Mission drift

[unixronin]

As previously noted, I’ve been trying to get a bit more of a regular exercise regimen going, starting with a bunch of upper-body exercises with 3lb hand weights while I wait for the espresso machine to heat up.  Not long into this, I started adding in first inward and outward blocks, then upward and downward blocks.  It wasn’t long before the Silly Goose wandered into one of my exercise sessions, and so I ended up teaching her the basic inward, outward and upward blocks.  She doesn’t practise, so her form is pretty sloppy, but she’s grasped the basics.

Today, I started adding in forward snap kicks as well.  It turns out I can do a left-foot forward snap kick pretty easily, but right foot is much harder because I cannot plant my left foot properly — for my left foot to be close enough to under me to support me even for that brief moment, my weight has to be divided about 60/40 between the ball of my foot and my toes, and my heel isn’t within two inches of the floor.  My foot also isn’t level side-to-side because the first ray of my foot is dropped about half an inch relative to the rest of my foot, which throws my foot to the outside.  So my balance on that side is terrible; I can barely keep my balance even long enough to throw a snap kick.

Anyway, once again Goose wandered in while I was trying to do the right foot front snap kicks, and started trying to copy what I was doing, so I started correcting her, and then the Dread Pirate Bignum got into the act, except that Pirate was really excited about it (even more so than Goose) and wanted to turn it into some kind of wild leaping thing out of bad anime.  So I would up teaching them both the basics of the front snap kick.  Pirate had a big over-excited problem going on and wouldn’t pay attention at all, then got bored after a couple of minutes, but Goose at least got the basic idea, although she wasn’t really paying the least attention to her stance and I had to keep correcting her.  She wasn’t getting the form too well either; she kept leaning back and hunching her forward shoulder into it, she kept letting her stance get too narrow, and when she thought she’d got it, she forgot about what she was supposed to be doing, and ended up letting it drift into something somewhere between a side snap kick and a side thrust kick, so then I wound up having to show her those and the difference between them as well to show her what she was doing wrong.  So once again my intended exercise session turned into martial-arts instruction.

Goose probably could actually do pretty well at a martial art, if she could calm down and take the time to properly learn the techniques and develop a bit better awareness of her stance and her form, and if she could develop the patience and and the ... dedication, for lack of a better word ... to actually practice.  But at the moment, she’s only willing to put enough effort into it to flail wildly around and think she’s Naruto.

Still, at least she has the “worst swordsman in Spain” thing going for her, and the fact that she’s big and strong for her age.

Comments

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

some people take a LONG time to develop certain kinds of body awareness. early training helps. some people (whistles) take a LONG time, and in some cases, parts of it just never comes - almost wish i had early training.

but hey, if you can teach them to punch something HARD and safely, open and closed hands, a few key grappling moves, and some nasty things to do to someone (in dire need, ONLY)... they'll be ahead of a lot of people.

practice push hands too :> rewards of cookie or chocolate perhaps ;)

#

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

Ok, maybe it's because I'm still working on my first cup of coffee for this morning.

What do you mean by "worst swordsman in Spain" thing? I feel like I should know, but it's just not getting through.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

The second-best swordsman in Spain does not fear the best swordsman in Spain ... he fears the worst, because the best knows all the techniques and styles, and knows the best counters for every move and the best exploits for every opening, which means the second-best swordsman has a pretty good idea of what he'll do at any given moment. But the worst swordsman in Spain is totally unpredictable — he might do anything.

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

Ok, I remember that now. I love your Inigo Montoya icon! Did you know that both Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin actually took several months of professional sword-fighting training to prepare for "The Princess Bride"? In their first fight scene, all the techniques named are real, and used correctly!

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Yup, I've heard that before. It's a brilliant scene.


"You are wonderful."
"Thank you; I've worked hard to become so."
"I admit it, you are better than I am."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"Because I know something you don't know."
"And what is that?"
"I... am not left-handed."
[...]
"You are amazing."
"I ought to be, after 20 years."
"Oh, there's something I ought to tell you."
"Tell me."
"I'm not left-handed either."

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

In the olden days, Basil Rathbone was the expert fencing instructor for many of the actors looking to keep in shape between films. And he was the one getting killed in many of those films.

I always appreciate it when the movie studios take the time to get a real skill correct when they portray it. I may miss it in many situations, but when I do have the deeper understanding, that connection makes the movie so much better for me.