Tag: self defense

I suck at updating my blog, but I do not suck at working out. I’ve been hitting the gym almost every day. On the days I don’t go to the gym, I take a walk outside or do something else active (like yard work).

I’m 10 days into #30daysoffencing leading up to Serfo. Today I slept through practice but did drills. I’ve been having problems with timing, so taking a couple days to do drills is helpful.

I’ll try to post some set lists. I’ve been not posting because I haven’t had pictures of them on my phone. Silly, huh? Most of my weights (that I lift) have increased. My body weight went down when I was tracking my caloric intake and focusing on cardio. I put some weight back on when I started lifting more, so I think I’m doing some body recomposition.

I’m excited to teach self-defense at a ladies only event at the gym on campus tomorrow. I hope this opens some doors to teach more Krav in my area instead of driving the better part of an hour to do it.

Tonight was Krav night. I was a little apprehensive at first, but I had a really great practice once I got moving. I got to participate since I wasn’t teaching this time.

After class, we met to discuss business stuff. I’m looking forward to growing Krav in my area!

Let’s see… I’ve been slacking with updates but not with exercise.

Last Monday I had a good Krav class. I don’t remember if I went to the gym or not. If I went, I did cardio.

I did go to the gym Tuesday. It was arm day. I cut my workout a little shorter than Nik’s so that I could run.

On Wednesday I did chest and abs and then went to Krav. That was a mistake. Conditioning was agony that day.

On Thursday I was sore, and we had company, so no workout for me. I skipped fencing on Friday because we had different company.

Saturday made up for it. I did a Krav seminar in the morning. Then I helped with a fencing demo in the afternoon and walked a 5K (in armor) at sunset.

I might go to the gym today; I don’t know. It depends on whether I can coax my feet into my sneakers. I have some pretty impressive blisters from yesterday.

Last night was my triumphant return to Krav class. I’d missed my friends.

It was an evening of little victories, the first of which being running all the way around the building without feeling like I was going to die. I hate running with the fury of a thousand suns. I’m bad at it, and I find it generally unpleasant. This time, however, I managed to do the run without wishing for the sweet release of death, AND I managed to stay near the front of the pack. It’s not a race by any means, and i’m sure most of my class could take me if it were. However, not huffing and puffing and bringing up the rear was huge for me.

We spent the class outside, and I had my fair share of attacking and being attacked. At one point we were visited by a surprisingly friendly possum (meaning it was fairly close to us and not biting us, so that’s cool). We tried to keep an eye out for the little guy while we were training. The last thing you want to do is step on a possum when you’re fighting in an alley.

Class really got me back in the groove, but it also showed me how much stuff I can forget if I’m not doing it regularly (ahem, bear hugs). I’m feeling super motivated despite being very sore.

I missed out on a visiting fencer because I was at Krav instead of fencing, but I did get to hang out with him and Nik (since our practices ended at the same time). Pizza and beer is a great finish to a workout.

Tonight I had the chance to introduce five lovely ladies to Krav Maga. They had fun and felt empowered. I’m really looking forward to next week’s class.

Even more than that, I’m excited for fencing. Practice is tomorrow, and Panhandle Skirmishes is this weekend. I can’t wait to see my friends and on and fight some melee scenarios!

Tonight in Krav we spent pretty much the whole class learning how to get up from the floor. It’s more strenuous than it sounds.

I’m super stoked about helping in the women’s self-defense seminar tomorrow night.

Today was a good day at yoga, fortunately not as challenging as last week since I think I may have strained something in my left shoulder while I was doing the full expression of chaturanga (toward the beginning of class, too). I came home, took a hot shower, took a muscle relaxer, and taped up the shoulder.

I really hope this doesn’t mean I’m benched for the rest of the week. I’m looking forward to helping with the ladies’ self-defense class on Thursday!

This is how I felt practicing knees in Krav last night.

Seriously, though, it was a good class. We reviewed some material for last week and introduced the knee without hold (while protecting your face like in Thriller) and getting up off the ground ready to fight.

I have more opportunities during the week to train, so I’m pretty excited about that too.

Story time!

In addition to fencing, I practice Krav Maga. Studying Krav has had a huge impact on my fencing mindset, so I don’t mind sharing an occasional story or two about it on here. This is one of those stories.

Last week we were practicing getting out of bear hugs. We were doing a drill during which one person (for this story, the person is me) stands in the room with her eyes closed. Two things might happen. Either someone with a hitting pad will yell her name, and she’ll open her eyes and either kick or hit the pad (depending on her position), OR someone will bear hug her, and she will open her eyes and get away.

So we were doing this drill, and it was my turn in the middle. The room was very quiet. I have to set the tone here, so I want you to imagine this quiet, serious scenario. Suddenly someone ran up and bear hugged me. I was more or less ready for this, but having someone suddenly grab you is usually startling. This fellow wrapped his arms tight about my midsection, and I farted. Loudly. In a very quiet room.

To my classmates’ credit, they tried to act like they didn’t hear it because this was a room full of adults, not second graders, but there was no denying exactly what just happened. So as I was fighting my way out of the bear hug, I yelled, “It’s part of my defense!” Then it was okay for everyone to laugh. Fortunately that squeeze got it all out of my system, and it didn’t happen again (plus I was lucky that it was just loud, not gross).

The moral of the story is if you ever find yourself being attacked, just let one rip. Be loud and proud. That person will probably just let you go.