Just the Bear Facts

Today I shall be covering a variety of topics. I shall include the next entry in the Crusades saga, I shall discuss my first night of Aikido practice, and I shall ramble on about some other inane topics yet to be determined.

So the Samurai convinced me that I should come out and give Aikido a try. It is good for the mind, good for the body, and good for the spirit�or so I am told. But one night of practice is certainly not enough time to make a decision as to the veracity of these claims.

Lets start out by saying that I was both excited and anxious about joining. I have seen the intensity that the Spine Doc, Samurai, and Lynn have with regards to the martial training, and to tell the truth, it was intimidating. Lots of questions and lots of doubts were running through my head�but I said to myself, this session lasts for two months. I can do anything for two months. Sides, it would be foolish of me to turn down an opportunity to learn something new from such a group of talented people.

So last night I went to the dojo with the Samurai. I ponied up the $$$ for class and a gi and tried hard to learn as quickly as I possible could. But there was SO much to learn�and unlearn. The first of which was how to get dressed. Yup how to get dressed�how gi goes together and how to wrap and tie you belt. After that it was a flurry of instruction on proper dojo etiquette. When to bow, who to bow to, what to say, how to stand and the list goes on. Already I had felt that my brain was getting full. From there it was on to learning the basics. At this point my instructors began using Japanese commands. Now for those of you who do not know, my hearing is not the best. In fact when there is a fair amount of background noise, it downright sucks. Well when you put me in a gym, next to the Karate class, which yells a lot, and then my instructors begin giving Japanese commands�well try as hard as I could, I could barely hear a thing they were saying. And soon it was difficult to hear their spoken English instructions (Sigh�hearing problems suck�big time). So I had to rely almost solely on observation. Thank God I am pretty decent at that. So I watched, and I mimicked, and I focused�hyperfocused, one of my superpowers� Soon the instructor began teaching us our beginning position. It has a Japanese name, but to be honest, I never really heard what it was called. But basically what you did was draw your sword, and assume a relaxed ready position. Eight years of fighting in the SCA certainly helped me imagine myself holding a blade. Then it was on to moving. Now while I understood exactly what I was supposed to be doing, my mind and body were in direct conflict. The years I spent fighting Great Sword, training my body to do certain things without thinking about it anymore caused me a great deal of pain and frustration. The pain came from muscles cramping up on me because they were trying to perform movements that they had long ago learned and become used to doing, while my mind was telling them to perform actions that were very different. And of course the frustration came from my mind demanding that my body do one thing, and my body not responding quickly or correctly. Half way through the first hour of practice, frustrated and in a fair amount of pain, I had to stop. This did not help me one bit�.

Hour two I moved into a much more serious work out. I began breakfalls. I never knew how hard it was to fall down and stand up again. I have never pushed myself that hard before, I have never hurt like that before, I have never been quite so frustrated. Let me explain. I was told that I was already learning things that most folks didn�t get to till around the second and third week of practice. What this meant was that I was learning quickly, but at the same time I was working VERY hard. Guess part of why I pushed myself so hard was I didn�t want to embarrass the Samurai. Many folk knew that it was he that got me involved with the dojo, and I didn�t want to make him look bad. Then there was the other part of me that refused to quit. I am not a weak person, I am stubborn, and I will push myself until I can no longer go�and then I push myself more. Last night I had to stop 3 more times. I was the only one who had to stop�sigh. I keep telling myself that is was ok�but it still frustrated me. But what�s a guy to do when his body is so exhausted he can�t even put his hands out in front of himself? What�s a guy to do when he can�t hardly breathe any longer? What�s a guy to do when he is no longer sure he can keep standing? I knew I had to stop, I pushed myself as far as I could go, and when I could breathe again, I got back up and did it again, and again, and again. I didn�t quit, I just couldn�t keep going. I should have stopped, but I didn�t and now I am paying for it. One of the last breakfalls I did I knew I had messed up as soon as I hit the mat. I hit hard, and now today it hurts to move my shoulder. Fortunately I have 4 days to heal before next practice. And then I am going to do it all over again. Perhaps this time I will only be force to sit out 3 times�

I am proud of how well I did. I am pleased with how much I learned, and how far I progressed in one night. I am excited about how much better I will be at the end of two months. Not necessarily better at Aikido, but better physically, and hopefully mentally. But it�s hard�and I know it will only get harder. But barring serious injury, I am willing to meet the challenge head on�I mean come on, would you expect any less from a Bear? Too smart for their own good�and too stupid to know when to quit.

Upon entering the kitchen our Hero is greeted by the Master of the house who is slowly moving about the kitchen preparing coffee to help kick off the day.

Soon after Coffee was ready, the lovely Mistress Thjora joined Our Hero and Master Alan in the Kitchen.

After a little bit of banter, and a cup of coffee in him Our Hero noticed a nicely painted horseshoe hanging above the door of the house. And of course since Our Hero had not yet taken his meds for the day, he was instantly distracted by it, and with that distraction came a flood of ideas. Our Hero immediately looks from the horseshoe and blurts out��So do yall know the story bend that?� To which he received several blank stares. Ahhh and then it dawned on him�this was truly an ADD moment, they had no idea WTF Our Hero was talking about. So Our Hero did what any Hero would do�he forged on ahead.

�The horse shoe over the door�do you know how that came to be, I mean do you know the story behind it?�

Both Master Alan and Mistress Thjora shook their head no and as if on cue Our Hero launched into this story:

THE old blacksmith is "sitting" with one hip propped on his anvil. Gathered around his feet are three or four little barefoot children. Obviously one of the kids has asked a question because in a deep Irish brogue, you hear the blacksmith saying,

WELL then, Once upon a time long long ago and far far away; on an island where the grass is emerald green,

A VILLAGE SMITH was shoeing a horse at his open air shop. His large anvil rang with each blow to the shoes. Standing quietly in the shade of the spreading chestnut tree, the horse waited patiently.

THE DEVIL, passing by, heard the ringing of the anvil and decided to see what was going on. He stood watching as the blacksmith made a wonderful set of new shoes for the horse.

THE SMITH then proceeded to trim the horse's hooves and nail the shoes in place. The horse stood quietly as this was done, and when the smith finished, the owner of the horse mounted his steed and took him for a trot down the road.

THE HORSE was noticeably happy with his new shoes, for he danced and he pranced all the way to the corner and back.

SEEING THIS, the Devil being a hoofed creature himself, decided that he must have a set of these wonderful shoes. He approached the smith and told him to prepare a set of shoes for him.

THE SMITH (realizing that this was the Devil himself), made a set of shoes too small, trimmed the hooves too short and drove several close nails in each of the devils hooves. He also clinched them quite heavily so they would not come off easily. The Devil in terrible pain, lame and very sore footed went running away and suffered for many days.

SO to this very day when ever the Devil hears an anvil ringing he makes it a point to stay as far away as possible.

THERE be two ways to hang a shoe. The blacksmith will hang a shoe with the heels down, so that the luck of the shoe may pour over his forge. But YE must hang a shoe with the heels UP so that the luck will remain in your house!

AND ye canna just use a shoe ye find by the side of the road. For when the shoe was lost, the luck was also lost from the shoe. Instead, you must go to the blacksmith and buy an old shoe that he has taken off of the horse's hoof. For when he removed the shoe, he removed the luck with it, and tis still in the shoe!

After this rousing story, and several others (If you want to hear em, just ask�I will be happy to post them.)

Our Hero and his companions retired to the living room where he did do battle with THE CHAIR!!!

You Are A Romantic Kisser!

You'll only kiss if the mood is right and if you think you are falling in love.

Some may say you're old fashioned, but when you kiss, you see stars!

One kiss from you, and anyone will be hooked forever.

How Do *You* Kiss?

More Great Quizzes from Quiz Diva

So today I learned that sometimes I write way too much on D-land. Not that I write too often, but that often times my entries are too long. This, I am sure makes many of potential readers skip over my posts, or at best skim them quickly. So thus the dilemma. Do I Shorten them, condense them and make them a quicker read�or just not worry about it and continue to write as much as I damn (notice this is the FIRST time that I have cussed in at least 4 entries�so there. See I can do it.) well feel like? Enh�I think I will just keep on writing and writing. They say it is good for ya�but I dunno. I know in my case it is good for making part of my day disappear quickly�and that is good for me.