Sunday

There is no need to travel to exotic places, load up on drugs, or drive one hundred miles an hour to feel alive. It is not necessary to look for particularly strong sensations, because when the five senses are awakened, every sensation is a strong one. The scent of the earth after a summer storm. The embrace of a lover. The vastness of the sky above. Small experiences that could travel through our consciousness without leaving any trace become the messengers of a beauty that cannot be measured. -Daniele Bolelli, On The Warrior’s Path




Saturday: 132.5



Angry Snake Defends Its Lair, with khukri. Dao forms are obviously the most suited to khukri adaptation, out of the weapons forms I already know. Had to tweak a few things for the shorter length of the khukri. The balance is so odd. Not necessarily *bad*, just... odd. Very different from most of the weapons I have experience with.  I want to take this thing with me to PSG and carry it around for the week, hopefully to find enough practical and ceremonial occasions to use it that it will start to feel more natural.  


I have considered Hunting- especially as I have surrendered the bulk of the Hunt Drum Leader duties to Dru for this year (her time has come, I judged). Unfortunately, I find that the larger part of me (the primal part, that listens to no reason and seems to have precious little self-preservation instinct) is loathe to cut the cord from my autumn 2011 trauma, to the point where I can't wholeheartedly engage in formal ceremonial process to do so.  I hope I will be able to get to that place.  (I would give anything to have the machine from "Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless Mind".)


Nelson agrees with me that there is a sorry lack of good khukri vids on the web. Most of the ones I've found that look authentic (as opposed to untrained dorks horsing around in their backyards, wearing what they percieve as "ninja clothes") are actual Nepali military drills, and the vids are usually of pretty poor quality. Nelson says that many Filipino weapons forms are decently transferrable to many different types of blades.



My allergies are being very troublesome this week. I have already skipped a number of classes due to headaches and exhaustion. Besides the fact that it's really difficult to do hard aerobic exercise when it feels like you have a cork shoved up each nostril, ("aerobic" means you kinda *need* the "aero" part, after all) but you're just TIRED. Body processes need sufficient oxygen to function, and deprived of that, everything just gets very sluggish.  It's bitter irony that all the medications for this condition include sleepiness as a side effect.


Sunday: 132.5


Sunday lunchtime BJJ at GB Seattle.  Allergies still troublesome, but I dragged myself out. I have tonight off work, and it's so nice to go to a Lindsey class.


Warmed up by creeping up and choking John from behind ("Happy to see you too," was his comment), segueing into a light roll.


A little positional training from turtle, then King Of the Hill starting from closed guard. It was pretty hot in there, and I was getting pretty exhausted, so I sat out the first round after that. Then a little rolling with Lindsey, then I watched a white belt guy trying to teach two newer white belt guys how to defend a triangle. He actually deferred to me when he saw me watching, which was gratifying. He was explaining fine, though. I just demo'ed it on him so that the newbies could watch.