Pain Pics: Welcome to Steel, Honey

Pain is suppose to teach us something. Bruises, sprains, cuts and scrapes have been my most effective teachers in the martial arts. When I get a bruise that gives me an insight into life, I take a picture of it to remember and honor the lesson it has taught me. 

I got tapped in the arm multiple times during fencing and, of course, I got this beauty.

I learned that my left elbow automatically sticks out when I go into any of the high guards from the left (like posta di donna sinestra). I need to fix that, ASAP.

Pain Pics: Punched in the Face

Pain is suppose to teach us something. Bruises, sprains, cuts and scrapes have been my most effective teachers in the martial arts. When I get a bruise that gives me an insight into life, I take a picture of it to remember and honor the lesson it has taught me. 

I got punched in the face during Karate sparring, I iced the heck out of it and, even though my cheek bone is still sore, the bruise didn't get much bigger.

What I learned: I need to get better/more automatic about blocking stuff coming at my face, a real fight would have ended really badly for me because the force of the punch knocked my contact lens out - I would have been half blind, disoriented and have lost a real fight after that. I should also consider some sort of face guard for sparring.

A New Chapter

I decided to quit my Karate dojo today. I feel a lot of frustration over small things that add up to not really fitting in with the ideology of the school. While being lectured on the importance of the uniform I realized that I will never care about the color of my hair tie, the stitching on my uniform, or any detail that small and that I needed to find a place where I fit in before I burnt any bridges.

When I look for advice on how to quit a dojo on the internet I see a lot of "but I'm only X number of months from my black belt! should I stick with it???!!!" And I realize that I am excited to give up my brown belt for a white one again. The higher the rank, the more important it is to fit in and be an "example" which I will never be while at this school.

I wish the internet had better advice on how to do this "right." Ah well, wish me all the luck.

Pointy Stick Fight!

"Let's spar with spears!"

"But we don't know enough spear technique to actually *spar*"

"...….."

"Pointy Stick Fight!!!!"

It's a Trap!!!

You Know You Have Been Doing Too Much BJJ When...

… you wake up shrimping because you thought your cat was trying to put you in side control.

Random Thoughts