Saturday, August 09, 2008

It's all about perspective

This is very strange to say, but hurting after a really good class is actually a good thing! I went to class on Thursday night. It didn't really seem like we did all that much that was strenuous, but after about 75 jumping jacks and then some other interesting stretches (handstand push ups, anyone??), we got right into technique. We did kicks and punches. Man, that was awesome. I am so NOT with the program and have to re-learn things!! I love it!!
We did some partner drills with a blocker...one of you swings at the other. The one not swinging has to literally duck out of the way. That was cool. We did many variations of that, then we did jumps. I am not a jumper, just so you know, but I think I know what to work on now! LOL!! I had an issue jumping OVER the blocker. We can see where I need work for sure!
We also used mouse pads (We called them Aggie mouse pads--they were circular with holes in them. And, I suppose I should explain that--Aggies are people who go to Texas A&M University) for practicing spear hand techniques and punches. She also had us toss it and try to kick it and catch it. That was fun. I enjoyed that immensely. I can see where I need to improve.

We went back to the other room and worked on falling techniques too. I am close to 100 pounds overweight and hate to fall and/or roll, but...I did it on Thursday with no complaints! It was wonderful to be able to do a technique and feel like I accomplished something. I'm paying for it now because my left leg is really sore, but it's a good soreness. I'll take it. I truly enjoyed that class.

Today is the Dan class. I was trying to find an excuse not to go and was going to use the soreness I feel to keep from going but...I will benefit and if I show up, they'll know I'm serious about being there. This is a good thing.

I was talking to a good friend and explained to him that I've never felt excited about doing falls and rolls, but that I'd learned something Thursday. He said that sometimes it takes a different perspective to teach you something you know you can do. It may have been a fear of looking stupid in front of all those men at the old school or just the fear of myself that kept me from doing it. At this school, they told me to visualize an armadillo and roll up as I did the back fall. I was also told to exhale as I fell. You know what? It works!



Friday, August 08, 2008

Language barriers...not for long

I went to my first class at BTK last night. They are really, really nice there. I think I've mentioned it before. They have incredible patience for a martial artist with no Korean. I *should* know Korean! When we joined the Federation at the old school, there was a short-lived attempt to teach us Korean, but it didn't last longer than a couple of months. We were supposed to learn the names of the various blocks and punches. I *should* have been studying them before class, but I didn't. Well, now I'm going to spend my weekend studying!

Here's the first thing on my agenda:

NUMBERS

ENGLISH

KOREAN

1 One Hana
2 Two Tul
3 Three Set
4 Four Net
5 Five Taset
6 Six Yoset
7 Seven Ilgot
8 Eight Yodol
9 Nine Ahop
10 Ten Yol
11 Eleven Yol Hana
12 Twelve Yol Tul
13 Thirteen Yol Set
14 Fourteen Yol Net
15 Fifteen Yol Taset
16 Sixteen Yol Yoset
17 Seventeen Yol Ilgot
18 Eighteen Yol Yodol
19 Nineteen Yol Ahop
20 Twenty Su Mul

Say THOSE three times fast!!


Tuesday, August 05, 2008

Tuesday night randomness....

My hubby stepped up to the plate and wrote an email for me to send to my former instructor. He told him I'm not coming back.
Now that it's done, can we move on????

The Olympics are on the way. My favorite competitions are the swimming, the gymnastics and the equestrian events. I think they're wonderful to watch. I hope I'll be able to Tivo some of the events to watch at a later point. It will be pretty cool to see that after work. I may have to hunt for a podcast or something to sneak peeks at during work!!!


No Regrets

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Record high....

Today was a record high.

107

NOT a mis-print. That's the record high. It was today's temperature. The previous record had been 105. It's now broken.



Hotter than???

Here's a funny for you...I have the Accuweather toolbar on Firefox (since I use it). It's showing the temperature for today to be "106* F". What's so funny? Well, beside it, there's an icon of a thermometer in flames. Pretty much describes how it is today. HAHAHA!!!
It really does feel like this: