Monday, July 19, 2004
Good weekend.
Two get-togethers. One at Cherise's new place, very shnaz, bunch of people there. Got to hang out with Mike Sand, one of the guys that hired in around the same time I did. He got moved to a different building, though, so I don't see him too much any more. Good to see him again, though, we keep in touch. He's a good cat. Oh, and I found someone else who loves Karaoke! So with any luck I'm going to do that some more. Yeehaw, I say.
And now, I present a brief essay on 'movie kicks.'
What are movie kicks? Movie kicks are kicks that look good. They overlap, somewhat, with kicks that are good for sparing or defending yourself 'on the street'. For example, a kick that is fast looks good for movies and is good for sparing. And when you do a kick with the correct form, it looks good. On the other hand, there are kicks that are used in movies that just aren't used in regular fighting. Pretty much anything that starts with an angle greater than 360 is a movie kick. 540, 540 crescent, 540 twist, 720; they look great, but they aren't kicks that one generally throws in a match. They're just too slow, too unpredictable, too easy to get lambasted while you're flying through the air. They’re great for movies and stunts, though, and you have to respect people that can pull that kind of stunt off.
I have horrible movie kicks. I don't just mean that I can't pull off the crazy 540 kicks, even though I can't, I mean my kicks just don't look good, and I tend to think this is indicative of some failing in my technique, so I’m working on them. I actually have a theory as to why they don’t look good, it’s because I can’t get my leg up high enough. Try this. Stand up and lift your leg up sideways as high as you can. Tough, huh? (Unless you already know a martial art, punks.) Derek can pull his leg up about 15 degrees above horizontal…and *hold* it there. I have trouble getting either of my legs up to horizontal. This is sideways, though. Front-ways I can kick about forehead level. It’s just that my hip-muscles, whatever they are called, have lagged behind in terms of catching up with the rest of the (huge!) muscles in my leg. My leg got heavier, and some of the muscles have yet to compensate.
Other ways to bring up the leg: Stretching, of course. I’m actually getting pretty flexible, but I have a ways to go before I can get all the way down. And I really have to stretch out before I throw any kicks. Those leg muscles get *tight*.
Way #2: drop the body. Tough to do, cause it can mess with your balance, but it’s a great way to bring up your leg.
Way #3: Other stuff. I’m going to play around with my kicks some to see if I can fix anything. There’s this one woman at TKD…well, she’s not there anymore. She’s taking some time off to be pregnant…but she has this incredible side kick. I mean, it just looks fantastic. I think it might be a body-alignment thing. Like I said, I have to play around.
Today, my legs are heavy. I’m wearing my leg weights today, so I’m carrying around an extra 10 pounds everywhere. This sounds like a lot more effort than it is, being as I sit most of the day, but I do walk around sometimes. And I’m trying to keep my legs moving as much as possible. I dunno, I figure the more I do, the more it’s like training. And I really want my black belt. And not the red-and-black one either. The one with the *yellow stripe*. And then *Two yellow stripes!* And then either three, or I’ll go on to a different martial art. Tai Chi Chuan with bricks! Gotta keep in shape into my older years.
Okay, enough about that obsession.
Grr, Grr, grr! My church-finding experiments have stalled again. Must remember to do that. Must find the right church. Assuming there is one.
Next semester I’m taking EE483, Introduction to Digital signal processing. I’m also taking another class, I’m just not sure which one, yet. Here are some candidates:
EE585, Linear System theory.
EE559, Mathematical pattern recognition
EE563, Estimation Theory
EE669, Selected Topics in Digital Image Processing
Just some classes that look intriguing.
Hawaii in 6 weeks. Crikey. Here’s my plan. Pre-planning pretty much just involves finding a bus schedule. If it’s good, then that’s probably all I’ll need. Either that or I’ll see if the Hotel shuttle does anything clever. I have some ideas of stuff I’d like to do, but I’m going to see what’s available by checking out that huge rack of brochures that every hotel in the world seems to have. The ones in HI are probably going to be extra-huge. Then, just see if anyone wants to come along. There’s freakin’ 24 of us, man. I gotta share interests with someone. I’m going to see if there’s someplace that does Luaus for large groups, enough that we can just get tickets beforehand. That way everyone can go that wants. Simple. Planning anything more complicated than that is just asking for trouble.
Wouldn’t hurt to practice surfing or boogie boarding, either.
Tool is working on a new album! I’m so excited. Tool is my favorite band. I’m still listening to Laterilus, their previous album, 5 years after it came out.
My parents have sent me an early birthday present! Thank you so much! I still have yet to get a birthday present for my mom! I am a failure!
Mmm…nothing else to discuss. Ta ta!
-N
Two get-togethers. One at Cherise's new place, very shnaz, bunch of people there. Got to hang out with Mike Sand, one of the guys that hired in around the same time I did. He got moved to a different building, though, so I don't see him too much any more. Good to see him again, though, we keep in touch. He's a good cat. Oh, and I found someone else who loves Karaoke! So with any luck I'm going to do that some more. Yeehaw, I say.
And now, I present a brief essay on 'movie kicks.'
What are movie kicks? Movie kicks are kicks that look good. They overlap, somewhat, with kicks that are good for sparing or defending yourself 'on the street'. For example, a kick that is fast looks good for movies and is good for sparing. And when you do a kick with the correct form, it looks good. On the other hand, there are kicks that are used in movies that just aren't used in regular fighting. Pretty much anything that starts with an angle greater than 360 is a movie kick. 540, 540 crescent, 540 twist, 720; they look great, but they aren't kicks that one generally throws in a match. They're just too slow, too unpredictable, too easy to get lambasted while you're flying through the air. They’re great for movies and stunts, though, and you have to respect people that can pull that kind of stunt off.
I have horrible movie kicks. I don't just mean that I can't pull off the crazy 540 kicks, even though I can't, I mean my kicks just don't look good, and I tend to think this is indicative of some failing in my technique, so I’m working on them. I actually have a theory as to why they don’t look good, it’s because I can’t get my leg up high enough. Try this. Stand up and lift your leg up sideways as high as you can. Tough, huh? (Unless you already know a martial art, punks.) Derek can pull his leg up about 15 degrees above horizontal…and *hold* it there. I have trouble getting either of my legs up to horizontal. This is sideways, though. Front-ways I can kick about forehead level. It’s just that my hip-muscles, whatever they are called, have lagged behind in terms of catching up with the rest of the (huge!) muscles in my leg. My leg got heavier, and some of the muscles have yet to compensate.
Other ways to bring up the leg: Stretching, of course. I’m actually getting pretty flexible, but I have a ways to go before I can get all the way down. And I really have to stretch out before I throw any kicks. Those leg muscles get *tight*.
Way #2: drop the body. Tough to do, cause it can mess with your balance, but it’s a great way to bring up your leg.
Way #3: Other stuff. I’m going to play around with my kicks some to see if I can fix anything. There’s this one woman at TKD…well, she’s not there anymore. She’s taking some time off to be pregnant…but she has this incredible side kick. I mean, it just looks fantastic. I think it might be a body-alignment thing. Like I said, I have to play around.
Today, my legs are heavy. I’m wearing my leg weights today, so I’m carrying around an extra 10 pounds everywhere. This sounds like a lot more effort than it is, being as I sit most of the day, but I do walk around sometimes. And I’m trying to keep my legs moving as much as possible. I dunno, I figure the more I do, the more it’s like training. And I really want my black belt. And not the red-and-black one either. The one with the *yellow stripe*. And then *Two yellow stripes!* And then either three, or I’ll go on to a different martial art. Tai Chi Chuan with bricks! Gotta keep in shape into my older years.
Okay, enough about that obsession.
Grr, Grr, grr! My church-finding experiments have stalled again. Must remember to do that. Must find the right church. Assuming there is one.
Next semester I’m taking EE483, Introduction to Digital signal processing. I’m also taking another class, I’m just not sure which one, yet. Here are some candidates:
EE585, Linear System theory.
EE559, Mathematical pattern recognition
EE563, Estimation Theory
EE669, Selected Topics in Digital Image Processing
Just some classes that look intriguing.
Hawaii in 6 weeks. Crikey. Here’s my plan. Pre-planning pretty much just involves finding a bus schedule. If it’s good, then that’s probably all I’ll need. Either that or I’ll see if the Hotel shuttle does anything clever. I have some ideas of stuff I’d like to do, but I’m going to see what’s available by checking out that huge rack of brochures that every hotel in the world seems to have. The ones in HI are probably going to be extra-huge. Then, just see if anyone wants to come along. There’s freakin’ 24 of us, man. I gotta share interests with someone. I’m going to see if there’s someplace that does Luaus for large groups, enough that we can just get tickets beforehand. That way everyone can go that wants. Simple. Planning anything more complicated than that is just asking for trouble.
Wouldn’t hurt to practice surfing or boogie boarding, either.
Tool is working on a new album! I’m so excited. Tool is my favorite band. I’m still listening to Laterilus, their previous album, 5 years after it came out.
My parents have sent me an early birthday present! Thank you so much! I still have yet to get a birthday present for my mom! I am a failure!
Mmm…nothing else to discuss. Ta ta!
-N
Comments:
Having troubble with side kicks huh? May I recomend a good massage therapist? LOL No honesty a good therapist can do wonders for that problem!!! (what I'm thinking is) I could do wonders for your leg issue!!! You are still a goober for going to Hawaii without me!
-Becca
-Becca
Booyah to you noel... Booyah indeed. For some reason I've only been recently been able to see your blog. Anyway, mad congrats on the blue belt... sigh... soon you'll be on your way to surpassing me and kicking my ass with projectile vomit. Don't forget, go for the liver!
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# posted by 
: July 25, 2004 at 9:13 AM
: July 25, 2004 at 9:13 AM