ONE
I'm off early from the Diamond Mines. I'll be leaving town with E for the weekend to hang out MR. & MRS. FIVE-O. MRS. FIVE-O is E's bridesmaid. While they're out putting the finishing touches on the Wedding Dress ensemble, I may decide to head for the Arnold Martial Arts classic. Or, I may not.
For a brief number of years, Der Governator's annual Fitness Classic was held in conjunction with a long-running martial arts tournament, The Battle of Columbus. The Battle is an event held by OMAC, and it's founder Joon Pyo-choi. Incidentally, his brother Young Pyo-Choi was the teacher of my old teachers. Well, for some reason (and I can speculate quite a bit, but I don't want to offend anyone), Conan decided to make his event separate again. And, looking at the guest rosters for both events, it looks like most of the interesting guests and tournaments remain with the Battle of Columbus.
If nothing else, I'll visit the old martial arts supply store I used to go to, just for old time's sake.
TWO
Last night, E had a little "mini-birthday party," the continuation of which will be up north in Columbus. Ordinarily, too much beer and not enough, well, more interesting drinks add up to be a bad combination. But, it was a good thing because my head was clear enough to pull off an impromptu solo performance of Rocky Horror's Sweet Transvestite for the crowd. It was karaoke night, and E wanted to see me sing. Actually, she wanted to get up on stage herself and signed us (with my name being the only one on the form) up when there weren't a lot of people around. Then, the place started filling up and she got cold feet. We were going to skip out, but then my name was called.
Well, what can you do? It was only the second time I've done that sort of thing but I asked myself, "How bad could it really be?" If I'm not afraid of parrying sticks, knives, kicks, punches flying at me, then why should I be afraid of singing a karaoke song with homoerotic lyrics in a bar in the middle of a liberal college town?
I must've at least sang in key most of the time, because I'm still hearing about it today. I just got another compliment while I write this. See, there's a lot of cross-over patronage between that bar and the coffee shop I frequent. Got lots of back-pats from said coffee shop people, the bartender that hopefully will get over being rude to E, the owner of the best hot-dog shop in town, a few other people I've seen around town but were never introduced to before tonight, and the gay couple that E was making friends with while I was singing. It's nice hearing a bar full of inebriated people saying things like, "Dude, you fu*kin' rock!" and having it be somewhat genuine.
I'd do it all again.
THREE
T-minus 19 days to wedded bliss!
FOUR
I remember one FMA "backyard training" session with DATU_B and someone else. We were practicing inside and outside deflections. I recall an interesting tidbit regarding my footwork. The typical inside deflection is performed by stepping to the outside with your right foot while defending your left. The reverse is true for the outside deflection - you step to the outside with your left foot.
For some reason, after several repetitions on both sides, the grass was bare where my right foot was continually stepping out, indicating that my footwork was a strong, balanced, and integrated part of my technique. Conversely, my left foot left no such bare patch, for reasons we couldn't figure out at the time. After all, I wasn't getting hit.
For the past couple of days, I've been practicing "female triangle" stepping whenever I've had the chance. Sure, I get odd looks, but at least I'm not one of those people who drop into a full front stance/middle punch combo (anymore). I've noticed that when I step with my right foot, I feel rooted and centered. I can shift my weight distribution at will to either leg. When I step out with my left foot, my balance does not feel secure. The majority of my weight distribution is on my front (left) foot. Even when I try to shift it back, it feels awkward.
I showed my friend the Bando practicioner at work. He couldn't figure it out, either. I'm just going to have to keep playing around with it some more. I'm thinking my shoulders and hips are playing into that whole thing, too. I just have to figure out how...
FIVE
I saw this story on TV at the laundromat...
I'm off early from the Diamond Mines. I'll be leaving town with E for the weekend to hang out MR. & MRS. FIVE-O. MRS. FIVE-O is E's bridesmaid. While they're out putting the finishing touches on the Wedding Dress ensemble, I may decide to head for the Arnold Martial Arts classic. Or, I may not.
For a brief number of years, Der Governator's annual Fitness Classic was held in conjunction with a long-running martial arts tournament, The Battle of Columbus. The Battle is an event held by OMAC, and it's founder Joon Pyo-choi. Incidentally, his brother Young Pyo-Choi was the teacher of my old teachers. Well, for some reason (and I can speculate quite a bit, but I don't want to offend anyone), Conan decided to make his event separate again. And, looking at the guest rosters for both events, it looks like most of the interesting guests and tournaments remain with the Battle of Columbus.
If nothing else, I'll visit the old martial arts supply store I used to go to, just for old time's sake.
TWO
Last night, E had a little "mini-birthday party," the continuation of which will be up north in Columbus. Ordinarily, too much beer and not enough, well, more interesting drinks add up to be a bad combination. But, it was a good thing because my head was clear enough to pull off an impromptu solo performance of Rocky Horror's Sweet Transvestite for the crowd. It was karaoke night, and E wanted to see me sing. Actually, she wanted to get up on stage herself and signed us (with my name being the only one on the form) up when there weren't a lot of people around. Then, the place started filling up and she got cold feet. We were going to skip out, but then my name was called.
Well, what can you do? It was only the second time I've done that sort of thing but I asked myself, "How bad could it really be?" If I'm not afraid of parrying sticks, knives, kicks, punches flying at me, then why should I be afraid of singing a karaoke song with homoerotic lyrics in a bar in the middle of a liberal college town?
I must've at least sang in key most of the time, because I'm still hearing about it today. I just got another compliment while I write this. See, there's a lot of cross-over patronage between that bar and the coffee shop I frequent. Got lots of back-pats from said coffee shop people, the bartender that hopefully will get over being rude to E, the owner of the best hot-dog shop in town, a few other people I've seen around town but were never introduced to before tonight, and the gay couple that E was making friends with while I was singing. It's nice hearing a bar full of inebriated people saying things like, "Dude, you fu*kin' rock!" and having it be somewhat genuine.
I'd do it all again.
THREE
T-minus 19 days to wedded bliss!
FOUR
I remember one FMA "backyard training" session with DATU_B and someone else. We were practicing inside and outside deflections. I recall an interesting tidbit regarding my footwork. The typical inside deflection is performed by stepping to the outside with your right foot while defending your left. The reverse is true for the outside deflection - you step to the outside with your left foot.
For some reason, after several repetitions on both sides, the grass was bare where my right foot was continually stepping out, indicating that my footwork was a strong, balanced, and integrated part of my technique. Conversely, my left foot left no such bare patch, for reasons we couldn't figure out at the time. After all, I wasn't getting hit.
For the past couple of days, I've been practicing "female triangle" stepping whenever I've had the chance. Sure, I get odd looks, but at least I'm not one of those people who drop into a full front stance/middle punch combo (anymore). I've noticed that when I step with my right foot, I feel rooted and centered. I can shift my weight distribution at will to either leg. When I step out with my left foot, my balance does not feel secure. The majority of my weight distribution is on my front (left) foot. Even when I try to shift it back, it feels awkward.
I showed my friend the Bando practicioner at work. He couldn't figure it out, either. I'm just going to have to keep playing around with it some more. I'm thinking my shoulders and hips are playing into that whole thing, too. I just have to figure out how...
FIVE
I saw this story on TV at the laundromat...
War veterans learn to share their storiesI'd read them.
NEA program helps vets put their experiences in words
By Bob Faw
Correspondent
NBC News
Updated: 7:52 p.m. ET March 3, 2005
HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. - In country, they served and sacrificed. And each has a story to tell.
Flight engineer Christian Mackenzie's helicopter was shot down in Iraq.
"The enemy shot an RPG that actually hit us right in the nose of the aircraft and blew up in my face," recalls Mackenzie. "I really need to get some of this stuff down on paper."
Cindy Kaleta is one of the few women who hauled ammo in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Stefanie Kollar is still shaken by what she saw there. Their everyday experiences are extraordinary.
Around the country, soldiers like Mackenzie, Kollar and Kaleta are attending workshops organized by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), where they learn — from successful authors — how to tell their stories better.
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