An "acceptable amount"

Five senses working together give birth to the sixth. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path



Lunchtime BJJ at Cindy's. The first drill was an escape from top half guard that I was quite intrigued by, but it involved gable-gripping under a prone opponent's thighs, and I knew I couldn't do that drill with my injury. Lamont mentioned being less than 100% right now himself, so he asked me if there was anything I wanted to work on. I said, LEGLOCKS and LEGLOCK ESCAPES.

First he wanted to try a certain armlock escape, so we played with that for a while, then we ankle locked each other. I need to pay attention to the orientation of my forearm bone to get maximum "incentive". I also need to make sure to clamp the opponent's knee between my knees, and work the lock more by PUSHING UP than by LEANING BACK. If I don't get the tap, I need to tip over on my side (TOWARD opponent's trapped leg), look over my shoulder which is on the mat (counterintuitive, that part) and arch my back.

To defend, flex the foot in a 90 degree angle. Grab opponent's elbow on that same side and the lapel on the other side, pull hir (or you) forward so that s/he can't lean back to apply pressure. Push your foot through so that the opponent is now clamping far enough up on your calf so as to be useless. Now you can try to move your butt to the outside of hir legs, from which you are often in position to try to get to the top.

We also worked with a leg lock from top half guard. Slide your free knee across opponent's belly and fall to that side, grabbing the leg. Keep your foot (and your butt, which is on top of your foot) right up tight against the opponent's hip. Hug the calf to your chest, and bar the knee by propping it in your crotch the same way you do an armbar.

I need to work these some more, but it was good to finally get the first clue of how to do locks below the waist. I thanked Lamont and told him that was very helpful... whereupon JB, sitting on the bench watching us, said with glum dread, "Oh, great." (hee hee)


Cindy: "C'mere Lamont, I want to see if this hurts"

Lamont: "Oh, hey, wait a minute..." looks at me

Cindy: "Kitsune! C'mere, lemme see if this hurts!"

Kitsune: "Oh, my God...."

So, I know this is quite a cliffhanger- whattaya think, did Cindy make it hurt???!!!? Hee hee. (Although surprisingly, it didn't hurt in the specific fashion that she had *expected* it to hurt... it hurt more from the collateral pressure of her bony elbow in the solar plex as she was enthusiastically cranking a gi-tail choke around my neck like she was wringing out a wet dishcloth)


JB has been rolling really well all week, although she may not feel that way, since she's been going with a lot of really good people who are giving her no slack since she'll be competing. She tapped a white belt guy a little bigger than she. He was muscling to try to keep her from finishing the armbar, and I called to her to hold her own lapel- that little trick works for me a lot, so I was tickled pink when she took my advice and got the tap. After one short whoop and clap, I abruptly repressed applause because I didn't want to embarrass the guy. I just grinned widely and thumbs-upped her as soon as he turned his back to go to the bench. Then Cindy absolutely plowed her from standup about a zillion times. Which says nothing bad about JB's skills (I mean, it's CINDY), but I know that can feel a little frustrating and discouraging sometimes. She will be ready for tournament aggression, though.

I told JB that her face and body language often give off the impression that she's hesitant when facing off from standing. I know that she's worried about takedowns to some degree, but she has a reasonable expectation of being more practiced in takedowns than most people in her bracket. And even if not, we don't want the opponent to see hesitation and anxiety at the faceoff, or they will be encouraged to nuke you. I told her that she doesn't necessarily have to pounce aggressively on the opponent immediately (although there is something to be said for that), but at least have Serious/Focussed Face on. I could tell she was trying to pay attention to that later, although the Serious Face (understandably) slipped some once Cindy started disassembling her.

JB has the new blue Fenom gi. It looks sharp!

We also had a discussion with Lamont about unacceptable language on the mat. I opined that JB's favorite profanity- "Crapmonkeys"- would probably be allowed to slide if she uttered it on the mat, Lamont said no. JB accused me of commenting "Poop" on the mat at some point this week. I didn't remember. I warned her that if she curses on the mat in front of Carlos, she will be doing pushups. If she says "Crapmonkeys", she will probably be required to explain that to him- after which she might be doing pushups anyway. Heh heh.



Thursday kung fu. The weather was beauteous and the classroom was a microwave oven, so we went outside.

Kitsune: "Wow, that's one impressive bruise, Marcie."

Marcie: "Yes, and it's your fault!"

K: "ME??!!?!?" (completely unfeigned defensive surprise... it's not like I would beat the shinola out of the new person)

Entire class: LAUGHTER

She didn't recall exactly what we had been doing at the time, but she professed that she knew it had been me. Then she pulled up a pantleg and said, "But I can't figure out where THIS one came from." She had an indentically large and ugly bruise just below her knee. As soon as I saw it, I *KNEW* that had been from when we were doing the Mantis application out of Five Animals... after I had gotten latched onto her arm and pulled her in, I had started giving her a little kick in the leg. But only on the light side side of medium. I told her what it was from, then said,

"Sorry." (pause) "Sort of."

"It's fine. I should tell you that I bruise easily."

"Good. I should tell you that I like to bruise people."

SK had wanted to do throws, but a few people were concerned about grass allergies as well as skin reactions to whatever toxic sludge the college sprays on the grass. A couple of bad rashes had resulted from rolling around on that particular grass last year.

Hand strike drills (fingertip-leading strikes only). Note that Viper's Tongue should- and can- hit with both fingers, not just the longest one- and it doesn't require coming in sideways. The optimal neck target is curved enough to accommodate.

I had moved to stand directly behind JoE and intermittantly harrass him. Then SK called my name and was grinning hugely at me from the front. "Hi." "Ahh... hi." I thought for a minute that he was getting ready to scold me for harrassing JoE, but then he said, "C'mere." Uh oh. People say that to me a lot, and it puts my hackles up.

After informing me that my "kicks are pretty", he made me stand up front again while we reviewed the first four pieces of the Tiger kick drill- I turned my back, as I usually do when I'm demoing just because that's how *I* prefer to be demo'ed to, so that I don't have to make mirror adjustments while I try to follow. Also, since SK is usually standing up front and explaining while demo'ing facing the class, that lets us jointly cover both views for whomever needs what. This time he made me face the class- as he did not demo *OR* explain, but made *ME* do it. Then we did a bunch of reps of all four in sequence. I turned my back again for the reps... there is a lot of side-switching happening, and it would be chaos for anyone who wasn't REALLY good at doing mirror transcriptions to try to follow.

Next (as I gratefully faded back into the rear portion of the group), we went over the basic Tiger stances: Back, cat, front, scissor, and fifth.

This was a lot of tiger; my calves were trembling a bit.

During the break, SK asked me to show him the submission setup that Preston had taught me. I haven't had a chance to review it and I wasn't sure I could pull it off, but after one positional misfire, I was able to do it- so goodie. As soon as my finger is functional, I'm going to try that technique on some poor unsuspecting white belt newb.

SK asked whether we wanted to work on Five Animals, Black Crane one- and two-step defenses, or split off and work on individual forms. People voted for the latter. I went a little way down the path where nobody could see me, and went through the piece of Spear Hand (aka Punch and Jab) first. We have skipped Sunday class two weeks in a row, so I had actually made a concerted effort to rep this thing over the last week because I knew that otherwise, I would be a big blank this weekend when we return to it. I have been focussing mainly on making sure it is sufficiently Mantisy... especially as it is a fairly recent development that I felt competant to grasp "Mantisy" at all.

Then more Mantis and Dragon stuff. The fragment of Southern Mantis- which is now disturbingly half blank. I know I have at least partial notes on it, so I need to review those before all memory of the thing fades. A rep of Bung Bo Kuen, which actually felt competant enough (and Mantisy enough) that I left it at that. I attempted to do the Northern Mantis bo form with a short stick I picked off the ground, but that was a bit too mentally jarring. Must go over that one soon with a real bo- especially as we are unlikely to get a chance to work on it this semester. Despite the fact that this is Mantis/Dragon semester, the Sunday meeting spot is bo-unfriendly.

Three Step Arrow fragment: part of that was dim as well, but most of it came back after a couple of tries. The really tough part (the machine-gun strike sequence) had good Southern Mantis energy and acceptable technical correctness.

That's all the Mantis I can think of, without checking notes to be sure. Dragon stuff next. Box Form- still has that little blank section, but the second half of the form and even the random little frags are roaring with energy. It's so odd that this seems to have emerged as a seminal form for me (in spite of repeatedly forgetting pieces of it). CC is so contemptuous of this form as beginner's drek that he refuses to even work on it with me. He also insists that CM cribbed the form from some other kung fu faction, heh heh.

Dragon Plants the Seed. Need to review some hand positions from my notes.

Touch Bridge- a couple of foggy spots, but all but one of those worked out after a few tries. That one missing technique is within reach, I can feel it- next time it will come. Again, the energy seems to be very good and the technicality acceptable.

Little Red Dragon- I just micro-fu'ed this one swiftly, because I have worked on it recently as opposed to most of this other stuff, and feel pretty good about it.

Then I picked a few of the forms that I think I've neglected the longest. Iron Needle, Silken Needle. Both of which I had to work a bit to reconstruct the foggy parts, but both of which came back fully. Energy came back too. I don't think even CN and SK have retained Silken Needle- the last time I asked them to work on it with me- a really long time ago- they both stumbled all over it. And I *know* JoE hasn't retained it, because the last time we were asked to trot it out for RS, he stumbled all over it too. I need to be particularly careful to not let this one go to seed, because there is a disturbing lack of backup help with the thing.

Somewhere in here, SK wandered over and helped me with that troublesome bit of Box Form. I was disturbed (and embarrassed) to find that I had completely blanked on one entire technique (the Leopard Fist) which explains the lost piece of the puzzle. Now that I've forgotten bits of this form multiple times, it will be a priority to make thorough notes on it.

When next I work forms, I need to make sure I hit Kiu Two. That is just one hellishly complicated form, and we didn't get to work it in finished form nearly as much as I would have liked to before Snake semester was over. I don't wanna have to relearn all those complex strike sequences, so additional reps in the near future will be vital. Hurricane Hands is another one that needs a couple reps soon.

Forms going to seed, in a big way. I feel so guilty that I can't seem to motivate myself to find the time I need to give these. Whipping off a few reps regularly is a heck of a lot less work than trying to reconstruct a form that's melting through the lowest screen-level of my memory. I have too many forms. The me of two years ago, when I was burningly frustrated with not being able to get any new forms, would be appalled to hear the me of today saying that. I am seriously missing the last 30 min of each Thursday class that we used to spend doing individual forms stuff. I know that the sparring practice which replaced it is more important (with the caveat that I can't do any sparring till my finger heals, and SK seems to be shelving most of the sparring lately probably due partially to that). I also know that class time would be better utilized by doing that on our own and grabbing SK before or after class for a quick question or two.

On the positive side, the energy of the forms is definitely there- and there in a way that is stylistically distinct, in most cases. I'm not entirely sure if it is reliably there upon call, but I'm starting to suspect it is heading to that state- which would be wonderful. I have been frustrated in the past with the hit-or-miss consistency of stylistic energy- sometimes I'm just in the groove and sometimes (especially with Crane and Mantis) I'm not.

At another point during my individual forms practice, SK appeared a second time and called me to come back to the yard for a few minutes. He lined up those of us who are in the Sunday intermediate class and had us do the piece of Spear Hand. Thank GODS I had this ready (and that I didn't leave it to do last-minute on the weekend). I was the only one who could perform it reasonably- a couple of slight what-comes-next pauses that were entirely attributable to my uncomfortable awareness of SK/Marcie/RM standing there watching. Even JM- whose form memory is maddenly reliable, precise and perfect- was tripping all over it. Okay, it's not nice of me (especially as I don't really want our whole group to look like idiots in front of the new people), but internally I allowed myself a brief moment of gloat. I was slightly less gloaty when SK made me do it again by myself while EVERYBODY watched (arrrgh), but I got through it okay.

JM commented that my "forms are so pretty" which she has said once or twice before and it always knocks me out. I long to have my forms look like *HER* forms- she is always so crisp and precise and elegant and technically excellent. I feel like a shambling one-legged drunk in comparison. Still touching to hear her say that. It is plain that she is making a conscious effort to try to buck up my poor self-confidence, which is sweet of her and much appreciated. I thanked her.

SK mentioned on the walk back to the car that when he had come to look for me working forms on my secluded section of path, he had located me partially by scent. LOL. I was wearing my "cupcake" skin lotion today. This led JM to comment that I always smell like dessert, and that whenever she spars me, she gets hungry. My response was that that probably is not a mental space that I want to encourage in a sparring opponent, especially one that is working Tiger.

SK asked if today had been an "acceptable amount of picking on Kitsune".

"There *IS* no "acceptable amount of picking on Kitsune". The very concept of picking on Kitsune is a wrongness."

"But seriously, was that an acceptable amount?"

"That was kind of a lot of picking on Kitsune. What's up with that anyway?"

He wouldn't answer till *I* answered, after defining "acceptable amount" as "won't make you quit coming to class". I stated that it is very pressure-ful to be made to stand up in front of the class, but- reluctantly- "as long as it's stuff I can actually **DO**...." "That's the idea." "Are you going to tell me the idea?" "Just to make you do more in class." Sigh. I **AM** doing it- I'm just doing it in the back row of the group.

He did mention that he is pleased with me for working on stuff outside of class. As much as I beat myself up about not putting enough time in, I do make sure that at the very least I have readied whatever I know we are going to be working on in class that day. Quintuple-y so if I messed any of it up the previous week. I know that he is frustrated that other students put in even less time outside of class (ie, infintesimal if ANY). It was nice to get a little stroke for that effort. Nice to have it noticed. That's all it takes to make me want to put in MORE effort.


SK also observed- upon being told that I had withdrawn from the Revolution- that that meant no post-tourney Peanut M&M Pig-out. Sigh. It's so sad. I do feel physically better staying right on weight, though. I really do notice even an extra three or four pounds.