Toto, I've a feeling we're not in West Virginia anymore

Dragon guarding Shuri Castle in Okinawa.

In some cultures, a person going on a vision quest has to go through some kind of ordeal. I'm thinking flying coach class from WV to Atlanta to Tokyo to Okinawa might cover that.

Those airline seats are designed to encourage insomnia, which means I got through that pile of old New Yorkers and made a dent in two books. I was worried about the time change (13 hours different) but the timing worked out. I got here late night Okinawa time and was ready to crash.

I met this morning with a group of around 21 martial artists from the US, UK, Brazil and Portugal all here for a week of intensive karate training in the land of its origin with several of the greatest living masters. The "seminar" begins tomorrow.

Today was spent rambling around Naha, visiting the Okinawa Prefectural Museum and touring Shuri Castle, where some of the greatest masters served the monarchy back in the day. For karate geeks like me, this really is the holy land.

The pain report begins tomorrow. No links today.

p.s. If this post looks weird, I think my computer is as confused as I am.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ABOUT TO GO WAY UP