Saturday.....no neat blog name to think of

Tody, in a blog I follow, i read about “Reasons people leave karate”. Interesting thoughts
on the matter, http://lirianfae.typepad.com/karate_talk/2005/03/why_people_leav.html ,
and I had one of my own.

I’d like to address the practical aplication (day to day) of what we learn. Not to put down
karate, and praise kung fu (I still consider myself more of a japanese stylesd martial
artists), but when I was only taking karate, there weren't many situations ( in real life,
outside the dojo, and not involving fighting) where I could practice/use what I had
learned. I could shut a defiant freezer door with a stunningly high (and slow) side kick,
but not much else. When i started taking kung fu, and started thinking in circular
paterns, I started to notice how to incorporate these into everyday life. EX: Sit a toddle
ron your lap, and try to use karate to remove a drink (sitting in front of him) before he
spils it. Karate uses a pt1 to ptb mentality, that isn't practical. Now, stick your elbow to
the ceiling, (creating an iverted V with your arm, bring your hand around the side of the
toddlers head, across the front, grab the drink, and continue the circle. That could be a
'dragon" styled technique. Useful for self defense - and practical in everyday life. Karate
doesn't seem to offer as many of these. Wish it did.

Another example: (in fun) Try to snatch a paci out of a toddlers mouth. Do with with a
karate punch, and you got a lawsuit on your hands. Punches are forceful, and not
applicable to playing like this. BUT, a snake or crane technique will allow you to use
speed and precision, and leave power out of it. I’ve also been practicing hand speed with
our cats. Much easier to do when you know you won’t hurt the cat.

Overall, it just seems that when you learn karate, you learn it for self defense or to get in
better shape. If your life is not in danger, or you are not ready to “work out”, you don’t
use it very much in everyday applications. Kung Fu, on the other hand, tends to use
lessons that you can see everyday. You can use them everyday. You start to realize that
you have been doing the motions all your life. With karate , it’s an issue of “learning
new things”. WIth Kung Fu, it’s a matter of using what you already know (how your
body already moves - how YOU already move your body), and applying it to self defense.

DOJO NEWS: Decent week. Adam was missing (hope you aren’t sick bud!), but things
went ok otherwise. Got to work with a new kid (BIG kid in size, about 16 or so in age) in
JJ. Tursdays KF class was very nice - he had a hand out of the 12 deadly fists. Im having
trouble mixing up the whipping punch and the hanging punch. Whipping punch is
delivered from side to side, while the hanging punch is like an up to down backfist. I
keep wanting to do the dropping backfist for the whipping punch - I got this image of
Indiana Jones in my head, and a whip come from over the head, not from side to side.
Gonna have to work that one out. (I will list the 12 punches later, if anyone is
interested). Anyways, we had a hand out, we had a good class, Ms Thing wasn’t
there..all was good. One thing that’s hard to get used to is the teaching style of the sifu.
He’ll show you how he wants you to do the technique. If you do it differently, he’ll
correct you. Then, out of nowhere, we’ll correct you anyways (even if youve been doign
it as he showed you). He’ll tell you that you are supposed to do it “this way” (“Turn that
foot more - drop that hand to the other side”...etc). WHen you ask him “didn’t you just
say to do it the other way?”, he’ll say......”No, I showed you THIS way, not that way. But
that way would also be possible, if it gets the job done. Remember, ther eis no right or
wrong...only moves”. I just wish he’d figure out what MOVES he wants to teach, and get
them straight in his head before class. It’s cool to learn different moves - it’s cool to
learn variations of loves - it’s frustrating to try and copy a move from him, and have him
switch it on you as you are learning.

ITS THE WEEKEND: that means the kids are the vicitm of how mommy thinks the
schedule should be. (NOTE TO THE WIFE)::::If you are reading this, hon, we really
need to start talking about cooperative effort on the weekends. I run the show Mon-Fri.
This gets the kids in a pattern that works. Sat and Sun come (if I don’t have work), and
BAM ---the way I settle them down is thrown out the window. Logan goes overtop of
gates like they weren’t there. When I need to go upstairs, and get some work done, it
would be helpful of you to make some kind of effort to entertain the kids. You haven’t
seen them all day.....do something with them. Somthing other than letting the baby
scream in his swing, and Logan run up the stairs and get al in my stuff. I cannot return
calls for business with a 2 yr old gettign into all my things. The room is still a mess, and
not ready for unnatended toddlers. I put all my dangerous shit up HERE-- so the kids
wouldn’t get them...not to have them come up here to get hurt. Get a clue - lend a hand,
help a daddy out here. Im sinking in bills, and can’t make money if I dont run the phones
a little.
WIth love , your husband.

PS. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re still not having sex. This isn’t by accident, but by
choice now. Don’t expect any anytime soon, either. Ive decided that my Great American
Sex-Out doesn’t officially start until YOU ask me for some quality time. Will then,
we’re on your dime, and the meters running baby!


KID NEWS: Both have been doing just fine. When they won’t nap, Ive started driving
them around the neighborhood to knock them out. So far, so good.

As promised, my next post will have something to do with religiosity and raising the kids.
I’ll even throw my dislike of media glamourized homosexulaity and having
multiculturalism force fed (just for laughs).



Shannon
(I hear a baby crying ...time to get back to work..)