Tuesday

Stealing from the gods the fire of passion and creativity to lighten our life is just the first step of the trip, not the destination. Passion and creativity are not our private property, not our very own toys. They are the sparks lighting the fire of a big tribal camp. Having talent and not cultivating it is a crime, but cultivating it without sharing its fruits with others may be even worse. In its highest form, the way of the warrior is that of the bodhisatva: putting one’s talent at the service of a superior destiny. Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path


Today's FOD is Iron Needle.

Lunchtime BJJ at Gracie Bellevue. Rodrigo wants to know why I haven't been in. I confessed that I am having a lot of personal problems right now. He refrained from asking me if I am still doing the tournament, which he must have had to bite his tongue halfway through to accomplish. [grin] I have till tomorrow midnight to decide. Weight's fine (123 this morning, naked). I just haven't trained much lately, cardio's poor, and most concerning, I may well just be too distracted with personal problems to have the focus for this.

Also got an e-mail from Cindy last night. Her transplanted school (now in Bellevue) is starting adult classes this week. It was nice of her to ping me personally. I replied that I am having some problems, but that I will try to get in as soon as I am able. I miss her (told her that too). I will try to get over there on Friday night, if I have the time and the energy.

Scissor sweep to mount, then opponent turns on side and pushes at your knee, you catch hir arm in your armpit, get a knee behind the head, and go for an armbar or choke. Drilled with Kelly. Then positional training from mount, in which I did not do very well.





Evening BJJ at Gracie Bellevue. Same stuff as lunchtime; I ended up drilling in a threesome with two of the teenagers. Then, king of the mountain.

I often walk out of there and forget my water bottle or my earguards. This morning and tonight, I double-checked to make sure I had both items... and I am so brain dead that I walked out tonight without my JACKET and BELT. Gawds. I really need an involuntary mental health eval. I'm so glad Prof Carlos was there while I was telling Rodrigo I am having a lot of problems.... because of that, he might give me a pass.... I'm sure he would consider it a grave disrespectful insult to leave my sweaty gi jacket and my RANK BELT lying on the floor of the dojo. I'm so embarrassed.




Finished the transcription of Hurricane Hands. All of my Shaolin forms are now transcribed. It was useful to go over each one and break down every movement. I own each one now, more than I owned them before.


My pink serrated Spyderco knife has finally bought the farm. I broke the tip off the blade a few years ago, trying to pry a battery out of an appliance. The screws that held the pieces of the knife together have always been kind of loosey-goosey; I have had to tighten them with increasing regularity. This week it's finally gotten to the point that the thing just won't really hold together, and I stopped carrying it.

I'm going to mail it back to the company- I hope they will fix the screw for free; I have never even taken the thing apart on purpose, so I think I have a decent case for saying it was a shoddy screw. They do not replace blades, but they may be able to refile the tip (that I will have to pay for).

I had to chuckle the other night, though, when I had had one of my frequent defensive-fighting dreams. In these dreams, I always go for my knives. In this case, I went for the one on the right and remembered (in the dream), "Dammit, I don't have the serrated!"