Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Discouraged

I am way too tired to think of anything interesting to blog about, and too discouraged to even try. I had some left over undyed sock yarn, so I decided I'd dye it with Easter egg dyes. So far, so good. The yarn itself came out quite interesting. Really uneven and blotchy in color. I thought it would be interesting to see how it knit up. This afternoon it was finally dry, and I began to try to wind it back into a ball. It didn't take long at all until it disintegrated into an impenetrable tangled mess:



It'll take a while to get that sorted out, but once I do, I'm going to divide it into two balls and knit two socks at once on ML. Toe up. That'll be a first for me, but I want to learn the technique.

Just so this post isn't a total waste, here is a video of me doing seisan kata in my back yard. It's not the best video of the best kata, and I can definitely see things I need to work on.


I think I'll start with teaching Cody how to hold the camera still.

P.S. When I ran the spell check on this post, the suggestion for the word "undyed" came up as "undead." Yeah, that fits.
*
*

10 comments:

Mauren Mureaux said...

WooHoo for the new blog title! I do like it a lot!

Ok. Watched the video, i'm not messin' with you. Nope. No way! ;)

Becky G said...

Thank you--on both counts.

Now, for some business. Sus and Lou have both chosen their
prize. Now it's your turn. Sus chose #1, the cone of cotton yarn. Lou chose #8, the drawing. As soon as you let me know which one you choose, I'll get it in the mail to you.

Once again, thank you for visiting my blog and for participating in my contest.

Perpetual Beginner said...

No required kiais in your Seisan?

When my brother comes to visit, I'll have to see if I can get him to video me doing a few katas to post. I'd love to see a few more of yours, the differences are fascinating!

Finished learning Chinto the other day - the first of the new crop of purples to make it all the way through. Unfortunately/fortunately this means that I've learned everything new required for brown, with four months left to go before I've finished out minimum time-in-rank. Four months to perfect everything is good - but new stuff! I want to learn more new stuff too!

Sus said...

Sorry about your yarn woes. Sounds like a project for a movie marathon. :)

Thanks for posting a video of your kata. More, please!

Bag Blog said...

I know nothing about Karate, but that was very cool. The shades add to the coolness :)

Anonymous said...

Awesome kicks in that Seisan!

As for working on stuff, it has improved a lot since you tested (pics in mail tomorrow!) so GO YOU! You can help add power, increase balance, and prevent knee injuries by changing your hips with your step. If you look at the video, when you step you're only moving your leg instead of your body (hips) as a unit.

And a question is "do you have rules of retracting punches in your dojo"? -- I'm having issus with that right now and seeing this video makes me smile! :)

sunshine

Becky G said...

Cindy, actually, no. We don't have required kiais. Sensei will point out good places to put a kiai for the lower ranks, but once we get on up there, we just put them where we feel them. We've kind of gotten out of the habit of kiai-ing in our dojo. We used to have this pansy girl who would start crying and run off the floor any time anyone would kiai. I don't always kiai when I practice anyway, especially if I'm not going full speed/full force.

Eventually, I'm going to video all of my kata and post them. It's just a matter of time.

Sus, thank you. I'm still patiently plugging away at it.

Sunshine, thanks. I'm glad to see there has been improvement. I'm not sure what you mean about rules about retracting punches. Could you elaborate more?

frotoe said...

That looked great Becky! I don't think we do that kata in my dojo. It looks really cool, though.
thanks for posting it!

Mir said...

Hi Becky! I went to check out your video of the kata. I like how you always look to where you are going before you move in that direction. Many martial artists forget this little important aspect of performing kata, and for me, it makes the movements seem more realistic, and focused. Your movements are very relaxed, and smooth. The camera didn't move around too much, really, I didn't find it distracting.

Personally, I enjoy the Kiai part of a kata.. I like the explosion of movement and sound that happens at that central part. However, I know that the kiai has been removed in many styles to keep the constant flow of performance.

Keep up the good training.

I'll leave this message on your posting also, but I'm not sure if you will be aware of it there.

Becky G said...

Thank you Supergroup. The looking first thing is very much emphasized in my dojo and association. You can't hit what you can't see, is our philosophy.

As for kiaing, I am a quiet person by nature so kiaing is something I really have to work at. I prefer to practice in what I call my Silent But Deadly mode. Still and all, when I comes down to it, I can belt one out when I need to.