September 12, 2013

Takedowns

or my lack thereof...

There was a time I would have never thought to take up a martial art.  I did.  There was a time I never thought I would be good at it.  I practiced.  Now I have skill.  And I love it.

There was a time I was a terrible shot.  I hated shooting practice.  I dreaded it in fact.  Then I got frustrated with being frustrated.  I switched to a better, smaller, more comfortable gun.  I practiced.  Now I have skill.  And I love shooting.

There was a time I said, "I'll never be able to do one pull-up."  I challenged myself, "BUT, what if I tried..."  I practiced.  Now I have strength, and I can do weighted pull-ups.  I love doing them.  Once, during work, I saw a guy doing pull-ups on the bar of a traffic light.  I moxied up, walked over, and did 4  pull-ups with my 30 pound gun belt.

Right now, I hate take downs.  I have always hated them. I suck at them.  Well, today, I am done with that.  I am going to practice takedowns and I going to get good at them.  Really good.  Like, people in class will dread starting from standing with me good.

Dag

September 10, 2013

Sabbatical. From this, not training...

WELL, I suppose I need to write.

I have been back to consistent training since June.  The last couple of months have been fairly exhilarating.  The months I was absent from training were like a slow winding of a rubber band, and when I started up again, the band snapped into a lovely, slow perpetual motion.  I have had more good training days than frustrating ones, my movement is becoming sharper and cleaner.  I am beginning to dominate more sparring sessions than ever before.  Now, I am about a million miles from being a frightful threat, but there was a time when everything was...just...it just felt like a LOT of work.  Not that it's all easy (Ha! right, uh, no), but the vision of the fight is becoming clearer, thus, I use less energy, thus, occasionally, I surprise myself with the occasional moment of, gosh,  flight, is the word that just popped in my head.  Flow.   Clarity.  Submissions that are planned and that work.  Moves and combinations that used to pass me by, or maybe I passed them as if void of senses, now display themselves like colorful peacocks, daring me to grab their beauty and exploit their presence.  I have experienced moments of actual, honest-to-goodness, joy.  And not once, a few times.  How breathtaking and calming!

We have a new woman in class who I think is going to stay with it.  She is a dancer, rippingly strong, totally cool, and absolutely game.  I used to dance, so the first time we met we immediately bonded.  My friend Rachael received her black belt while I was gone, and her game has turned into something that resembles a small tornado of hell.  Fabio has said that pound for pound, Rachael is probably one of the strongest people in our school, male or female.  She is a petite woman whose technique movement are razor clean and efficient.  Such is the lot of the smaller person.  You have technique or you have nothing.  Rachael has everything.

Rachael's younger sister Jessica has moved back to San Diego from Tennessee.  Her speed is...just...straight up annoying.  Jess, if you are reading this, know this is a compliment!  My default mode is slower and more methodical, and Jess makes sure I don't lounge around during sparring.  And then there is the tall Jessica.  I told her when she first started that when she figured out just how long her legs were, she would start wrecking havoc in the school.  Well, now she is well into solid blue belt status and she is starting to figure it out.  The last time we sparred It took an act of congress to pass her guard.  God forbid I get caught in her spider.

My friend Jeannette (pronounced Je-nay) has returned from a short absence.  Her game is more like mine, except she is really good at it!  Jeannette routinely sends people into fits because she moves so...infrequently! Because she does not have to.  The one move she makes just shuts down your whole plan of attack, and when you launch a new attack, she shuts that down too.  And then she chokes you.

My current "work on" move is the triangle from guard.  Not much to say here except that it's a work in progress.  I relied on side control as my gateway to submissions for sooooo long, and I thought, I really need to widen my horizons.  I love the triangle,  so my new combos are guard, spider, triangle; guard, spider, sweep; guard, spider, omoplata.  I am working for the day I achieve them on an "at will" basis, as opposed to a "please god bless me with ability just this one moment" basis.  Though I suppose that is the always the goal for all us in jiu jitsu.

I have to apologize for not writing for a long time.  Back when I was preparing for swat tryouts, I had promised a post about the power of the big toe in athletic performance.  I still have plans to write it.  I'll just have to gather my research again.  I tend to have a love-hate relationship with writing.  I admire those of you who are able to churn out well-written, coherent, intelligent articles with Mach 10 speed.  Val Worthington, for example, good grief!  Has she ever written anything that isn't completely spot on?   Or Georgette, Julia, Jen's family, Megan, Mrs Ibarra, Shark Girl, Leah...all these fantastic women that carve time to write.

When I sit down to write, I have to will myself to open the floodgates, and much of time, I just don't do it.  When I am finished writing however, I am always happy.

In work news, the Gaslamp Quarter Bike Team continues to be some of the most bizarrely fun, interesting work I have done.  Ever.  In life.  Frustrating too, but mostly bizarre fun.  Witnessing the throes of human behavior while influenced by alcohol and/or synthetic drugs, is completely fascinating.    Think...Fellini film quirkiness+thousands of people+everyone is in varying states of loudness/hysteria.  That's the bike team.

Um...real quick, I want to start throwing some food news into my blog.  Husband and I love food, so I should write about it.  We recently had an excellent meal at Chopahn, located at 6th Avenue and F Street in downtown San Diego.  Chopahn specializes in Afghan cuisine, which is slightly similar to Mediterranean food.  I'll write more about it later, but it's now 4 am and I heading to sleepies.

Train well!

Dag