Chris Meistre

A while ago our doggies got a bit too interested in the bird aviaries we have in the yard.  I can’t blame them, they are dogs after all and it is in their nature to find these little things running and flying around very interesting.

Worried that they’ll get into the cages, I started thinking of what I could possibly do to keep them out.  The one option would be to build a fence around the cages, thereby keeping them away from it.  The problem with this was that it got in the way of viewing the aviaries.  And the whole idea is to sit in the yard and see the birds from anywhere we sit.

I then started playing around with the idea of building a low voltage electric fence.  Low enough not to hurt them, but high enough to discourage them from getting too close to the fence

From previous experience with electronics as a hobby, I sort of knew what I wanted to achieve.  I needed to build a pulsing unit that is connected to a step down transformer in reverse which will then send out the pulses which will cause you to shock if you touch the thin wire spanned along the outside of the cages.  This will then convert the 12V into +/- 220V.

It was nice playing around with electronics again, and during my search I found a number of different ways to achieve this.  In the end I had a unit that provided about 140V AC which is just enough to make you feel uncomfortable when you touch the wires.

With a slight adjustment, and putting in a ignition coil from a vehicle, the voltage can be upped to 30,000V.  It’s a pity I didn’t know about this when we paid around R15,000 to put electric fencing up around our yard.  Using what I’ve learned now, I can easily build the same system, that is integrated into our alarm system, for as little as a tenth of the price.

I just came across the Two Hundred Squats version of One Hundred Pushups and Two Hundred Situps.  Check it out on http://www.twohundredsquats.com/

I haven’t done any of these programs in quite some time, so I recon I’ll start again.

I’m really enjoying being part of a Kungfu school again.  It’s still a long way until I’m on the same level as fitness as what I used to be, but I’m getting there.  I initially found it very strange that we go right into the forms at this school, whereas with the previous school we did a LOT of basics before we moved onto the forms.

But the teacher mentioned something on Thursday evening that made me realise why they do it like this.  The forms and basics we’re learning now are more there to practise our coordination, build on our stamina and get our fitness levels up, rather than for self defence purposes.   I’ve stopped with the Ninjitsu training for now to see how it goes with the Kungfu classes, but I think we’ll carry on with that for the meanwhile.  It’s nice to see the contrasts between the chinese and japanese martial arts.

The Tai Chi classes are very nice as well.  I’m finding it easier to learn with someone being there to show you the way, than trying to work it out from the DVD we’ve got.  I really think the DVD was just not put together well.  There are a lot finer things to it than just imitating moves you see.  The way you walk, the way you move, the way you move your hands, which of your hands your eyes are following, etc, etc.

I finally found a Kungfu school in Port Elizabeth that offers both Tai Chi and Kungfu as seperate but integrated teachings.  Most Kungfu styles do incorporate a bit of Chi management, but I’ve always felt both needs to be treated as seperate, but they need to be integrated as well.

The style is called Wudang Wushu, and Sifu Jurgens Lamprecht founded the South African Wudang Wushu Institute.  The website is available on http://www.wudangwushu.org/.  Dr Margo de Kooker is in charge of the Port Elizabeth school.  We went there last Tuesday to go and have a look how it is in joined in on the first class.

It’s very different to the way our previous Kungfu school use to teach, and it’s something to get used to.  One main difference is that they tend to concentrate on the forms (a set of various moves performed one after the other) a lot.  So within 2 lessons we were taught about 4 different forms.   I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it though, because you get use to all the techniques in these forms and you learn them a lot quicker.  In the previous school we went through a lot of self defence grabs first before we started with the technical side of Kungfu techniques.

The people there seem very excited about the lessons, so it’s a nice group of people.