Samurai Wannabe

So, as I mentioned in my last post, I had been preparing for a half marathon for the past several months. The race was on Sunday, and I'm very happy to say that both Traci and I completed it. While the course was still open, no less! ;)

Training to complete this event has been one of the hardest, but most rewarding experiences of my life.  If you had told me a year ago that I would run 13.1 miles on May 18th, 2008, I would've laughed my ass off and asked you where the hell you got whatever you were smoking, because that's some messed up stuff. Recorded below are my thoughts on the events of the past weekend and race day.

All in all, an awesome finish to this; all our training paid off (I didn't die or get mangled, hooray!) Not sure what we're going to do next, but I'm very much looking forward to a more relaxed running schedule, and time to do other stuff.

I put the exercise in quotes because there comes a point where it ceases being "exercise" and starts being "punishment for your crappy habits".

Traci and I have been training for a half marathon for the past couple months or so, and it's getting down to the wire here. The race will be held in Green Bay, on Sunday, May 18th. It's a nice, fairly flat, scenic course and the last leg of it goes right through Lambeau Field, so that will be pretty awesome.

Here's a link to the course, for those who are interested:



I'll be honest: I have a pretty crappy diet. Yes, I'm vegetarian, but the kicker? I don't really like vegetables all that much. There's a couple that I can tolerate, and I should really try to work them into my diet more, but I'm stubborn and set in my ways.

It turns out that your body can be kinda temperamental, and easily pissed when you don't take care of it properly...and apparently forcing it to run 13 miles is one of it's triggers. We ran 11 miles on Sunday; our longest run until the half marathon itself (we're tapering now), and I struggled. Part of it was mental, but a larger part of it was my body simply not having everything it needed for me to keep going. After about 5.5 miles in, we stopped for about a minute to slam gel packs (we wanted to know how we'd react to them BEFORE the actual race, so no surprises) and to drink water. After that, Traci kept going and didn't stop until the end; I had to take a couple of walk breaks, and ended up walking the entire last 2.5 miles or so. I was so frustrated with myself.

But that's the way running is. I love it. I hate it. It's the worst decision I've ever made; I've never felt physically better in my life. There are good days, and there are bad days. Sunday was a bad day, but I am determined to make May 18th one of the good days. Then we're going to spend the rest of the day eating pizza and celebrating, then taking an entire week off from exercise (except for martial arts, of course).

After that, we'll be moving back to a more diverse schedule; right now all we typically have time for is running. What I want to focus on next is strength training, and specifically, plyometrics. My goal once the half marathon is completed, is to orient training around martial arts; so I'm looking to increase coordination, reaction time, etc, in addition to the standard core strengthening and cardio (will continue running of course, just not as much).

Of course, all of this is assuming I'm not dead and/or crippled by that point, soo keeping my fingers crossed?

"So Keith, what strategies are you planning on utilizing during the race?"

Umm..ones that will allow me to continue living? Not being mangled? Those sound like a good strategies to me.

I now have a PS3.

No, let me clarify. I have a PS3, and my best friend PAID FOR IT. Did I mention that I have the most awesome best friend on the planet? I know it sounds kinda selfish and shallow of me to mention that fact AFTER she's bought something I've been drooling over for a while now. It's definitely not the fact that she bought it that she's the best...it's that she was willing to at all. She's always been a great friend, even when I've been too stupid to see it.  I actually feel guilty accepting it from her. My only solace is the fact that I will most ASSUREDLY be paying her back for it.  And, you know...c'mon..IT'S A PS3!

It's just really nice having a next gen system again. I (very very stupidly) sold my 360 a while back.  I wasn't playing it much, I had gotten it for free , and who couldn't use a little extra cash, right? Especially considering I had recently been laid off from my job. Yes, it was still one of the most idiotic things I've ever done, I admit it. 

I used to work for CompUSA, before they went belly up , and we had a contest to see who could sell the most copies of Microsoft Office 2003, and the top 5 people won either a 360 or the cash equivalent (minus taxes). I, being the gaming dork I am, of course took the 360.  It was cool, but I just never got into it, so I ended up selling it. I'm still kicking myself over that.

Traci eliminated my dilemma by basically saying "Here, take the damn PS3. You're paying me back".  She ROCKS. :) Yes, I am incredibly spoiled, but I won't be getting anything else for myself (except for the occasional video game, OF COURSE, and maybe a bit of martial arts related equipment as needed) for a very long time.

Edit: Traci read this and just wanted to state that  "You (Keith) are a total suckup" :P

For those uninterested in the heights (or depths, depending on how you look at it) of geekdom, skip this post. And I'd also have to ask, what the hell are you doing here?

Well, I've done it. Descended down into the dirty bowels of DM'ing again, much to the horror of my friends.  We just started a new D20 Modern campaign, although the system will be beaten, mangled, and bruised repeatedly as we play out a fanboy's (pardon the term) wet dream. My best friend Traci will be playing the role of Ash (of Evil Dead/Army of Darkness, Bruce "The Chin" Campbell fame), my other friend John will be playing Deadpool (yes, the Marvel comics, THAT Deadpool) and yours truly will be playing Sgt. Nicholas Angel ( from Hot Fuzz, and hopefully many more sequels) as an NPC to provide additional assistance and to be the linchpin in holding together this group of psychos (literal pyscho in Deadpool's case, who realizes he's a character in a roleplaying game and has seen both of his cohorts movies, who of course do not HAVE movies in this universe. Deadpool is the only one who gets to break the 4th wall, it's the whole insanity thing...or is it?).  We finished up character creation and did a very brief intro last night, and I'm REALLY excited about putting together some good encounters for them. There will be tons of over the top violence and action, combined with ample amounts of alcohol (none for Sgt. Angel, of course. Just cranberry juice there). We'll also have occasional cameos from other friends (can this party HANDLE another over the top character like say...JACK BURTON [Big Trouble in Little China]???).   It should promise to be a very interesting ride.

 It begins, of course,  at S-Mart (Shop smart, shop S-mart!). Ash will, of course, be in Housewares. Which also happens to have lots of loaded firearms, which will be VERY important and useful during the inevitable zombie uprising.

Oh c'mon, who didn't see that one coming?   

Woohoo! My iaito finally came in on Monday. I say finally, but really it was 6 weeks, almost to the day, since I ordered it, which is exactly the turnaround time they say it will be on the website. And all in all, it's not a bad amount of time to wait for a quality iaito. At any rate, here are some pics of it (I added them to my Picasa web album):

Martial Arts Related

It was well worth the wait; it turned out even better than I could've hoped for and I'm very happy with it.

Traci and I have begun looking at the patterns for Gyokko Ryu Kosshi-jutsu, a traditional ryu ha upon which almost all ninpo is based. In a possibly once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Soke will be giving the yundansha (black belt) students a chance to test for the shoden level of this ryuha. Which unfortunately won't apply to me, BUT, soke will also allow students who are 8th kyu or higher (we're currently 6th) to test for a kirigami (basically a "lower level" certificate, that covers pre-shodan patterns, if I understand it correctly). I just received the DVD illustrating the techniques and the history behind the school over the weekend, and I'm really looking forward to practicing it. We will be going over it a few hours each day during the Taikai, but that's also when the testing will be and I kinda don't want to wait until then. Unfortunately, I haven't quite acquired the super power (yet) that would allow me to instantly copy the movements just by seeing them, so I would LIKE to practice before then. From what I've seen so far, it's definitely going to require a lot of work, but I like a challenge :) Well, you know...sometimes. When it doesn't cut into my lazy time.

Well, we passed our 6th kyu test! I'm extremely glad that we got through it ok, and it was by no means a bad performance...but it definitely wasn't my best test. In my nervousness and because I was so worried about some of the finer points of the techniques, I skipped over a few of the basics and sensei had to correct me several times.  Traci did a fantastic job, and she had it rougher than I did. Being the higher level student means she has to do everything first; name the technique first, perform the technique first, etc.  So not only does she have to remember all the technique names and to make sure she does them properly, she has to be the most mindful of manners and dojo etiquette. She did a stellar job, and I would've definitely floundered were it not for her leading the way. So, all in all, not too bad. I will say that my ura seio nage was one of the best I've done so far, so that's something at least.  I think for the future, we're going to have devote some time each week to going through each level we've already passed; everything builds on past techniques, and we're really past the point where we can afford to let the basics get sloppy.

I'm enjoying the 5th kyu techniques, and we've been shown one so far(Sotowa). It's a cool leg sweep technique; already I can see that it will require even more control than the throws we learned for 6th kyu, so this should be a fun level.

Yet another reason for me to celebrate; my iaito has shipped! Should be here early next week and I'm very excited about it. It's a Musashi style design (Namako tsuba, the menuki are hachi or bees, and the fuchi and kashira are simple iron designs), with a navy tsuka-ito/sageo, white samegawa, and kuroro (glossy black) saya. It comes in at 2.4 shaku (the chart on the site suggested 2.45 for my height, but I figured better a little shorter for my first one, especially since I'm more likely to hit the ground now when doing cuts..plus my arms are a little on the lanky side).  I'll post pics when it comes in, but after seeing Traci's, I know it'll be gorgeous.

This post doesn't really have anything to do with cheese, I just like the word. And I realize that this is my journal, and therefor, by default, about ME, but I think talking about myself ad nauseum kind of makes me feel like a pretentious jackass. So, I guess it was also a slight distraction/deviation.   Mmm, cheese...

So, anyhow...last Thursday night's Jujutsu class opened with (after the bowing in) sensei asking us what level we're working on, and how long we've been working on it. He gets to Traci and I, and we tell him (6th kyu, about 4 and a half months, give or take) and he asks if he told us we're testing tonight. We kinda glance at each other in that "mutual sense of impending doom" sort of way and hesitantly respond "No...". So he says, "Ok, next Thursday (April 3rd) then."

::glances at the calendar:: Uh...yeah. So, tomorrow.  ::starts hyperventilating into a paper bag, then passes out because he forgot that physicians have found that that's actually really a bad idea::

I guess I might be a LITTLE nervous about it.  I started out with the typical "Well, we have been working on it a little while, and I feel pretty solid about the techniques" to internal monologues more on this order:  "What was that first technique we learned called again?? What are we studying?? WHERE THE HELL IS THE DOJO???"

But that is the nature of the  beast.  I'll go through cycles where I feel super confident about it, then terribly nervous, right up until test time. We'll be kneeling in seiza in front of sensei, and my stomach will be doing cartwheels. Then we'll bow to each other, as we've now done hundreds of times; the test will begin and everything will be washed away in the feeling of the moment.  It's difficult to describe the energy that's present when there's testing going on; electric hardly covers it, and it doesn't matter whether you're observing or actually participating. It's a tangible force, both exhilarating and draining at the same time. For that moment in time, thoughts of "how do I do this right? Is this the proper footwork? Should my knees be lower?" are gone. There is only sensei, yourself,  your uke (partner), and your technique.  It is what it is. And before I know it, we'll be kneeling in seiza in front of sensei again; probably sweating a bit, drained but filled with a warm, tingling energy that comes from the positive mentality of a room full of students encouraging you to do your best.

Wow, that turned out a lot more warm and fuzzy than I intended. Oh well.  There's always cheese.

Ok, so my iaito still hasn't shipped out...but that's ok, cuz I can always just STEAL TRACI'S! ::insert maniacal laugher::





Alright, so this was only temporary (I wouldn't make it 5 steps before she'd kill me)...but still fuckin' sweet...

Nothing much going on lately...still working, still going to classes. In keeping with the martial arts theme, I've decided to go back to studying Reiki. I'm not sure if the system itself is 100% viable, but I definitely believe that people can have a direct effect on each other's energy. Whether this is more psychological than physiological, who can say? Does it really matter, so long as the results are favorable? Regardless, the things I've been reading about the principles themselves are very positive. It stresses spiritual development, becoming a better person; stuff like that. The 5 basic principles, as I understand them (I don't particularly like the way the Wikipedia entry has it translated, this translation is from a book a friend got me for Christmas a couple years ago) is:

For today only:
Do not anger
Do not worry
Be humble
Be honest in your work
Be compassionate to yourself and to others

Sounds like pretty nice stuff, right? Those are things anyone could benefit from, in my opinion. The "For today only" part is pretty important; the idea is that you should be saying these things in your heart each day, focusing on one day at a time, the here and now. The Japanese have a saying: "Ichi-go ichi-e" . Everything you do, you should treat as if it's you're only chance to ever do it. So, if you've ever wondered why the Japanese people, as a whole, tend to excel at things, this principle could be one of the underlying factors.

But like anything, it's a system that can be abused and exploited for personal gain (Christianity, anyone?). At any rate, one of the first things the aforementioned book goes into is meditation and breathing techniques, which I'm already starting to see the benefit of. Like most Americans, my life can be pretty chaotic; I think it's more important now than ever that we learn to take a few minutes at least each day for reflection. I think of it as a great opportunity to calm the spirit, refocus the mind, and remember that ultimately, we all just want to live peaceful, happy lives with those we love.

On another side note...my iaito should be coming in soon (hopefully in the next week or two, though it might not be for another month ::dies at that thought::). I am soooo excited about it. Traci got hers in last Friday, and it's AWESOME. We got ours from the same place (Tozando), but I ordered mine about 10 days after she did. I'm really looking forward to it; using a real sword (even if it is a blunt edge) feels a lot different than a bokken. Traci and I are really shifting our focus onto martial arts now; we've always known we love it, and we have been doing it for almost 2 years now, so we're not completely clueless, but after the recent Shibu Kai, we realize how awesome our art really is, and we really want to become better at it. That means more training, and more often. After we finish the half marathon we have scheduled in May, we're likely going to scale back the running and focus more on martial arts training. We'll still be running, but probably no more than 30 minutes or so at at a time, about 3 times a week, with the occasional 5k or 10k race thrown in to keep us motivated.

Ok, so I don't update as often as I should.  I've never quite gotten used to the idea of posting into an online journal that anyone can see; it's just never been my thing. I guess I figure "what's the point?". I'm not conceited enough to think that my life is that interesting that people would want to read about it  But, life is about self-improvement, and as sensei says, one of our two powers as human beings is reflection, and God knows I could use more of that...

So as Traci mentioned, we tested for our levels in bikenjutsu (sword techniques) and bojutsu (staff techniques) on Sunday.  I'm happy to report that we both (as well as our entire class) passed with flying colors.  It's nice to see that that year of work really paid off, and I think that the work really showed when we tested. Our stances were solid, our strikes were precise, and you could literally FEEL the energy everyone was putting into what they were doing.  As a side note, I really think it makes a difference testing in front of so many people (there were at least 40 or 50 people watching us, I think...which was a LITTLE unsettling when you're facing the front of the room and it's just sensei there, then when you have to do a stance that requires that  you turn around there's like 40 people staring up at YOU).  Everyone there was supportive, and the positive vibes definitely made us do our best, I think. I can easily say it was the best performance I've given during a martial arts test, and I think that was a part of it.

The testing was certainly the highlight of the weekend for me, but the entire seminar was really awesome. On Saturday morning, we reviewed our traditional techniques from previous levels, and learned one that was a couple of levels higher (for me anyway).  Some people complain about "having" to go back and do techniques they've already tested for, but I think (and I think Traci will agree with me on this one) that I learn something new almost every time we review these techniques.  There are ALWAYS refinements to be made; cleaning up the footwork on this one, adjusting the hand placement for this lock, using the proper body movement for another one...I certainly hope that my kasumi dori (first traditional technique we learned) looks better now than it did then, even though I passed that test reasonably well.

Later that day, we worked on the first few movements for 9th kyu Koryu Karate; I REALLY love  this particular branch of our art. It's a very direct, no-nonsense style of self defense that's reminiscent of traditional Okinawan-style karate, but has some key differences that make it distinctly Japanese.  Of course, I know next to nothing about it, so I couldn't say for certain what those differences are...but they're there, hehe.  At any rate, it was really cool, and a lot of fun. 

On Sunday, aside from the testing, we also learned several stances from higher levels of sword, some of which I hadn't seen before (specifically 7th kyu. I've seen most of 8th kyu, but this was the first time I saw 7th kyu in it's entirety).  There's a lot of really cool "ninja-style" stances in this level, and it'll be awesome when we get to that point. It'll be even cooler when we actually learn what the strikes are from those stances, but that'll be a while in coming. ;)

So, all in all, a really productive, fun weekend, and although I am a bit sore, as Traci predicted, it was WELL worth it.  Attending these seminars REALLY illustrates how lucky we are to have access to our sensei on a regular basis; this was a relatively small seminar, and we still had people coming in from Ohio (and I think one group was even from Canada, though I might be totally off on that one, and I think one of the guys even came from Norway!) to train.

[hijacked....again]

Since Keith won't update his own journal, and because (for some reason I don't get) I am loathe to update mine, I will express my anxiety by posting in HIS.  It seems like a good workaround for everyone involved.

So a week ago, our Sensei, who is the top-ranked student in the U.S. of Tanemura Soke's, told us that we would be testing this weekend for weapons at our Shibu Kai.  A Shiku Kai is a regional martial arts seminar.  So that means five hours of martial arts today (Saturday), as well as tomorrow.

Like an IDIOT, I had to go and do 1,000 sword cuts on Thursday, and then take two back-to-back martial arts classes Thursday night.  My triceps and traps have been getting increasingly more sore, which is not what I need right now.

Not to mention the anxiety attacks I've been having on a near-daily basis for the past week.  In fact, I woke up at 3am, unable to get back to sleeo, because I suddenly thought about how I haven't been practicing my sword/staff techniques nearly enough with a hakama on, and how I'll have to test with my hakama on.  Bleah.

I hope Keith is sleeping well.  He probably is.  I'm tempted to call and wake him up, so just that I'm not the only one not getting sleep.  Because I'm mean that way.

But I won't, because Keith took care of me last week when I had the flu, and because Keith has to test for Weapons tomorrow, too.  And at least one of us should have a shot at actually passing.

He and I are gonna be a couple of sore cowpokes come Monday morning...

And no, I have no freaking idea what the hell a cowpoke is, but this IS Wisconsin, after all.

[hijacked]

Since Keith hasn't updated this thing in ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT WEEKS, I guess it's up to me.  The "me" in question would be Traci, otherwise known as Keith's best friend.

Keith's doing really well, for a transplanted Mississippian who's spent the past couple of years adjusting to Wisconsin's 10 1/2 months of winter.  Well, ok, up until this past winter it wasn't that bad.  But he's since learned the joys of digging yourself out of a 10-foot snowdrift, getting stuck on an ice patch, and spending hours in sub-zero weather.  All in all, I'd say he's had fun.  ;)

When he first moved to Milwaukee, he worked for CompUSA, got his own apartment, and struggled along.  When CompUSA closed and he was let go, we were both pretty worried.  I COULD support both of us on my salary, but it would have put a strain on things, because that's one income supporting two different households.  

He went on unemployment for a month, and then applied for a job as the Education something-or-other Coordinator at a local college.  He was a shoe in!  He got the job almost immediately, making about twice what he made at CompUSA.

He also went back to school, and will be graduating soon with his second degree in....er, something.  Microcomputer Applications?  No, that's not right.  Shit.  I don't recall at the moment, and he's in class, or else I'd ask him.  Either way, it allows him to get A+ certified and all that jazz.

In addition to that, I started taking martial arts again, and Keith joined me.  We take a very noble, very traditional style of Japanese Jujutsu, and have passed several kyus.  In a year or two we should be working on our first-degree black belts.

As if that wasn't enough, we've also been taking a Japanese weapons class for a year now.  Our primary "tools" are the bokken, hanbo, and rokushakubo.  We'll be testing soon, and if when we pass, we'll be among the highest ranked students in the country for those particular tools.  We've both ordered our iaitos, which means real live steel that we'll be practicing with.

And because I'm not ambitious enough, therefore neither is Keith, a year and a half ago we started running.  On purpose.  And not FROM people, either!  We've completed 14 races and will be doing our first half marathon in May.  Keith is one hot, buff mofo, I'll give him that.

Our free time is spent in geek endeavors.  You know, video games, comics, roleplaying, etc.  As usual, I'm the only female in many of the interests we share.

He has many friends that he's made up here, for which I am very thankful.  Because it means I can get away from him on occasion.  ;)

I'm a colluj gradjit, despite a horribly planned ceremony. For starters, it was held outside (not the best idea in the middle of the summer in south Mississippi). However, it turned out that the trouble was not from the heat, but from the torrential rain that the ceremony coordinators seemed unable to predict despite the ominous black storm clouds that were present hours before the ceremony began (and even DURING the ceremony). Less than an hour into the proceedings, it began to rain, and everyone made a mad rush for the auditorium. And from there, chaos ensued. The hallways were packed with people, along with their body heat and crankiness. All in all, not the graduation I would've hoped for, but I got my degree, Traci got some nice pictures, and that's all that matters. I don't know what I'm going to do now, except that I'm moving to Milwaukee next year and continuing on to graduate school soon after that. My degree is in psychology, and I'm interested in pursuing a career in criminal psychology, but I'm not certain that's what I want to do. At any rate, my prime concern now is to get a real job and save money for my move. That's it for now I suppose...

You know you're out of shape when 3 games of bowling leaving you wiped and sore -_-
However, any exercise is good at this point, and I averaged about 120 with a high of 138; not bad for not having seriously bowled for almost a year. Tomorrow I'll be starting my new job at Blockbuster; it's nothing spectacular, but I'll be making more than I was at Gamestop, PLUS I get 5 free rentals a week. I'll finally be able to catch up on all those movies I was too lazy to go see ;) Things are going fairly well for me in school; the only class I was uncertain about was Political Geography (we only had one exam and he just gave it back to us yesterday: A+). Also, our professor decided to alleviate some of our stress by changing our research assignment to an opinion essay; very nice for those who have research papers to do in other classes already. So things are definitely looking good on that end; however, I still haven't recieved the materials for a correspondence course that I need to graduate. I've been getting on their asses about it just about every day, but I keep getting the paperwork run-around. If I don't get something definite on Monday, I'm driving to the main campus myself. Welp, I guess that's all for now... ::limps off to hang out with his baby cousins::

Well..nothing much to post about...had my social psychology class this evening. My instructor decided to do things differently this particular lecture (perhaps because previous lectures literally sent a quarter of the class to Dreamland, and another quarter out the door). At any rate, we were divided up into groups, and we each had to discuss a different key point in the chapter. Not only did this keep us awake, but also got us out of class about 45 minutes earlier than usual. I can get used to this. :)

Thank you very much for welcoming me, everyone. :) I truly appreciate it...I'm sorry I didn't post a response sooner, but as Elendriel can confirm, I don't talk much and I tend to procrastinate, hehe. I do appreciate you guys very much though, thanks again.

Welp, this is my first post here...not much to say really, nothing much going on for me. Classes started back up yesterday, though today was my first (Comparative Religion). It sounds really awesome, though I was a bit tired and didn't pay attention as well as I would have liked. I didn't get home from work at Gamestop until after midnight; we have a district manager coming for a visit, and of course, we have to rearrange EVERYTHING. I guess that's it for now. :)