Archive: undefined/2014

Other►Announcements

Kaz's Go School is Finally Here!

Kaz’s Online Go School is finally here! For those who don’t know about Kaz, I discovered him from his site (http://www.kazsensei.com) a couple of years ago and have been waiting for his website to become fully live and functional. The website is a bit hard to navigate, but after going through it, I thought that it would be great if I ever got a chance to learn from him. So after waiting for a couple of years, I am psyched to tell you that the opportunity is finally here!

So for those curious about this online go school, let me start with this: The first session of Kaz’s Online Go School is 8 classes for only $6 USD. Now that I have your attention, here’s my elevator pitch for the school.

  1. His teaching style emphasizes teaching amateur players who are adults which is quite unique! In fact, he states in his ad that the range of players he normally teaches is 30 to 70+ years old and talks about how teaching children is very different from teaching adults! So in other words, it sounds like he has a lot of experience working with amateur players (which is precisely what many of us need).

  2. Kaz will generate a text for student’s to study after each lesson. It’s great to get online reviews and such, but I think it’s great that Kaz will also be generating offline content for students to study as well in order to reinforce the concepts learned from the last lesson.

  3. You get 8 two-hour group lessons with Kaz for only $6 USD. This is such an incredible value and such a great deal if anyone has done even the slightest bit of research on the other online schools available. For those who haven’t, one of the most popular online go schools charges about $135 a month. So yeah. ‘Nuff said.

Bottom line: I think any player who has even been remotely interested in participating in an online go school needs to do this. There is just no reason for why you shouldn’t give this a shot for $6 USD. It’s seriously an incredible deal.

For more details on his school, you can find it in his Kaz’s Online Go School (PDF). I took the liberty of taking his email and updating some of the language and structure in order to make it easier to find the information you need. And for those interested in the free problems set that he attached to his email, be sure to reach out to him!

And just in case it isn’t clear, I have already paid my $6 and will definitely be participating in this. Let me know if you guys have any other questions and I’ll do my best to answer them. Hope to see you in class!

Journal

Recalibrating My Life

Hey everyone. Sorry that I have been a little MIA over the past week. I was out of town for a little over a week and have just been incredibly swamped. Haha. I was ready for being kind of busy, but nothing like what the trip held for me. As a result, everything got thrown out of sync and content is on break this week until I can recalibrate my brain and get back on track. Hope all is well with everyone!

Commentaries►Monday Go Meditation

Monday Go Meditation: Game 39

For the second Monday Go Meditation of 2014, I thought it would be great to feature the game where my sensei (frozensoul) and I played a game together online. While this was not rengo, it was a really interesting experience to have frozensoul's input on the game while I was playing. You very quickly come to realize how differently high dan level players actually think. I hope that you enjoy this game and see the difference I'm talking about. =D

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Journal►Progress Reports►Friday Go Forward

Friday Go Forward: Week 46

Friday Go Forward: Week 46

Overview

This week has got increasingly crazy with work and such, but I’m proud to say that I’ve managed to keep up with all that I’ve wanted to do in regards to go so far. I still have a bit to go before my habits become a lot easier to execute without it feeling slightly laborious, but it’s nice to feel like I’m making some real and steady progress. Hope you all are doing well!

Training Regimen

  • Step #1: Do 10 go problems a day. (Estimated time: 10-15 minutes) Though the recommended problem set would obviously be life and death, other problems like tesuji and endgame are more than adequate. Be sure to pick problems that are around or even slightly below your level. Remember, your goal is just a bit of exposure to go everyday. And if you think it’s not that much, that is the entire point. Because it’s only a small mouthful, there is little excuse for not doing it everyday.

Games

  • KGS - 0 games
  • DGS - 3 ongoing games
  • OGS - 10 ongoing games

Books

  • Worked on Graded Go Problems for Dan Players - Volume One: 300 Life-and-Death Problems.
  • Started working on Life and Death Problems 1 - Basics by Robert Jasiek.
  • Worked on Fighting Fundamentals by Robert Jasiek.

Videos

  • None this week. =(

Tiny Habit

  1. Every time I use the restroom, I will do 5 tsumego problems.
Reviews►Equipment

Equipment Review: Featherweight Go Set

The Featherweight Go Set

Description: “Weighing in at just 20.5 oz (580 g), the Featherweight Go Set is even lighter than your average travel Go set. But here’s the thing; it’s a proper, full sized Go board with stones. It includes size 21 plastic stones (0.3 inches or 8 mm thick) with a 0.8 inch (20 mm) diameter and a durable, full size, crease resistant 19x19 plastic Go board. The board can easily be folded or rolled, making this set highly portable. Keep a set in your bag or briefcase so that you’re always ready for a serendipitous game of Go!” - GoGameGuru

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Articles►Weekly Go Wednesday

WGW 30: Tiny Habits

Weekly Go Wednesday, Issue #30

With 2014 being only eight days old, new year resolutions are still fresh and many people are off trying to pursue their goals (i.e., lose weight, get in shape, etc.). In lieu with that theme, I thought it would be a perfect opportunity to share a video that I was recommended recently. It’s a TEDxTalk by BJ Fogg on the topic of creating real and permanent change in your life through tiny habits.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AdKUJxjn-R8

One of the things that struck me about this talk is how BJ Fogg clearly delineates between goal setting in terms of long term change and short term change. And contrary to what most people think, being highly motivated only contributes to short term change and not long term change. But of course, the question you’re probably wondering is: how does this relate to go?

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Commentaries►Monday Go Meditation

Monday Go Meditation: Game 38

After much thought and motivation from readers like you, I am happy to announce that Monday Go Meditations is coming back in full swing for 2014! And seeing as how this is the first post for 2014, I thought it would only be appropriate that I feature my first ranked game of 2014!

I had played a free game the night before, but as I sat there on KGS, I admit that I was a little hesitant at playing a ranked game. After all, what if I played poorly? Or what if I lost? Or worst case, what if I had gotten weaker? But after a minute of doubt, I realized that I would gain nothing by sitting there worrying. So without concerning myself with the results and useless negativity, I challenged a 4 kyu to a game.* In the spirit of starting the new year with vibrant energy, I think you'll agree with me that this game is very fitting. Enjoy!

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Reviews►Equipment

Equipment Review: Leather Goban

Leather Goban

Description: If one ever had the notion that wood boards were too cumbersome to carry around or a pain to store away, AmbyR00 has made a beautiful leather goban that is sure to please any go enthusiast looking for a lightweight go board that is really sturdy! And to top it off, it’s environmentally friendly because it is made from excess leather from shoe and bag factories, compressed into sheets!

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