You might be old if. . .
Mr. BBM and I went out with my sister and some of her friends on Saturday night. We had a blast. I haven’t been out in a very LONG time, so it was nice to have dinner without the girls for a change. We also went to Dave & Buster’s and then hit a cool bar that had a great band playing. Mr. BBM, my sister and I all "got our groove on." It was a nice night out.
Mr. BBM and I right before we went out. . .
I did realize, however, that my crowd of people was certainly a bit older looking than the rest of the crowd. Here are some of the ways you can tell you might be a little older than the rest of the crowd:
1. You get to and from the bar in a mini-van. The people in the back seat may have been intrigued by the Elmo video playing on a constant loop.
2. You don’t get carded.
3. The drunken guy who says, "How you DOIN”?" as he stumbles up the stairs behind you looks to you like he’s about 14.
4. The song "You down with OPP" draws you out to the dance floor. I still don’t know what that song means, but it makes you want to dance. (Just so you know, I’d like to remain completely naive as to what that song means so please don’t tell me.)
The rest of our crowd, NOT drawn out to the dance floor by OPP. One of the crowd was researching on the internet via cell phone. That is how you know you’re a dork (or K-Jo which is the new nickname for the one in our crowd who was a "Kill Joy".)
5. You know every single word to the old school rap music mix played while the band breaks, including the songs, "The Choice is Yours" ("You can get with this, or you can get with that. . . this is where it’s at. . .") "Humpty Dance," and "Doin’ the Butt."
6. You also know all the appropriate dance moves to go with said songs, and you don’t care one bit how stupid you look while doing them.
Me and . . . um, err. . . blacked out eyes have been added to protect the innocent (i.e. person whose work-mates sometimes read this blog. . . Hi Girls!)
7. You start chanting for Salt ‘N Pepa’s "Push it" because Duh, that’s obviously a song that should go with that set!
8. When a guy on the dance floor tells you he likes your shirt, you totally believe that he really likes your shirt and that it isn’t a ploy to get your number.
9. The last call jello shot totally does you in. You realize this too late, as your sister pulls out from her wallet the yellowing piece of paper that you gave her when she went off to college that says, "Beer before Liquor-Never Sicker; Liquor before Beer-In the Clear; Liquor before Wine-Feeling Fine; Wine before Liquor-Can’t get much sicker; Wine Before Beer-Have no Fear."
10. Instead of singing along with the radio on the way home, you promptly fall asleep as does everyone else in the van (minus the designated driver of course), as soon as you realize that the designated driver is not going to stop at McDonald’s despite the urgent plea’s to do so.
This night out marked the first time that Lil C spent the night at the grandparents house, AND she did AWESOME! When we picked the girls up on Sunday, my Mom said, "You should do this more often. . ." to which I responded, "Yeah, how about next weekend? Same time? Same place?"
We old people definitely need to go out more often to show the young ones how it’s done!
2nd Kyu
Testing was this morning; promotions are later in the week. I passed my test for 2nd kyu-two black stripes on my brown belt.
There were about 22 people testing today, mostly white belts going for second stripes or yellow belts. We have such a large group right now. When I started there was a decent sized group too, but my groups’ numbers have dropped tremendously. Some people moved; some people quit. After green and brown belts people seem to start dropping like flies.
There is a lot to remember as you move up in the ranks. Thankfully, I remembered it all today, which was a nice change from last time.
Today was the first time that I didn’t really get nervous at testing. I think that the blindfolded self defense was a big confidence builder for me and it gave me a boost I needed.
The one white belt who was an attacker the other night was testing for his yellow belt today. I asked him if his finger was o.k. from when I cracked it pretty good. He said his finger was fine; it was his knees that were hurting him. I had no recollection of hurting anyone’s knees so I asked him what I did. He told me that when he grabbed the front of my gi with both hands, I peeled him off and took him down unexpectedly. I told him I didn’t even realize I had done that, and told him I was sorry. He said it was no big deal. I have to admit I am feeling pretty good about the fact that I took a big guy down without even realizing it. It’s funny how your body just does things without you even realizing it. Muscle memory is so cool.
So testing is finished and I’ll have a new black stripe to add to my collection. There’s only one more test before black belt. I’ve got a lot of work to do.
It doesn’t have to be pretty
At karate tonight, I had an opportunity to face one of my very worst fears. For my 1st kyu test, I will need to do self defense while blindfolded. I’m a little claustrophobic to begin with, and the idea of having people just come up and grab you when you can’t see them is a little nerve-wracking to say the least. Our instructor looked around our dojo tonight, saw the large group of 12 we had and decided that tonight was a perfect night to give it a shot.
Most of the white belts became observers while the black belts and I took turns being attacked. The group of attackers consisted of my 3rd dan male black belt instructor, two other black belts (one male, one female), me, a male white belt who is big, strong and scary and a female white belt who is the little sister of my instructor (in other words-has been beat on for many years so she’s quite a formidable opponent herself).
My instructor went first. I thought he was going to do basic techniques, but he continued the counter-attack until most of us were on the ground and in pain. At one point, I was tangled up on the ground with my wrist twisted so severely that I had no choice but to start tapping the ground. It was either that or scream. (I’m trying to work on the whole girly screaming thing.)
The male black belt went next and he did a great job too. Plus he saved me the humiliation of having to go after my instructor. Thank you Mr. W!
Then it was my turn. I was a nervous wreck. These attacks were not gentle attacks. They were coming with a decent amount of force and the attackers weren’t just letting go. I was so nervous that I wouldn’t be able to get out of something. But what choice did I have? I tried to tell them that I needed to go make an important call, but no one bought it.
It felt like eternity before the first attack came. I could hear the attackers walking in a circle around me and it was unsettling hearing the gi’s swish and move, not knowing where the first attack would come from. I thought they would start off with a gentle wrist grab or something to break in the brown belt, but that was not the case. I think the first attack was a forearm choke. I got out of it and tried to compose myself again. The attacks that followed included a hair pulling from behind, chokes from the front and back, bear hugs, wrist grabs, lapel grabs, a joint-locked elbow that took me to my knees before I could get out, a double-wrist grab from behind with pulling, full nelsons, etc. etc.
I tried to think about nothing. I didn’t want to anticipate the next attack or over think the previous one. Sometimes I got frustrated when I couldn’t get out at first, but when something didn’t work I tried to change it up until I found something that did. I took a deep breath after each attack to try to clear it away and prepare for the next one.
It wasn’t pretty, but as my instructors always say, "It doesn’t have to be pretty; it just has to work." At one point, I cracked the white belt’s finger pretty good. There was just no other way to get out of it. I wasn’t the only one who went after the towering white belt. The other black belt girl pulled his hair really good at one point. He’s a formidable opponent now; he’s going to be wicked good when he gets up in the ranks.
When I was finished my instructor said I did a good job and that what I did would certainly pass the 1st kyu test. He said the only difference between doing a good job and doing a really good job is eliminating the brief hesitation I had at the on-set of some of the attacks. I have to stop thinking about it and just start doing it.
One of the white belt women who watched came up to me after class and told me she thought I did an amazing job. It felt really good to get some praise over something that I was so unsure about at the beginning of class.
I know it wasn’t perfect, but I also know that on the street I wouldn’t be limiting myself to the techniques I used tonight. I’d also be throwing elbows, punches, and strategic kicks (if you know what and where I mean).
I’m reading a book right now called, "Living the Martial Way" and it is a fabulous read for any martial artist. I just read last night about how you should seek out the biggest, toughest person at the dojo to train against because it will only make you better. In the book, the author also talks about how you should know what it feels like to be attacked with a decent amount of force so you can find out how you’ll react. He says it is an essential part of the martial arts training if you want me be considered a true warrior and a true martial artist.
My instructor definitely put those two suggestions to good use tonight; and the feeling that I had driving home from class and writing this now is nothing short of euphoric. I know I can improve, but what I did tonight was a really good start.
Only One Thing Worse. . .
There is only one thing worse than being Antonella Barba, the contestant whose racy photos are all over the internet . . .
Being her parents.
I can not even imagine what they are going through right now. As a parent of two daughters, I would be shocked and horrified if my daughter’s photos started appearing all over the internet. According to rumors in the form of news articles, the collection of photos were part of a calendar she gave to her long-time boyfriend (whom she dumped as soon as she got a ticket to Hollywood). What did she think was going to happen with those photos? As soon as she got her golden ticket to Hollywood, they became more valuable than she would ever know.
Boyfriend is a transient term; they can be here today, gone tomorrow. Truth be told, I wouldn’t advocate creating a calendar with racy photos in it for anyone, including a husband. Any and all relationships can come to bad endings and no one wants photo baggage following them around. The problem is that once those photos have been taken, they can end up anywhere. In Antonella’s case, it’s cyberspace fame and glory, but certainly not what she had hoped.
I think that she will probably be sent packing tonight after a dismal try at a Celine Dion classic, and I certainly hope that’s the case. As a parent who likes to watch American Idol with my children, I can tell you that, in my opinion, Antonella is certainly no "American Idol." It is possible, however, to learn something from her unfortunate circumstances. Hopefully young girls will consider what they’d like to become famous for, and leave the nude/suggestive photos well alone.
Copyright
© Copyright 2006-2019 blackbeltmama dot com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Follow Me
Blog Designed By
My Creations
Things You Could Care Less About
