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!
I ended up not ending on Friday because my belly was bothering me. Generally speaking it’s a bad idea to put on tight pants and run around when one’s belly is upset.
Fortunately my belly and I were on speaking terms this weekend, and I led/participated in a successful melee practice on Sunday. I got to teach, learn, make friends, and fight. The group I was visiting also had a tasty potluck lunch. It was a really great weekend and fun practice.
If I thought I was sore yesterday, I didn’t know the meaning of the word.
We had a very active Krav class. We reviewed punching and inside blocks and then worked on kicks. My arms are still yelling at me, and I expect my legs to follow suit by the end of the day. Today is definitely a rest day.
In spite of all the soreness, I’m in really good spirits! I feel like I’m making major progress; something really clicked for me last night, and the front kicks were smoother and better formed than they have been so far. My only real complaint at this point is that my sparring partner’s Velcro on her gloves cut up my arm. Boo hoo, right?
I’ll be at fencing on Friday.
Today there weren’t any new students in yoga, so class was challenging and rewarding. I pushed my limits and managed to surprise even myself with what I could do. I’m still feeling it in my arms.
In addition to the new strengths I found, I also made some advances in my meditation. I managed to clear my mind, and when I did, I was full of light.
I had a fantastic night at Krav. I got to use my brand new MMA gloves for the first time, and after practicing blocks and counters, we got to do some sparring.
At one point I was working with a fellow who is roughly twice my size: tall, broad, experienced with Krav. Anyway, because his reach is so long, I knew I’d have to get in there to be anywhere close to my striking distance. I did get in there, and I missed a block, and he legit punched me in the face.*
Now this fellow is very kind to his training partners, and it was not his intent to punch me in the face, so I got to see the look of “Oh, shit, I just punched this little gal in the face” flash through his eyes. So before any of that can leave his mouth I started laughing through my mouth guard (I stress-cackle, apparently) and moving in for my next attack. I earned a little street cred and had an awesome practice with some real-life application.
I came home and told Nik that since we’re sparring in Krav, he’s going to need to re-calibrate me each time I fence so that I don’t get too in the zone.
I feel so alive.
*This is why we wear gloves and sign waivers. I’m fine. I don’t even think I’ll have a sweet bruise for work tomorrow.
I realized I essentially taunted anyone paying attention by hyping you up for a visit from my mentor and then never posting about it again.
The visit went really well. I didn’t get to fence with him a lot, but my students did. He had some advice for each one and had nice things to say about everyone. I think everyone had a really good time.
On Friday, we had a short class (Fridays are always 1.5 hours instead of 2 hours), and I spent some time working with a student who has some spatial relation issues. If any of you out there in the fencing world (or the contact sports world in general) have any insight on how to help her, please drop me a line! In the meantime, we’re working slowly with the building blocks we have.
On Saturday, my mentor found out that he has won the new highest fencing award in the SCA. He’ll become a Master of Defense the first week of December. I’m so proud of him, and I’m excited to help him with the event to make sure everything goes smoothly.
Last night at Krav we went back to basics and worked on technique. It could have been tedious, but I thought it felt really good to work on that stuff, especially since I could feel the difference in my legs. I remember when I first started and how sore my calves would get. My calves are still sore, but they held out so much longer. It’s a little improvement, but it’s an important one.
Last week at Krav I trained so hard I forgot what day it was. I said, “See you Wednesday!” to my friends as I was leaving, and they looked at me, confused, and said, “…it is Wednesday.” I’d call it a good night.
This is the month that we’ll start training toward passing the proficiency tests. I’m super stoked to see the new curriculum tonight.
On Friday I got to go to fencing. I spent the session helping a new lady fighter. I’m trying to figure out how I can help young women who are new to the sport make it work with their body mechanics.
My mentor is coming to town this week, and he’s going to visit my students. I can’t wait to see him and to see him interact with my “kids.”
All in all, I’m just super excited about all the fighting in my life this week.
Oh, yeah… I dropped one pants size.
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