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.