my week, athleticism
Some weeks I write more in English, some weeks I write more in Japanese. This week has been the Japanese week. But anyway, on Monday, both my neck and arms were feeling better so I intended to go to the 10:30 Ground Slam class, but I got all worked up watching One Piece, so I decided to go to sparring to do the positional drills, but that turned into me leaving the apartment TOO early, and I did normal rounds. ^^; I got so close to one special move in my first round, but couldn’t get it. Then I sparred Wicky for the first time! (Akiyo Nishiura (link to sherdog))
😀 I remembered seeing him fight two of my Keishukai teammates, Kadowaki-san and Hoshino-san, so I’ve always thought of him as ‘the enemy,’ but he’s really cool. And looking at his record, I see he fought both Tokoro and Uno, two guys who always go to Ground Slam. lol So..yeah, people train together and then fight. It’s business….
Anyway, he was really heavy and really strong and I couldn’t do anything. 🙁 I wanted to at least be a little more impressive. Well, next time. *sigh*
He posed for a picture with me. 😀
Katsumura-san gave me this souvenir from the time he went to Okinawa to corner Ishikawa-san. 😀 It’s the character “Chopper” from One Piece that I love so much, riding a ‘goya’ vegetable (bitter gourd) that I love so much! Perfect! I was very touched he bought me a souvenir.
Katsumura-san is having knee surgery this weekend and I’m worried. :/ Well, concerned. It’s kind of looming. He won’t be to the gym for two weeks.
So from sparring, my neck really started hurting again, so I did a little technique with Steve and Arai san in the 10:30 class, and then left early. I went to the Isami shop to see if I could find that shirt “Even grappler can striking” but couldn’t find it. ~_~; Then I had lunch, and planned to go to Gotanda to the English book shop and do other chores, so I indulged in a dessert. Just as I was finishing that, I got an email from Steve: “Hurt my leg. Katsumura already went home.”
O_O! oh no, so I hurried back and poor Steve was laying on the mat icing his knee. ;_; He tore his meniscus again…..so Katsumura-san came back and drove us to the hospital. I spent the rest of the day translating for him. Man…I go to hospitals enough myself. It really sucked to see a friend in pain. ;_; At least I don’t have to have surgery myself, but I have a slew of things wrong with me. The doctor who saw his leg was Horinouchi-sensei, who looked at MY knee before, and was like, “Oh, it’s you!” Steve has to have surgery, too, on Monday. I’m really worried. ~_~;
Monday night and Tuesday I was really depressed (I was having intense neck pain myself). I just worked and met Kozo, but then his FATHER was upset about something and Kozo had to leave almost right after we met, so I was worried about his father. ~_~;; I had an open house for a kid’s class with parents, and I think that went really well, though. and I’m making this new PEDA card for the kids groups at work, and I got praise from my boss. XD PRAISE!!!! Outstanding! Well, it is a super great idea that will solve problems. If I do say so myself.
Yesterday (Wednesday) was really bizarre because didn’t work- I had the company-paid health check. WHICH IS A JOKE. They weighed me, measured my height, checked my vision (with glasses), took my blood pressure & pulse (the lady took it twice, because my pulse is unusually low cuz I’m an athlete….they always do), took my pee, felt my glands in my neck, and said, “Okay you’re done.” -_-
I know I have digestive problems, and hormone problems because I’ve been getting my period ONCE a year for the past eight years. But they didn’t do blood tests or anything like that. Instead, they want to do chest x-rays…what’s the point of that?…so I always get that canceled. -_-
Anyway, whatever. So I went home and finished watching Men in Black II that I’d started that morning. Then it was about 7 PM. hmmm I really wanted to see Men in Black III in the theaters. www.rottentomatoes.com gave it a 69% rating (not bad), and I tend to agree with their percentages, sometimes finding the movie better, never worse. So I put my clothes back on and ran to the 7:30-9:45 show. IT WAS FANTASTIC! I loved it! XD I really feel like they didn’t miss a beat from the second one, and was better! I really really enjoyed it, and miraculously, although I was yawning, I wasn’t ‘sleepy’ and stayed awake the whole time! 😀 Man, special effects these days! It’s when I’m tired from training that I drift off. Which I almost always am so I almost always do.
So today…hmm my neck still hurts. damnitalltohell _< I really want to get back to training! I'm progressing so well with my technique! You know, in MMA, it's so important to have good technique and physical strength. But I don't think I've ever really been a physically strong athlete. I've done every sport in middle and high school- soccer, basketball, softball, tennis, etc. I was very active, but I really wasn't "athletic?" I wasn't the fastest runner- I was average. I was pretty good but not super. I always enjoy the technical aspect of martial arts the best. I'm not saying I should "give up" strength training, but is it really the best thing to do to try and get stronger than other female athletes who have a 'more natural' strength? Isn't that like using my weakness against their strength? hmm I guess I just have to be the best technique-wise...but then I got disillusioned after I got slammed and lost my last fights. Well, this entry is getting long so I'll conclude this for now... …