September 30, 2009 by admin.

Wei table:

Anyone ever hear about the Wei table or use it? Here is the link to what I am blabbering about:

http://cuetable.com/P/

To me this is the ultimate tool to use for online discussion and it’s great that Wei Chao took the time to design it and allow us to use it free of charge. It went through some changes/ improvements over the years and I would have to say it’s perfect, you couldn’t really ask for anything more from a program.

Please check it out if you have the time, they make it very easy to use and there is a tutorial so you can utilize all of the tools. I’m sure anyone that is serious about pool can use this in some way to improve your game or convey information so I hope everyone uses it as some point in time and even donates a little to keep Wei funded on future projects.

Kicking Articles:

Here are the links to two articles that were written by a good friend and fellow Jacksonvillian, Scott Rohleder, they are very well written and a testament to his talent in writing and on the table. They are about one rail kicks and covers a lot of information, there’s even a nice little picture of him on the first page.

Part 1: http://talk.cuetable.com/ext.php?ref=http://www.poolstudent.com/2009/09/16/one-rail-kicking-systems-2/

Part 2:  http://talk.cuetable.com/ext.php?ref=http://www.poolstudent.com/2009/09/16/one-rail-kicking-systems-2/

Scott is a great Billiard player also and that comes across in his teaching, he incorporates systems and analyzes things extremely well as he is exceptionally intelligent. Over the years he drifted away from the game for  a few years but is coming back in full force, just last week he said he was about 99% back to his old form. We talk about pool for hours on end and laugh at ourselves or each other discussing life in general, we have become good friends over the past few months as we try to push our games to new heights.

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September 30, 2009 by admin.

At home cooking some corned beef hash with onions and corn to throw on some rice after splitting the little weekly Park Ave. tournament, tonight they had 17 players so the split was only $75 but it only took 5 hours. Am also watching “House” on www.hulu.com which I love, yes love, the show teaches you so many things but the part I love most is the psychological/ human behavior aspect.

The tournament was fun even if it was smaller than we would like, ended up splitting it with Smoking Joe in the finals since he had a job to finish (he cleans businesses at night) and didn’t want to play too late. William V. has been shooting really well and on the case game should have run out but dogged the 8-ball and conceded the match. Come to think of it almost everyone is playing better pool these days and there are a lot of people practicing/ getting lessons to improve their game, this is a wonderful thing as I think good competition is good for everyone. They also have new felt on a couple of tables at Park Ave. and actually bought “measle” cueballs for all of the racks which makes a huge difference, thank you Martin we really appreciate it!!

Another nice thing is that it was nice and cool outside, a nice 68 degrees if the little number in the dashboard was correct. Lately my car has been smoking a little and you could smell oil burning when sitting at a red light, “oh no!!” I said to myself as I thought it would mean a costly repair. But to my delight I realized today that the oil was hitting the exhaust manifold only because I forgot to put the oil cap back on the engine on Sunday……crisis averted.

Today I wore a hat all day and realized that not only do I look goofy in one but it also drives me bonkers, my head would get hot/ itchy and every few minutes I would take it off and reset it on my head. How anyone shoots pool with one on is beyond me, more power to the person that can see anything and not be distracted by the limited view causing more head movement. Besides, it makes my face look fatter and that’s not the look I am going for, earlier today an old guy at the pool hall announced “man you’re getting fat!!”………thanks buddy.

Today there was also an Earthquake in Samoa that registered 8.0 approximately 7.4 miles beneath the surface……..say what?!??! How in the world do you figure that one out? After hearing that I was worried about Hawaii being hit with a Tsunami but there was no real threat of that happening I found out later, just in case I called my Mom to make sure she heard of what was happening and to be prepared. They said there were 3 waves generated with the highest being 5.1 feet but they didn’t report on where it hit or what damage it did, the death toll is less than 20 thankfully.

Have two lessons scheduled for tomorrow with Charles V. and Mr. Strout, after that I’m going to cruise by the Orange Park Kennel Club to support my good friend Joey . Not going to play this time but will be there for moral support and to watch how grownups play poker, plus drink a few beers supplied by Mr. Joey. His poker game is like my pool game and we constantly talk about our respective games as if they were one in the same, it’s kind of cool to see the parallel in physical and mental aspects of it in addition to how we handle adversity while competing. There is much to learn from any situation if you look for it………we do.

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September 28, 2009 by admin.

Ahhhh, full and happy. Just got done eating some ramen with green onions and spam thrown in along with a tuna salad sandwich and some chips. Sure it’s a lot of food for so late at night but I didn’t eat much all day since I wanted to come home to make what I just listed and it was all that I wanted it to be!!!

Played the Bankshots tournament today and even though it was a small tournament it still felt really good to win it. Beat Bobby Hicks in the finals and I felt that I played strongly throughout the day, there were a couple of matches where I only missed a ball or two in a race to 7.

Yesterday there was an even smaller tournament at Park Ave. with a $25 entry, normally it’s only $10 so the added expense chased a lot of players out so only 11 played. Finished 2nd to Grossman after losing 5-7 in the finals, at 5-5 he slopped in the 1-ball, 5-ball and after a couple of safeties the 6-ball………..that’s right 3 slop shots in one game to get to the hill. At first I wasn’t even going to play since they only had 10 players but the manager said the owner would pitch in $100 to the pot if I stayed to play, so for the benefit of everyone playing I stayed so that they would add the extra cash.

Between matches I saw that they were making flyers for their once a month tournament and made a suggestion, they listed the added money as “$300 with 32 players” which to me was not good. Since I knew they would add some money if they got more than 16 I told them to list it as “$150 added GUARANTEED!!”, to me it would attract more players and if they got 32 they could add even more money to the delight of the players. I hope it works out as they need the business and obviously want tournament players to show up, they even made the investment of getting all “measle” cueballs for the tables and got rid of the very light and sometimes smaller “red circle” cueballs.

All in all it was a good weekend and even got a couple of lessons scheduled for this week, it’s nice to be back that week in Galveston was as tiring as it was fruitful. Next weekend at Bankshots they are going to have Tony Crosby and the KF Cue Tour event and the weekend after that I am going to Spring Hill for the last stop of the Seminole Pro Tour at Capone’s. Would be nice to win either event and I feel like I have a legitimate chance at both but only time will tell, having the home court advantage has proven itself in the past and I am hungry to win another decent event.

Wish me luck, I am trying as hard as I can to play well and help Jacksonville play better pool one player at a time!!

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September 24, 2009 by admin.

Today is the 23rd and the first day that I feel normal since I got back on Sunday, it was quite a long trip and my body did not handle it well. The thing that affected me the most was the lack of good sleep, since Galveston is mosquito heaven they were obviously everywhere including in your room in the middle of the night.

Several nights I woke up slapping an arm or leg and not being able to go back to sleep, those little buggers were everywhere even hours after being in your room without opening a door or window. It’s bad enough when you are outside but you figure you would be safe in your room after killing the ones that follow you in, but somehow they get in and feast on you for dessert.

Anyways, getting a full night’s sleep was impossible and the last day I was there I had to get up at 5am to make the flight so I only got about 3 hours of sleep which made things worse. The way I planned the flight was that I would get back in time to play the usual Bankshot’s Sunday tournament, what I didn’t plan on is getting like zero sleep and waking up before the crack of dawn. Though I came back with high hopes and a smile I didn’t do very well in the tournament and came home to slumber rather early and for a very long time.

This is getting pretty long and there is a ton to write so I will call this “part 1″ so that I can sleep and continue tomorrow, it was a great event for me and I don’t want to rush or miss anything in the writing of it. To tell you the truth I don’t even know who reads this or if they care but it feels good to write it out sometimes and it’s fun, if anything it’s a good way to get some good mental exercise and carpal tunnel syndrome ha ha. Good night people, part 1 is a wrap!!

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September 22, 2009 by admin.

Someone suggested that I get one of these to make things easier for sponsorship and such, there is one on my website so please email me for details. Am cashing at almost every event and will carry over any won funds to the smaller tournaments so that a return is almost guaranteed. Trying to work up funds to go to the US Open next month, really starting to pick up some momentum with my game and can’t wait to play!!

Button is on the bottom right hand corner of this and every page I believe: www.neilfujiwara.com

Also here is a link to the Shane Van Boening/ Francisco Bustamante match in Galveston, they are racing to 9 in 10-ball and it’s a great match. Nick Varner and I had a great time in the commentary booth he is so easy to work with and everyone loves listening to him, it was flattering to work with him!!

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2191594

Any feedback (good and bad) will be much appreciated as I will be doing more commentary in the future for different events and I want to be someone that people like listening to. Thank you for taking the time to watch and make comments, fire away!

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September 9, 2009 by admin.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2120468

It says that it’s just after midnight but we started after 2am, I had been there since 11am so I was extremely tired and sore but also very fired up to be in the finals and close to winning. Not great playing by either party and the last game is cut off but I won 7-5 and it’s one of the few videos of us playing.

Video feedback is so crucial and see some things I don’t like in my game so I will be making some changes to correct them. Also I am offering lessons with video taping now which I hope people opt for since it’s so invaluable, prices will be posted on the website shortly.

Any comments or questions are appreciated, good or bad. Enjoy!!

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September 7, 2009 by admin.

Got up pretty early on Monday after going to sleep pretty late after winning the tournament at Bankshots but had to get to the pool hall again to meet with a new student. Jimmy Stewart requested 4 hours of lessons with video (provided by Danny “Rabbit” Rogers) and it went very well to me.

He is a decent player with great fundamentals and nice stroke, but like us all he rushes through things and doesn’t map things out completely which is all that is really holding him back from playing much better. It was nice to have another new student especially one which requested multiple hours, I might put in a clause that states the first lesson with a new student to be a minimum of two hours because one hour just isn’t enough time to address anything really.

After that we hung around for a bit and shot with John Ring, had a few beers in celebration since we didn’t get to after the tournament since it ended so late. The drinks after winning an event are the sweetest and after the Seminole event I realized just how addicting and hard fought those feelings are to come by. It’s been almost a full year since having that feeling and I am determined to have them more often, need to work on my cueball and discipline with mapping out layouts.

Just received a book from my mentor, started reading “Shooting from Within” by J. Michael Plaxico today and will finish it in the next day or so since it isn’t that long. Hope to learn quite a bit from it as it came highly recommended and was bought/sent to me for the express reason for preparing for the Galveston event.  Time to read and either play the Park Ave. tournament or practice for a couple of hours, will probably compete since I want to try and work up the bankroll for my trip out of town.

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September 7, 2009 by admin.

Just got home after being at the pool hall for about 16 hours, went early to give Jin two hours worth of lessons before the tournament started. Went undefeated and won the whole thing, we finished just after 3am and we were all beat. There were more than a few people watching as the 64 player field got whittled down to the end, I was actually surprised to see how many people were there to watch the finals at such a late hour.

Played more than a couple of hill-hill matches where I ran out the last rack, overall I played well but seriously didn’t play to my full potential 80% of the time. There were many examples when I could have either played a safety or tried harder to plan and didn’t, it’s because I get away with it that I don’t try harder but I know I have to push more and more.

It was a great event and everyone was happy that Jeff put the tournament together, there were many players from the surrounding area and it was a tough field for a $10 entry event. Feels great to win, so so great……so so tired too!!

Good night all!!

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September 5, 2009 by admin.

Tonight I did something different than the previous months, I stayed home on a Friday night. Not only did I do it to save money and keep with the “win win win” mindset lately in playing pool, but I ended up watching a video of me playing Grossman on ustream.tv.

It looked like I didn’t even want to be there and lost easily 2-7, last weekend I beat him after being down 2-4 and I was in that match 100% which is how I intend to approach all future matches. It’s a shame I wasted so many months recently playing poor pool and not optimizing the opportunities to win, but at least I changed that and now have my head on straight.

Also watched a video of Rodney Morris and Thorsten Hohmann from the 2008 US Open, it’s great to see the difference in styles and shot selection from both players. I admire both people and want to learn as much I can, the Diamond table plays tough especially under the TV lights and pressure.

Another reason I didn’t want to go out is because I am actually losing weight and know all I would do is go out to drink beer and come home to eat shitty food. Down a few pounds and seeing a difference in the pudginess so I want to keep it up, only a few more days till Galveston and I want to keep exercising and eating better. I have no goal or time frame I just wanted to change my habits since what I was doing was obviously doing nothing but making me gain weight and be unhappy.

Anyways, going to sleep shortly to go and play the Top Hats tournament tomorrow, Larry B. told me last week that he tried to put down a $100 bet on me to win the tournament and had no takers. I will try my best to not disappoint those who have high expectations of me, I’m there to win!!

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September 2, 2009 by admin.

Just got home from Bankshots and giving a new student a couple hours worth of lessons, he moved here from Virginia recently for the Navy and his wife has a part-time job at the pool hall. The session went very well he is a decent player that only needs a tweak here or there physically and some discipline mentally.

He brought up an interesting thing though, which was that I am his first instructor for his pool game. That got me thinking that most of the people I teach are first-timers in that respect, it is a very flattering point and I will do my best to not disappoint them. Like most males he has an ego and was very happy about his level of play considering that he has never had lessons but knew that once he hit his current plateau that he needed help to get over it.

Anyways, we had a great session together and he is stoked about playing pool and the progress that we made today. He is your typical student where he knows quite a bit whose fundamentals are fine, it’s just some discipline and fine tuning that  is needed to help him get to the next level. We had a good time talking and getting to know each other, he is a very nice guy with a good sense of humor and we are close to the same age so we have a lot of things in common.

After the lesson we hit balls around for a couple of hours, his game changed quite a bit even in the short time that we had working on his game. He slowed down and is planning the rack out much better now and his stroke looks a lot more focused. He is also hitting the center of the cue ball on his break and therefore hitting the one-ball dead on, that is the 1st thing we worked on today and he is really happy with his results. The smile that he had on his face gives me a nice sense of pride in helping him, he also thanked me more times than I could count almost to the point of making me blush. It’s great to be able to help someone and help them see the results that they desire, there is no doubt in my mind that he will work on his game faithfully and bring his level up a notch while being more consistent.

Summary: Successful lesson with a new student followed by a good practice session , awesome!!

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