Sore
Filed under: Mental Strain for Mama, Tales from the dojo
Wrap your entire house in bubble wrap and foam, and I guarantee you that my toddler will find a way to hurt herself. Lil C was playing in my bedroom while I was blow drying my hair when this happened:
Lil C, meet nightstand knob. Nightstand knob, meet Lil C. Why did she have to hit the knob at that exact spot??? WHY? WHY? WHY?? As if the dive into the nightstand wasn’t bad enough, you know? It took about an hour for it to stop bleeding. It wasn’t a fast bleed, more like a little build up that would drip eventually if not wiped.
I don’t know the last time you tried to dab blood off of a toddler, or put ice on a toddler’s injury but it doesn’t elicit a very cooperative response. Even after finding a Cinderella washcloth and pleading with her to "Please let Cinderella ‘kiss’ your boo-boo" it was pretty much a lost cause.
The good news is that we have no need for purple princess eye shadow when playing dress up, because Lil C has got the natural kind of eye color going for her right now. The gash is a nice burnt red, and the layers of rainbow-like goodness go down from there. Today, we have shades of purple, blue, red, pink, a bit of green and I can almost guarantee that tomorrow will bring with it a bit of buttercup yellow.
We are just one month shy of the big number two birthday, which means that the pictures may have been spared. She’ll look less like an UFC fighter by then, I’m hoping. I guess she just decided that she’s celebrating the NFL kick-off with her own personal flare.
She did this on Thursday. I would have posted about it earlier, but I have been unable to do just about anything without being in pain. My neck is fine. It’s the 100+ jumping jacks, the 50 killer crunches with legs in the air, and the multiple push-ups at the beginning of some classes that are making my life a bit unpleasant right now. It’s all part of the getting back in shape process so I’m dealing; but it’s not really cool when your husband knows he can poke you just about anywhere and you’re going to shriek in pain.
I spent time in karate classes this week working on moving drills, break falls, open hand kata, more weapons kata’s (bo, tekkos, etc.), and some cool self defense vital point striking with both open hand and some small dowels.
Yes, the neck injury girl said break falls. For non-karate-ka’s, practicing break falls means practicing the proper way to fall so that you minimize the potential for injury. Falling in the proper way means going against the natural instinct to break your fall with your hands alone when falling forward, or when falling backwards to go down on your spine, neck or head, all of which could cause serious injury (Trust me-I know). When you fall down on your side, the proper thing to do is keep your body in tight, and make a triangle between your torso, your leg (from hip to knee) and your arm, which slaps the ground a few inches away from your knee. I don’t know who this guy is but he does a pretty good demonstration if you’re interested:
We spent an entire class this week working on break falls, and I was happy to do so. I wasn’t brave enough to start from a standing up position, but I did make it up to my knees and that was plenty of practice for now. We also did karate rolls in class. I sat out for that part because I still need to be careful with my neck.
Although I don’t think that a proper break fall would have helped me when I got injured in July (because I don’t think I even had a chance to exercise proper technique with the way I was thrown), it was definitely a good thing to go over in baby steps, as we did. I did not understand the little nuances of the break fall before. I know I didn’t have the proper angle when it came to my slapping arm. I didn’t know that it mattered where you slapped, and was slapping out perpendicular to my body instead of angled V-like down toward my knee. It was the same with the back break falls. I thought you were supposed to put your arms out in a T position, when a V-position works much better to stop your momentum.
I ended up working out at the dojo for about six hours this week with three different instructors. It feels so good to get back to it, that I can’t seem to get enough right now. My injury break was like being stuck out in the desert. I’ve now found an oasis.
Whole New Aura
I went to my massage therapist appointment today. As my therapist came out to get me, she smiled and said, "You’re back at it. I can tell. You have a completely different aura about you." She’s right. I do. I am a very grumpy person when I don’t get to go to karate classes. Being back feels so wonderful.
During my massage, she said the muscle tension that was in my neck and back is just gone. It’s amazing what a build up of stress can do to your body. I am very glad to be rid of it.
Speaking of stress relief, I had another great class at the new dojo last night. We did some moving drills individually and then moved on to some two-man moving drills. I partnered up with my buddy from camp last winter, the one I suffered through those brutal two-man leg stretches with and it was great. "Like old times" he said. It’s so nice to already know many of the people there. They all seem happy to have us there.
Of course, last night I went solo since Big I came home from school with a 102.5 temperature and body aches (Yes, already. Can you believe it???). She spent the day at home, and seems to be better. I’m glad it was just a 24 hour thing since I’m sure it will make its way through the entire family before Big I brings some other germ home.
Last night was also a chance to meet one of the other instructors at the dojo. He ran a great class, and made it a lot of fun too. We did a ton of work with weapons (bo, sai, nunchaku). Boy, do I need to work on my nunchaku. That kata always gets dusty if I leave it alone too long, so I definitely need to practice it more often.
Over the weekend, I spent some time outside working on my bo kata’s (when I wasn’t exposing myself to Hershey Park). I spent a good 15 minutes just working on hand changes, and then I spent some time incorporating them into some basics, before drilling them into the three bo kata’s I’ll need to know for Shodan.
I feel pretty good about the state of my bo kata’s. They are all sticking in the brain pretty well; and I even feel comfortable with bunkai for the first two thanks to a fabulous bunkai partner who doesn’t seem to mind how long it takes for things to stick in this brain of mine. "Patience" must be his middle name.
So, the aura is good. My stress level is down and my neck seems to be holding up just fine. Now if I can just get Big I to hold up for the rest of the week. . .
If this Post Doesn’t Bring in the Crazy Googlers, I Don’t Know What Will
Filed under: Just for Fun, Lessons I've Learned, Mental Strain for Mama
When I was in 5th grade, giving short drops to girls during recess was a favorite past time of the boys in my grade. For those who are not aware (and oh how lucky you are), a short drop is when someone comes up behind you and pulls your pants down to your ankles. It’s so not cool.
For weeks I had watched this terrible deed happen to my friends, and spent much of recess watching my back. And then one day, out of nowhere came a little punk, who grabbed my pants and ripped them down around my ankles. Thankfully, my underwear didn’t go along for the ride; but that didn’t mean I wasn’t completely humiliated. I spent weeks feeling horrified and embarrassed. My classmates had seen my underwear and it was awful.
Unlike many of the girls who didn’t report it, I made it my business to make sure that my short-dropper got the business, and he did.
Fast forward 22 years. . .
Mr. BBM got free Hershey Park passes for the entire weekend, so we took the girls and brought along our swimsuits since there’s a new water park called "The Boardwalk." Big I and I took a whirl down the "Whirlwind" which was the most amazingly awesome water slide I have ever been on (It’s the big yellow and blue one if you click the link and take a look). Mr. BBM then took his turn with Big I while Lil C and I explored.
It was during our exploring that we saw "The Waverider." If you’d like to see The Waverider in action, go here and click on Podcast 2. Go explore-I’ll wait. Come back because you won’t want to miss this.
(Tapping foot patiently.) Ready now? Good.
Lil C and I spent a ton of time just watching the surfers. It was awesome! There were tons of wipe-outs, an occasional seemingly pro surfer, and lots of in-betweens. I told Big I we just had to try it.
We waited in line for an hour. My original plan was to hang out in line with Big I and then skip it myself, but Big I kept insisting that I give it a try. Big I went first.
I have to be honest; I was super worried. I had watched kids her size get slammed back into the wall at the top of the ride. I had watched kids lose the board and literally eat the wave. Instead of wiping out, Big I rode that wave like a champion.
During her ride, the lifeguards decided to have a conversation about something, and she continued to ride that wave like an absolute pro for far longer than anyone previously had done.
At one point, she even turned around to smile at me as I stood watching her at the top of the wave. She was absolutely stunning and didn’t wipe out once. I was super proud of her, but she was a tough act to follow!
A couple VIP’s cut in line, so by the time it was my turn, I was super hot and wanted to take a dip anyway. I decided I’d try surfing for the very first time. The guy who went in front of me lost his swimming trunks completely and ended up standing at the bottom of the wave in only boxer shorts, so I figured there was no way I could do worse than that.
Here, the lifeguard is giving me instructions.
It went something like this:
Lifeguard: Have you ever done this before?
Me: No.
Lifeguard: (handing me the board) Well, you hold on up here, tight. You stand on the star at the top of the wave and aim for the star at the opposite side of the bottom of the wave. If you want to go left, you lean left. If you want to go right, you lean right.
Me: O.k. but let’s get to the most important thing here. What happens if I have a wardrobe malfunction?
Lifeguard: Ma’am, that’s what the blankets are for. (He gestures towards the two blankets beside him-visible in the above photo.) I’ll cover you up.
Me: Promise?
Lifeguard: (With a completely straight face) Yes.
So, with much trepidation I took that board and walked to the star at the top of the wave. I watched all these kids go diving onto that wave with ease. I wasn’t sure I could be so graceful, but there was a line, so no time like the present.
I took the leap and surfed to the bottom of the wave.
The jets pushed me back up, and it was AMAZING! I was doing it! It was working! I lifted up the front of the board a bit and rode the waves with ease. I leaned left and slid across the wave. I leaned right and slid back to the other side. I wasn’t wiping out like the other people. I contemplated trying to spin or even get up on my knees. I wanted that "Look Ma, no HANDS" moment!
Then, the unthinkable happened. A jet of water hit the exact angle it needed to in order to dislodge my swimsuit, and within seconds I felt my bottoms. . . going south. There were TONS of people standing around the waverider area. There were men, women and children in line to my left. There was a crowd of on-lookers in front of me, another crowd to the right of me. . . and OH MY GOD. . . those people have a viewing angle from ABOVE me, which means. . .
ahhhhhHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! (Don’t you just know it that Mr. BBM would be all Johnny-on-the-spot with an opportune photo too! GRR!)
(Just so we’re clear, everyone who visits this site has an IP address. If you visit often, and/or have ever left a comment here, I know your IP address, which means I know when you’re here, how often you’re here, and exactly what you’re looking at while you’re here. Don’t believe me? Go visit Statcounter and see for yourself. Yes, you may think you’re stalking me unbeknownst to me; but actually I’m hip to your stalkerishness. You know how that creepy little kid in the movie sees "dead people"? Well, I see you. If you should attempt to click on the above picture, remove the strategically placed symbol in any way, or somehow blow up said picture, I will totally know about it. So do me a favor and just continue reading. . . Thank you.)
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. . .
I reached back with my hand to keep my bottoms from ending up around my ankles. I caught them, but the reach did nothing for my balance of the board. The next thing I knew, the board went flying out from underneath my partially naked butt, back up to the top of the waverider. And then, my body did the only thing it could do. The powerful jets flipped me onto my back and I rode, Teletubby style right up the wave to where I had started. The water at the top of the wave was intense and started pulling my top down as well. I held on to my bottoms for dear life with my left hand, secured my top with my right hand and stayed there, flat on my back in the rapids, until I was sure I was covered back up again.
People were laughing (totally not at me people, with me, with me I tell you). I stood up, and there was the emotionally unavailable, non-blanket wielding lifeguard telling me I had another turn.
"DUDE! Where was the blanket??? Huh? You’re totally not doing your job!" I hissed at him while I continued to fix my disheveled swimsuit. "If I go again, are you going to do your job this time and cover me up???"
His face was completely unchanged as he said, "Yes Ma’am" and handed me the board that had been so violently removed from underneath me. People who call me "Ma’am" bother me greatly; but people who promise to cover up my butt and don’t follow through with said promise totally take the cake in the category of bothersome.
What’s a girl to do? Had this been 22 years ago, a devastated 5th grade BBM probably would have gone to cry in the bathroom. "Hershey Park just saw my butt! Waahhh!!!" But I couldn’t go out on that note, so I dove onto the wave again, and this time surfed flawlessly until my turn was over. Instead of ending my ride with a nudity-inducing wipe-out, this time I leaned to the left and surfed over to the safety of the padded wall and non-jetted water where I was able to get out with my dignity in tact.
Mr. BBM said that the consensus of the crowd was that I had been "good." There was no shortage of kids, especially boys, giving the waverider a try. I definitely think I got some cool Mom points today.
As I made my way out of the ride, there was some cheering. A couple little boys told me I was "awesome." (Geez, it’s practically becoming a trend.) Of course, we’ll never know if they were talking about my surfing skills or my butt; but either way, it was a compliment and I’m taking it.
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