This is an old cartoon called “Telegraph line” from Schoolhouse Rock.
I remember seeing this when I was a child and the nervous system made sense to me. Years later, in the thick of Chiropractic school, I realized that I didn’t understand the nervous system at all. After many long nights studying, testing, and licenses that prove that I do understand the nervous system, once I got into practice, I couldn’t figure out how to explain the nervous system to my patients without getting the blank stare or the “in english please, doc.” After years of refining, simplifying, and customizing my explanation of how the nervous system works so all of my patients understand it, I got the link to this video…
Not only did it bring back great memories from my childhood, but it reminded me of the KISS principle, which is “Keep It Simple, Stupid.”
Hoping and praying that my trip home wouldn’t be like the trip over, the worst I had to endure was a 2 hour delay in Chicago and a buzz saw of a snorer in the seat next to me on the way back to the United States.
Thanks to all of you for coming on this trip with me, and being patient with my amateur video. It seemed like I learned something new everyday about taking video, editing video, or something else every time I posted something. But the most important thing I learned from being away from family, friends and my patients for 18 days is that there really is no place like home.
The last 2 weeks has literally flown by me. From the intense 2 a day trainings, to the guerrilla training in the jungle, to the Manila night life, to the formalities of the tournament, I can’t believe that another season with the Philippine National rugby team is over.
Once a year, we get together, we train hard, play hard, and party hard together, and it seems that in the lapse of 12 months, we always pick up right where we left off. We live all over and around the world, with our only means of communication with each other in the off season is via Facebook. My roomate, and rockboy #2 teammate, the vice captain, Michael Duhig is one of the fortunate few that travels the globe to visit us as we live our normal lives.
This year, different that most, I decided to stay another day, to be with the boys for one more day. Without training, playing, formalities, nothing. Just chilling with the boys. Just spending time with them at Pili palace, a gigantic home of our former captain, and my brother from a French mother, Romain Barberis. It proved to be exactly what we needed, with some boyish foolishness included, of course.
I’m coming home tommorow, and I’m excited to get back to normalcy of life in the US, because Manila is great, but it is an alternate universe for most, humans, including the boys. But I’m not excited to leave the boys that I live with, train hard and play hard with, and party hard with for two weeks a year, for another year. But until 2010, my brothers, travel home safe. I am proud our success this year and love you all very much always.
For the third year straight, we faced Guam in another heated battle, but for more than just bragging rights for another year. This win promoted us to the Asian 5 Nations Division 2 competition in the same pool as India, China, and Thailand in 2010.
Like every battle with the Guamanians, there is a haka, or war dance from them before the game, trash talking and pushing and shoving during the game, and a bit of bad sportsmanship by some of the players and coaches after the game. All things aside, they are a young, dynamic side with a lot of potential, but I think they sometimes lose the plot in an attempt to take their opponents out of their game.
On a side note, they are always fun to play because of their intensity and we never get out of a game without a knick or ding or five from those boys. Anyways, they will be missed, and I am really looking forward to playing someone else next year.
Here’s the article printed on July 5th in the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
RP Volcanoes blank Guam, gain Division II
By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:07:00 07/05/2009
MANILA, Philippines—Mission accomplished.
The Philippines banked on another strong finish to whitewash Guam, 25-0, Saturday and rule the Asian Five Nations Division III rugby tournament at the Nomads field in Parañaque City.
The Volcanoes scored all but three of their points in the second half as they clinched promotion to Division II, where they will be pitted against Thailand, China and India in June next year.
Rafael Zappia, a Filipino-Australian based in Sydney, accounted for 13 points, scoring one try and two field goals to fire up the Volcanoes, who won both their games via shutouts, including an 18-0 blanking of Iran.
Rafael’s younger brother, Rupert, also sparkled off the bench as he iced the win with another try and a two-point field goal two minutes from time.
“This win puts us in the map in international rugby,” said Volcanoes coach Matt Cullen.
The Volcanoes dominated the first half for long spells but only scored through Zappiah’s 35-meter field goal in the 15th minute.
But chinks in the Guamanians’ armor began to show early in the second half and the Volcanoes were quick to pounce on the opportunities.
A defensive offside handed Zappiah an easy penalty conversion from 10 meters in the 55th minute to double the lead, five minutes before the Volcanoes scored their first try by simply overpowering the Guamanians on a 16-man scrum, leaving Freddie Morris with the easiest of touches to score.
“We regrouped at halftime and put more pressure on them (Guamanians),” said Cullen, who has a squad with an average age of 22.
“We knew it was going to open up in the second half and our fitness level showed,” said RP skipper Michael Letts, a marauding fullback who was instrumental in the Volcanoes’ two tries.
Earlier, Iran overwhelmed Indonesia 48-6, in the third place game of the event backed by HSBC, Guinness, Philippine Sports Commission, Kukri, Gilbert, Overgaard, HMR, Jobiane, Genri, Seapac, Hardy’s Coke, Maxwear, Department of Tourism, Focused Business Solutions, RJH Consultancy, Brisbane Technologies and Murphy’s Bar.
Nothing really to report today except I have a bit of nervous mixed with fed up and upset stomach today. We have been living in the Holiday Inn for a week, and I am very grateful for all that I have been receiving, however, the only thing that seems to be changing is the people coming in and out. The rooms are all the same, the schedule is all the same, and the food is all the same. How many times can a guy eat pasta with bolognese and white sauce??
Tomorrow, we will face Guam again for the Asian 5 Nations Division 3 Finals. Here’s where the fed up comes in. We have played them four years in a row and have beaten them in every encounter, but manage to keep meeting them in the regional events in the finals. This time, with promotion to Division 2, we can finally put this competition to bed. Like any competition, you wouldn’t be a real person if you weren’t nervous, and I am also, even if we have topped them time and again. I think it’s a healthy feeling, as long as you can control it.
My stomach ache has been with me for the whole week as I forgot the we were still in the Philippines, and with that momentary lapse, brushed my teeth with tap water, and there you go. I have not been able to shake it, but with a little Maalox, and tons of water, I’m sure I”ll be fine to play tomorrow.
My neck hurts. My back hurts. Does anyone know a good chiropractor that can repair what the Iranians did to me yesterday??
Another well deserved day off today, but instead of our regular mucking around town, the management staff decided to send us on a tour of Intermuros, where Fort Santiago stands, which was the stronghold of the Spaniards vs. the Filipinos and is famous for the confinement and execution of Dr. Jose Rizal, the most recognized national hero of the Philippines. It reminds me a lot of St. Augustine, minus all of the unnecessary slaughtering of innocent people.
It was a very interesting tour, and I believe that this is exactly what the boys needed in contrast to all of the five star treatment that we have been receiving for the last 2 weeks. We really need to understand where we come from and why people put so much weight on our shoulders to win. To us, it’s just a game, but to the Philippine people, we are defenders of the land. I get it after today…
Here is information on Dr. Jose Rizal from Wikipedia:
José Protasio Rizal Mercado y Alonso Realonda[1] (June 19, 1861 – December 30, 1896, Bagumbayan; ancestral home: Quanzhou, Fujian[2]), was a Filipino polymath, nationalist and the most prominent advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial era. He is considered the Philippines’ national hero and the anniversary of Rizal’s death is commemorated as a Philippine holiday called Rizal Day. Rizal’s 1896 military trial and execution made him a martyr of the Philippine Revolution.
The seventh of eleven children born to a wealthy family in the town of Calamba, Laguna (province), Rizal attended the Ateneo Municipal de Manila, earning a Bachelor of Arts. He enrolled in Medicine and Philosophy and Letters at the University of Santo Tomas and then traveled alone to Madrid, Spain, where he continued his studies at the Universidad Central de Madrid, earning the degree of Licentiate in Medicine. He attended the University of Paris and earned a second doctorate at the University of Heidelberg. Rizal was a polyglot conversant in at least ten languages.[3][4][5][6] He was a prolific poet, essayist, diarist, correspondent, and novelist whose most famous works were his two novels, Noli me Tangere and El filibusterismo.[7] These are social commentaries on the Philippines that formed the nucleus of literature that inspired dissent among peaceful reformists and spurred the militancy of armed revolutionaries against the Spanish colonial authorities.
As a political figure, Rizal was the founder of La Liga Filipina, a civic organization that subsequently gave birth to the Katipunan[8] led by Andres Bonifacio and Emilio Aguinaldo. He was a proponent of institutional reforms by peaceful means rather than by violent revolution. The general consensus among Rizal scholars, however, attributed his martyred death as the catalyst that precipitated the Philippine Revolution.
Game day. And a tough one it was. Your classic case of David vs. Goliath. And as the classical story goes, David takes down the giant, gets the girl, and rides off into the sunset. or something like that.
This is the write up in the local newspaper, the Inquirer:
RP trips Iran, gains rugby finals
By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:42:00 07/02/2009
Filed Under: Rugby League
MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines literally cut a taller and heftier Iran squad down to size with a 15-0 shutout Wednesday and reached the final of the Asian Five Nations Rugby Series Division III tournament at the Nomads field in Parañaque.
The RP Volcanoes overcame a sluggish start before forging a finals duel with Guam, which overpowered Indonesia, 18-3, in the other semifinal.
“It was a tough game because Iran did bring a lot of their weight into the game,” said RP coach Matt Cullen. “But, at the end of the day, our heart and skill showed.”
The Filipinos relied on some enterprising plays to score two tries in the second half, the last coming in the 70th minute, when fly half Oliver Saunders found younger brother, Matt.
The Volcanoes lacked the cutting edge to break through at the start as the Iranians turned the first half into a cagey affair, subduing the pace with their size.
Oliver Saunders missed two long field goal attempts and brother Matt strayed offside just when he was a few yards from scoring in the Volcanoes best chance in the 30th minute.
“We made some basic mistakes,” said Cullen. “We made the big guys run around the field and our fitness showed up in the end.”
Oliver made amends 10 minutes into the second half with a fine pass to winger Harry Morris, who eluded one defender before dumping the ball in the endzone for the Volcanoes first try.
I’m sorry I haven’t updated in a couple of days, but I’ve been struck by a bit of the stomach flu and have been laid up like others on our team. I’m sure I’ll be fine for the game, but it sucks when you goto the bathroom ever hour on the hour and it substitutes for proper sleep. To make it worse, a couple of us went to the Philippine Sports Commission to get our ID cards and get a massage, but didn’t realize that by the time we left, we were stuck in Manila traffic.
All of the teams have arrived, we have done all the fine tuning, and the stage is set for the Asian 5 Nations Division 3 tournament. The competition this year looks big, really big, but then again, we don’t usually come up against sides that are smaller than we are. No worries, every game is a challenge and we’re always up for a fight. The common message this year from all of the officials and all of the management is that we MUST win the division this year. We are the number one seed and we are at home. This is our field, this is our country, and this will be our tournament. Good luck Team Philippines!!!
Now that we’ve had our fun, it’s time to get down to business. They have moved us into the Holiday Inn in downtown Manila, to keep us all together and focused on the goal at hand, to win the Asian 5 Nations Division 3 title.
All of the difficult stuff is over, and all that is left is the formalities of the tournament and the actual games. Our first match is against Iran on Wednesday, and according to our coach, are quite a big team. Not that we haven’t seen big teams before, really just another for us in the forwards. We do the work that no one wants to do. And we do it well, I might add.
We have had a flu take our camp for the last couple of days, but it seems like the boys are coming back into form just in time to play. We have also had some notable selections to the starting team, including debuts for 2 players in the starting 15, and 2 in the reserves. Congrats to all…
After a long week of training, testing, and the jungle, we are now back in the big city mode and in our final preparations for the Asian 5 Nations tournament. Today we had a day off, and although it was much needed and deserved, the boys will always be boys, and the pranks never rest and never get old.
A new member to the team, we’ll just call him “Kenny”, was trapped in the lion’s den with starving hyenas, and fell prey to the infamous “impossible sit up”.
The goal is to pump a guy up that he can’t do the “impossible sit up” until he agrees, or is persuaded that he can do it. One person holds his feet, the other puts a towel around his eyes, pretending to give proper resistance to the victim attempting to do the “impossible sit up”. The third person then squats over the victims face, in some cases, bottomless, and the person holding the towel with proper resistance releases his grip, which sends the victim’s face directly into the third person’s bottom.
