Enthusiasm or Experience

I recently started playing racquetball on a Sunday with my brother. I have never held a racquet in my hand until three weeks ago. I have not played a game yet because I am still working on the basics. My brother used to play years ago. My niece Nik (his daughter) started playing at college a few weeks ago. Since she was coming home this past weekend, my brother challenged her to a game of racquetball.

Nik is athletic, strong, fast, young and enthusiastic. My brother, who turned fifty this year, calmly told her that he was going to beat her. This banter went back and forth all week. If there were bets placed on this match, Nik would have been the favorite. Everyone thought she would win. We were wrong. It was not even close (sorry Nik). After the game, she was lying down catching her breath. She sat up, tapped her forehead and said, “You beat me here.”

Exactly!

The same is true with sparring. Anyone who has been around a dojo for a while has experienced the enthusiastic student who cannot wait to spar. Often they are young, fast and strong. They are definitely eager. They enter the ring facing a more experienced fighter and find themselves ineffective. The enthusiastic student just cannot seem to land their techniques.

Case in point: A young student came to the dojo eager to fight. His first match was against my husband. (We have new students fight the black belts for safety reasons.) The young man was thrilled to be sparring. He was trying fancy moves. At one point during the fight, the student dropped down in to a split and punch towards the groin. (I think Van Damme performed this technique in a movie). My husband was at least two feet away from his punch. My husband walked over, placed his foot on the student’s chest and lightly pushed.

In racquetball, my brother knows the game. He has the experience. He can more accurately predict the movement of the ball. He quickly realized that Nik was unable to return a ball hit to the back wall. He used this to his advantage. However, he is going to have to watch out because I predict that when she comes home for the summer...she is going to be a formidable competitor! :)

What do you think about sparring? Can enthusiasm alone defeat experience?

"Where Are The Men?"

In a previous post, I wrote about a discussion I had about women and the martial arts. I neglected to mention that the conversation was a women's panel discussion and was televised on the local community station. I was asked to join the discussion by my instructor and the focus was on the evolution of women in martial arts.

Since the segment was being taped "live", home viewers were allowed to call in and ask questions. Half way through the discussion, we had a call from a male home viewer. His question was regarding self-defense and why we needed to learn martial arts. He asked:

"Where are the men?"

Silence.

Then an answer.

I responding by stating that my personal safety and self-protection were my responsibility. I explained that often in the two-car, two career society we live in today, my husband and I are going in different directions. He is not with me all the time nor do I expect him to be.

I was surprised by the question but confident in my answer. What do you think about the question "Where are the men?"

A Message to Mean Girls...."Back Off!"

Relational Aggression encompasses behaviors that harm others by damaging, threatening to damage or manipulating one's relationships with his/her peers, or by injuring one's feelings of social acceptance. It is often referred to as covert bullying and is cruel and cunning. It includes exclusion, secrets, lies, gossip, taunting, name calling, teasing and alliance building. It is more prevalent in females than males.

Last March, I wrote that my daughter "E" was having trouble with school bullies. I am amazed at how mean kids are to each other. Name-calling and put downs seem to be common. As a parent, I teach my daughter to be polite, kind, respectful and compassionate.

On Monday, I picked E up from basketball practice. She was upset because she felt that girls were mean to her. There is a new girl in the class and E tried to be her friend. The resident mean girl "MG" whispered into the new girl's ear that E was a baby and is sensitive (we found this out later). Immediately, the new girl jumped on the MG bandwagon and began to pick on my daughter.

E tries to be friends with MG. E sat down next to MG but MG moved away. E asked her why she moved and MG told her it was because they were not friends. My daughter asked MG why they were not friends. E was promptly told that it was because she does not make fun of people. Seriously? I told E that I was proud of her for not making fun of people.

My daughter takes everything to heart. She wears her emotions on her sleeve. Everyone knows when she is upset because of her body language. How can I help her? When I tell her not to let things bother her so much she tells me that she can't change who she is.

She is right.

My message is for Mean Girls past, present and future...."Back Off!"

108 Movements and Broken Ribs

Yang's long Taijiquan has 108 moves. The teacher has broken the form up in three sections. I have been working on the first section (20 movements) since October. We begin class with some warm up hip exercises and then begin the form.

I can not remember the sequence of the first twenty moves. When I am going through the form I think about my hip motion, stepping forward from my center and the individual technique. This week, I was determined to leave class knowing the sequence to the first section. The instructor indicated that we will work on the second section (38 movements) through February and begin the third section (50 movements) in March.

This week during class my focus was on the pattern. I did not focus on the movement rather the sequence of the form. Finally, after five months, I remember the first section. The other students and the instructor have mentioned that remembering kata should be easy for me. They are right, when referring to Okinawa Kenpo but not Tai Chi.

Why can't I remember?



Racquetball Update:

My brother and I had our first racquetball session. It was fun and a great workout. The week leading up our court time, my brother kept telling me how important it was to stay out of each others way. He told me that we must not run into each other. He made sure that I knew how important it was so stay clear of the wall.

Well...he didn't. He smashed into the wall. His left arm got pinned and smashed into his rib cage. He hit so hard that he got the wind knock out of him. He finally went to the doctor and he has broken ribs.

He still wants to play this Sunday.

Bread, Milk and Tai Chi

I look forward to Tai Chi class on Tuesday. There has been snow, sleet or freezing rain on the past three Tuesdays. This week is no different. In Pennsylvania, the words “winter weather warning” creates dread in some communities. My Aunt lives in the coal regions and entire towns sit on the side of a mountain. The roads are treacherous in the snow and impossible when there is ice.

In my area, the anticipation of a winter storm is often worse than the actual storm. We often get less snow or ice than is forecasted. When a “winter weather warning” posts, people swarm to the grocery store and stock up on bread and milk. It has become a ritual regardless if they have two loaves of bread and a gallon of milk in their kitchen. If you wait too late in the day, the shelves are bare.

I am crossing my fingers that I am able to get to Tai Chi tomorrow. We are starting to work on the second section of the Tai Chi form. It is exciting to see new techniques!

Does your state have the bread/milk phenomenon?

Nunchaku-do Kumite

I was searching for weapons kumite and found this video clip. It is an example of Nunchaku-do kumite. You can find more information on the World Nunchaku Association website. It began in the 1980's when Dutchman Milco Lambrecht and fellow martial artists started to explore the possibilities to develop a new sport based on the nunchaku. There are sport clubs in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands and Switzerland.

Update

On my way to racquetball...knee report to follow.