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August 23, 2006
Oh, Chiburi!!
Well, my suspicions about tonight were confirmed. Monday, we had just finished Iaido (swords) class and Suino Sensei looked to each of us and asked to make sure each of us would be attending class tonight. As soon as he asked, I got wary. I thought, "Hm, I know he's got something up his sleeve and I'm not sure I'm gonna like it." I suspected that he might give us a test without notice like he did for John Spengler. Suino Sensei usually makes us perform a couple of sword forms at the end of class in front of everyone and one night, he made John do all the forms you have to know for the first promotion. That's 5 kneeling forms and 3 standing forms, 8 total. But only two if you think of all the kneeling forms as one long kata and all the standing forms as one long kata--helps you remember them better. Then when John was done, Suino Sensei announced he'd just been promoted! Wow! It was cool and I was very happy for him, but it made me nervous to think I had to be prepared for anything at any time.
Like I said, my suspicions about tonight's class were confirmed. There were too many signs indicating a possible and very upcoming promotion. And I was RIGHT! We went through all the forms a few times as a practice run. Then he made us all perform them while he watched. I was thinking, "Ok, this is it. Here's our test." Then he sat us down and started to say, "As director of this dojo..." (it was more complicated than that, but suffice it to say this) "...I now promote you ALL to the rank of Rokokyu." Needless to say, I wasn't surprised. When I told Pam before class I suspected a test, she said, no, he would have told me. But after the test, I looked at Pam sitting next to me and mouthed to her, "TOLD YOU!"
Luckily for me, I suspected since Monday night that he was going to test us, so I took a couple of hours yesterday to write notes on all the forms and study them. Then I studied them some more as I sat in Dr. Jay's office waiting for him to come fix me up. When I got to class tonight, I went through them once before class started.
My logic was impeccable:
- I remembered Sensei saying that we wouldn't be allowed to use real swords in class until we've been given our first rank. Then I thought, well, Don and I are going to Japan to BUY our own swords, and it'd suck if we bought them and couldn't use them for a while. So if he's letting us get swords, that must mean he's planning on promoting us.
- Plus, we might be training in Iaido IN Japan and since we're not bringing our bokken, we need to use something--our new swords. So he's probably planning on promoting at LEAST me and Don.
- Aaaaaand, he told us that he wants our class to be the advanced, senior ranking Iaido class at the JMAC dojo.
In a way, it was kind of cool that he did it this way by surprising us because then, I'm only nervous for a couple of days. But on the downside, I don't get a lot of time to "fix" the things I want to fix. But then, he wouldn't be testing us if he didn't think we were ready. Guess it's his job to know when we're ready before WE know. So there you have it. Funny, I can be so paranoid sometimes--it's nice to know it served me well at least this time!
Posted by Amy at 11:48 PM | Comments (1)
August 18, 2006
Preparing for Japan
We have exactly two weeks from today until we take off on our vacation. I don't know about the boys, but Pam and I are really excited to go. We're already trying to prepare for the trip, making sure we pack lightly, but also bring everything we'll need. She and I are making checklists to make sure we don't forget anything and I bought a large suitcase, mostly for Don. He's going to have to bring 2 uniforms, one for karate and one for judo (which is VERY thick and VERY bulky). Whatever room there is left, I'll probably put some of my stuff in there and take a smaller bag.
Plus, we have to pack some gifts. It's customary to bring gifts to whomever you're visiting in Japan and we'll be training with about 10 teachers. So Pam and I have been shopping for things that we think they'll like, making sure they're not too big and heavy. We thought it would be a good idea to give them things that come from Michigan. So far, we have U of M and MSU branded gifts (like stone coasters, mugs, etc.), 2 coffee table books with pictures of Michigan, some windchimes, and lovely wooden boxes from the Selo Shevel gallery. I put a couple of petosky stones in them, since it's Michigan's state stone.
I'm just so anxious, I can't wait. Partly because we'll be stopping in Hawaii and partly because we'll be training with so many great sensei's. I wanna pack now, but it's two weeks away. When I was young and our family would go on family vacations overseas, my mom would always pack at least a week or more ahead. It'll be a long flight, but it'll be SO worth it!
Posted by Amy at 04:01 PM | Comments (3)
August 14, 2006
Pain in the WHAT??
This has NOT been a good year for me in terms of my physical well-being. I've got problems with my jaw, my knee, my back and now my shoulder. My knee started from about a year ago when it got torqued wrong and was somewhat hyper-extended. It hasn't really bothered me since I had it fixed, and I usually wear a knee-brace and tape when I train. But lately, it's been not good. I think it got bad when I started doing kneeling/sitting forms in iaido, but fortunately, it's been better since I started wearing knee pads. But once in a while, it hurts when I move it, so I've been careful.
My back also didn't take well to the iaido since there's a lot of standing in a long front stance (almost like a forward lunge). You have to keep your back straight which puts a lot of strain on my lower back since my spine isn't as flexible as most people's because of my spinal fusion surgery. It's tough and there are days when it really gives out, but I think it's getting stronger since I seem to be having a little less pain the more I do.
My right shoulder started hurting yesterday. Today, I think I've blown out my deltoid (the main muscle of your shoulder). It's painful when I try to raise it, but ok when I keep my arm close to my body. This happened about 6 months ago to my left shoulder and Dr. Jay fixed it. I'm hoping that since it's not as bad as the first time, it'll just take time, lots of Advil and some heat treatments.
My jaw has been the worst of all my problems. It started in mid-February when I was going through a lot of stress at work. I had gone to my dentist to seek help, but he had no training in fixing that kind of problem. So I went to Dr. Jay. He did some manipulation, but also referred me to another dentist. But she's like 90 years old and very old-school, so I didn't feel good about her advice. Then Don and Nick told me to go see a guy in Howell. Don does computer work for him and Nick's known him for years. Apparently, he's da man when it comes to TMJ cases (temporo-mandibular joint pain). After I talked with him, I immediately could tell he knew what he was doing. He thinks orthopaedically and understands that the jaw is a joint and should be treated as such rather than the problem stemming from your teeth (which I don't believe). He had me go get MRI's and a CT scan which he sent to an oral surgeon--the only one in the state he trusts. I'm still waiting to hear back from them about whether I may need surgery. And in the meantime, this new dentist has made me a lower jaw mouthpiece which I have to wear constantly. He even made me a flexible one for when I work out. It's only been a couple weeks or so since I started wearing it and so far, nothing's changed. But as I understand it, it could take 6 months or more to fix. So I just have to give it more time and stick it out.
Unfortunately, because of my injuries, I've had to skip a lot of martial arts classes, as I'll have to do tonight. Otherwise, I'm continuing to see the dentist and Dr. Jay about once a month to try to keep all my problems under some sort of control. UGH!
Posted by Amy at 12:15 PM | Comments (2)
August 11, 2006
C-Squared Comes to A-Squared
Charly came to town on Wednesday. I guess when he got in, he visited with the Mahoneys. Then came to our place around 11:30pm to stay the night. Don showed him his favorite TV channel...Howard TV on Comcast On Demand. I might have stayed up watching TV with them, but I was very tired. I'd gotten up very early (about 6am) the day before and it hadn't caught up to me till then. Besides, I'm getting tired of Howard Stern since Don's become ADDICTED! I just went to bed.
Thursday, Charly spent time with family and friends in Howell. Then Don and I met up with him, John Brunk, and their high school friends (John from Florida and another John) at Mongolian BBQ in Ann Arbor. We had to wait a long time for the other two Johns since Florida John's dad was in the hospital because of a stroke. I'm sure he'll be alright. The other Johns showed up almost as Don had to leave to open up JMAC in Nick's absence. I stayed.
The rest of the night, we just sat there talking. The boys were telling old stories, like the time they got Don Roy up on stage at a strip club to shower with the strippers; or John Brunk's drunken limo ride after his bachelor party; or the time they vandalized all the school buses so that they wouldn't have school, but got busted and had to wash all the buses...twice! We joked mostly about the fact that Don Roy REALLY needs to get LAID! Every time Charly sets him up with a SURE THING, he chickens out! UGH! I told Charly he needs to hire a dominatrix for him cause she'd tie him up so he couldn't run away. HAHA!! Then Florida John (who hadn't had a date in a while and who was very ga-ga about Charly's 16 year old half-sister) was coming back from the bathroom and passed by a couple of hot girls, but made a point to look way past them. I was like, "Did you not see how good looking those girls were? You should have asked them out!" But he was acting shy, so I jokingly put my fist to my forehead and s-l-o-w-l-y made the "L" sign for "loser." HA! We started implying that he was turning into Don Roy. Poor guy. I think I busted his balls pretty hard. But we all laughed very hard and had a great time! Later, Charly wanted to go to Deja Vu for real and since Don was at home, I figured I'd go home to my honey.
We left the light on for Char, but he never made it home. They didn't leave the strip club till 2:15! He had to be at the airport at the butt-crack of dawn because of the terror alert and all. Too bad we couldn't spend more time with him. Charly's always so much fun to hang out with! Guess we'll just have to go down to Charly del Lago again soon!
Posted by Amy at 06:00 PM | Comments (1)
August 07, 2006
BBQ, Tigers & Jujutsu
Wow! Every weekend seems to fill up so quickly and we end up being so busy! Friday we had a barbecue again for some of the people that were going to the martial arts seminar this weekend. Don made his famous Caesar salad and guacamole and he grilled some brats and hamburgers. All I had to do was cut a watermelon and some tomatoes and onions. Did the watermelon, but as I was cutting the onions, I also sliced my left pinkie! It actually didn't hurt all that much, just stung a bit. I tried to stop the bleeding with a paper towel while trying to hold the flap of skin back over the wound so that it wouldn't be an open wound. Took a little while to stop bleeding, and Dr. Jay finally showed up. I wanted his medical advice. He told me to do just what I was about to do--put super glue on it. But actually, Pam and Sue suggested I use that liquid skin, which I had. So I put a bandage over it for a while to let it close up a little better and put the liquid skin on it that night. I've been keeping it that way since then and it seems to be pretty good now. Doesn't hurt, but I'm paranoid that I'll do something to tear it open. I think I'll leave the bandage off tonight after Iaido. Other than that, the barbecue was fun.
Then Saturday, we went to the Tigers' game in Greg's company suite. It's something we seem to do once a year and it's always really nice cause there's yummy hot dogs and hamburgers, plus lots of other munchies. In fact, Pammie and I kinda went a little nuts on the chips. Then they brought a really fancy dessert tray around the 4th inning or so. I like to get the chocolate-covered strawberries and got a chocolate cake with buttercream frosting for Don this time. Pam and Nick got to go and it was a real treat for them since they'd never done anything like that before. Pam was really in awe! The food was good, the company was better and the game was great! The Tigers were down 4-3 in the 9th inning against the Cleveland Indians. Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez gets up to bat; there's one guy on first, we've got 2 outs and he's on a full count (3 balls, 2 strikes). The last pitch got thrown and just as we all thought they were going to lose, Pudge WHALES it into the stands and gets a home run!! Woo HOOOOOO! We win the game on the last pitch 5-4! Way to go Tigers! And since it was a night game, we got to watch the fireworks in Comerica Park. It was so cool.
Sunday, we had a jujutsu/judo seminar at JMAC. John Gage was teaching and it was really fun to get someone else's perspective on jujutsu to help reinforce those things I've been learning. Plus, me and Pam were lucky enough to be partnered with Nick's friend Kurt, who, yesterday, was awarded his 3rd degree black belt in Nihon Jujutsu! He's a very tall guy and he was really great helping me and Pam learn how to adjust our technique to someone who's so much bigger than us. And he pointed out some things I wasn't doing right that I didn't know about before. I really like working with him...it's too bad he only comes to town once in a great while (he lives in Minnesota). I also got someone from work to come to the Judo seminar. He's an aiki person who hadn't trained in a while and I know he had a good time.
This guy came in for the weekend who's a very very close friend of Nick's. He'd bought a lifetime membership to JMAC even though he lives out of state (to help out the dojo). He's a spine surgeon and Pam and I drove him back to the airport. It was really interesting for me and Pam to get his insight about our backs since we have problems. He told Pam she should definitely see Dr. Jay, like I told her. And he gave me some insight into my scoliosis surgery that I'd never had before. Contrary to my long-held belief, I still have my entire left shoulder blade, but they took bone material from my ribs in the back to fuse some of my upper vertebrae together along with putting in the Harrington rods. All this time I thought I only had half a left shoulder blade!
Anyway, after the seminar was over, Nick & Pam, me and Don, and Kurt all had yummy Chinese food for dinner. Then me and Don went to relax at the hot tub. I was so tired at that point, I could have fallen asleep in the tub. Needless to say, I went to bed a little earlier than usual. I hate getting up on Monday mornings! :P
Posted by Amy at 12:05 PM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2006
OkGo!
Now and then, I like to share some really cool videos that I find. This one is "Here It Goes Again" from a group called Okgo! I think they completely revolutionize how videos should be done. They're incredibly creative and inventive. Music videos are SUCH a lost art these days what with MTV and VH1 never showing anything but stupid, mindless reality shows. Forget all those videos that cost a half-million dollars to produce and have nothing but the band or singer draped in bling and scantily-clad female dancers shaking their booty (though I'll admit a FEW of those are cool). These guys really did it right and they're becoming virally popular because of their unique style. Boy, I really miss the old days when MTV and VH1 played great, creative videos like "Money for Nothing" by Dire Straights or "You Might Think" by The Cars.
If you enjoyed that, you'll enjoy "A Million Ways", the other Okgo! video. And by the way, both videos were done in ONE take, no editing. AWESOME!
Posted by Amy at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)