おの時のワン エイチィ（１８０） Remember the 180!

土曜日朝７時８分、僕はまだバイクに乗っている！夜中は寒かったです非常に寒かったです、家を出てバイクのエンジンをかけてもスタートしません！！！合宿に行くバスは７：００時に出る予定でした、しかし車からジャンプケーブルをつなげてエンジンをジャンプさせなければならなかったので時間は思ったよりもかかりました。ま～事故ってもしょうがないし、朝早かったのでほとんど誰も道路に走っていないのでスムーズにジムまでいけました。しかも、俺よりも遅れている参加者何人かいたので、ナイスセーフ！７時２２分やっと出発。何と合宿になると朝でもテンションは高いです、バスの一番前に座ってうちの一時間二時間ぐらいずーと話しました。しかし、昼ぐらいにつく予定はどんどん無理に見えた、高速はすごい込んでいる、あるトンネルの入り口の前に一時間半も止まりました。でもそれを抜けたらペンションまですぐだった。スキー場についてリッフトに乗ったのは１５時半でした、なんとロスまでいける時間でした。まーあまり文句言えないです、大雪でまえは見えないので５回すべってお風呂に入りました。。。夜は毎回と同じくゲームに負けて×ゲームとして雪だるまを夜中に作ることになりました！そして、ばたっと倒れて朝まで起きないです。日曜日は晴れで最高にいい天気でした、土曜日の大雪で山はパウダーだらけですのでほとんどどんなに無理して転んでも痛くなかったです。そして、昼休みを取っててビールをゆっくり飲んでいたらコウイチ　ぺタスは”お兄さん、すべりましょうよ！”を誘ってくれたので、お風呂を入るのをあきらめてもう一回リッフトに乗りました。そこでなんと俺の昔のボーダー時代を思い出して、飛びたくなりました。で、たまたまコウイチの前で飛びながら１８０℃回転のジャンプに成功しました。あれからコウイチの顔を見るたびに”お兄さん、あのワン　エイチィかっこよかったです”をお互いに笑います。帰りは２時半ぐらいに出て、ジムの前に着いたのはぴったり２０：００時だったので。意外とバスに乗っていた時間は長かったです、今度は電車で行きたいです。。。

ニコラス

It's 7:08 in the morning and I am running late for the bus that is taking us to the wintercamp...I figured that I was in good time when I got out of the house but my bike would not start due to the cold...So I had to hook it up to my car and jump start it, this took a bit longer than I had thought. Anyway, I don't want to crash on my bike, so without hurrying too much I made my way to the gym, lucky for me that there is no traffic in the early hours of the day. Making good time I arrived at the gym soon enough, more lucky some of the others had still not arrived and I was safe. We got to leave at 7:22 and being all exited about the whole idea of going on a snow boarding camp, the guys sitting in the front kept talking about this and that. After an hour or two the effect wore off and we all got drowsy, we did get up rather early after all, so we took a nap. Expecting that we would arrive before noon, I was awoken by the fact that the bus didn't move...It was a mayor traffic jam. There was a tunnel that they had simply closed down, it is the only way to get to the other side of the mountain chain. So we found our selves at a stop with no way out, no way back and no way forward...An hour and half later, we finally started moving. After that it was too far and getting everything ready in the kind of snow storm that had decided to start on our way to the mountain, we finally got on the lift at around 15:30! I could hardly see anything and it was really cold now that the sun was blocked out by the heavy snow ladden clouds. I did a few runs and called it the day, seeing that there was a nice bath house attached to the ski resort. I made my way up there and soaked it up for a hour or two just enjoying the nice warmth of the water. The next day, I woke up quite early and after breakfast we all got dressed and made our way back to mountain. It was a perfect day with the best snow one could whish for when riding a snowboard. Lot's and lot's of powder, after riding with some of the girls and guys from the gym for an hour or two I got a bit tired and decided to take a break. There enjoying a nice cold beer, I had just about decided to just call it quits and head up for the bath when Koichi Pettas came along. " Hey, Big brother let's got attack the mountain together!" A~what the hell, so I put on my last t-shirt and we made our way out to the mountain, one of the guys from the gym Ozaki was a really cool snowboarder and we just got out of control together. Looking for anything but the normal track going in and out of the trees, I was starting to feel really confident again. And remembering how I used to ride I felt like jumping, so I tried a few things here and there. And just by coincidence I pulled a real nice 180 right in front of Koichi...And ever since that everytime we look at each other, we just say " remember that 180...!" and then we both crack up laughing...Going home again it took us another 6 hours, so I really fel that although this is a camp and that we should all go together, I would like to take the train next time. 70min. bullet train right to the foot of the mountain, get off the train and walk up to the lift. It can't get any better than that.

Nicholas

Busy in the New Year! 年明けに忙しい！

I know that I should have made an entry a lot sooner, but things just slipped out of hand. I started good this year, beginning on the 2nd. of Jan. training with Nitta for his fight on Feb. 4th. we have been working out every day getting ready for the fight of his life. And then the days just blended into weeks and here we are. I just had my birthday! Wow, 33 years old this monday, I feel like I am 27 or so, can't beleive that I am way over 30...well, I guess that we all have to grow up sometime. I spent the weekend in Guam with my kids and wife, and just barely escaped the snow storm that recked Tokyo like Godzilla this last saturday. We are experiencing the coldest winter in Tokyo in the last 10 years with record lows of below zero temperatures, but I was enjoying a nice snorkeling trip at the beach in Guam. Reality strikes like a thunder wave once you get out of the airplane in Narita...What a wake up call! So here I find myself back in the daily grinder, gotta get out and do some running now but seeing the frosted handle bars on my bike is not excatly what I would call a good motivator... The year has just started and so have I, I guess the best present I got, apart from going to Guam, was that a friend of mine called me up and said that he has another friend that wants to costum paint my Harley for me next month!!! I'll keep you posted...

Nicholas

それで今年はもう始まった。。。こんなことあっちこっちで書いているようなきがします？もう年明けしてあっという間誕生日はきちゃった！毎日いろんなことがありながら、新田さんとの練習できついことを毎日やりながらいろんなことで時間はなくなっている。もっと早くBlogアップしたかったけど、今日はちょっと時間ないなー明日にするのは明後日になったりして来週になったりして、なんとその間に３３歳になったの！え～何でこんなに早いの？僕は金、土、日グアムに行ってきました！後輩の結婚式に家族を連れて行きました。遊び半分で式に参加半分で家族の初めての海外旅行でした。とても楽しかったです、しかしジーパン（Jeans）を買いすぎて帰りにスーツケースに入らなくってかなり困りました。チェックインのところでゴミ袋みたいなもんでお願いしますを言ってみたら”これは駄目ですね”と大きいなプラスチック袋をいただきました。まー何とかなったけどかなり恥ずかしかったです。帰りの飛行機の窓から日本は白く見えたのにびっくりしました！そうだ！行き振る予定だったよね、でもこんなに？家についてバイクや玄関は真っ白で子供は雪だるまを作って遊んでいました。。。自分はバイクでジムに行こうと思ったけど寒くってエンジンはかからなかったため車にジャンプケーブルをつなげてかけました。グアムに行ってよかったな～と思いました。最高の誕生日プレゼントだった。それと何をもらったかというと来月にアメリカでちょう有名なペインターを日本に来日してなんと僕のハーレーをカスタムペイントをしてくれるって！うれしいな～。。。出来たら写真見せます。

ニコラス

Welcome to 2006! ようこそ２００６年！

さ～皆さん！２００６年は始まっています、僕は新田さんの付き合いでお正月からずっと練習をやっています。休めると思ったら、メールが入って、２月４日に埼玉スーパーアリーナでK-Maxの日本代表を決めるトーナメントに出ることになりました。。。そしたら早く練習始めなきゃっということで、２日の１０時からがんがん練習をやりました。今年に入ってTeam SpiritのNew Faceは一人増えました、今でも現役Pride選手でタカセ選手はチームに入りました。何と日本一と言われている！正直に言わせてもらいますが。。。本当に上手いです！立ったときは俺のほうが強いけど横になったときの子供と大人で遊ばれているのはめちゃくちゃ悔しいです。今年は俺もそっちで一生懸命勉強していきたいと思います。ま、練習は俺の仕事でやっぱり年明けてからいきなり思い切りやってて、体は疲れたけどそのピークをこえて今日は割りと元気です。皆さん今年も応援をよろしくお願いします！

ニコラス

ps.お正月に日本ハムの坪井選手は修行しに来ました。。。以前よりもパンチ力アップしました！


So here we are 2006, it has all started again. Another year another fight. Nitta has been chosen for the next K-Max tournament in Feb. 4th. so we had to strat training early this year. I was enjoying a nice holiday when he mailed me with the news and that's when we started training. So I was up and training at 10 am. the second of Jan. The first week was hard but today I was feeling pretty good, it is always hard to get started but once the ball starts rolling it doesn't stop that easy. The weather is mild in Tokyo and although there have been serious snowfalls around Japan, it has not hit Tokyo at all, so it doesn't really feel like January. We have had a new member join the Team Spirit, his name is Takase Daiju, Pride fighter. They say that he is the best in Japan in his field, and honestly I can beleive it. When we sparre standing up I am all over him, but once he takes me downit is like a grown up playing with a child...Damn, I really need to work on my ground tec. this year. Anyway it is fun learning from someone that good, I just hope that I will get something out of it for real. You never know what the future has in store for me...So since this is a year that I have a real good feeling about, please stay with me and hope for the best.

Nicholas

ps. I had a friend of mine come and join the training during the holidays! His name is Tsuboi and he is a famous baseball player in Japan. He was really throwing some good punches this time.