Promotions
I’ve been a little blog lazy this week. Rockstar is over now and I can relax on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, sort of. There’s something about becoming a brown belt that is both satisfying and equally terrifying. There’s so much to know and so much to prepare. It’s a little daunting. Not that I’m not looking forward to it because I am. . . but for tonight, I bring you the promotions for me and Big I. Tomorrow I’ll write about the sparring that followed promotions. . .
Big I getting her second green stripe (The next belt is YELLOW! Yeah!).
Mother of the Year
I’m not going to win Mother of the Year. There truly is no hope for me. I took Big I to her acting class after school yesterday. It was the second week of the class. Her class, according to the schedule when we signed up, is scheduled for 3:45-4:15. When we arrived the first week, they told us they were moving it back a bit. I thought they said the class was going to now go from 4:15-4:45. So, I took Big I to class and when we walked in at 4:15 the door was shut and the other kids were already in there. The parents of these kids were sitting in the very small waiting area. I said to Big I, "Ooh, it looks like we’re a minute late. Get in there" as I opened the door for her. It was 4:16 and I figured I had 29 minutes to kill. Lil C does not sit well in small waiting areas, and I would prefer her not crawling around on the floor or walking in unfamiliar territory so we went to the park a few blocks away and did some swinging.
Without a watch on, and without my cell phone I was paranoid about being late to get Big I. So Lil C and I spent a very short amount of time at the park (she was bored with the swings after 5 minutes anyway) and went back to get Big I. I parked my car in front of the building and the time was 4:35. I thought I’d wait five more minutes and then go in to get her. I wanted to be five minutes early, just in case.
So, you can imagine my shock when at 4:38 I looked up and saw Big I plastering herself to the glass doors of the building entranceway in a fruitless effort to open the doors and get out, tears streaming down her face. I ran out of the car and up to the door to let her out. "I was so scared," she said as she sobbed into my stomach. "What do you mean?" I said. "You’re not even supposed to be done yet." "Well, they let us out and I was just sitting on the steps waiting for you and you weren’t here and everyone else left. . ."
I walked over to the car and opened the door for her and then something snapped. "No, we’re going back in there," I said. "We’re going to find out what the hell is going on here." So, with Lil C in my arms and Big I holding my hand, I went into the school to raise hell.
When I walked in, her acting teacher was already teaching another class. I went up to the receptionist and demanded to know, "What class is that?" as I gestured towards the classroom door. The receptionist told me that it was the class for 8-10 year olds. "Then exactly WHAT TIME does the previous class finish up?" I barked. I was getting more upset by the minute. ANYONE could have come along and grabbed Big I while I was returning from the park and waiting to go in and get her.
The receptionist looked at Big I’s tear streaked face and asked what happened. "Last week, someone told me this class was going to be 4:15-4:45. So, I drop her off and leave and come back 10 minutes early to get her and she’s at the door sobbing. What is going on?" I said. "Oh honey," the receptionist says to Big I, "You should have told me. You can sit with me until your Mommy gets here." That’s all very fine and good, but the point is, I am not EVER late to pick up my child. I’m the one who stands at the bus stop five minutes before her class is even dismissed. I’m the one who during summer acting camp, sat outside 20 minutes early every day JUST IN CASE.
I said to the receptionist, "That’s very nice of you. But I won’t be late again, if you could just tell me the correct time that this class starts and finishes."
4:00-4:30.
I wanted to scream. "You people really need to get your schedules straight," I said and walked out of there. Then I started thinking, did the other parents there not hear me? I mean, how could they not have? The waiting area is tiny. They were all looking at me as I let Big I in. Couldn’t one of them have said, "No, you’re 15 minutes late. This class started at 4:00." Not one. I would have spoken up, especially as I watched the Mom leave the school, knowing full well they wouldn’t be back in time.
And what’s up with the teacher just letting my 5-year old child out of the classroom without making eye contact with a parent to know that she’s now in someone else’s care? Next week I’m saying something to the teacher. Not that it will ever happen again, because from now on I’ll probably just stand outside the door watching the whole class, but they should be smart enough to not allow a 5-year old to leave the class completely unattended.
So, with my heart pounding and apologies to Big I running on a repetitive loop, we got back in the car. Because I had pulled Lil C in and out of the car six times now in the last 40 minutes, she wasn’t having any of that. She made herself into a human board and REFUSED to bend. It’s amazing to me how an 11 month old baby can be so strong that her mother can’t make her sit. Insane. It happens with the high chair everyday, but now the car seat too??? So, in an attempt to get her to bend, I lifted her up a bit and brought her back down again to let the back of her legs touch the seat so she would sit. It didn’t work. I tried it again and I bumped the top of her head on the ceiling of the car. Instant tears. . .
. . . for Lil C too.
That was one half hour I hope to never relive. And now, because Big I will be dismissed from class in exactly 18 minutes, I need to go stand at the bus stop so that I’m there a full 20 minutes before she even boards the bus.
Round 2
Because I am a glutton for punishment, my husband and I sparred on Saturday after my testing. While in his basement office, he’s apparently been working some things out. For example, instead of leaping around and only throwing punches, he’s discovered kicks (or thinks he has anyway). I spent all this time between sparring sessions thinking about ways to defend against his punches and now he’s kicking. Great.
The good news is that I blocked most of his kicks. While at karate last week, my instructor and I were talking about the head of our dojo and his sparring techniques. My instructor was saying that he would often stand there sideways, and just wait. As an opponent would approach, he would throw out a back kick that would stop an attacker in their footsteps.
I thought I’d give it a go. So, instead of just throwing front snap kicks or roundhouse kicks, I threw in a side kick (I do need to practice these after all) and an occasional back kick. They seemed to do the trick and I will definitely try to incorporate those into my sparring in the future.
My problem with my husband doing a quick run by and bopping me on the head is still there. It’s his height. He has me by a good 6 inches. Last week in class, we talked about using inside, outside and knife hand blocks to defend against punches-that these blocks seem to be the most effective. With someone who is coming from so much farther above you though, it’s hard not to do upward blocks. And my upward blocks are not strong enough against his punches. I tried to parry and move out of the way. I tried to augment my blocks, but I have two problems: lack of upper body strength and I’m thinking entirely too much about what I want to do.
When I think too much while sparring, it slows me down. Speed is another thing I really need to work on. I’m quick when I play tennis, so why can’t that translate to karate? It’s frustrating.
I’m also frustrated with my husband’s lack of control. Grrr. He hit me in the nose so hard that I thought for sure I was going to have a bloody nose. I returned the favor with a shot that rolled off his head gear right into his eye. We have awesome sparring gear and I love it, but somehow I’m thinking we might have been better off wearing these. . .
So, as far as the BBM Challenge goes, I’m doing well with my goal of sparring once a week. I just need to concentrate on building upper arm strength. You’d think that carrying around my almost year old would help with that and it does sometimes. It’s just that now, Lil C much prefers walking/running around the house, and climbing the stairs on her own.
Look for Round 3 details later this week. Hopefully I can get some pointers at class this week.
If you’re interested in joining the BBM Challenge, it’s not too late. See here for details and email me for a coupon code for Everything Fitness once you’ve signed up.
The Carnival of Family Life is up here. Check it out for some great posts.
3rd kyu
Testing was this morning. Big I and I both passed. I need a shower.
I was the highest rank at testing today which means that as the others tested and bowed off of the training floor, I stayed and stayed and stayed. The person doing our testing today was the head of the dojo. He’s a 5th degree black belt. He started doing karate in 1976.
We went by rank and it went relatively fast since there were four sets of ranks testing. There were people testing for 9th kyu (white with one stripe), 8th kyu (white with two stripes), 6th kyu (green belt one stripe), and I was the lone one going for 3rd kyu (brown belt one stripe). I went into this testing feeling very confident. I’ve been practicing on a regular basis, running through all of the kata’s and waza’s at home. I’ve been working with Big I every day on her material as well. I’ve been working on my self-defense with my husband and figuring out what works for me and what doesn’t. There’s nothing like walking into the dojo with confidence on testing day. It feels great. . .
. . .right up until the point where your sensei makes you freeze mid-kata so he can evaluate your stance. You know it’s going downhill from there. During my one kata, Pinan Sandan, I was supposed to be in a seisan position (one leg forward, front knee bent), but instead of keeping my back leg mostly straight, I was bending it a bit too much. You would think that the gi pants would disguise this, but as my instructor pointed out, they actually draw more attention to the fact that you have a bend in your leg.
*Note to self-Starch gi pants heavily before next testing.
I was also asked to freeze while demonstrating my side kick. I wasn’t turning my foot on the ground at a great enough angle. It was a minor adjustment, but still, I get disappointed in myself when I don’t have it perfect.
My weapons kata, Kyan No Sai, was the one I felt the most confident with, but the beginning moves of this one were also not exactly right. One instructor at our school teaches you to just bring the sai out in front of you; the other teaches to bring the sai up over your head and out. I was doing the former and needed to be doing the latter. It was also a minor adjustment, but disappointing none-the-less.
During a moving Nai Hanchi 10-step blocking drill with foot shift and punch, I was not getting into a deep enough nai hanchi stance (knees bent and legs out as if riding a horse).
I felt lousy. I had walked in with all the confidence in the world, and was afraid I wasn’t even going to pass. My instructor quickly put that fear to rest. He told me that what I was doing things right, but that there were just some minor adjustments. Now’s the time to fix them.
I agree. I’d rather know now what I need to work on so that when I’m getting ready for black belt testing, I’m not panicking and trying to relearn things that I was doing incorrectly.
So, I’ve passed and am moving up in the ranks. I’m proud of my accomplishments thus far, but know there’s a long way to go. I also know that with a brown belt comes greater scrutiny and higher expectations.
Big I and I will be promoted this week, so look for a new picture later this week, sporting the must have color for fall: brown. It’s time to say goodbye to the green. . .
If you are not familiar with Karl of Secondhand Tryptophan, you should really make yourself familiar now. You’re missing out on a lot of fun. Karl is getting famous for lip syncing and very interesting performances. For Karl’s 40th birthday, he decided to solicit dares from his readers. He chose five and is doing one on each day leading up to his birthday. Today he posted Dare #4, a challenge from me which was to sing, "Buttons" by The Pussycat Dolls. Instead of doing so in the comfort of his own home, I dared him to do so in public. He is a trooper. You can check it out here, and you might want to scroll back through the other birthday dares and singing/dancing performances because they are nothing short of hysterical. Make sure you tell him "Happy Birthday" while you’re there.
Countdown to Testing
Pre-testing was this week. At pre-testing, you do exactly what you would do at testing. After you pre-test, your instructor lets you know if you are allowed to test at the official testing.
Big I and I are both testing this weekend. I am excited. Passing this test brings with it a brown belt, 3rd kyu, and for whatever reason it makes me feel official. Big I will be testing for 8th kyu and that means that at the next test, she’ll see some color in the form of a yellow belt. I’m hoping that provides more motivation for her to continue learning.
When I started karate over two years ago, I honestly didn’t think I’d get to this point. I wanted to, but I thought if I can just make it to green belt, that would truly be awesome. Third kyu also marks the beginning of the countdown to black belt testing which still seems eons away for me, but it will be here before I know it.
After we got the pre-testing out of the way, we did some one-step sparring drills. We were doing basic punches (hook and straight in) and were using inside, outside and knife hand blocks to deal with them. We rotated back and forth, right and left. Big I worked with a little yellow belt about her size and I worked with my instructor. For the last drill, my instructor threw random punches at me to defend. And, I am now able to add another thing to the "what not to do" list.
- Do NOT make assumptions about where your next attack is coming from. When you commit to doing a certain type of block based on your assumption that your attacker is going to throw a left punch and the punch comes from the right arm. . . the results are not good.
I walked right into the punch and my instructor hit me in the jaw. It wasn’t a hard hit. It really was no big deal. But my teeth made that little pinging sound that was a warning not to ever do that again. I was so sure the next punch was coming from the left that when it came from the right, I was right in the way.
The way I see it, the jaw punch was payback for me bopping my instructor on the head once again. He came in with a punch from the right and I moved in and blocked and moved my blocking arm up to back fist him and instead of just getting close, I gave him a little bop. I have a feeling that by the time I’m testing for black belt, my instructor and I will have knocked each other around quite a bit.
For the advanced class, it was just me and my instructor (and Big I running around the waiting area playing Twister by herself). I asked him to help me with some self defense issues. Last week I came home and practiced getting out of a full nelson and had some mixed results until I did my own thing. Instead of trying to break the hold, I simply lifted my arms straight up in the air and dropped down. I made sure to drop and aim an elbow at a certain sensitive area of the male anatomy and the move really worked. I described it to my instructor and then demonstrated with him as my attacker. It was a relief to know that I can use whatever type of self defense that works for me for testing. My little drop move totally works.
We also talked about the "gland rubbing" that I did to my husband’s neck last week. My instructor told me that it worked because I hit a sensitive pressure point on the neck. He then showed me a pressure point on the foot that is awesome for if you’re being held against a wall with your arms unavailable for use. I feel like I’m progressing with the self defense because I’m finally starting to throw out things that aren’t working for me and find things that do work. There’s still a lot to learn though.
I’ve been telling my husband for a while now that I’d like to find some good books on pressure points and little self defense moves that really work. My instructor told me that he has a bunch of books and is going to let me borrow some. I am so excited, because there are tons of martial arts books out there but knowing which ones are worth buying is difficult. Now I won’t have to waste money on books that won’t help me.
I am very happy that I am fortunate enough to have instructors who go beyond learning a kata and making it look good. The whole reason I started taking karate was so that I could defend myself and protect my children properly if necessary. I like that I am learning how to fight back in real life situations and that I’ll be expanding on what I am already learning at the dojo. I’m also anxious to spar some more and will do so after testing is over (I want to make sure I’m "healthy" going into testing).
At the end of the night, my instructor said that everything with my pre-testing looked good and that the formal testing is more of a formality than anything else. That definitely helps to take some of the pressure off for Saturday, knowing that in my teacher’s eyes, I’ve already passed.
My latest post is up at Save the Soldiers. It’s been a week full of letter writing so I thought it only appropriate that I would write some "love letters" to my fantasy football team players. And in case you’re wondering, we lost our first game 85-81.
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