Feelin' Groovy

I posted this on my BJJ Club's Forum and thought I'd add it here as well: 

In struggling with some of the recent techniques we’ve been learning in class ~ Fantastic Pants Mount Escape comes immediately to mind ~ I am reminded that while practice does indeed make perfect, until that perfection is reached, there are small improvements in execution that should not be ignored as successes just because they haven’t resulted in the ‘perfect’ move.

Last week we did a stand-up throw, one we’ve been practicing a lot and that I had been feeling was not my best technique. We covered it in the Hannette Staack workshop as well. You know the one: it starts from single collar tie, then you step in towards your opponent, encircle her neck, pivot so you face the same direction as she is, bend your knees and bring your hips below hers staying bent over at the waist. Then you bring her weight forward onto you as you straighten your legs, turning your head away as you bring her around and over for a perfect throw!

I had my share of struggles with this one… not stepping in close enough to start with, or not bending my knees enough, the balance not quite right when attempting the throw – got a few bruises down my leg and some dings on my knee from that part, not to mention how my poor training partners would have felt with such an ungainly throw!

So it was a surprise to me to feel, for the first time last week, what a [almost] perfect throw must be like. The movement was nearly effortless, the weight of my training partner balanced just so and the throw itself even ‘sounded’ good at the end… That certain impact on the mat that is neither too hard, nor too soft, but just right.

All those practice sessions paid off! Though in and of themselves, none of my previous attempts felt “right”, each was a little bit improved over it’s predecessor; something I was rarely conceding.

And so now I am looking at my performance each class a little differently. Not so much as to how perfect I can be, but rather how improved I am over the last class or my previous attempt at a particular technique. Measuring one’s progress is always challenging, so I am determined to acknowledge the improvements as they come, and to keep reaching for the Tipping Point; that moment when a previously rare event becomes rapidly and dramatically more common.

Here’s to each of your successes on the mats and in life; celebrate all of them!

Contrary to the title, you may expect this to be a piece about boys and how they are unable to make themselves stop and ask for directions despite all indications that they are lost. Well, it's not... It's about this woman I saw today on my drive in to work....

For starters, the car ahead of me had to honk at this woman, who was in front of him, at two different traffic lights that had gone green while she just sat there, unmoving. It was a bit frustrating, though it was such a lovely day I was in no particular hurry to get into the office.

As we approached Yonge Street, a police officer had pulled over a car a couple of blocks ahead. His lights were on, and both the police car and the vehicle he'd stopped were parked along the side of the road. This is a relatively small side street we were on, only one lane each way, so not a ton of room. Certainly not enough to have cars double parked and still space for traffic to pass by.

As we come up on this scene, the woman pulls in behind the police car... I think this is a bit odd, but that maybe the cop was blocking the driveway she wanted or something. I barely give it a thought as both the driver ahead of me and myself, pass her and continue on by. I glance in her car on my way past and notice that she has a map in her hands. Aha, I think to myself, She WAS lost.... Not too sure why she stopped there though...Oh wait, I'm watching in my rearview mirror now, she's pulling up beside the police car just as the officer gets out, pad in hand, to write up the speeder/stop sign runner... and yes, while blocking all of the traffic coming up behind her, she's leaning across the front seat to talk to officer, apparently asking him for directions!!

That's all I was able to witness, since traffic for me was moving and I couldn't stop and watch. I don't know how long she took to make her request, how pissed off the traffic behind her got, how tempted the cop was to write her a ticket (for what, I don't know) or how upset the driver who was originally stopped was getting at being kept waiting longer than usual to get his ticket and carry on to work! Seriously though, would you stop an officer in the middle of whatever 'keeping the peace' task he was doing so you could ask him directions? And what makes you think a cop is going to know the answer anyway? There was a Tm Horton's coming up on her route... she'd certainly have been able to find someone in there who could help her.  

So, I'm watching the news last night, and find out that there was apparently a big ruckus in NY over a comment some popular radio personality made about the Rutgers University Women's Basketball Team. Perhaps you've heard about this story...

Anyway, seems this guy, Imus, made a disparaging remark live on air and was subsequently suspended from work for 2 weeks. He has apologized and agrees he crossed the line with his comments. The news broadcast then went on to show excerpts from a press conference where the women of the Rutgers team, all apparently aspiring doctors, musicians and lawyers and got a chance to respond to the belittling remarks..

So, what exactly did he say that caused such a furor you ask? Well, I believe "nappy-headed ho's" were his words.

One woman's succint rebuttal: "Well, I would just like to ACKS him, if he met me, does he think I'm still a ho?"

Hmmm... jury's still out on that one...

Been a long time since I've posted so I guess I should bring you up to date on things...

My latest passion is Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I am having a blast with it! The club, kimonogirl, is great, the instructor is wonderful and the fact that it's the only all-women's club in Toronto is even better! Not having to deal with sweaty, testosterone laden guys who believe the UFC is everything and who have a point to prove. (And yes, I know that not all guys are like that and could probably train with women respectfully and with less aggression... however, it's nice not to have to worry about the ones who can't!)

A strength training site I found provides some really awesome exercises, including these kneeling jumps, which I still cannot do, but aspire to achieving one of these days. Of course our intructor, Elliott, does conditioning and strength training with a group called Cross Fit here in Toronto. He often incorporates some of their drills into our training sessions. We all have a love/hate relationship with them... I mean "Do as many sets of 15 burpees, 15 pushups and 15 squats as you can in 5 minutes" is not something you love to hear!! But it works... ;-)

For now I am loving the sport and the training and am working on getting my blue belt. Like other martial arts, a white belt is what you start with and go from there. The blue belt is after white in BJJ, and how long it takes to get it depends entirely on how much effort one puts into training. I train as much as I can!!

If you're in Toronto and want to come see what kimogirl is all about, come on by and check out the classes anytime, or a workshop if there's one scheduled.

My brother-in-law, David, is an architecture student at Dalhousie in Halifax, Nova Scotia. With the pressures of school assignments, portfolio development, design competitions, academic work not to mention coming up on the first anniversary of marriage to my fabulous little sister Maria, well, let's just say you'd think that his sense of fun might be a bit diminished.

Not so, apparently, as this story in the Halifax Daily News reveals. Seems our David and his cohorts are not only smart and creative students, but have both social statements to make and human hamster wheels to design!

Way to go Dave!