Pneumatised!

MM,

Well, I haven’t had a chance to workout at all this week. Eek! Not even a short run.

I went to a ritual on Monday night. On Tuesday, I decided to stay home and get some work done. I spent all day and night typing up pagan chants that I know. (I’ve been meaning to do that for a while now, but the need arose for me to have it typed up, so type it up I did.)

Then, on Wednesday, I got a call from my mom saying she needed to go to the hospital to have her heart checked. As she didn’t have an appointment and it was rather urgent, we went to emergency. As is the case with emergency hospitals, we waited a while to get seen. As they needed to do blood work and the ECG, we had to wait longer for the test results and to see the doctor. My mom ended up staying the night for observation while I went home and came back early Thursday morning to pick her up. I spent six hours at the hospital and a couple of extra hours in the morning picking her up. Luckily, as it turned out there wasn’t anything wrong – nothing that showed up on the blood work anyway. I escorted my mom home – she didn’t sleep well at the hospital, of course, and she had quite a bit of blood taken out of her all day – then I went home for some rest.

I got home around 9:15 Thursday morning. I didn’t really sleep Wednesday night. There wasn’t much point. I got home around 1:30 a.m. that night and had to leave again at 6:00 a.m. Because there wasn’t much good food at the hospital (they only had snack machines, not even a cheap sandwich!), I didn’t have a good meal for six straight hours. Once I got home, I had some food and a bath, and cleaned up a little. I slept for an hour only, then got up at 6:00 a.m. to go back to the hospital. Considering the lack of food and sleep, I ended up sleeping until early Thursday evening (last night). That, of course, left out any option of going to the do jang. I woke up just when I should be leaving for class. The gym wasn’t an option either. I would not have time to eat and digest my food before going for a workout.

I ended up re-arranging my bedroom after waking up in the evening. I have to say I actually feel good about that though. I was planning on re-arranging the bedroom for a while now. I didn’t like where the bed was – right smack in the middle of the room with not much space to move around. I ended up putting the bed in the corner of the room farthest from the door. According to feng shui, this is best for a good night’s sleep. The energy of the room actually feels different. Maybe because now there is space to move around in there, and this allows qi to flow better. Anyway, as I said, I’m happy about it. I have problems sleeping sometimes, and having good energy in my sleeping environment helps much. Plus, I got rid of all the major dust bunnies. I have major allergies to dust. My entire respiratory system down to my diaphragm fills up with phlegm. I end up coughing up a lot of phlegm from my bronchi and stomach. (Ew! Did I just post that?! Gross.) I’m good at making sure I get some air though. Have to be careful with the dust bunnies. They have since hopped into the garbage bin. So yay! It feels like I have a new bedroom, even though I don’t.

Later today, I’m hoping I can get in a short run. I need it after not getting enough exercise. I just hope I have enough time before I go to a ritual tonight.

My newly arranged bedroom is calling me. Hm… sleep should be interesting today.

Official countdown: 22 days left (tic-tock, tic-tock)

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

P.S. I’ve done some more work on my reiki manuals. I’m hoping to have classes scheduled for autumn/late September.

Monday, June 5, 2006

I went to the do jang for taekwondo class. Master Kim wasn’t teaching, so one of the higher black belts was teaching class. It was a good class though. We did some more traditional taekwondo drills – stances, blocks, hand strikes. Then we did some kicking. I’d like to have classes like that more often.

There was no half hour of crazy kicking after. 🙁 I was looking forward to it for once.

Tuesday, June 6, 2006

I decided to go for my 5k run. Actually the route I mapped out comes out to 5.2 km. Unfortunately, I didn’t do the route as planned. I should have brought my directions. Anyway, this is what I ended up doing.

First, I did a slow run up Jarvis/Mt. Pleasant for 12 minutes, 18 seconds. The confirmed distance is 1.6 km, but as I overshot my turn to go west on Roxborough St. E., I actually ran a little more than 1.6 km. I ended up running east on Roxborough Rd. for a bit, then walked through a small residential area. I figured I probably went the wrong way, so I asked some people for directions to Roxborough St. E. I found it south on Mt. Pleasant on the other side of the street. It turns out that since I ran up the east side of Mt. Pleasant, I didn’t even see the turn to go west on my intended route. But yay! I found it after heading south on the west side of Mt. Pleasant for a bit.

Thus, the second part of my run started at Roxborough St. E. at Mt. Pleasant. Heading west, I ran to the end of Roxborough St. E. at Yonge, then across Roxborough St. W. to Avenue Rd. Then, I ran down Avenue Rd. to Davenport, down Davenport to Yonge, and continued down Church St. to Isabella and home. The total distance starting from Roxborough St. E. at Mt. Pleasant ending at home was 3.5 km. (Though, I goofed on this part of the route too. I was supposed to run up Avenue Rd. a bit to get to Dupont, run west on Dupont to Davenport, then run down Davenport.) The time for this part of my run was 25 minutes. The total time was 37 minutes 18 seconds for a confirmed distance of 5.1 km, not including the short detour I had at Roxborough Rd. Overall, I did a good run. I ran a solid 3.5 km after doing a good 1.6 km. After the run, I wasn’t totally exhausted. I felt like I could run a bit more after a short break. I will try the 5 km route another time. After that, as long as I keep up with the running regularly, I should be able to complete the 10 km run in decent time.

Saturday, June 10, 2006

I went to the do jang for the two-hour test preparation class. There was much to cover, and we had some time to work on what we plan on doing for the demo.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

I went to the do jang again for the test preparation class. We didn’t have a full hour of training as we had a black belt meeting first. After the do jang, I went to the gym for some conditioning training.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)
Pectoral fly

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Weighted squats
Shoulder strengthening
Wrist strengthening
Push-ups

I did 15 minutes on the bicycle. According to the machine, I covered 5.41 miles (about 8.7 km).

When I got home, I decided to go for a short run. I went for a slow run of 1.5 miles (2.4 km). My time was 13 minutes 21 seconds, which is fairly decent considering I ran after about two hours of exercise.

Today’s official countdown: 26 days left (time is a-ticking)

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

What a heat wave last week! I ended up taking a few days off of training last week. I think I needed to let my body rest a bit, and the heat wave was not conducive to strenuous exercise. So, I started off the month of June with 2.6 km run (just a little more than a mile and a half).

June 1, 2006

I ran 2.6 km (a little more than a mile and a half) in 14 minutes 9 seconds.

June 4, 2006

I went to taekwondo for the test training. It was a good class. We worked on the requirements for the test. After the do jang, I meet up with Nathan at the gym. I was starting to miss the weight training. It’s funny, but after some time to rest, my muscles really miss the workout. Always feel so strong after weight training. 😀

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Pectoral fly
Shoulder strengthening
Push-ups

Well, after having a nice little break, I think I’m ready for another busy week. Tonight is a do jang night and tomorrow I’m going to try a 5 km route (actually works out to 5.2 km/3.25 miles, but will be good for me to go the extra distance as this is a little more than half the 10 k run).

Today’s official countdown: 4 weeks, 5 days left.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Another busy week. Here’s a brief update:

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

I ran to the gym doing a 2.6 km route. My time was 14 minutes 11 seconds.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Seated chest press
Pectoral fly
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Shoulder strengthening
Wrist strengthening
Push-ups

Thursday, May 25, 2006

Taekwondo day – cardio kicking class

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Another taekwondo day, but test preparation class. We were given time to create our own one-steps.

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Another test preparation class for taekwondo. I went to the gym after.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Chest press
Pectoral fly
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Squats with weights
Shoulder strengthening exercises
Wrist strengthening

10 minutes on bicycle

Official countdown as of May 28, 2006: 5 weeks 6 days left.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I went for another two mile run. My total time was 17 minutes 30 seconds. The first mile was 8 minutes 49 seconds and the second mile took 8 minutes 41 seconds.

The run wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I’m getting used to the two miles so I’m thinking of adding another mile soon. A 3-mile run is 4.8 km – just short of a 5k – so I might just do a 5 km run next instead.

Official countdown: 6 weeks, 5 days left.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I have been experiencing the wealth of entertainment and information available through www.youtube.com. I was primarily looking at taekwondo olympic sparring videos, but I found some other interesting taekwondo videos.

I thought for those readers on here who have little or no clue as to what the training is about in taekwondo that the videos might provide some insight. As well, I found these videos to be especially inspiring (even though I already have a black belt – there is always room for improvement). These videos show what can be possible with taekwondo (though admittedly, not every black belt in taekwondo can do this stuff). What is shown here is the “cream of the crop” in taekwondo.

The first two videos are of the Korean Tigers, a taekwondo demonstration team, not to be confused with the Korean National Taekwondo Demonstration Team. You will note the amount of acrobatics/gymnastics mixed in with the martial arts in the demo. Gymnastics is one thing I wish I learned when I was younger. It’s one of those things that is hard to pick up as an adult. I would like to make a comment about mixing acrobatics and martial arts. Some people think that acrobatics is unnecessary to martial arts. While it may be true that acrobatics is not needed to adequately defend yourself, that does not mean that some acrobatics can’t complement and enhance martial arts techniques. Acrobatics combined with martial arts can make one more elusive and harder to catch (think ninja here).

Korean Tigers at Paris in 2003. (Warning: Korean dance music plays 😉 )

Korean Tigers again!

Below is another demo video. Having seen someone kick an apple off a sword blindfolded before, I have to say it’s amazing to watch. It’s both thrilling and a little scary – as I don’t want the person to slice their foot. One of my former instructors, Master J.J. Park, used to do this for a demo. His was, I think, a 540 spinning hook kick blindfolded. Funny enough, when I think about it, it may have been that particular stunt that landed Master Park a job working on Jackie Chan’s stunt team. (Master Park now has his own do jang in Milton, Ontario called JSC Taekwondo. You can read a short bio of him at Urban Warriors, another do jang run by a former taekwondo instructor of mine.

Next, I have a load of sparring videos, mostly from the last summer olympics in Athens (2004). First up, we have the men’s heavyweight division gold medal match. In this video, Korea defeats Greece with a lucky spinning hook kick (I say lucky because the Korean competitor didn’t mean to execute the kick. In an interview, he said that the Greek competitor stepped on his right foot by accident and as he tried to move he slipped and his foot came up to land a TKO/technical knock out. Although, it doesn’t look that way on video. I think the guy is being modest. Oh, and a nice story behind this match. After winning, the Korean went and gave his Greek competitor a hug, and then they ran around the ring together hand in hand to the fans appreciation – this was in Athens after all. Apparently, the two guys were friends who have trained together before.) Anyway, enjoy the video. And yes, these guys are moving that fast.

Next up is women’s gold medal match for the fly weight division (this is actually what my division would be if I competed). Here we watch Taiwan defeat Cuba. According to Wikipedia, Chen Shih Hsin is the first Taiwanese athlete to win a gold medal at the olympics.

The next three videos are highlights of taekwondo at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. These videos are great to watch. Taekwondo sparring at its best.

The Showdown! This was apparently a competition held in Sarnia, Ontario at a nightclub complete with live DJ. The Showdown featured major taekwondo competitors.

Now, for a change of pace. In case you thought taekwondo was all flash and competition. Below are two videos showing all eight colour belt patterns (taeguk il jang through to pal jang) and eight of the nine black belt patterns. If anyone is studying or is interested in studying taekwondo, here’s what you need to know. Please note that the below videos are meant for instructional purposes and consequently, the patterns are done a little slower than normal. You can also find videos of the patterns at the Kukkiwon website

I personally find doing martial arts patterns to be quite meditative. I find a sense of peace with myself when I’m doing them because I have to focus only on myself and not worry about anything else (or anyone else). In addition, proper breathing technique while doing patterns helps activate chi (or ki), which is very good for the body and the spirit.

Colour belt patterns – the Taeguks

Black belt patterns

Well, I hope you enjoy the videos and found them somewhat informative as to what my training involves. I have to say I have the utmost respect for those olympic taekwondo medalists. They probably train hours on end every day. In the end, having the gold medal placed around their neck must feel like it was all worth it.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt
Brigid’s Flame

Another busy week…

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

I went to the do jang for gumdo and taekwondo class. I’m starting to realize how much the horse stance in gumdo hurts my knee. Since I have torn cartilage on the medial side of my knee, the gumdo horse stance aggravates it a bit as it puts too much pressure on that one side (instead of balancing it evenly on the knee joint). I took gumdo class anyway. I’m actually kind of torn between whether I want to continue pursuing it or just stop it for the sake of my knee. Plus, I’ve been wanting to learn tai chi sword and am considering trying some classes sometime (assuming I can find a good tai chi school downtown that teaches swords). Funny enough, taekwondo doesn’t hurt my knee as much because the stances are different (the pressure on the knee joint is more even). As well, I have to admit that taekwondo is my first love when it comes to martial arts. So, gumdo or taekwondo? Taekwondo wins.

Of course, I took taekwondo class as well. It was, of course, another cardio kicking class.

After the do jang, I went to meet Nathan at the gym. When I got there, he was still on the elliptical machine, so I decided to do 10 minutes on the elliptical while Nathan finished up. Then, I did the following exercises.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Squats with weights
Chest press (with bar)
Shoulder strengthening exercises

After the gym, we headed home for food and rest.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

I went to the do jang again. This time I took three classes. The first one was patterns class. I actually got to practice patterns instead of teaching it. I practiced all my patterns including the black belt one. Then we practiced the one-step sparring techniques. The second class was a regular taekwondo class. We did some warm-up kicking and then practiced some combination kicking techniques (e.g., hop-step roundhouse, roundhouse, double roundhouse, tornado roundhouse, spinning hook kick). After that class was a half hour extra training class. We ended up doing techniques we felt we needed work on. I decided to practice some counters (i.e., counter-attack techniques), side kicks, and back kicks. Still lots to work on, but after more than two hours of training, my knee was starting to get tired. (I ended up putting some ice on it afterwards when I got home.)

Thursday, May 18, 2006

I went to the do jang for the third time this week. 😀 I took gumdo and taekwondo class again. Gumdo class is pretty much the same each time, we do the same drills, then practice kyogum and ssang-soo.

Taekwondo class was tough. I figure it’s because it’s closed Friday to Monday due to the fact that the Master is going to be away (he’s the coach for the Ontario women’s team) at the National Championships in Nova Scotia. He’s probably assuming us students aren’t going to be training much when he’s gone and decided to work us hard in Thursday’s class. Ouch! The younger colour belts were collapsing onto the floor thirty minutes into the class. Ah well… it’s good for us to be pushed every so often. There was loads of double kicking and lots of speed kicking.

After class, I took some time to mull over what I need to do for the black belt test. We have to make up our own one-step sparring techniques – I have to make up five since I’m testing for second dan. Those testing for second dan and up have to make up our own pattern. So, I was mulling over that. I don’t mind actually because I was thinking of making up my own pattern sometime (just to see if I could). But anyway, Master Kim said he was going to talk about that at the next test training class (next weekend). I guess I don’t have to worry too much about that yet.

As I mentioned, this weekend my do jang is closed so no crazy training. I should get some gym time in and hopefully some running in. Ah… I miss the running sometimes (and I used to hate running when I was younger), and it’s actually pretty good for my knee.

Official countdown: seven weeks one day left.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Well, it’s been a busy week. Here’s a recap of my training the past week.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I went to the do jang for taekwondo class and then to the gym for some conditioning training.

Leg lifts
Pull-ups (aka chin-ups, military and parallel)
Dips
Leg press
Hamstring flexor (called seated leg curls)
Hip adductors
Hip abductors
Seated row
Bar pulls (I think this is called the lateral pull-downs; it works the muscles next to the scapulae on the back)
Shoulder fly
Shoulder lift (this is called the shoulder press)
Back extensor

Free weights:
Situps (on a incline bench; worked out the obliques as well by doing double punches during the situp)
Bicep curls
Squats with weights
Pectoral fly
Chest press (with bar)

I also got in 10 minutes on bicycle before the gym closed.

Thursday, May 11, 2006

I went to the do jang for gumdo and taekwondo class. I learned two new dueling techniques for gumdo. Next time I think I’ll learn one of the patterns. 🙂

Friday, May 12, 2006

I went for a run. As I was meeting up with Nathan, I decided to just run over and meet him. I ran a total distance of 2.6 km. My time was 14 minutes 40 seconds, which was a slightly slower pace than usual. This is not unusual though on my third day of exercise. After two days of heavy exercise, the third day your body is fighting muscle soreness and fatigue.

Saturday, May 13, 2006

I went to the black belt test training class, which is two hours.

Sunday, May 14, 2006

I went to the black belt test training class, which is one hour. Next weekend, the do jang is closed and there is no test classes. So, I can rest next weekend. 😀

Official countdown: seven weeks five days remaining.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I went to the do jang for our black belt training again on Sunday (May 7). I was quite tired and sleepy. I don’t think I got much sleep on the weekend for some reason. It took me two days to catch up on sleep, and it is only today that I’m starting to feel “normal” – or at least less dazed and tranced.

Tonight, I should go to the do jang and get some more training in. I still need to get some more running in too, but I’m still a tad tired today. I can do one or the other today. I figure I need the do jang today more than the running. Maybe tomorrow if I’m not too tired. (I’ve been reading Battle Royale the past few days, and I’m finding hard to put the book down unless I just can’t keep my eyes awake. It’s a good book – highly recommended.)

Anyway, class tonight is at 7 p.m., and maybe I’ll get some gym time in after.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame