malcolm. He has had a wonderful time here with his family. He adores his little 4 month old cousin Olga. He clowns around for her to make her smile and laugh. When someone brings her into the room, he stops whatever he is doing to go see her.

Also, every day, he makes it a point to spend time with his 98 year old great-great grandmother. He does this totally on his own, just because he loves her.

Living in the apartment with all these family members has kept him entertained (or entertaining) constantly. He will miss that for sure.

Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that while I am looking forward to coming home to the states, leaving Yakutsk isn’t easy for any of us. We are looking forward to seeing our family and friends back in Oregon, but we will be leaving others behind here in Russia.

See you soon.