Being unique rules

A lot of us had a good laugh in my reporting class about the fact that something like this would make it into a textbook. We all laughed about "the Celtic Lord of the Dead" line and a few people wanted to include it in their stories. When asked if anybody actually did, I was the only one to raise my hand.

Comparing American breweries, distilleries, and vineyards to Samhain, the Celtic Lord of the Dead, in summoning evil spirits, Galson admonished alcohol companies for targeting their products toward youth.

I like that I can do something like that for a grade.

This Day in History

Three years ago today was my official promotion to black belt.

In looking back, it seems like it's been a lot longer than that.

Three years ago I was a senior in high school. Three years ago I was still working at Didley's. Three years ago I was watching wrestling. Well, that part didn't really change.

I've had the opportunity to do a lot of things because of my promotion since then, like lead seminars and demonstrations, go on trips to see and compete in a variety of tournaments, and have the chance to lead my own program for an entire school year. I've even been promoted again.

For those of you who haven't known me all that long, the test itself took almost seven hours. I started at noon, knowing neither me nor my instructor would be thrilled about doing it much earlier. If memory serves me correct, Neil's started at 8 or 9 in the morning, and that was too early (especially when I got kicked in the nuts sans cup). We ended at about 6:45, after which I went home and showered, then had a mini celebratory meal at McDonald's, of all places.

I was really sore that Sunday (the 22nd), but I wasn't feeling too terrible yet. We had the party, and I proceeded to bouncy box the crap out of anybody within range (I'm pretty sure I popped BFD right in the face).

Monday was the worst I've ever felt in my life. What was a pretty awesome day otherwise with people patting me on the back, shaking my hand and congratulating me as I walked around MTHS with the belt traditionally tied around my waist, my body felt absolutely horrible. Not only was I tired (it was a Monday) and sore, but apparently my immune system gave out too because I had this awful cold.

I had my mom take lots of notes and had her write to the minute when I finished doing all of my stuff - katas, ippons, taezus, kihons, self-defenses, etc. Eventually I might post those notes, or I might not. Time-wise, some of the things don't seem to long. I think it took somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes to do all 500 front kicks, which doesn't sound like much, but that's a lot of moving.

Eventually I might make a post detailing that day and try to remember what I was going through at particular times. I tried to have as many notes as possible taken. Maybe now is a good time to go back and analyze some things about the day itself, as I've corrected many errors from Oct. 22, 2006.

Now into my second degree, a lot has come to light, but there are still more questions left to be answered. I'm hoping that, even though getting to any class is hard with my current schedule, I can still be successful and nitpick myself and find things to improve upon.

I wouldn't want to drive a funny car

I took an MMA class for the first time ever with Justin on Saturday. My right butt cheek still hurts from all the falling we did during takedowns. I'm glad I've taken 6 years of karate and watched just enough UFC to know kind of what's happening.

Despite the techniques I did recognize, putting them to use in an entirely different way was fun and challenging. For example, utilizing a rear naked choke from the mount position. In karate/judo, we are always taught to keep the chin in the crease of the arm so as not to cause major damage to our partner. I kept this in mind, but one of the instructors said to use the forearm. Sure, it causes a definite increase in danger, but when working with partners, I'm not all certain it's the best idea.

We did several takedowns defending against a jab, cross, and a hook. Much of these, again, were moves I've learned before but applied very differently. Justin and I were also given the basics of the mount and guard positions.

Because I'm a fervent note-taker, I came home from work Saturday night and wrote four pages of notes on what we learned - three for the actual techniques, and one for my thoughts and analysis. I mentioned to a friend of mine that I feel like we're back in our field research class. Am I the only nerd who actually enjoys taking a class and applying the knowledge gained to something else?

Hopefully over time, I can post more detailed information on this club.