Olympic Hopefuls

On Saturday, my mom and I had a lovely time ice skating! Never mind the fact that it was record-breakingly cold. We made plans to skate, and skate we did! It took a bit to get used to the skates, but we were soon flying around and performing magnificent tricks, as you can see below:

(Check out my swirly ice circles!)

It would have been a bit more atmospheric during the Christmas season, when they were playing old-fashioned carols. (In February, they go back to 80's songs from Footloose and Dirty Dancing.) But the outdoor rink was still cute and scenic in the middle of historic Old Town Louisville. It was worth the 7 degrees!

Practice makes... better, at least

I've been going to the Fado sessions fairly regularly now, once every or every other week. And I'm getting better! It's amazing! Last night, the first song I sat down for, I'd never heard it before and I played the whole thing! It was crazy. Usually I just move my fingers around the way I think they should go, trying to imitate what I hear, and it takes me a lot of false tries to find the right melody. But this time, I got it right on! Plus, one of the guys at the session gave me a big songbook of all the most commonly played reels. All I have to do is play through those a few times on my own, get a good feel for them, and I'll be made in the shade. There is nothing in the world like playing music in a group! And now that I can play more confidently, all the better. :)

Lighten Up

Ok, enough with the emotional/inspirational posts. Try taking this test! Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer? I got a 7/10.

Poem

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

--Marianne Williamson "Our Greatest Fear"


This was our final reading in the Streetwize course. Just excise the god parts and I love the message.

The Z is for Zanchin

I've just completed Streetwize, a self-defense course at my dojo, Way of the Crane. It was an amazing, moving experience that I'm still on a high from. The course was three days of training, and then tonight was graduation. The first day was the most meaningful to me. Since I've been a karate student for over three years now, I was already familiar with most of the techniques, but the first day was about the mental aspect of self-defense. About the people who try to intimidate you, put you down, manipulate you, take advantage of you... and about why we let them. Being very shy and afraid of conflict, this was the most valuable thing for me to learn about. (I hear you out there... "Shy? Christine?" Well, be happy, because if you've never seen me shy and meek that means I love you and am comfortable with you.)

The next two days were about the basic self-defense techniques: how to get out of chokeholds, collar grabs, pins, etc. It wasn't new for me, but damn how I do love it. I always feel like a puppy rolling around with its littermates. And I did learn a very valuable lesson in patience, how struggling wastes energy and how to save myself for the right window of opportunity to strike.

Graduation tonight was fantastic. We were to be jumped by six of the biggest, toughest karate students and fight them off using what we'd learned. I was so nervous, even though it's something I've done plenty of times before. But it just felt different. When it was my turn, I used what I'd learned. I didn't struggle; if I didn't have any openings, then I waited calmly while my attackers thrust my legs apart and said terrible things to me. And when it was time, POW! Right in the kisser. I even had a wicked awesome move where I managed to swing my leg up and over the guy pinning me and kick him in the head. That was sweet.

So after an exhilarating round of rough pins and grappling, and feeling pumped up and energized, the advanced students performed katas for us. It made my heart ache, it was so beautiful. Kata is the most gorgeous expression of movement; it is so full of grace and elegance and power. Going through the contrast of the visceral self-defense and the peaceful kata made me fall madly in love with karate all over again. I can't describe what it means to me, beyond the punches and the kicks and the hi-yas that everyone thinks of. All I can say is that it's truly an art form.

So after that wonderful experience, I just had to come tell my three loyal readers all about it. Now if you ever hear me complain about the warm-ups or about being tired, tell me to shut up and refer back to this post!

One year down!

Today is the one year anniversary of my mom moving to Colorado. Huzzah!! And so far her only complaint has been "Not enough snow." Here is the celebratory "four seasons" cake that we enjoyed to commemorate the occasion:

One down, many more to go!