Page 39 - Sports Energy News, Cornwall, Issue No 147

www.sportsenergynews.com Issue #147 April 2025 39

By Brian Johnston unnoticed by brokers and borrowers By Michael VanderMeer back: Every year, CRA sets an
Continued from page 38 alike. Continued from page 38 income threshold that determines
As more borrowers eye variable be a qualifying home if located in whether OAS claw back (recovery
dipping below 4% for the first time in products in anticipation of future BoC Canada), as your principal place tax) will apply. Income-splitting,
months, Butler says the pricing war is rate cuts—as reflected in the latest of residence that your spouse or TFSA withdrawals, and strategic
well underway. rate forecasts, lenders are adjusting common-law partner owned or RRIF planning can help you stay
Big banks are especially keen to pricing, but not for the usual reasons. jointly owned in this calendar year below this threshold.
compete right now after a sluggish start While fixed mortgage rates tend to or in the previous four calendar Tax season is the perfect time
to the year for mortgage originations. move with bond yields, variable years.” Also, if you are with a to review your retirement tax
That’s translating into sharper fixed rates are tied to the Bank of Canada’s partner that you are not married to strategy. A little planning today
rate offers across the board. overnight rate. However, the discounts or living together and the partner can mean big savings in the years
But when it comes to variable-rate lenders offer off their prime rate can has not owned a home, they can ahead.
mortgages, it’s a different story shrink when credit spreads widen— open an account, although it will Disclaimer: Equity Associates
altogether. that is, when the cost of borrowing be your partner that benefits from Inc. is registered as a Mutual
While the Bank of Canada’s overnight for lenders increases relative to the tax savings. Fund Dealer & an EMD Dealer in
rate dropped another 25 basis points government bond yields. selected provinces. The opinions
earlier this month, lenders are quietly This means that even as bond yields By Max Ming expressed in this communication
Continued from page 38
reducing their variable-rate discounts fall, lenders may reduce variable- are those of the writer and do not
off prime—effectively making rate discounts to preserve their profit withdrawals can help keep your necessarily reflect those of Equity
new variable-rate mortgages more margins in the face of rising credit taxable income in check. Associates Inc.
expensive. It’s a trend that hasn’t gone costs. Keep an Eye on the OAS Claw

KARATE KOMMENTS a personal seminar in your own living room. It is now 2025 and technology
has certainly evolved – YouTube has over six billion hours of video watched
each month. To put that number into perspective, it translates to an average
of over fifty minutes per month for each person on earth. Like most things
By Jim Riddell, in life, martial arts video come with pros and cons. On the plus side, it is
absolutely free and can be watched anywhere and at any time, extending
Seaway Karate Club your dojo training to the location of your choice. There are videos available
for almost any type of combative art training and can be watched as often
as necessary, then rewatched as a resource for refreshment in the future. On
Technology as a Training Tool the downside, the videos may be free but sometimes you get exactly what
you pay for, as some are from suspect sources and are designed to promote
uch of the karate kata that is taught in dojos today remains either certain lines of products, and what information they contain is often of little
(useless) value. Some others that I’ve seen may show excellent technique,
Mthe same, or very similar, to what was being taught in Okinawa one
hundred plus years ago. What has changed is the means in which many, if but either neglect any safety concerns, or fail to take the time to properly
not most, students learn kata today. When I first began my karate training address them.
in 1985, we would begin learning the kata in the dojo and then practice When learning a new kata there are many things to think about and
at home trying to remember the moves. I remember numerous phone sometimes this can be a bit overwhelming. Here are a few tips to help
calls with other students, discussing the sequence of moves and which simplify that new kata video. 1) Focus on the direction. 2) Focus on the
stance each particular move was in. Best Karate books were a series of techniques. 3) Put them together starting with the first four moves only,
books that covered the Heian/Pinan katas and could be ordered from the then adding four more as you progress. 4) Improve the techniques and
local bookstore, but it was a few years before we were able to acquire stances. 5) No Youtube video will be done exactly as at your club - the
anything beyond that. Video recorders weren’t that common at the time but power, flow, rhythm, and small details need to come at the dojo. 6) Bunkai
eventually we got someone to record the katas at the dojo and we all had (dissection and application) – Kata is like an iceberg – there is much more
copies made. The quality was extremely poor by today’s standard, but we below the surface than what you see. How a student views the self-defense
were all thrilled to have them to enhance our training. applications is usually relevant to belt level and experience. Technology as

By the early 90’s karate was becoming a mainstream sport and soon all a learning tool is not an absolute, but if properly used, it can enhance dojo
types of training videos in VHS format were available through mail order. training.
Most of these videos were professionally produced by big name, high Karate Quote: There is no finish line - when you achieve a goal, set a new
ranking martial artists, and although they weren’t cheap, it was like having one.