This is why I *love* karate people.
Imagine hackey-sack taken to a whole new level. ^_^ Field of entry drill gone haywire. My mother and I started it, because she wants practice getting her spinning crescent kicks where they ought to be, and because I wanted to make sure I could still harmlessly brush someone's nose with mine in the middle of full sparring. What better to use but hackey-sacks? And how better than roundhouses, crescents, spinning crescents, spinning flying backkicks, and anything else you can imagine?
Granted, it takes a slightly wider circle than most people are used to... but that's okay, we send it farther, too. ^_^ Not easy to keep it going, to place the aim along with actually nailing it. But it's fun. And it's a really good practice for kumite. And just wait until sensei sees...
There was a fifteen-year-old-manga-boy making cow eyes at me all last night at karate. He was trying not to, but it was the distinct teenage-boy-crush kind where they simply can't take their eyes off of you, and look for you when you're gone. I didn't look at him much, as the poor boy probably would've melted into a puddle if I had, but he had fantastic bone structure in his face. Very classic face, very rare now- the nose long & straight & pinched at the top, deepset eyes, high brow, exactly like a roman statue. I would love to do a portrait of someone with a face like that, it's striking. It's unfortunate that asking to do a graphite study of bone structure can be so easily misconstrued as a pickup line. *sighs* The cold, sexless artist side of me will just have to wait.
I didn't know how I was supposed to react to him. Flattered? Put off? Should I be complimented, then, that my every expression is apparently so magnetic, that I can strike interest the instant I walk into a room? I mean really, what's the best thing to do in a situation like that- pretend that he's not, smack him upside the head and hope he snaps out of it? Really, I have absolutely no idea of etiquette when people are interested in me. Mostly I just granted him some dignity and wondered how long I'd have to avoid his eyes. Until, of course, we went into class, and we did sparring drills and I forgot about him completely.
So I fought last night. For the first time since my leave of absence. It marks a month I've been back. It was sort of a fluke- I've been deliberately staying away from sparring, because I knew I wouldn't turn it down, either. Usually, though, if sensei ends the first half of class early and tells us to gear up, it means we'll do block & counter, which I can do. And if he waits awhile, he's going straight into sparring. So yestreday, he stopped it early, but went straight into sparring, which confused me slightly, as i was fully geared up and everything. And since i was geared up... and my shoulders weren't hurting too badly... well. He kept looking, and everybody was asking, how could I say no? He kept glancing over in my direction, and after one round asked who hadn't sparred yet. He waited a moment after I raised my hand before calling me over to the ring. ^_^ He did not, however, bother to act like he wasn't watching my sparring round, and followed the entire thing blatantly. Usually he's pretending not to, but. *smiles* I guess I just entertain them that much. He wanted to see if I still had it.
Darned right I do.
Poor Josie. He pulled her in to fight me. Once we shook hands, though, I sort of forgot it was her and instincts took over. She's a good fighter, but can be a little hesitant if she knows the person she's fighting is better than her. So for part of the round I kept driving her into the corner and it took everything I had not to beat her into the wall. She had become some faceless entity, merely the object that had attacked me, and I struck back. Nicely- I never forgot that I was in the sparring ring, or that I had to watch myself so I didn't get contact. (Excessive contact in the lb dojo is 50 pushups. I could do those pushups once upon a time, but my shoulders would never forgive me now. I'd get through twenty and they'd both dislocate. So I couldn't afford a contact.)
I had tamed down my kicks. As I haven't had as much time to make sure I can still place them that quickly without mistakes, I kept most of them lower. I realised after that round that I sort of use my kicks to tone myself down... the more effort I put into my show kicks- the swivels, crescent combinations, tricky footwork above head height- the less time I'm spending trying to pummel them. That way, I'm just trying to quickly & efficiently get more points in. Take away those kicks, and it just leaves me with instinct, which is rather indiscriminating and ruthless. Because I don't pull my punches unless I've got darned good reason.
But- as Josie was saying to me afterwords- even with those kicks I still don't fight particularly light. I don't take it easy on people. "You just can't go light," she laughed to me afterwards, saying how sensei had told her to do so, since I hadn't sparred in a while. I stopped her from that precaution early in the round, though. She brought her hand up to the spot on her ribs I had particularly nailed her. "It's just not in your nature."
Granted, it takes a slightly wider circle than most people are used to... but that's okay, we send it farther, too. ^_^ Not easy to keep it going, to place the aim along with actually nailing it. But it's fun. And it's a really good practice for kumite. And just wait until sensei sees...
There was a fifteen-year-old-manga-boy making cow eyes at me all last night at karate. He was trying not to, but it was the distinct teenage-boy-crush kind where they simply can't take their eyes off of you, and look for you when you're gone. I didn't look at him much, as the poor boy probably would've melted into a puddle if I had, but he had fantastic bone structure in his face. Very classic face, very rare now- the nose long & straight & pinched at the top, deepset eyes, high brow, exactly like a roman statue. I would love to do a portrait of someone with a face like that, it's striking. It's unfortunate that asking to do a graphite study of bone structure can be so easily misconstrued as a pickup line. *sighs* The cold, sexless artist side of me will just have to wait.
I didn't know how I was supposed to react to him. Flattered? Put off? Should I be complimented, then, that my every expression is apparently so magnetic, that I can strike interest the instant I walk into a room? I mean really, what's the best thing to do in a situation like that- pretend that he's not, smack him upside the head and hope he snaps out of it? Really, I have absolutely no idea of etiquette when people are interested in me. Mostly I just granted him some dignity and wondered how long I'd have to avoid his eyes. Until, of course, we went into class, and we did sparring drills and I forgot about him completely.
So I fought last night. For the first time since my leave of absence. It marks a month I've been back. It was sort of a fluke- I've been deliberately staying away from sparring, because I knew I wouldn't turn it down, either. Usually, though, if sensei ends the first half of class early and tells us to gear up, it means we'll do block & counter, which I can do. And if he waits awhile, he's going straight into sparring. So yestreday, he stopped it early, but went straight into sparring, which confused me slightly, as i was fully geared up and everything. And since i was geared up... and my shoulders weren't hurting too badly... well. He kept looking, and everybody was asking, how could I say no? He kept glancing over in my direction, and after one round asked who hadn't sparred yet. He waited a moment after I raised my hand before calling me over to the ring. ^_^ He did not, however, bother to act like he wasn't watching my sparring round, and followed the entire thing blatantly. Usually he's pretending not to, but. *smiles* I guess I just entertain them that much. He wanted to see if I still had it.
Darned right I do.
Poor Josie. He pulled her in to fight me. Once we shook hands, though, I sort of forgot it was her and instincts took over. She's a good fighter, but can be a little hesitant if she knows the person she's fighting is better than her. So for part of the round I kept driving her into the corner and it took everything I had not to beat her into the wall. She had become some faceless entity, merely the object that had attacked me, and I struck back. Nicely- I never forgot that I was in the sparring ring, or that I had to watch myself so I didn't get contact. (Excessive contact in the lb dojo is 50 pushups. I could do those pushups once upon a time, but my shoulders would never forgive me now. I'd get through twenty and they'd both dislocate. So I couldn't afford a contact.)
I had tamed down my kicks. As I haven't had as much time to make sure I can still place them that quickly without mistakes, I kept most of them lower. I realised after that round that I sort of use my kicks to tone myself down... the more effort I put into my show kicks- the swivels, crescent combinations, tricky footwork above head height- the less time I'm spending trying to pummel them. That way, I'm just trying to quickly & efficiently get more points in. Take away those kicks, and it just leaves me with instinct, which is rather indiscriminating and ruthless. Because I don't pull my punches unless I've got darned good reason.
But- as Josie was saying to me afterwords- even with those kicks I still don't fight particularly light. I don't take it easy on people. "You just can't go light," she laughed to me afterwards, saying how sensei had told her to do so, since I hadn't sparred in a while. I stopped her from that precaution early in the round, though. She brought her hand up to the spot on her ribs I had particularly nailed her. "It's just not in your nature."