Billie Jean and Other News

We won't have another class until like week after next because of Spring Break and Dr. Bell has a conference to go to. Classes will be sporatic for the next couple of months. After the first week of May we won't have class at all until June, so I'll have to work out on my own. It's okay though. Right now my knee could use the break.

I was watching The Legend of Billie Jean again last night. I saw that movie in the theater when I was a little kid. I've always loved it and have probably seen it twenty times or more. I finally saw something about it last night and I feel really stupid for not making the connection before. Billie Jean is inspired by Joan of Arc and she cuts her hair and makes her stand, but at the end of the movie when all the t-shirts and the giant paper mache Billie Jean is burned down, it's represenative of Joan of Arc being burned at the stake. I never got that before, I just thought it was cool that the tent of merchandise burned down and no one would help the guy. Man, I'm dumb sometimes. I do love that movie though.

Tuesday Class

TKD- I kicked butt in TKD. This may be the first time I feel like I did better in TKD than in DZR. Jits didn't go poorly, I just performed very well in TKD for once. We ran through some basic techniques punching, blocking, kicking, then went in and kicked BOB for a while. Jay joined us late but he got to kick BOB. Then we did forms. It's starting to come together. I ordered a focus target that attatches to my wavemaster so that will help me on my cresent kicks which currently are crap.

DZR-After warm up, Sensei worked with me on new yawaras, and Jay and David worked on the first test stuff for David. Then we switched. I worked with David, and Jay and Sensei worked on his new stuff. Then we did some ground work defending the strong man pick you up when you are on your back. My knee was really getting sore and so I just did kimura exercises with Sensei. Man, those things work your obliques bigtime. I then proceded to dream about Brazillian Jiu Jitsu all night so I feel like I've had a nonstop workout.

Did not train on Thursday due to knee injury. I think it's getting better though. My nephew is gonna come hang out tomorrow. He's a cool kid. We'll probably just play Mario Galaxy all day.

Nothing else exciting is going on right now. Nothing worth blogging about anyway. Well one thing that irritates the hell outta me...Spam...I hate it. In the few hours between going to bed last night and the time I signed on this morning (seven am) I had 71 spam messages. Dang I wish I could get rid of it.

Wed Class

I've had a bad knee all day. Not sure what I've done to it so I was gentle tonight. I definetly will ice it tomorrow and wear a brace tomorrow night.

TKD-we did kicking techniques on BOB. Man, I need one of those. It's cool. I need to mount my spin kick thing too because I need lots of work on crescent kicks. We ran through forms and played with sticks a little too. (Arnis sticks not big sticks).

DZR-Anthony was there so I worked with him on the first ten yarawas and the four nages that occur on the first test. Jay and I worked on some of my new throws and his new throws too. It was fun. It was neat to actually teach. I really enjoyed it. I think it's neat that the DZR tradition allows students to teach newer students. It reinforces the technique to me when I have to teach it. Anthony and I did a little aikido afterwards (but just a couple techniques each because I know Dr. Bell wanted to leave. ) and it was awesome to bust out the old aikido. It's so much fun. I remember now why it was so attractive. But it's soooooo frustrating. I don't have near the frustration with jujitsu but it could be that I'm a little older and a little mellower now. Nonetheless, I really dig it.

Tuesday Class

TKD-we did a bunch of kicking drills and punching/kicking combo drills. It was just Jay and I and at the end we did forms. We ran through the first three basic sparring combos and Dr. Bell made some comment about how that's all I need to know for the first test. I asked if that was a hint. I want to really polish that stuff before I test it though.

DZR-I had to learn new sutemi (falling) which is basically a roll in the air ending in a slapout. I realized that I had been doing my right side rolls wrong all this time. Not wrong exactly but instead of having my right foot forward when I roll, I have my left foot forward and I end up doing a twisting sutemi without knowing it. It's definetly a mind game to do it right. I finally got it though. Then I learned a couple of new throws. It was fun. At the end of class was my belt ceremony. I got my belt on without it touching the ground so I only got thrown once from both Dr. Bell and Jay. I'm going to have to teach Jay how to get it on that way. I love it.

On a personal note about the weather...I love how in Texas it snowed on Monday, was like 70 on Tuesday, will be 70 today and snow tomorrow.

UFC 82

I'll be honest, I was doped up on codeine cough syrup while I was watching so I was kinda in and out but here's what I remember. Chris Leben put up an impressive win. John Fitch won a decision but the kid he fought was tough. Josh Koschek fought a dude and won by knockout. Props to Josh for how far his striking has come since he was on the Ultimate Fighter. Heath Herring looked amazing. I am so proud of him. It was great to watch him reverse position all night and get the split decision. My man, Dan Henderson hung tough for the first round and three quarters then he got his butt handed to him. I was bummed out but dang, it just goes to show that Anderson Silva is the best pound for pound fighter in the world. I guess he'll have to go up to 205 to see if he can pick that division clean too. It was a good fight night. Mark Coleman was inducted into the hall of fame and then announced that he's going to fight Brock Lesner sometime in the late summer/early fall.

Use of the Word Gay as a Synonym for Sucks

I'm not gay. My older sister is. I am totally guilty of using the word "gay" in this context. I'm even guilty of using the word "faggotry". I'm not getting on a political soapbox about gay stuff, really I'm not. During the Ellen show yesterday she spoke about a fifteen year old boy that was shot and killed on Feb 12 for being gay. Something about it struck a chord in me as I thought about my older sister. This is the email I sent her:

If weren't for you I'm not sure if I would understand the plight of the gay and lesbian community. It's sad to think that I might be as narrowminded as so many others and even though there are things that I totally don't get about you and your crazy friends (Bubbas are you serious?...j/k...the nuns were funny though) and even though I sometimes make the mistake of referring to things as "gay" I am committed to dropping that use of the word from my vocabulary for your sake and the sake of your other "family". It's not my scene and I know that I'll always see it from the outside, but hopefully, because of you I can help educate those around me that don't understand. Thanks.

It's wrong to use the word gay synonymously with sucks or lame or stuff like that. I don't care where you stand on the issue of gay marriage, gay rights, gay this or that. It doesn't matter. Gay people are humans. When we do or say things that hurt other people, we do or say things that hurt ourselves because we are all connected. Like I said, I'm guilty. But I'm gonna stop. I've come to realize that to use gay in that context is no different than using the "N" word because it is hurtful. I think sometimes we use words out of fear and out of a sense of needing to belong to the crowd that isn't that thing. Seriously, this isn't about gay or straight. I don't care where you stand. It's about loving compassion for people. And I can get behind that. No matter who they are.

This must be the most boring blog ever. I never have much to say. I've been sick for a week and trying to train for a jujitsu test (which I passed). I'm bummed because DKM was sold out and those ticket brokers want more than twice the face value of the tickets so forget that.

I guess now I can focus my attention on taekwondo so I can get that test over with.

In other news, UFC is tomorrow night. WAR HENDERSON!!!! I want somebody to beat Anderson Silva. I like Silva, but I'd like to see Henderson win this one.

Thursday Test Day

TKD-was decent, we did a bunch of different warm up stuff to work the core. It was flippin' hard. I felt like we were in yoga or something which I would probably benefit from. We then worked on kicking drills and basic sparring drills. I bowed out early to review for my DZR test.

DZR-I will never, I repeat NEVER test sick again. My breathing was off so bad I couldn't catch my breath at all. Sensei had to remind me to relax because I was having so much trouble breathing. I was exhausted before the test even started and though I stumbled through a couple of my techniques, I passed. We will do the belt ceremony next week so I have an extra few days to practice tying my belt without it touching the ground. It's a neat way to do a belting actually. In aikido, Sensei would just put your belt you. In DZR, we are in seiza in front of Sensei, he hands you the belt which you have to open with a kiai, then hand it back to him. You then bow before him and he beats you (softly) with the belt to symbolize being beaten into submission, then he hands it back to you and you have to put it on without letting it touch the ground, lest you get thrown as many times as he desires and all the other students get to throw you too. I like the ceremonial Japanese stuff. It's cool. After the test we went over more new stuff. I learned the rest of the yawara list. It's gonna take some work, but I'm excited. It's not going to be as easy to get to my 2nd Blue.

Wednesday Class

TKD-it was just me and Jay for class tonight so we worked on a whole variety of different things. It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible.

DZR-I went over my stuff for my test tonight and tweaked what needed work. Jay kept learning his new stuff and I learned a couple of new techniques from the yawara list. It was cool. Tonight's my test and I'm ready to get it out of the way. I'm tired of thinking about it.

Tuesday Class

TKD-It went pretty awesome tonight. My kicks were pretty good. I cleared up something on the form that has been bothering me and now I can pretty much get on with that and make it look nice for when I test in that discipline. We did so stuff with the bo as well and I love to play with sticks. The other students are both very close to having black belts but they haven't been exposed to a lot of bo I guess. It came pretty naturally to me, but I've played with sticks before.

DZR-We went over my lists for my test. Jay said I should test tomorrow and get it over with. He started learning his next set of techniques and so did I. It was fun. I don't know if Dr. Bell will test me tomorrow or Thursday but either way, I am kinda ready to get it over with.

DKM

So I've decided to forgo Jimmy Buffett to go and hear a band that is much more suited to my tastes. The Dropkick Murphys. I've been a DKM fan for years. I love that band. If you aren't familiar right away, they are a celtic punk band. Think punk with bagpipes. Good 'ole working class, Irish, Red Sox loving, music. I saw them last spring in Fort Worth and am proud to say they've moved up in venue and are playing at House of Blues. The song you'll probably be familiar with is "Shipping Up to Boston" that was featured in the movie, The Departed. They take a lot of traditional Irish drinking songs and punk them out too. I really dig it.

If you read my other blog, (which is now integrated here) you know that I am testing for a blue belt in jujitsu on Thursday. I've been sick as a dog this weekend, so I hope I'm all better by Tuesday to get my practice in before my test. I think I will though as my voice is way better today than it has been. I'm so glad I sucked it up and started jujitsu. It's really cool. It's more fun to watch UFC and other MMA events now, because even with my very, very, limited experience, I am seeing things in matches that I hadn't noticed before. I see openings, and I see when the fighters go for submissions way before I saw them before. I'm glad my instructor is taking brazillian jujitsu and is incorporating some of it into our curriculum.

The Oscars are totally boring tonight. There's really nothing I care about that I can't look on the internet to see the results. I'm gonna watch Dexter instead. I'd much rather see a serial killer show than the stupid Oscars, at least until they recognize the brillance of filmakers such as Rob Zombie, George Romero, and the like.

Wed and Thur Classes

Wed-TKD humbles me. I suck at it really bad. I cried but just kept going through the tears. The things I do correctly, however, I do really well, but the other stuff is reprehensible. I can't tell you how much I hear "Aish" in one night. But it means I sucked at it and I have to do it again. DZR was cool because we helped Jay get ready for his test. I ran through my stuff too. It went well. Then we did some BJJ. This BJJ guy has been coming this week just to roll before he goes off to the Army next week. He taught the Senseis some neat stuff and we rolled around and played with it. I think he was more of a Gracie guy while Sensei Bell does Machada (which is a relative of the Gracies...cousin maybe?) BJJ but it's all very similar. The dude was an MMA dude, but he was really nice. I hope he does well in the military.

Thur-TKD went a little better. I need to work on that stuff really bad, but I need to focus on DZR for a while since I test next week. We just did some kicking techniques and forms. DZR was pretty cool. Jay had his test and all went great as far as me being an uke (part of the time) until I got slammed really hard on one technique and I felt my whole insides and ribs reverberate. I got some of the wind knocked out of me and I cried. Dang it. I hate to cry. I had to bow out, get a drink and suck it up a little. I little while later, I was back to being uke again. Jay was really worried that he had hurt me, but it was cool and we're cool now. We finished off with some BJJ-specifically an omoplata and some technique that Sensei Rick uses in Progressive Jujitsu. At the end, Jay was presented with his new belt and apparently, it's jujitsu tradition that you have to put you belt on without it touching the floor (and you are in seiza or kneeling position) or everyone gets to throw you. Jay didn't make it and we got to throw him. Luckily my Aikido Sensei had shown me how to put a belt on the ceremonial Japanese way so I think with a little practice this weekend, I'll be able to roll my belt on and it'll never touch the floor. It's good to have inside information. I finally was formally introduced to Sensei Rick. He's kinda the owner/head dude. He's really cool though. He told me to stick around because I'm learning from one of the best instructors he's ever known, maybe one of the best in the world. I'm cool with that. I told him I was hooked and there was no worries about that. What is so amazing about the whole thing to me is, I know of two other of Sensei Schmidt's old students that have started DZR (from Aikido) and they don't come much. Anthony always only came here and there, and the David guy I don't know at all. I don't know, maybe I just don't have as much of a life as they do, but both of them started before I did, but I'm about test and they aren't. And it's only because I show up. I guess faithfulness is rewarded. I'm slightly nervous but pretty excited. I think I'm ready. I just need to go over my vocabulary. There's a lot more Japanese terminology to know. I made flashcards though and a little game where I draw a technique out of a ziplock baggie to help me to learn the names. I'm losing my voice and I hope I don't get sick before my test. That would suck.

Finally

I've spent the last month anxiously awaiting the announcement of Jimmy Buffett tour dates for 2008. Yes, I'm a dork, and for a metalhead, it's kinda weird to be obsessed with Jimmy Buffett, but what can I say, the parrothead thing has overtaken me. Well, sort of. I'm so glad I finally have a date. April 26. Ahh....I love it. Now I just have to get prepared to get tickets on March 3. Holy cow. In 2006, I couldn't get them at all (and I got on ticketmaster fifteen minutes after they went on sale)...in 2007, I was ready. I was on ticketmaster.com an hour before they went on sale and just kept refreshing until it happened. I'm gonna do the same thing this year. I'm gonna get floor seats this year I think. I'm soooo happy. The parking lot is almost if not more fun than the show but that's part of the spectacle and I love it. I'm amped.

Tuesday Class

Due to a shoulder injury, I didn't train last Wed or Thur. Holy cow...I think this is my 3rd week and I was told last night that I can test whenever I want to. It scares me and motivates me at the same time. I've got a lot of terminology to learn but it shouldn't be a problem. As for TKD, I can test anytime in there too, but I really want to polish my form a bit as I do it pretty sloppy right now.We are helping Jay prepare as he's going to test on Thursday. We are going until 9 all week. It's fun to get the extra 30 minutes in there. We were grappling a little last night and I looked up and it was ten till nine and I thought woah, that went by fast.I didn't really feel like going tonight. I'm glad I sucked it up and went anyway because I always, ALWAYS, feel better after it's over. It's something I noticed about Aikido, that it makes everything better. I guess Jujitsu is the same way.

Seperate

Today has been such a weird day. It's cool though because I've felt seperate today. I grew up in a system that taught me that most tv was evil, all the music I liked was evil, Star Wars was wicked...etc. It was just religious men who were obsessed with sin rather than walking in life. Their intentions were good, but misguided at best. I came to a place where it didn't bother me to watch tv (I flippin' love it...lost, heroes, jericho, the ultimate fighter...what could be finer?) and the music I liked didn't take me to a bad place so it was okay. Today though, for the first time, I just felt seperate from it. I don't know how else to describe it but seperate. It's cool. I'm still gonna watch my shows, and I'm still gonna rock the Eagle, but seriously, I just feel seperate. I dig it man. It's cool to really feel like I'm just visiting here. Awesome!!

Shopping Day

Went shopping with a bunch of the girls today. I have one thing to say: I hate ballet flats and I cannot wait until they go out of style.

Tuesday Class

TKD was cool. We did a bunch of kicking drills, a couple punching drills, and forms. DZR was also cool. Jane and I mostly just did wrist locks and escapes while Jay and Dr. Bell worked on the throws he has to do for his testing next week. Then we did an arm bar from side control. It was fun, but it was a little hard for me to step that far behind. Oh well..I'll get there eventually.

On Being Alone

Yesterday, I saw Andres in a way I've never seen him. I've never seen Dre that moved about anything. I know how much he loves his little sister but I've never seen him like that. When he started talking to her about being alone it struck me that I too, have pulled back from the group again. I've started keeping my life my own again, and I can't do that. My committment was my life is yours. I don't get to take it back. I'm sorry.

If it were up to me, I'd just hang out with my dog. Not that I don't love people, I do, I just prefer to sit and watch tv on my own.

On to other useless things: my allergies are killing me, so much so that I'm going to try and tweak my diet to figure out what the cause is. I'm going to give up animal products for a while because I've heard that sometimes that can help with upper respiratory problems.

Thursday Class

Class was exhausting last night. My legs were jello and for some reason, I couldn't get a roundhouse kick right to save my life. TKD was slightly frustrating last night. DZR was the real killer. We did a lot of grappling and let me tell you....I didn't think I had abs under all this fat, but holy cow I've felt them and yes they exist under there. Oh my goodness, we learned how to get from being in side control to getting the opponent into a high guard. That is tough. I have a new respect for just how strong those pro fighters are. We also did the nages and yawaras again. I guess we'll drill them until I know them solid.

Elvis Update

So my poor little dog had get fixed on Tuesday. I worried like crazy about him all day. He coughs and goes on and has a hard time breathing sometimes. When I went to pick him up, he peed all over Jennifer, all over me, and all over my car. I guess he really does hate the vet's office. I expected him to be sore and sleepy all day, heck no, not my Elvis, he bounded around all over the house. He was running and jumping higher than he was before his surgery. He ate a ton, played hard and when we took a nap, he nuzzeld next to me and put his paw in my hand and we slept. I love my puppy and it's good to have him home.

I wish I felt as good as he does but this weather is killing me with allergies. I need to go get some zyrtec I guess. I just go to sleep as soon as the kids are gone (on nights I don't have martial arts). I flippin' hate allergy season. I didn't have a problem with them until the last several years. I hate that but what am I gonna do? I'm gonna walk and sniffle and have fun.

Classes 3 & 4

Tuesday- TKD is getting better. I'm starting to pick up the form a little. Tonight we did it and Dr. Bell told me that it's fighting stance on the blocks and wide stance on the punches. That's definetly a helpful hint. Last night in jits, Anthony Conner showed up. I used to do aikido with him and I was so pumped to see him. We hung out and talked for a long while after class about aikido stuff. I always liked working with him in aikido, so I was pretty psyched to roll with him in jits. Wed-Tonight we did a lot of different kicking drills in TKD. As usual, my balance sucks and I need to figure out what to do to fix that (short of standing on the bow of a boat doing drills ala Karate Kid)...In jits we did the Yawara list (the whole list) and we did the Nages that we need for upcoming tests. At the end, we did some BJJ, doing the pendulum reversal and then we did some armbars to triangle to armbar to see how to transition between them if necessary. It was cool. I'm so sore, especially my neck. It's sooooo worth it though.

DZR Improvements...TKD Not So Much

Woo...tonight went a whole lot better. I think I'm starting to get it in jujitsu. Some of my aikido is coming back and it makes it easier because I'm learning the concepts. It seems as though the beginning idea is to get your opponent off balance. There's a word for this but I've forgotten it. I'll write it down next Tuesday. I do know some of the sutemi (ukemi in the aikido world) or falls and rolls already. I started working on yawara and nage that I need to know for first test already. It was pretty awesome.Taekwondo on the other hand didn't come as easy. I'm not sure why tkd confuses me so much because you would think that kick punch would be easier than joint lock throw.I'm pumped though, it's a whole lot of fun. I still need to work really hard on my balance issues.

First Night at the New Dojo

Tonight was the beginning of my studies in Taekwondo and Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. I have a lot to learn. I'm so out of shape, and my balance is so bad that I need a ton of work. My kicks were totally sloppy. The techniques are foreign to me so I struggled. Jujitsu didn't get much better. I struggled there, but I had a good time and I'm excited to learn.Something I noticed that weirded me out in tkd was leaving your back open. That and learning to pivot on the balls of my feet. DZR was fun but my neck hurts. It's going to need work.

Starting Over

So I can't begin to tell of the blogs I have started and abandoned before. This one started as a description of things that are really no more than distractions in my world. Sometimes I'm a little bummed that some worldly things are so much fun and so cool. I find them awfully distracting. So this will just be my life. My struggles, my failings, my victories (which aren't mine at all)...all laid waste on eletronic paper for all the world (and probably no one who really cares to read).