Comeuppance

It's just like my dear old daddy used to say. "Sweet Parker," he'd say, "payback's a bitch."

So, yesterday I was naughty at the grocery store & snuck up on Mighty Mouse from behind. Today I'm in class fighting over a gun with the Goddess of War & we bump into Mighty Mouse doing the same with her partner, and what nobody but me realizes is I'm getting hammered in the forehead over & over & over with Mighty Mouse's gun as we slam into each other. I now have a nice visible lump on my forehead and a new regard for karma. As well as a fear of mice.

First hour today Miss C & I had a private with the Gorgeous Bastard, working on techniques for the test that I now suspect may not happen. We aren't covering the techniques for the test much in class & nobody's really talking about it, so I'm not sure what's going on. I know not everybody is paying to cover this stuff in private's. Anyway, I'm just going to hide and watch, so if we still have it on the 17th, I'll be as ready as I can be.

2nd hour was level 1 & the class was hyoooooooge! January resolutionists, I guess. Its pretty exciting to see so many new people at once, everyone giving it their all. I ended up helping out, though I don't know how helpful I was tonight in the end, I just got to a few of the sea of people, it seemed. The coolest thing was that Mighty Mouse ended the class with choke defenses in the parking garage instead of the studio! It definitely added a bit of a sinister flavor to the class & I'd love to do it more often. By the way, the first time I held the bag for Mighty Mouse I thought I was ready & braced for impact but she immediately knocked me off balance & back onto the mirrors with her palm heel strikes. She is SO strong! I don't think she has that much more muscle than me, but she can deliver! I want to be like that too!!
Then, later, I saw her at Central Market in the deli department, but she didn't see me, so I put my hands around her throat from behind, thinking, "you know, I don't have my mouthpiece in...". She plucked my hand off her throat with a textbook move & whipped around. "Parker! What the...!!!" I do know I should not have done that. I'm Satan's spawn, what can I tell you.

3rd hour was level 2/3 with GB, we worked outside & inside defenses. I got punched in the face by Miss C twice. Karmic pre-punishment for my grocery store crimes. Miss C did everything right - instead of relaxing & watching her body for movement, I anticipated what I thought she was going to throw, got jacked up & wiggled the wrong way, straight into her oncoming fist. Sigh. Also the General stopped by & tapped me on the shoulder & the moment I saw him I said, "D'oh! You're about to correct me, I'm doing something wrong." He denied it with the flimsiest of claims & proceeded to correct me on what I was doing wrong. The General's eye sees all.

When is the Gentleman coming home from New York? If I don't get punched at least once a week by him I just feel empty inside. Va aqui!

Worked combinations on the focus mitts with Big Daddy J, tweaking, tweaking. I've been in such a funk the last few weeks, not studying my teacher cards, not being able to form a thought, it felt good when we started teacher practice. Just to be back on a normal schedule participating in my normal life was a relief. But the teaching - I talk too much, that's what it comes down to. I need to use fewer words to get the idea across. So, again, rewriting the cards, redoing, tweaking, tweaking.

2nd hour, level 3/4 with Relentless. Bob & weave, slipping - slipping is fun, I like slipping. Need to work that into sparring, since panicking doesn't seem to be working out for me as a reliable strategy. I was actually able to work with Relentless for a few exercises, since I wouldn't put my battered shin through the torment of shin defenses, he worked absorbing roundhouse to the thigh with me instead, plus other stuff. His name should be Freaking Fast, because that's as true of him as his relentlessness. Also did back kicks & spinning back kicks, at which Donkey Boy excels. That child will be a force to be reckoned with some day, if we let him live that long. :)

3rd hour, yoga. I can do handstands now! Yay! Against the wall, but so what, I'm happy.

4th hour MMA with Mudslide. We worked side control again & my partner was once again Goldilocks. That girl is game! I'm glad she's here. I also got to roll with the Professor, one of my absolute favorite things to do - especially since Mudslide had us add strikes instead of just grappling. I'm soooo glad I started joining in this class instead of just standing around biting my lip about it. Don't be like me! If you're unsure of whether you belong in a place you're considering, jump in! Its the only way you've ever know.

First hour today was Level 1, with Relentless. I'm working on going 100% on every drill & exercise in an effort to improve my conditioning. In the past I've always held back in expectation of a long training session. Its exhausting, but its already getting easier. I got to demonstrate defense against headlock from the side to the class, & I have clearly done something to offend the guy who attacked. He almost ripped my head off & then proceeded to try to choke the life out of me. At first I was startled, but then I was so happy! It was so much fun to successfully defend against a hard attack! Also, he was such a good sport about being smashed in the balls, hammerfisted repeatedly at the base of his throat, & slammed to the ground. I always wondered how exposed the attacker's throat would be when going hard on this defense, and its very exposed & vulnerable to attack. Yay!

Next hour, level 2/3, I started out in the Gorgeous Bastard's class. We got in trouble for getting up wrong & had to do pushups. Guess I'm glad I was one of the offenders, wouldn't want to do extra pushups for nothing! We did various drills throughout, but I had to stop when we got to shin defense against roundkick. I still have a bright green massive lump on my left shin that aches pretty much constantly. This is from an errant kick two weeks ago, so I'm beginning to wonder if something is actually wrong.

Anyway, I stepped out to assist in Relentless's introductory class. It was a big group, and were they ready to rumble! I partnered with a woman who is really strong, once she gets her conditioning & technique in order, she'll be awesome. Great attitude, too. A couple of times she was dying to stop, but never did. Her t-shirt asked the question, "What are you grateful for?" RIght now I'm grateful to my teachers & training partners for helping me grow. I'm grateful for students like her who keep fighting when they want to collapse, because they inspire me to work harder, too.

By the way, go see the movie Slumdog Millionaire. If you're reading this in Austin, its still playing at the Alamo South. Great movie.

Doing What You Love...

...makes the bad things go away. I arrived for my teacher lesson with Big Daddy J wound up tight. I knew I needed to punch someone or something, so I hit the bag while I waited for him. I'm working on speed - playing the shoulder touch game last night with some big boys reminded me why speed is of the essence when going against someone bigger & stronger.

After reciting my list of woes to BDJ we started to work on my form - no "teaching" him technique today, an act of mercy on his part. Just worked the basics, fine tuning fighting stance, punches, movement. Learned a lot about hooks in a very short time. Constantly fine tuning the principals on which everything else in the training is based. I am absolutely convinced that until the most basic movements are mastered to the nth degree, and can be applied with speed, power, & precision, and without thought, the techniques that follow cannot be mastered completely.

After he left I threw about 1,000 hooks to the bag to sink it in, & went home happy.

Monday Night Sneak In

I usually don't train krav on Monday, but since Fit and Fearless will be closed most of the week, I snuck in. First hour was the General's level 1 class. He has been exceptionally helpful to me on teacher training & I watch him like a hawk every time I work with him. He let me hold the bag for his demonstrations & even though he was going at, what, 10-15% of his power he was still knocking me back consistently. That boy is scary strong. He also corrected me on my fighting stance - again. I get in low & strong most of the time, but still my old habits continue to haunt me in just about every area. Its a constant frustration for me, but I know of no other solution than to keep dogging along, working on it, so that's what I'm doing.

2nd hour was level 2/3 with Big Daddy J, we did a fun & unusual warmup, then worked slap kicks. FINALLY, something I don't feel like a total dork doing. That's cheating, of course, as I used to do them in karate. :) I don't care! Bwahahahaha!

Then spinning back kicks, so back to dorkdom, but not too bad. Mami K demonstrated them to a couple of us over on the side, and she can do it perfectly with a big ol' pregnant belly! She also told me I'm not getting my hips around enough, which is the reason I so often bounce off of people larger than me when I'm kicking them - especially on vertical front kicks. She was right, too - the second & drove my hips in the power came right with it. More to work on, but I feel like another piece of the puzzle fell into place. Of course, I KNOW in my brain that the hips always drive power, but when you're thinking of 80 things at once, sometimes the most basic principals get overlooked. That's why we have teachers, no? I'm in such a good mood after class! I'm already looking forward to tomorrow!

Tuesday Night Fights

Started off first hour with the Gentleman & Big Daddy J making a futile attempt at teacher training. I've been lazy for about a week and a half & not studied my teaching cards, so when Big Daddy J asked me to teach him front kick, something I've gone over about a million times, I screwed it up. Lesson learned, still have a ways to go. I also found out the Gentleman is prepping for his next Phase training & will be gone for a few weeks. I get extremely attached to my favorite training partners, so I'm not happy, but he wouldn't accept my extremely generous bribe to stay, so I'll just have to put up with it.

2nd hour was level 3/4 with Relentless. I haven't solved my little situation of taking a while to warm up, so I was a big fat uncoordinated goober for most of the class. And I've been caught one too many times cheating by keeping my eyes open to little slits when we're supposed to have our eyes closed for attacks, so I actually had to be a good girl & slam my eyelids shut on command. Grrrr... Then every time the Rock or Gina Carano would grab me by the throat in attack I would squeal so loudly! It always sounds like someone stepped on a puppy when I get taken by surprise. Its a flaw I've decided not to worry about. Right now I've got bigger fish to fry. If I squeal like a little girl while I'm kicking your ass, your ass is still kicked, no? A lot of sparring tonight, too.

One thing I appreciate about Relentless is that no matter how dumb my questions or mistakes are, he never gets impatient. At least, he never shows it.

Next class was yoga with Dr. J. I am really glad they've added this class, its the breath of fresh air I didn't even know I needed.

Finally, MMA class with Mudslide. I've been a lurker in the shadows for quite a while, I'm much smaller than many of the guys in there & didn't want to hold anyone back because of it. Well, too bad for them, I really like what they do in there & want to learn! I was planning on partnering with the Gentleman & really looking forward to it since he's leaving, but Mudslide partnered me with a new girl. I was muttering curse words under my breath about it - to my mother's dismay, I have a mouth like a sailor - but she turned out to be an excellent partner! One of the things I liked best about her was she will tell you what she wants. We were doing a long combination that confused her & instead of just plowing through without understanding & making no progress, she asked me to keep attacking with only the first part of the combo until she'd mastered it. Sounds like common sense, but a lot of people won't do that! So good for her, I say. She mastered it, we moved on, & she had the whole combo down cold by the end. Also, she hits hard, which is a quality I like in a woman. Way to go, Goldilocks!
We also did hip throws & sparred some more. I got a fun round of sparring violence in with the Gentleman, so that was the frosting on the MMA cake!