<--Back Oh great and powerful Buddha, Now that we're out of college some of my old teammates and I would like to form a Men's Rugby club in Keene, NH. Since Amoskeg (NH), Rutland(VT), and Springfield(MA) are all too far to be able to hold a job and still make practices we have said for years that somebody should form a club in Keene. Well one night while we were partaking of a few pints (for medicinal purposes) I had a vision, we could be those Somebodies! We all agreed that this was a great idea, However none of us have the slightest Idea of how to go about it. We need your knowledge Oh enlightened one please help us spread Rugby across this nation. Sincerely Erich "Blurdog" Bolewski Dear Blurdog, You are already on the path to enlightenment! The fermented grains of Mother Earth are powerful food to nurture the creative mind and fertilize desire, growing ambition to fruition! You've already got a few bodies; the next step is to go recruiting. Hit gyms, area colleges, Sports bars etc and put up flyers with contact info. Are their any local hangouts that cater to expatriates from Rugby playing nations? ( English/Irish Pubs, Social Organizations or Civic Groups). Also advertise in local Sports Mags, Weeklies, the town paper etc. Next contact the area teams that you mentioned that are too far away to practice with. Ask them if they have any contact/players that can't make regular practices etc because they live/work too far away. They should be happy to see another team forming and be willing to help you out. Once you start getting some response, start holding regular practices and concentrate on everyone having fun. Nothing will kill your efforts quicker than some power mad, ego inflated, drill Sargent wanna be making practice a living hell on the new and uninitiated. If it ain't fun, nobody is going to stick with it. Get your team established then worry about getting all serious and competitive. Good Luck and keep me updated on how it goes. Have you thought of a name for the team yet? How about "The Lean Keene Buddha Machine RFC". Cheers! Rugby Buddha Dear Rugby Buddha, I would like to know what kind of training I should be doing to help me prepare to play Rugby. I only played 1 game and I really liked it. I am 36; I lift weights daily and participate in Ju Jitsu 3-4 times a week. I also run on the treadmill 2-4 times a week in a jog - run style for 30 to 35 min a day 2-3 times a week. I played tight head prop and will play with older more experienced players. Michelle Dear Michelle, The paths to enlightenment are many. Make the journey along the path that brings you joy. It sounds like you are already incredibly active and probably very fit. The weight training is addressing anaerobic needs, Ju Jitsu addresses flexibility concerns, and obviously your running addresses aerobic stamina. If you enjoy these activities, keep doing them. The key to being fit is enjoying your work out. If you don't, you don't train as hard or as often. My only recommendation would be to adjust your lifting and running programs to more closely mirror the physical activity your go through in a rugby game. As a prop you experience brief periods of intense anaerobic activity (scrums/rucks/mauls) followed by brief high intensity aerobic activity (sprinting to the breakdown) or slightly longer periods of less intense aerobic activity (jogging to the line out/scrum/covering kicks) depending on the flow of the game. Try a circuit weight training program. Most gyms have a set up for this. If not make your self a tape. (ready begin. You have 30 seconds to complete the exercise....Beep. Stop you have 30 sec. to move to the next station....Beep Ready begin... etc) The idea is to go from weight station to weight station at pace. At the first station you do 10 -15 reps in 30 seconds (if you can do more up the weight next time- less lower it) the 30 sec. pause to move to next station and set up then repeat. Completing a circuit that works upper and lower body in about 16-22 minutes depending on the # of stations available at your gym or how many circuits you want to complete. This simulates the short bursts of anaerobic activity while the pace addresses aerobic concerns. Most Gyms have stations reserved for this type of training so it is easy to work in with others doing the same thing. In your running routine, intersperse 20-40 meter sprints to simulate game conditions. If you want to get truly Zen with it, find a field and play a game in your head. Visualize the game, what you are doing and the physical requirements. Sprint to break downs and do push ups, Jog to line outs and do Star jumps. GET BACK TEN!! Play the game by yourself! People may think you are weird but it can be a lot of fun! Good Luck! Rugby Buddha Dear Rugby Buddha, I was wondering if you could tell me the quick and easy run down on rugby. I am planning to start playing next year, and have never even heard the rules or seen a game, or even a ball up close. I basically just want to know because I do not want to look like a fool. Thank you so much, this is the first web site that actually gave out an address for questions that could be asked. Oh, by the way, are their different rules for women's rugby? Because that is what I will be playing. Thank you again, Jessica Dear Jessica, The mind of the pupil is like a rose bud. Properly nourished and cared for a rosebud grows to its full potential, blossoming into a radiant and beautiful flower. So the uninitiated rugby player, if properly nurtured and coached, grows into a rampaging merchant of pain and punishment, reveling in the intoxicating glory of competition and victory. The Rose and The Rugger, both reflections of natures beauty. As a new Rugger you will be overwhelmed with the complexity of this game. Don't be afraid and don't let it discourage you. If you master the basics, the learning curve from there is very rapid. So let’s begin with the fundamental rules: 1)You cannot throw the ball forward. You must pass it backward, or run or kick it forward. 2)You cannot block for your teammates or "play" anyone without the ball. 3)There are no "downs" Like soccer, play is continuous, until a whistle is blown, or the ball goes out of bounds. So don't stop till you hear a whistle! 4)Offside is the hardest concept to master. I won't even try to explain it. You will never understand it till after you've played a few games. Rugby is also a very social game, so there are a couple of aspects off the field you should be aware of in order to not look foolish. First, Old Boys/Girls should be shown a great deal of respect. They have played the matches, suffered the wounds, and mastered the art of the game. Buy a pint or two for an older player and you can often coax them into imparting some of the wisdom and experience they have gained over the years. It is a great way to learn the "Tricks" of the game. Also remember that like old people everywhere they tend to feel a need to exert their dominance in often-silly displays of bravado. Indulge them. If they need a body for a three-man lift competition against another Veteran player, volunteer. If they want to try and best you in spoons, go for it. If they like you they may even sponsor you in a "Quarters" Race against the other team at the post game social (A very nice honor). In the long run it is worth it to curry a little favor with them. (Standing for a pitcher or two goes a long way towards breaking the ice too.) So always look for the players that have been around the longest. Those are the ones that can teach you the most. Above all, have fun on and off the field! Don't worry about you image or appearing foolish. If you play rugby that's all that matters. Young/old, veteran/rookie it isn't important, you're one of us now. Cheers! Rugby Buddha Dear Rugby Buddha, We have all sung rugby songs and the various versions of them but I know very few verses to my favorite song, "If Jesus was a Rugger" do you know any outstanding verses I can use? Also what is your favorite Rugby song? Thank you, Matt Dear Matt, " The fierce song of battle burns hotly in the heart, yet the sweet song of camaraderie warms the heart as no other can." I am glad to see that post match singing is still alive out there! It is a great tradition and, if you have toured overseas or hosted a touring side, you know it is an even bigger part of our game outside of the US. I am familiar with "Jesus Saves", but probably don't know any verse you haven't already heard. (Headgear is illegal, Toe cleat etc). As far as my favorites, I've always like "Wild West Show", "Jonestown" and "Yogi". I'm also partial to "We Bid You Goodnight" which is an easy song and an excellent way to make a team exit from the pub. I also have included the words to a song that Zeus (Formerly of the Atlanta Renegades) and I came up with in the parking lot of a pub one night after waaaay too many pints. It is a take off of the Sons of the Pioneer's hit "Cool Water". Words are below and I've also included a link to a site with a midi file of the original "Cool Water" if you aren't familiar with the melody. http://www.captain-dave.com/music/coolwater.html Cheers! Rugby Buddha COOL LAGER (Words by Zeus & Buddha, with apologies to Bob Nolan) All day I've run the barren pitch Without the taste of lager...... Cool, lager Old Dan and I with throats burnt dry And souls that cry for lager ....... Cool, clear, lager Keep a-ruckin' Dan don't you listen to him Dan He's a dev-il not a man And he spreads the burning pitch .....with lager.... lager Dan can you see that big silver keg where the lagers runnin' free and it's waiting there for you an me .....lager, lager The half is cool and I'm a fool Each thought a pint of lager.....Cool, lager But with the half I'll rise and laugh And carry on to lager ...... Cool, clear, lager The shadows sway and seem to say Today we play for lager.... Cool, lager And 'way up there He'll hear our prayer And show us where there's lager ...... Cool, clear, lager Keep a-ruckin' Dan don't you listen to him Dan He's a dev-il not a man And he spreads the burning pitch .....with lager, lager Dan can you see that big silver keg where the lagers runnin' free and it's waiting there for you an me .....lager....lager........ Cool.....Clear..... Lager Dear Rugby Buddha, I have just recently begun to play rugby in this first semester at my school. In doing so, I have come to love this game as much as anything Else that I have truly loved to do. I try to study this sport and make myself A better player all around, as well as in the forward pack. Thus in my quest for greater enlightenment in the sport of rugby, I turn to the rugby Buddha for advice. My question is simply, "How can I most effectively psyche out the members of the opposing team?" I am considering painting my face in my schools colors (this idea was rightfully inspired by the movie Braveheart), but I am not sure how that will work out. Any ideas you can give me would be greatly appreciated! Signed, Mike (Killer #2) Ah My Young Assassin, I like your attitude! Rugby is a VERY mental game. As a hooker myself (and sometimes prop) I have often been faced with your dilemma. As a smaller player for the first 10 or so years of my career, I made a point of doing a couple of things: On the kick off I would be sure to have our kicker try to place the ball to the biggest forward they had. Then I would be the first person to the ball and drive myself as far through him as possible. My logic, or lack there of, being that if I hit the biggest guy on the field as hard as I could, no other hit I took the rest of the game would hurt as much. If we didn't have the first kick, I looked for the same opportunity in the first ruck. This really did more to boost my confidence and psyche me up than psyche the opponent out. But part of the mental chess game is to be supremely confident. And if the other guy got the wind knocked out of him 5 seconds into the game that didn't hurt either. As for face paint, I advice against it. It will only rub off and more than likely simply get in your eyes. As I have gotten older, bigger, slower, wiser, I prefer the more subtle psyche. Talk to your opponent. And I don't mean trash talk, that just gets the other guy pumped up. You want him confused or distracted, not pumped up and frothing at the mouth. What I mean is play with his mind. For example: Their forwards work hard and move the ball up field then pass out to the backs who either lose possession or kick it away. Drop a few comments, like "Damn backs you bust your ass and they always lose the ball". Whether he says anything or not he will mentally be agreeing with you and start getting down on his backs. Keep it up. At every opportunity point out work that went for naught, bad plays, poor decisions, but do it in as if you feel sorry for him. It won't take long for him/them to start bitching at each other and once that starts egg him/them on with harmless comments like, "What are you gonna do? You come out, bust your ass, play hard and then some guy like that who just doesn't care enough starts giving the game away. I feel for you buddy, I've had it happen too." This really works well late, when people are tired and the game is on the line. Another way to get into an opponent’s head is to physically out match him, then feel sorry for him. Lay on a hit then, help him up and say you didn't mean to hurt him. Tweak the hooker really good in a scrum and talk to him the whole time your doing it, apologizing because you really need to look good for the coach today, its nothing personal. Give him advice on how to improve his game. Sub-consciencely you become the better player to him and he quits striving to best you. Now your game gets easier and you can start concentrating on playing "your" game rather than on beating him at his. He's done. All these little things will irritate the hell out of your opponent without getting him pumped up. Most of their anger and frustration gets directed at their teammates where it is most damaging. And lots of times they end up playing into the subordinate role you are projecting on them. So in summary: Play Hard. Play Tough. Talk Nice. It really works. Cheers! Rugby Buddha Dear Rugby Buddha, I was wanting to know what would be a good workout program for me, I play Fly-Half ? I was also wondering how I could work on my place kicks through weights and just by actually practicing the actual kick? Thanks for your knowledge, Shawn Barber Dear Shawn, Kicking is one of the most Zen aspects of Rugby. It encompasses both physical and mental discipline. I would recommend you get on of the many videos on kicking that are available. I would also recommend you practice both drop kicking and kicking for touch on the run, as well as, place kicking. As a Fly-half you will be called upon to do all three. You should also be able to accurately grub kick and pop kick as a Fly-half. With respect to place kicking, George Hook, former National Technical Director for USA Rugby, used to talk about eliminating the variables. What he pointed out was the myriad of things that can effect the accuracy of a kick: wind, weather, footing, placement, tee, approach, follow through and various points of technique and mechanics . Some you can control others you cannot.( a good video will tell you what you need to know regarding mechanics) He then advocated a very Zen approach to kicking. Experiment with the style and technique that works best for you. Once you have found the combination of mechanics that works best for you- ball placement on the tee, planting foot placement, approach steps and angle, kicking foot placement (soccer style or football), body positioning (head down, upper body location in respect to the ball), follow through. Then practice it over and over. Build a routine. Do EXACTLY the same things in the same way, in the same order every time, down to how many breaths you take before you begin your approach. Practice everyday concentrating on your routine and your mechanics. Make X number of attempts before practice and X number of attempts after practice. Then every morning when you wake up, make the same number of attempts in your mind. Visualize your routine and mechanics. Do it EXACTLY the same way you do it in practice. Then at night do the same thing again as you are laying in bed. Sounds silly but, if you do this religiously, your routine and mechanics become automatic. No matter how tired you are, cold or hot you are, no matter if it is wet or dry, if you are down by one in injury time, or up by 40, you will have taken every variable within your control and eliminated it as a possible source for error. If you do start missing kicks, by dismantling your routine piece by piece you can eliminate variables until you find the source of the problem and then correct it. Cheers! Rugby Buddha Dear Rugby Buddha, Have you ever heard of the Schoolhouse Mercenaries Rugby Football Club? I have heard that they still exist and are recruiting players? However, I have also heard this is a designation to old boys who do not affiliate with any team and now play for any club, any where, at any given time? You tell me. Al Dear Al, Schoolhouse is one of the original houses or dorms at the Rugby School. Its intramural sports teams used a Skull & Crossbones logo. The Schoolhouse Mercenaries is the alumni team composed of players who roomed at Schoolhouse while at the Rugby School. I would imagine that would be the criteria for playing with them. Their logo is a Skull & crossed Sword and Rifle. Unfortunately that is all the information I have on them. You might try writing or emailing the Rugby School for more information. Cheers! Rugby Buddha Dear Rugby Buddha, I wanted to ask you what I consider to be almost a spiritual question that rugby, and only rugby, has brought into my life. I think that rugby and perhaps you then can help me answer it. I know that in rugby we are supposed to practice deference to the referee of our match (never of others' matches!). However, as an astute and thoughtful player who knows how to bend the rules, but does not break them too often, I often find myself being watched extra carefully and indeed penalized unfairly, by these unfit, power-tripping louts who took a certification class and figure themselves to be refs. Never mind that they often are not even in the right place looking at the right thing ( I have reffed myself). So my question is... where is my best course of action- to silently suffer (as a Buddha would?), to complain vocally yet respectfully, to be completely irreverent and show the ref for the %$%$#@@* that he/she is? Bad reffing must be exposed! I hope you can help me discover the answer to this most troubling question. In Rugby Spirit- A sassy #8 Dear Sassy, You pose a most interesting question. The answer to which is within you. In rugby the Referee is the sole judge of fact and law. As such he must be respected. Does this mean that every Referee is an all knowing, all seeing, perfect being? You have refereed and know the answer. If you are known to "bend the rules" a referee will watch you closely to make sure you don't actually break them. Treat it as a sign of respect for your ability and knowledge of the game. As a Referee don't you watch players you know have a penchant for doing certain things? As a Referee you know at any given moment there are more potential violations to be looked for than can be observed by any single person. Are you necessarily looking at or for the same thing each of the other thirty people on the field are looking at or for? As a player you bend rules to see how much a particular Referee will let you get away with. In turn, a Referee may ding you for "bending" the rules, to let you know that you have reached the limit. No matter how bad you feel the situation is on the field, maintain a respectful demeanor. If you lose your temper you draw additional attention to yourself. More importantly, if you are that wrapped up in what the Referee is or isn't doing, you aren't concentrating on your game and your team is suffering as a result. Treat the on field relationship with a Referee as a chess match. If he catches you "bending" the rules, laugh, wink and be a little more subtle next time. I've had great chess games with referees. One in particular came up to me after a game laughing and say "Dammit! I know you were cheating, I just can't figure out how!" When I eventually retired from the front row I bought him a beer and told him. It is a game within the game. Have fun with it. If a Referee is truly and without doubt "bad". Write a letter to your Referee Society and document your complaint. If enough letters are received, it will probably result in the Referee being evaluated to determine the merit of the complaints. If there is merit his deficiencies will be coached and corrected. "The angry droplet bounces off the rock to dry and evaporate on the bank, joining not its brethren who flow gently over and around the rock to become the river in it's unstoppable journey to the sea. Do not let the rock of discord put you on the side line while your teammates flow together to become the game and make the unstoppable journey to victory." Rugby Buddha