A Day at the Races!
While at WinterFest, Fedele Cacia invited me to the famous Sebring Raceway in Central Florida to watch him race his custom Porsche!
Wow, what an experience!
And what a difference from my racing days in the 1960s, when I completely rebuilt a 1958 TR3, turning a tame little sports car into one of the fastest division 3 (I think it was) vehicle on the local circuit. Back then, you had to really become part of your car while racing. You not only had to negotiate the track; knowing the line to take, when to downshift or brake and when to accelerate, but you had to master the art of speed-shifting a rather (by today’s standards) primitive transmission and knowing the limits of your suspension while "drifting" through the corners.
Top speed on the straight-aways approached 110 – 120 MPH, which was quite thrilling, considering that you could reach outside your door and touch the pavement with the palm of your hand!
Fedele’s concerns during his runs were many of the same ones that I had, only magnified many times due to the speeds attained with these unbelievably durable and powerful cars. Limitations imposed by the earlier race cars are now virtually non-existent today. Now the major concerns are: How far can I power into this turn at speeds approaching 160MPH, before downshifting and/or braking! A split second too soon and he will lose precious yardage that may allow the car behind him, to pass and gain an advantage. Of course, delaying the downshift might prove disastrous to driver and/or car. In today’s racing, there is virtually "0" tolerance for error.
Sure, today all Fedele has to do when shifting up a gear is push a button. Every shift is in the "red-line" zone of RPM and Fedele can, if he wants, get the maximum speed out of a shift, by taking advantage of a warning light that flashes just before the engine will self-destruct!
Lines going into a corner are micro-managed. Being off a couple inches will extend the cornering limitations and may mean a spinout or if you are unlucky (as one driver was on Sunday) it may mean turning a $250,000 car into junk!
Anyone who knows Fedele, knows he is a perfectionist and watching him in action, will see the same concentration, control and endurance he demonstrates in his Uechi-ryu.
I’m not sure what Fedele’s long-term goals are, but I know that whatever he wants to do, he will master.
Lots of pictures from Sebring now available in our Photo Gallery.
Andre Tippett played his entire 12-year career with the New England Patriots. He earned five trips to the Pro Bowl, and is one of just seven linebackers in NFL history to record 100 career sacks. The former Iowa product was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 1999.
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We have sold out of the deluxe Gi bag and don’t plan to reorder them. (storage is a problem here in Florida!) There are only six regular Gi bags left, with the embroidered uechi/IUKF logo. Being sold at cost…. $25.00.
Tia wanted to jump in his van this morning as he prepared for the drive back to Georgia where he is staying with relatives. Although Tia was only a puppy when she last met Kimo, she greeted him with kisses and her favorite toy. (Something she only does for her favorite people.) As Kimo drove off, she watched attentively, not wanting to come inside. As I’m writing this, she is at the window, looking to see if he is returning!
I was an avid motorcyclist back in the 70s and 80s. I had a Czechoslovakian race bike (CZ 500) that I raced through the Plymouth reservations three to four times a week with my good friend Dick Bettencourt, who owned the local Honda/Suzuki dealership in West Bridgewater, Ma.
The point of my story, is to relate the original stress and tension of simply getting on a high-powered motorcycle and experiencing the thrill of speeding through a narrow wooded trail, inches from protruding branches tree stumps and over gaping gullies and down steep ravines and through water and mud valleys, attempting to keep up with the breakneck speed of the experienced riders. 
My feeling is, that anyone studying the martial arts, will benefit tremendously, from the internalizing and reinforcement of fighting techniques that come from the repetitive performance of Kata, drills, Bunkai and free fighting. However, I equate this type of familiarization with fighting as more of a dry run than being ready to actually engage in a real life fight with inexperienced and tried/true streetfighter. It is important, that all martial art instructors realize the limitations and expectations resulting from their training. Having an arsenal of tools and the training to use those tools in the confines and safety of the dojo, is not the same as being surprised and overrun by one or more highly experienced (to the actual feeling of being hit, bloodied, incapacitated-on both sides of the giving/taking spectrum.) street Thugs who regularly engage in this type of fighting. 
