What Do You Want To Do B4 You Die?

What do you want to do before you die? Some of you guys might be familiar with the TV series The Buried Life. These four guys who been friends for a long time made a list with 100 things they want to do before they die. In their show they try to achieve one of their goals from their list and they also help a random person on the street to accomplish what they want to do before they die. They travel in their purple bus around countries and states. They have one question, four guys, and 100 things to do before you die.
On my number one list I want to do before I die is to stay at a ski resort and snowboard for at least one month or the whole winter season with my sister. She would love to do this with me. It would be fun to do this in the future only if we had a lot of money. I would enjoy that moment of my life to stay there for that long at a ski resort. Even though I have gone a few times and now at least once a year. It would be a good work out for our legs snowboarding everyday and even try snowboarding at night to make it more intense. Hopefully I don't hurt especially breaking any of my bones in the cold which I have never broken any before.
My sister said you could rent a cabin that looks like a regular house for about four days that cost around 450 dollars. Last time she had done it for 250 dollars staying for two or three days. She and her friends got a good deal because one of her friend’s dads owns the house. It would be awesome to rent one of those cabins and there is a maid to clean up when you’re gone. I have a lot of time to practice snowboarding and try to learn how to snowboard on my toes. We could go explore around the area and play in the soft snow that would be nice. I would try to go down one of the advance trail to see how it is like. I am only an intermediate. I want to get better at snowboarding and practicing getting off the lift ski because I start to lose balance. Only a few times I get off without falling. I need to work on my steering and when I turn I slow down a lot, work on my speed, and try some tricks starting off with a jump.
In the snow I'd like to ride on a snow mobile through the forest with my family. I think it is about 90 dollars to rent a snow mobile for the whole day, that's not bad. If the buried life guys came up to me and ask what do I want to do before I die I would tell them about my snowboarding trip for a month or more. I wonder if they would actually do it for me and in their show when they ask someone they join them. Will they join me? That is what I want to do before I die.

Maximum Ride part 2

So far in the second part of the book, Max had left Ella's house and found out she had a chip in her body. She went to go meet up with Fang and Nudge in Arizona. By the time she arrive there the Gasman and Iggy was with Fang and Nudge. The Gasman and Iggy was supposed to stay at the house but the Erasers came. They try to fight them off but they could not defeat them all and they flew over to Fang and Nudge. The five of them went to continue their mission to save Angel at the school where the scientist are keeping her. As they were heading over to Angel, the five of them had to take a break and they stole some guys credit card. Max tried to hack the ATM to gain access for money and she typed in the four digit code. It did not work so Iggy tried to guess the code and he access into the ATM. Max deposit $200.
They all went to the forest to spend the night. They woke up and headed to the school to save Angel. When they got to the school they busted out Angel and flew high up into the sky so the Erasers can not track them down. They went to the hill side to rest and Angel looking a mess. Angel knew some information about the Institute that she over heard the scientist talking. There was information files about them that was located somewhere in New York. They wanted to know where this Institute was and they flew to New York. When they arrive there they saw a night concert and Nudge wanted to go. New York was a busy city and if an Eraser spots them they could lose them easily. They went to the library to use the computers to find out where the Institute was located. Max could tell that there weren't a lot of people who were disguise as Erasers.

Karate

The World of Martial Arts Karate is my recent book I have read by Jim Ollhoff. A term for all fighting styles is called Martial Arts. There many different fighting styles for Martial Arts and the most popular one is karate. Karate means "empty hand". People who practice karate for a long time over the years are known as karatekas. Karate started about 400 years ago on Okinawa, in the Pacific Ocean of the largest island on Ryukyu chain of islands. The most common styles are shorin-ryu karate, gojo-ryu karate, kenpo karate, and shotokan karate. There is no organization that controls any karate associations. The word that describes karate is power and known for their speed. Karatekas have powerful kicks and punches with their wide stances that help them strike with power. They also practice breaking wooden boards or blocked cements to improve their one-punch knockouts.

The history of karate is hard to know its full story because there many legends about the beginning of karate but few facts. For hundreds of years, karate was to remain a secret because a master taught a few students. They couldn’t practice in public or share any of their techniques they had learned in karate. In the 1800s, the secrecy began to lift at an end, but a lot of the history’s knowledge was lost. In 1904,the secrecy lifted completely, when karate was open to the public schools being taught in Okinawa’s. Legends had sprung up about the lack of knowledge and the origins of karate because sometimes it is difficult to know which legends are right or wrong.

The most often-told legend for karate in Okinawa was the Japanese invading Okinawa in 1609. The legend says that the Japanese forbade anyone who owns a weapon and whoever gets caught was punished. The Okinawans had to learn how to defend themselves with their bare hands and feet. The Okinawan farmers had no weapons; they had to use their farming tools to defend themselves like a seed planter called the sai. The Okinawans already had a primitive martial art called te which means hand. The Okinawan te masters and Chinese kung fu maters combined their skills making a new martial arts called kara-te.

The idea of peace-loving Okinawans learning how to use farming tools has a weapon. The Okinawans were not the first people to invent these kinds of weapons and the Chinese also had been using these types of weapons for hundreds of years. By the late 1800s, karate has become an effective well developed way of fighting styles. During and after the World War II, many U.S. servicemen lived and worked in Okinawan. The servicemen also learned karate while they were there. 1946, in the United States, the first karate school was opened in Phoenix, Arizona, by Robert Trias. By the 1960s, the U.S. karate tournaments became popular even in movies.

All different types of martial arts are being taught all around the world. I never knew karate means empty hand and I wonder what it means. Karate came from the Okinawan te masters and the Chinese kung fu masters who blended their skills together making a new kind of martial arts. I was surprised to the legends about Japanese were forbidden to own any weapons and could not own a sword. They would get punished if they were seen with a weapon. The Okinawans had to defend themselves with karate and back then they must be lucky to learn karate. It was probably difficult to learn all these new different skills for a while but it takes practice to succeed over the years.

It is interesting that there is not an organization for these karate schools and I did not know that any high black belt degree can open their own school or a small class to teach people. I take martial arts and I have notice that my uncle opened his own small class in his garage. All martial arts involve power and good stances. Almost all of the martial arts are similar or have similar techniques to each other.

Maximum Ride

Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment is a great fictional novel book by James Patterson. This book is about six main characters Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, the Gasman, and Angel who were involved in an experiment. The scientist were doing an experiment that turned them into mutants with wings. All six of them escaped from the scientist lab and other mutants called erasers which are half human half wolf went to hunt them down. The erasers ambushed their house and they have taken Angel. The five of the characters are trying to rescue her.

When I started reading this book, it felt intense and I can imagine what's going in the story. In the beginning of the book, the author starts with first person as Max and I liked it when he describes the details where shes going and what's hitting her. I was into the book but when it said,"I jolted upright in bed, gasping, my hand over my heart." (pg8) That line kind of ruined it because I wanted to know what was going to happen but it was a dream. Another part of the book that surprised and worried me was when Max was shot by the person trying to attack Ella. Max went over to Ella's house to get help from her mom who is a vet, Dr. Martinez. When Dr. Martinez was patching up her wound Dr. Martinez saw her wings and started asking some questions. I thought Max was going to get in trouble but good thing Dr. Martinez didn't call the cops or something. She decides to help her out.

You guys know how many sequels there are for this book? Because I would like to read more about Maximum Ride. I am excited to know what will happen in the next two thirds of the book.

Vovinam Tournament 2009

Vovinam is a type of Vietnamese Martial Arts that I have taken for a few years. July 2009, I competed in the 9th World Championship Tournament in San Jose against LA, Oakland, San Jose, 4 people from Hayward including me and I think that's about it. I don't remember. I was competing with a Vietnamese form and a sparing match.

In the morning I went to my Uncle's house and left with his family to the tournament. We were maybe about an hour late because of traffic and the schedule said it starts at 10 o'clock but it was 9 o'clock but we didn't miss any of our performances. We only missed the first part of the partner performance where they have a mini fighting skit (one of the performance here).I like watching those skits but to bad I wasn't there in person to see it and I had to watch it on you tube. We we came it was already break time and I had some food. After, Vicky (teacher assistant) and I practice outside with some attacking combos when I compete.

Break time was over and it's was time for Vietnamese form performances. There were two performances going on at the same time, one side with the older kids and the other with the younger kids. I'm not sure how many forms there are but people were performing their third form and up. I was supposed to perform my second form but I couldn't perform it because it was yesterday. The day before the tournament is a seminar I think, and my teacher said I didn't need to go. On that day was my second form performance and I didn't know. My teacher knows the judge well and he told them if I could perform the next day and the judge was okay with it. He said that Vicky will remind them. She remembered to tell the judge if I get perform but they didn't let me and there was no re-takes.

The sparing match was about to begin. The high ranked teachers (also judges) started to weight everyone who were competing and this match is a free fight tournament. The judges announced the order of the fighters and I was last. The rules were no using knees, elbows, and no kicking below the belt line. I was observing some of the sparing matches and I did not see any people using techniques. Most were just kicking and punching continuously and jumping on each other. I know it's a free fight but they should do some techniques. Later, it was my turn and I was nervous because my opponent looked about a year or two older than me and some people said he was good and really strong. I put on my sparing gear and step into the ring. Round 1 started and I get hit within the first 5 seconds and I started punching him in the face. It looked like I pissed him off and he started to corner me while punching me. I tried to dodge some of them but it was a bad idea because I have some open spots for him to get me and when he cornered me he got me down. The ref stopped the match and brought us to the middle to start again. As he came closer I did a spinning back heel to him and pushed him a few feet back and that gave me a chance to combo him. I came up to him and did a upper cut, double punch, and a front snap kick but he dodged it. He some how cornered me again while he was walking up to me and punching. I started punching got some good hits but I fell on the crowed of people. The ref stopped it again and put us in the middle of the mat. The judges ringed the gong and I end up losing.When the tournament was over everyone lined up and sat down for medals. I heard my name for third place and I was surprised that I got a bronze. I'm not sure not how the judging goes but I think I got more points from other players. I was happy that I got a bronze and I would have probably gotten a silver medal if I done my form.

Vietnamese New Years

On February 14 was Vietnamese/Chinese New Years and also Valentine's Day. When it's Vietnamese/Chinese New Years some people don't mention that it's also Vietnamese New Years they probably think it's only Chinese New Years. This year is the year of the Tiger (rawr). Happy New Years in Vietnamese is Chúc Mừng Năm Mới and you probably know how to say it in Chinese Gung hay fat choy. Vietnamese New Years is my favorite day because I get money.

On New Years Eve my mom,sister, and I went to Church. During church I sat there and listened to all the usual stuff. After mass there was going to be a food and entertainment. We went to get food and find some seats before it gets crowded. There were people performing music and singing. The priest went up and sang while he gave out red envelopes to the younger children. The older kids went up to receive red envelopes, including me. The priest had a lot of red envelopes left and some adults went up to get one. I got four lucky dollars.

It was New Years, we went to San Jose to look around at this Vietnamese festival around eleven o'clock. There wasn't anything good or interesting in there. The place wasn't crowed at all because we were early and people should be arriving at noon. We looked around and all they had was a few people selling music and food. In the middle people would be advertising their stuff. In the back there was a mini carnival and my sister and I went browsed the area. They didn't have any good games or prizes and it was mostly for kids. In the very back I saw people practicing dirt biking and it looked awesome. We only walked around for an hour and we started leaving the festival and when we got to the exit a lot of people were entering the festival at noon.

We went to get lunch at the Lion Plaza which is good place to do firecrackers. I haven't been here in a couple of years and it was crowed with people gambling. The most common Vietnamese gambling game (I don't know what it's called in English) involves a board containing a fish, crab, shrimp, deer, jug, and a rooster. The dealer has 3 dices with those 6 items and they cover the dices and shake it. You bet what ever how much money you want on any of the six items before they reveal the dices. If you bet $1 on crab and get one dice on it, your money doubles, two dices add another dollar, three dices add another dollar ending up with $4. I wanted to bet one of my lucky dollar for fun and I won $2. We went to eat some phở (delicious beef noodle soup) and we bought our food and while we were buying our food I bought some cheap fire crackers for $5 for the long roll. My sister and I went to the middle of the plaza where people throw their fire crackers There were so many people throwing fire crackers and it was loud. Some people were crazy to hold it while its popping. I went to light my set and when I lite it my guy walked in front of it. He got hecka scared and started to dance. After my sister and I went to go gamble some more. I was on a wining spree with $1 and won $8 but I should have stopped after because I started to get addicted. I decreased slowly losing my money and won another $5. I stopped because I started to lose one after another and ended up losing $7. We went home and I received more money from my parents. I got about 200 lucky dollars.

Snowboarding Trip

During my first day of my four day weekend my sister and I went snowboarding. This was a two day trip and the plan was to leave on Thursday and snowboard on Friday. Thursday after school we were headed to Squaw Valley Ski Resorts. When we were an hour away from Squaw valley and it started to snow. It was hard to see the road because of the snow and it was scary. This was my first time I've seen it snowing in person.

We had arrive in Squaw Valley trying to find our motel. Before, my sister called the motel to make reservations earlier to check if they had a refrigerator in our room. They weren't suppose to have one in the room but the front desk clerk was nice to give us a refrigerator with to motel room. We were going to have dinner at a restaurant but all of them were closed, our only options we could go was at AM PM gas station. (That's sad) The next morning was snowboarding day. The car was covered with an inch of snow. It only took us 10 minutes to get to the ski resort.

I got my lift ticket and we started to snowboard from left to right on the map. On my first run half way down was okay but later on it started to get flat and I don't like it when it starts to get flat.When it's a flat surface I tend to get stuck. The other couple runs were good and we went up to the very top. It was windy and cold on our way up on the ski lift and I don't have snow goggles to protect my eyes. When we got to the top I was really blind because of the fog especially when the snow was blowing in my face. I manage getting down half way though the fog without falling. We were about to take a break at the car so we snowboard down. While we were going down the slope turning, we saw someone hanging on a rope that was towards the trees. We ran over there to help him and it was a 9 year old kid about to fall, and about 30 feet away I can hear his father yelling at him. His father wasn't even coming to him, is what the heck help your own son out instead of yelling at him.

It was almost closing time and we wanted to go on this lift but I had a lose binding. I was scared to go down with a lose binding and one of the workers called up a snow mobile so they could take me to a different lift. I got to ride a snow mobile but my sister couldn't so she had to snowboard down. I went down on one of those ski lift cable car to get down. When I got it fixed we were the last ones to get on the cable car up half way the slope. The ski resorts were closing so this was our last run. Then we went home that took us 3 hours.