Time and tape

It's been 10 days since I've done a lick of training, and there are still 2 more to go.

My foot has healed up nicely.

My thumb isn't fixed yet. Besides resting it, I've experimented in supporting it using kinesiology tape. This has been a huge success, and I've become a convert to the stuff.

My usual taping regime is just duct tape used to splint toes together or to support a sprained ankle.

The new, fancy stuff sticks to skin and acts to back-up injured tendons, ligaments, and joints. It you're interested, look it up.

Anyhow, I should be mostly mended, and just a little taped up.

I've missed a week of review, and there is more in the immediate future. I don't mind review. I do tons of it all the time on my own. An old Jiu-Jitsu friend has returned after a long absence. I look forward to seeing him.

Back to normal for over a month.

Normal is good.

I been Nuked

Never trust the bastards.

I've been using a lovely, simple little app on my iPad to do my word processing.

Recently, they updated it to be more IOS7ish, which is fine. They also slipped in a few pop-up ads, which is annoying, but I can live with that.

The new version also decided to nuke all the files I'd saved.

How is that for user friendly?

Needless to say, I have removed it from my device.

Who can I trust? Likely nobody, but soon I shall have Apple's own word processor installed. It is called Pages. New device owners get free access, and I'll soon have a new iPad.

Likely it will do more than I need, which means more complication. Microsoft has said they will soon be releasing an IOS version of Office. That will have to be a whole other level of difficulty to master, and have a hefty pricetag.

It all reminds me of my days as a tech teacher when people would say, "Which do you prefer; Windows or Mac."

And I'd answer, "NEITHER."

Heal

Not doing a lick of martial arts today, for it is Sunday. I don't normally train on Sunday.

However, this week I did nothing on either Friday or Saturday either.

"OMG," you say with a worried voice. "Are you sick, or have you quit?"

Neither. I'm on vacation. We installed our house sitters, packed the car, and headed off to see our best friends inVernon. We'll be here for ten days in total.

Therfore; I've missed two classs, and will be away for ten more.

This will give my little boo-boos a chance to heal. I have a banged-up toe that keeps getting re-smacked. Won't this week.

One of my thumbs has an injured tendon. It could use some time off, too. You'd be surprised how often a thumb gets grabbed when you're wrasslin'.

This all sounds pretty whimpy, I'm sure.

It is. Normally, I just plow through such petty injuries. The reason I am being so careful with these ones is that I'm off for two months starting early in the new year to train in Los Angeles.

I don't want to miss a moment of training while there and so wish to start at 100% condition. There will be zero healing time while there. It will be six days a week; 14 classes per week.

Maniac

When I was a kid, my family used to drive down to California every couple of years. Back then, I never even knew another kid who'd been to the kid Mecca of all vacations, and we went semi-regularly to Disneyland.

I loved that place, and still do. I used to think that the greatest thing in the world would be to live right inside Disneyland itself, and if that wasn't possible, to live close by.

This winter Helen and I will be living about a half hour drive away.

We are going for Jiu-Jitsu, and I do not intend missing any training.

Three days a week I will have an afternoon break of about 5 hours. In a normal world this would be plenty of time to pop down for a short visit, but not in LA.

Drives always take longer than expected, but let's assume that we make it to Disneyland in 30 minutes. I'd insist on an extra 30 minutes for the drive back in case of any traffic snarls; not going to be late for class.

Disney parking isn't the same as parking anywhere else. You park in a giant structure, catch a tram, ride it, get off, walk, line up, and finally enter. Leaving is the same.

At best, a 5 hour training break would contain well under 3 hours in the theme park, surrounded by 2 hours of commuting.

Even I don't find this very attractive.

The other two weekdays have longer breaks of 7 and 8.5 hours. This is much more promising. They could contain 5 and 6.5 hours in the theme park respectively.

Saturday, I have a single class that ends at noon, and there are no classes at all on Sunday. Lots of vacation fun possible on the weekends.

Does this mean I plan on going to Disneyland four days a week for two months?

Not at all. I use my Disney addiction to illustrate our LA situation. We will have time to do something fun each day, but often it will need to be closer at hand.

This is fine. We are taking our folding bikes along, and might just go ride along the seaside. There are several massive malls nearby, and we might just wander there. Downtown, Chinatown, and Japantown are all very attractive to walk through.

Bigger or farther things will be tackled on my longer-break days, or on the weekends.

So will we go to Disneyland a lot? Let me answer by saying that it will make financial sense for us to purchase annual passes even though we're only going to be in LA for two months.

I love that place.

Skinny legs

I really enjoy Jiu-Jitsu, and it's done a lot for me physically.

My back hasn't had a serous problem since I started training over two years ago. I've also lost a bunch of weight, and there seems to be more muscle on my arms and torso than is typical for me.

A weird thing has happened since I've pretty much stopped Karate training and seriously curtailed my running in lieu of more Jiu-Jitsu.

Pretty much all I've been doing is bike riding and Jiu-Jitsu for the last couple of months.

My calves have gotten smaller. They were pretty muscular before. It seems that although Jiu-Jitsu has been great for me generally, it isn't so wonderful for the lower body.

This makes sense. The majority of time we're on the ground rolling around. Arms, backs, and the good old core get a good workout, but the legs don't.

Now that my much dreaded Jiu-Jitsu exam is largely over, I can get back into my other activities. I ran today. Haven't done that recently. I'm going to spend two three-day weekends soon training in good, old Shotokan Karate.

My calves should re-emerge soon.

Relaxed

Things changed today.

I no longer have to worry about my Jiu-Jitsu test. Today I finished off the last technical section. The video file is saved and ready to upload to HQ. I still have two teenie tiny sparring sections left to bang off, but I'll likely wait until our instructor gets home early in December. No pressure to that.

No pressure at all.

I've been pushing ahead towards this exam since last December. It's been ten months of cramming in 16 months of material. As time went on, the pressure slowly increased, reaching a crescendo recently.

Now it's done.

Plenty still to do, of course. There are several While belts who want to be ready to test soon. They could use some help.

There are also our two newest Blue Belts. They are pretty lost when we do free-rolling. I'm sure they could use some assistance, too.

Not too much to do just for myself.

If I pass and earn my first little belt stripe, my next exam will be about two or three years away.

If I fail, I don't think I'll be trying again. I honestly think I've done about as good on this attempt as I ever will be able to do. Don't think I'd try again.

Either way, from now until Christmas it will be relaxing training.

After Christmas it's off to LA for a couple of months to train at the HQ Gracie school. Passing or failing won't change this, but will determine what I get to work on while there.

Goes without saying I'd rather pass.

Last Part

Last night my Jiu-Jitu training partner went through her exam routine. I was the dummy, and got generally chucked about and mushed.

She did as perfect as any human being could, but even so she wanted to give it another shot. I think she was unhappy with some teensy mistake.

Off we went again. It just didn't have the pizazz of the first go. No problem; our instructor said he'd review both recordings and send in the better one.

Madeline is all done.

I used today to get myself ready. Tomorrow it's my test, and I get to chuck her around.

I'd say I can pull off three attempts at getting a good recording before fatigue makes further effort counter-productive.

My best run is always when I'm freshest. Hopefully, I can stick-the-landing with the very first try. If it's good, I will NOT make another attempt.

Madeline will be totally finished, but I will still have two sparring sections to record. They are a mere 5 minutes each, and are something we do all the time.

When our instructor gets back from Mexico early in December, I can bang out my final, short recordings. It will all get submitted at that time.

Results can take anywhere from one to three weeks to get back.

Passing would be very Christmassy.