Pneumatised!

MM,

Unlike most people who have already seen Deepa Mehta’s Water, I had different motivations for watching it. My primary reason was one of cultural and historical interest as well as exposing myself to a different spiritual background.

Note: This commentary is primarily for those who have seen the movie. If you have not seen the movie, please be aware that a considerable amount of the plot is given as well as dialogue and some scene descriptions.

Water has been grabbed onto by feminists as a movie with a veiled cry for “help” from Hindu widows; however, the messages to be found in the movie are much more philosophical and spiritual. The movie shows the complexity of a society in the beginning of political and social changes. The setting is India in 1938 around the time when Ghandi held much influence. Changes are brought about by the influx of Western societal ideals as provided to East Indians by the British Empire. Western ideals, however, have both a positive and negative impact on the Hindu beliefs already firmly held in India.

Along with a complex social and political background, the story centers around three widows – all of different ages. One is a child, Chuyia, who is roughly eight or nine years old. The second is a young woman, Kalyani, who is around her tweens, probably not meant to be older than twenty-five. The third is an older women, Shakuntala, probably meant to be in her fourties or early fifties.

The movie starts off with Chuyia becoming a widow after her husband dies from an illness. Her father comes into the scene and wakes her. He asks her if she remembers being married. Chuyia replies “No.” Her father tells her that her husband has died and that she is now a widow. Chuyia asks her father how long she must be a widow. Next, Chuyia is brought to an ashram where other widows live together. Before being allowed in, she runs inside, looks around quickly and runs back out to her father. She begs him to take her back home. Her father looks at her sadly and says that this is her home now. Chuyia then asks where her mother is if this is her home. Someone comes to the doorway and drags Chuyia inside while she screams that she wants to leave. Her father resignedly watches his young daughter newly widowed being dragged away by a stranger.

Here is where we meet the other two main characters. First, we meet Shakuntala, who becomes a mother figure to Chuyia. Next, we meet Kalyani, a beautiful young woman, who takes to Chuyia like an older sister.

At first, Chuyia believes that her mother will come and take her home. As time passes and she settles into a daily routine at the ashram, Chuyia realizes that her mother isn’t coming for her and that this is her home now. Even that thought though does not destroy Chuyia’s spirit. She’s a feisty child and strong-willed.

Shakuntala is just as strong-willed, but more disciplined. She spends time with a Priest, learns from him, and develops a spiritual strength, resilience, and determination. He tells her to never lose faith. She never does. It is Shakuntala who helps Chuyia in the end. The movie ends with a seeming hint that maybe Shakuntala’s help does not just end with Chuyia. Shakuntala seems to realize now that she has power to do something to change the fates of those around her. There is hope where there is faith because through faith there is strength, resilience, and determination.

It is Kalyani’s story though that the audience seems to remember most, although it is Chuyia who is the central figure. Kalyani, while out with Chuyia, one day meets a newly educated lawyer, Narayan, who happens to be a follower of Ghandi’s teachings. They are, of course, instantly attracted to each other. Narayan knows that Kalyani is a widow, but doesn’t care. He asks for her address so he could escort her home. Kalyani and Chuyia tell him and walk away.

With the introduction of Narayan, the movie gives us a glimpse of the differences in social classes in India in 1938. India retained a caste system that is based on myth. Narayan is a gentry and is for all practical purposes better off than Kalyani is as a widow. Kalyani is occasionally prostituted out by the lady who runs the ashram. Narayan promises to marry Kalyani, even though traditionalists believe a widow should never re-marry. Later, Shakuntala (and the audience finds out) that a law has just been recently passed allowing a widow to re-marry. Why has it not been mentioned before? Simply because humans tend to “ignore the laws that don’t benefit us”.

Throughout the first part of the movie, some scenes displaying beliefs about widows are shown. It is considered bad luck for a widow’s shadow to touch a bride. It is considered contamination for someone other than a widow to be touched by a widow. It is also considered a sin for a man to desire a widow. These beliefs are mitigated by the influx of Western societal ideals with some positive and some negative effects. It is Western societal ideals, the so-called “liberal thinking”, that has eased some men’s consciences about keeping a mistress or using a widow as a prostitute. This is portrayed in a scene between Narayan and his father.

Narayan’s father: “Brahmins can sleep with whomever they want, and the women they sleep with are blessed.”
Narayan: “Do you know Lord Ram told his brother, never to honor those Brahmins, who interpret the Holy Texts for their own benefit?”

Social and political changes that are occuring in 1938 India are discussed between Narayan and Kalyani at one of their first meetings alone.

Kalyani: “Are you gentry?”
Narayan: “Would it matter if I was?”
Kalyani: “Yes.”
Narayan: “I just finished my law exams. When did you become a widow?”
Kalyani: “I don’t remember. Maybe when I was nine.”
Narayan: “Was your husband good to you?”
Kalyani: “I never met him. Anyone else in your house?”
Narayan: “My mother, my father, Sadhuramji. No, I’m not married.”
Kalyani: “Good God! Why not?”
Narayan: “My father says, childhood is a time for play, not for marriage.”
Kalyani: “And your mother?”
Narayan: “If she had her way, I’d have a daughter as old as Chuyia.”
Kalyani: “Your mother’s right. That’s how things are.”
Narayan: “That’s how things were. Times are changing. All the old traditions are dying out.”
Kalyani: “All of them? But what is good should not die out.”
Narayan: “And who will decide what is good and what is not?”

This one scene has much to say about the movie. Things are changing in their society, but who is to decide what is good and what is not? Western societal beliefs are not necessarily better than Narayan’s and Kalyani’s Hindu ones. One must use personal judgment in deciding what is good out of the two. Things are never black and white.

A deep spirituality is portrayed by not only Shakuntala, but also by Narayan. The following dialogue gives us his perspective.

Narayan: “It’s from Kalida’s poem, ‘Meghdoot’.”
Kalyani: “I can’t read. Shakuntala Didi read your letter.”
Narayan: “Do you know what ‘Meghdoot’ is?”
Kalyani shakes her head “no”
Narayan: “In Sanskrit, megh means a raincloud, and doot, a messenger. The poem is about the pain of separation between two lovers.”
Kalyani: “Continue.”
Narayan: “The lover tells the cloud, it resembles Lord Vishnu in Krishna’s guise, gleaming with peacock feathers.”
Kalyani: “And the cloud heard him? How is that possible?”
Narayan: “If we believe that a statue of God can hear us, why not a cloud?”

One of the most beautiful and spiritually moving scenes in the film is the vigil the widows hold for their eldest who is dying. This is a beautiful woman called Patiraji, whom they all call “Auntie”. They take Auntie outside at her request. Auntie dies without any valuables to pay for her cremation, but Kalyani donates her savings for her cremation so that Auntie will have her proper last rites. Auntie does not die unhappily though. Throughout the movie, Auntie wishes for “yellow ladoos”, a sweet treat eaten at Hindu weddings. In a previous scene, Chuyia, after having begged for money, decides to buy a ladoo. She returns the the ashram, wakes up Auntie, and leaves her the yellow ladoo. Auntie eats the ladoo cherishing it with absolute happiness expressed in her face. Interestingly, Auntie dies later after having eaten the yellow ladoo. It seems it was the one thing she wanted before dying, and now that her wish was granted through the willfulness of a little child, she could let go and pass on.

The issue of choice comes up in the movie. Choices exist for these women even if they cannot see all of them. In many ways, this is what makes the movie sad. There is choice, but the women don’t see it and can’t seem to pull themselves out of their seeming fate. They have just accepted (even this is a choice!) what they are told is their destiny, without question, with little realization of the changes in the world outside their ashram. Ghandi in this movie is an avatar of positive change. Somewhat not surprisingly, it is Shakuntala who discovers this and that there are choices to be made, and this moves her to action. The changes that are occuring in her society now provide her with opportunities to change the fate of those around her – and she takes them. It is through Shakuntala that there is hope and choice.

The movie is beautifully filmed. The setting is almost idyllic. Some people may be appalled at the way the widows live, but this stems from a Western idealistic bias. (People in many Oriental countries sleep on rice mats on the floor, but that doesn’t mean they are impoverished. They just lead a much simpler life.) In North American society, we send our elderly to nursing homes because it is more convenient and less time-consuming than trying to take care of an elderly parent ourselves. Is this treatment of people we think of as no longer having any purpose for society really any better? In filming the everyday lives of the widows, Mehta has managed to portray a simple beauty that is difficult to find in Western society.

It is unfortunate that some people have seized upon just the political issue in the movie ignoring Mehta’s other messages in the movie. Many people seem to forget that the movie is a fictional drama, that is, the movie is specially created to evoke an emotional response. Adding the following blurb…

“There are over 34 million widows in India according to the 2001 Census. Many continue to live in conditions of social, economic and cultural deprivation as prescribed 2000 years ago by the Sacred Texts of Manu.”

…at the end of the movie further flames the burning feeling of injustice and inequality many feminists feel after watching this movie. However, note the small tiny detail in the blurb only gives the vague quantifier “many” instead of an actual figure of how many widows still live in ashrams. Also realize that it is not the Sacred Texts that should be blamed, but the interpretation of the texts. It is unfortunate too that these same people don’t take the time to question, research, and find out what really is the situation of Hindu widows. Had they done so, they would learn that the practices depicted in this movie, taking place in 1938 nearly 70 years ago, are practiced primarily in small towns and villages. The practice is virtually outdated in major cities in India. (This was confirmed through a personal Hindu friend of Nathan’s who recently returned to North America from a visit to India.) That’s not to say there are no widows living in ashrams – they would have been placed there years ago and stayed there until now – but there aren’t many new widows being forced to live in ashrams. What has to be said that isn’t being said is that the practice is fading out probably along with the practice of child brides given to older men, which is the real issue why there are so many widows to begin with.

What isn’t explained in the movie is how the Hindu religious practices developed. Before the practice was banned, fundamentalist Hindus used to practice “sati”. This was a religious practice named after the goddess Sati. The religious practice involved immolating the widow. The idea was that if the widow immolated herself on the husband’s funeral pyre, they both would receive rewards in the afterlife. Some time later, the British made the practice illegal (even if the widow was willing to immolate herself, basically a self-sacrifice). After sati was made illegal, fundamentalist Hindus began practicing what they now call “cold sati”, yes, the enforced widowhood that is depicted in Water. Apparently, they couldn’t figure out what to do with the widows because their scriptures didn’t make it clear what to do aside from the practice of sati.

There have been changes over the past 70 years regarding Hindu widows. Widows are allowed to re-marry and real examples exist as shown in this message post. The widows do inherit their deceased husband’s money and property. They lose it if they re-marry since they would share in the property of the next husband. (This I find particularly interesting because it prevents the “Black Widow” syndrome where some women keep re-marrying old, rich men just so they can inherit the money and property.) Since widows would lose property if they re-marry, some may well choose not to. Hindu women do have specific rights. The problem is that not all Hindu women are educated, and even if they are, they don’t take advantage of their rights. Also, people still believe what is written in their scriptures, but efforts to educate their society is currently taking place.

It is unfortunate that this movie is banned in India for the messages in this movie need to be heard by the same society that is depicted in the film. The country needs to be encouraged to talk about the issues there – this will allow real healing for the country as a whole to begin. The movie is not intended to point fingers at people, but rather to open intelligent discussion about many different issues that India and Hindus face. Of course, it is not easy for any country to look at its past mistakes – would you like your most shameful moment be depicted for the whole world to see? The movie may not only affect fundamentalist sensitivities, but also those remaining widows who grew up like those depicted in the movie. The movie is sure to bring up painful memories for these women, who may have finally gained some freedom and moved on.

Water and the issue of Hindu widows has become sensationalized by an primarily emotional audience who have yet to put the movie into a larger perspective. Yes, there is an inequality being presented here, but there is also inequality and injustice all over the world. (Visit Amnesty International.) There are women being abused in every country of the world. There are other people besides women being mistreated in many parts of the world. Someone somewhere is suffering (I’m reminded of the documentary Scared Sacred). Who’s to say if one group’s suffering is greater than another’s? If one really believes in equality, one should show compassion just as equally. Don’t get fixated on the small picture. The real issue here is about human dignity – not just women’s, but every single human being. As humans we need to treat each other better – regardless of race, gender, culture, spirituality or religion, age, social group, disability (politically correct to call it “differently abled”), or intelligence.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

Additional information:

Women in Hinduism (Wikipedia article)
Women in White: India’s Widows
Widows Unite to Throw Off Loneliness
Plight of Hindu Widows
Widows’ Rights and their Implementation
SC Ruling on Adoption by Hindu Widows

MM,

I went for a run today. It’s been a good 72 hours since I last exercised. I think I’ve recovered a bit. Besides, it’s not good for me to rest my knee for too long as I tend to get fluid buildup.

I decided to try a two-mile run. If I couldn’t finish the two-mile – that’s okay. I could walk some and that will help stretch out and warm up my leg muscles. I ended up doing a solid one-mile run. My time was 8 minutes 10 seconds. After the one mile, I walked a bit to work out the muscles, then ran again. I ran for about a half mile, then decided to walk most of the way back. A fast walk for a while helps to loosen up the muscles again – especially the shins and the calves.

I feel pretty good. I definitely think the 10k run has helped to increase my endurance and even my speed overall. It has increased strength in my leg muscles, which is important to prevent injuring the knee more in taekwondo. My cardio endurance has also improved over the year. After the run today, I felt like I could do more cardio-wise, but it was really just sore muscles that prevented me from doing more cardio.

I think the running has helped to improve my endurance for taekwondo sparring as well. One of the key things in sparring is being nimble and quick. The running helps because it increases the strength of the calves and the shins and increases your cardio endurance. For any taekwondoist who’s interested in getting better at sparring or in competition, I definitely recommend adding some running to your training program. You might notice that your kicks will be stronger and sharper.

It’s strange that I used to dislike running, but now I actually look forward to it at times. It feels good. When running outside, it feels good to get some air in the lungs. I also feel a connection to the earth – that alone makes the rest of the day more pleasant to deal with.

In about four months, there is another black belt test (other students are ready to test by then). I will definitely be running the 10k then as well – although, I won’t have to run the whole thing if I don’t want to, and I won’t have to do a test afterwards. It will be good for me to keep up with the running. In fact, I think I’m going to keep trying to get better at it. While I am not particularly concerned with competition, I like to beat my own best. I like challenging myself – it keeps me going. Either way, it will keep me feeling good and healthy. Running really is one of the best things you can do for your health.

For those who have knee or ankle problems or worry about the impact on the knees or ankles, I recommend finding a good personal trainer and a sports doctor (or just ask a physiotherapist) to help you determine how best to get ready for running. You need to make sure you have good form, that is, you need to have good alignment of the feet and the knees with your body. This is VERY important. Bad alignment is one reason why people hurt themselves with running. Everyone is different when it comes to body alignment, but there is a standard. Try to keep your toes pointed forward. Don’t run too much on the inside or outside of your feet. Try to keep your knees pointed forward. Some people’s knees turn in or out too much and that can cause problems later. Make sure to push off with your toes to keep forward motion. This prevents you from landing too hard on your feet. Also, make sure to get the proper shoes for your running style – some people run primarily on their toes while others use the heel-to-toe motion. Having proper shoes that cushion the right part of your foot is important. So, it’s always good to shop around for the proper shoes.

BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Some people might wonder why a taekwondo do jang would make its students run a 10k as part of the black belt test. Here is my Master’s philosophy.

He already knows how good his students are; otherwise, they would not be testing for their black belts. What he wants to know most is what kind of person and character his students are. While he does not expect his students to be elite 10k runners, he wants to see how determined and disciplined his students are when it comes to getting a black belt.

Essentially, my Master wants to know if his students have developed spiritually as well as physically. Most people think it’s easy to get a black belt, but the training can be hard or easy depending on the person. By making his students run a 10k for the test, my Master knows that a person is really serious about their martial arts training and will be more likely to continue training because they worked so hard to achieve it. After running a 10k, it takes solid determination to get through the rest of the test. Elite 10k runners try to complete the run as fast as possible – they do not have to ensure they have enough energy remaining in order to do more after. For a martial artist to run a 10k, we have to ensure that our muscles are NOT thoroughly exhausted afterward because we have the test to go through. Traditionally, a martial artist during a time of war should be able to run and continue to fight after.

After the 10k run and black belt test, I wanted to know how much time my leg muscles needed to recover. If you are cross-training your martial arts with running, the following should be of particular interest to you. I found out that after a tough run (well, tough enough for me since I’ve never run a 10k before Saturday) followed by a black belt test, it’s not a good idea to head out for a run or to the do jang for a strenuous martial arts kicking class in the next few days immediately after. Here’s why.

According to this article, Leg muscle injuries: how badly does a 10K race injure your leg muscles?, the leg muscles take quite a beating after running 10 km. The muscle most notably affected by running is the hamstring. The hamstring muscles perform a key role in running, which is to control forward acceleration of the leg during the swing phase of the runner’s gait. The use of the hamstrings like this in running is called “eccentric action”. Eccentric action occurs when the hamstrings are producing force while being stretched. It has been noted that eccentric activity of the muscles has a tendency to induce injury and to reduce muscle function. The effect on the hamstrings from running a 10k is referred to as “hamstring trauma”. From this information we can conclude that after running a 10k, the hamstring muscles have been sufficiently worked out and probably need a rest.

Now, let’s consider what happens while executing specific kicks in taekwondo. There are quite a few kicks in taekwondo that rely heavily on the hamstrings – these are front snap kick, axe kick, roundhouse kick, hook kick, and spinning hook kick. (The side kick and back kick requires the gluteus and the quads more than the hamstrings.) For the axe kick, the hamstrings are stretched when the leg is brought straight up. This can be a sudden shock to the hamstrings if they are not properly warmed up beforehand. For the front snap kick and the roundhouse kick, the hamstrings are used to help pull the leg back after extension of the kick. Essentially, the hamstrings provide resistance to the kick so that muscles and knee ligaments aren’t pulled when kicking. This action in the kick is done quite sharply and requires strong hamstring muscles. For the hook kick and spinning hook kick, the hamstrings are primarily used to help pull the leg back after kicking. This is, like the front snap kick and roundhouse kick, done quite sharply and requires strong hamstring muscles. All of these kicks were required during the black belt test after running a 10k. Therefore, the hamstrings were not given time to rest after the 10k run. They were required to perform sharp action after experiencing slight trauma from the running. The effects of the running on the hamstrings can be felt by the martial artist as a heaviness in the legs and sub-par performance when executing kicks. Basically, the martial artist is experiencing slight hamstring trauma and is probably providing more trauma to the hamstrings with every kick.

Because of the amount of work the hamstrings do during running and the additional work done during kicking, the hamstrings require some more recovery time than the other muscles in the leg. In the above article, the researchers found that “Immediately after the race, there was a significant decrease in peak torque produced by the hamstrings during knee flexion…” and that this loss was only restored after 48 hours. The researchers also found that “the hamstrings exhibited losses in total exercise capacity and average power immediately after the race” – this too was restored after 48 hours. Further to this, the researchers found that “total work performed by the hamstrings over the last 17 reps of the 50-repetition test was significantly reduced right after the race – and also after 48 hours”. This indicated that the hamstrings had not restored their ability for endurance work. Additionally, the researchers found that there were “significant reductions in peak vertical jump force” which stayed reduced 48-hours post-10k run. Based on these findings, the article suggests waiting 72 hours before conducting any high strenuous running.

Although, we did not run the 10k as fast as the runners did in the research given in the above article, I think it is reasonable to assume that the added trauma of kicking after running a 10k would have similar findings as in the research with the 10k runners. Therefore, I think it would be safe to wait at least 72 hours before running again or engaging in a strenuous martial arts kicking class (besides, my body still feels sore and tired). As much as I don’t like being still for too long, I guess I’ll have to suck it up and rest. 😉

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and martial artist
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Saturday, Nathan and I arrived at the do jang at 7 a.m., and then headed out to Central Tech track. (Many, many thanks to Nathan for getting up so early to accompany me and then watching my whole test! It’s always great to have someone you love be there to support you.) Some people started earlier around 6:30 a.m. I started my run at about 7:15 a.m. In order to make the run seem less overwhelming, trainers recommend that the run be broken down into manageable sections. The track at Central Tech is a standard competition track, which means one lap is 400m. To do a 10k run, you have to complete 25 laps. Below is a breakdown of my run with times for each section.

1. laps 1 through 4 (4 laps: 1.6 km=1 mile) – 10 minutes 10 seconds
2. laps 5 through 10 (6 laps: 2.4 km=1.5 miles) – 15 minutes 49 seconds
3. laps 11 through 14 (4 laps: 1.6 km=1 mile) – 11 minutes 24 seconds
4. laps 15 through 18 (4 laps: 1.6 km=1 mile) – 12 minutes 19 seconds (includes some walking time here – at most 1 lap, walked half of lap 15, then ran second half of lap 15, ran most of lap 16 through 18)
5. lap 19 (1 lap: 400 m=quarter mile) – 4 minutes 12 seconds (walked most of lap 19)
6. laps 20 through 23 (4 laps: 1.6 km=1 mile) – 11 minutes 58 seconds
7. laps 24 and 25 (2 laps: 800m=half mile) – 5 minutes 16 seconds

My total time for the 10k was 1 hour 11 minutes 7 seconds. This averages out to 7 minutes 7 seconds per km or 11 minutes 23 seconds per mile. This is comparable to my 5.7 km run of 35 minutes. That run averaged out to 6 minutes 8 seconds per km. My fastest time for a mile is 7 minutes 57 seconds, basically an 8 minute mile.

After the run, we headed back to the do jang and did 1000 skips or jumping jacks. Now, if you’ve never run a 10k before, trying to do jumping or skipping afterwards is a big challenge. It’s not like we had plenty of time to rest in between. We were given time to change into our taekwondo uniforms, then we had to do the 1000 skips/jumps. I ended up doing 800 skips using a skipping rope and 200 jumping jacks. The skipping was actually harder because as Nathan pointed out, I don’t just jump when skipping – I bounce between the skips. It’s pretty much a hop-jump.

Then finally, after the 1000 skips/jumps, we had a break in order to stretch out. I tried to stretch out, but my muscles were so tight that stretching them out was a little hard. I had to let them just relax first and then try to stretch. My calves had the worst of it I think. They cramped up a few times during the test, but mostly because we had to sit down sometimes while watching other people test. My solution was to rub and pat my calves and leg muscles for a bit to warm them up again. I was lucky I didn’t cramp up too bad before I had to stand back up and do some more patterns.

The next part of our test was a written test, which was actually very short. It took me about fifteen minutes to finish. Surprisingly, we didn’t get tested on terminology and only on a little bit of the history. I can’t believe I studied so much! Now, I can say “kam sa ham nida” for your support, dear readers!

After the written test, we had a five minute break. Then we lined up for the curriculum part of our test. We did our poomse (patterns) first. Every single one of them up to our belt level. For me, this was all eight Taeguks (colour belt patterns) and Koryo poomse (the first dan pattern named for Korea’s second dynasty). We first did the patterns as a whole class, then we were broken up into groups and had to do three random patterns selected by the Master. Lastly, we got to do whichever pattern we preferred. I chose Taeguk chil jang (Taeguk #7). Funny enough, many of the black belts decided to do chil jang. It seems to be a favourite amongst taekwondoists.

The next part of the curriculum is one-step sparring. One-step sparring is designed to help the martial artist develop control over their techniques. It is done in pairs with one person pretending to attack the other. The person defending has to execute their one-step techniques without actually hurting the attacker, that is, the defender can lightly tap the other person or kick about an inch away from the other person’s face. Since I was testing for second dan, I had fifteen different one-steps to do, and we had to do the techniques on both left and right side. That’s a total of thirty sets to go through per person. Afterward, we had to demonstrate the one-step techniques we created. Those testing for their first dan had to make up three one-step techniques, and those testing for second dan and up had to make up five one-step techniques. We had to demonstrate this one person at a time, and this took up a considerable part of the test. I thought my one-steps were okay. I liked some of them better than the others I made up. LOL… I got a small hamstring cramp at the end of executing my first made-up one-step technique. I ended up hopping a bit trying to shake it out, while everyone was watching. *blush, blush* It went away after I shook my leg out a bit. It was mostly from having to sit down and then having to get up and do a hook kick followed by a roundhouse kick – both kicks require the hamstring to execute properly.

After everyone demonstrated their one-step techniques, we did our kicking techniques. (I was being very careful now to not snap my kicks too fast so I wouldn’t get another cramp.) We had ten techniques to do, and each technique is done twice. For those taekwondoists interested, these were really simple. Our kicking techniques starting from white belt are:

middle front snap kick
high front snap kick
axe kick
middle roundhouse kick (roundhouse is referred to by some as “turning kick”)
high roundhouse kick
side kick
slide-step side kick
back kick (also known by some people as “turning side kick”)
spinning hook kick
tornado roundhouse kick (also known as “360 roundhouse”)

Next, we had to spar. After getting our equipment on, which includes shin guards, forearm guards, chest protector, and head gear, the Master selected pairs of people to spar. Although we had head gear on, we were told not to do any high kicks. 🙁 Unfortunate for me, because it is my high kicks that gives me the advantage. I did okay with the sparring I thought, especially for someone who hasn’t been doing much sparring lately. My knee just isn’t always up for it. Although, now that I’m getting stronger because I do weight training still, I think I should get to sparring classes more often. Well, my first sparring opponent was a little heavier than me. Right now, if I competed I’d be in the heavy end of the fly weight division. I weigh 109 to 110 lbs (around 49.5 to 50 kg). My sparring opponent is about ten pounds heavier, I’d guess, so she’d be in the bantam weight division. Believe it or not, but a few pounds makes a big difference in sparring! But I thought I held up fine – I thought I couldn’t even kick after running 10 km. We each sparred twice. My second sparring opponent was a tall kid, who for some reason seemed scared of me. I ended up chasing him out of our imaginary ring a few times. Though, realistically he had a longer reach than me and should have been able to get some good kicks on me.

The last part of our test was board breaking. We all had to do the same techniques for the breaks. We had to do four hand techniques and four kicking techniques. The hand techniques were punch, ridge hand, knife hand, and elbow strike. We were required to break one board with each technique – we could try more if we wanted. The four kicking techniques were front snap kick, side kick, back kick, and spinning hook kick. For the kicking techniques, we technically had to break the same number of boards as the dan level we were testing for, that is, I was supposed to break two boards for each kick.

I decided to try two boards for my punch break. Technically for second dan, we should be able to break two boards together. I punched the two boards hard with my right fist. Something felt wrong. The boards didn’t feel like they were giving way. I moved my fist away and saw that there was an indent where I hit the board with my knuckle. I tried two more times and still couldn’t break the two boards together. There were two more indents where my knuckle hit the board. Although to me, it looked like the boards weren’t breaking, it seems the second board was breaking behind the first board. For some reason the first board was absorbing the power and the second board was breaking. By this time, I thought my hand might be hurting too much. I asked to see the second board. Holding the second board from the top with my left hand, I punched the almost broken board twice with my right punch. It finally broke – the bottom half of it falling to the ground.

The next technique was ridge hand. I hit the single board using my right hand. It didn’t break, and my hand was starting to get sore. I decided to come back to it. The next technique was knife hand. I used my right hand again. One swift move, and this time the board cracked apart. The last technique was elbow strike. I was too close on the first try and had to check my stance. I hit the board once more, and it cracked apart.

Finally, I went back to try the ridge hand. This time I decided to use my left hand, which is stronger overall. I hit the board swiftly with my left ridge hand- this time the board cracked apart. The ridge hand is one of the harder hand techniques to use to break with because it is easy to break the whole hand. For the ridge hand, the striking area is the side with the thumb. The thumb is held tight to the palm and the fingers are extended straight out, similar to a knife hand except the striking area is the opposite side of the hand. I’m just glad I didn’t break my hand doing the ridge hand.

After the hand breaks, I checked my hands out. The left hand was a little red from doing the ridge hand, but thankfully not swollen. I’m noticing now though that I must have hit a nerve in my left hand. If I touch my wrist just below my thumb, I feel tingling in my hand. It reminds me of the nerve damage I had from knee surgery. The redness from my left hand went away fairly fast. The two knuckles on my right hand are bruised from the punching. They were quite swollen at first. The swelling has since gone down a bit, so now it’s mostly just purplish around the two knuckles. I had Nathan do some reiki on my hands right away. Amazingly, it took the swelling down pretty fast.

I was a little bummed out about not being able to punch through two boards. As a colour belt, I broke two boards before using a hammer fist. This time I thought I’d be able to break them with a punch. Unfortunately, I found out later the boards might have been damp from the constant humidity in the summer. This explains why there were indents in the board where I hit it.

After the hand breaks, we did our kicking breaks. I usually don’t have much problems breaking boards with kicks. However, because of the run earlier, my legs felt pretty tired. My legs just didn’t want to do any more work. I suppose because I already tried breaking two boards with a hand technique, the Master decided I didn’t have to do two boards for the kicks. I was given one board for each of the kicking techniques. I snapped the first board easy with my right front snap kick. The side kick was a little harder. I used my left leg. The striking area with the side kick is the blade of the foot, but with my left leg it’s sometimes hard to form the blade. So I switched and broke the board with my right leg side kick. Next was back kick. I ended up doing this one with my right leg again. The last breaking technique was spinning hook kick. It took me three or four tries to break the board. For some reason, I was having problems getting the right balance and flow of the technique. The biggest thing with the spinning hook kick is being able to spin on the supporting foot properly, which means being on the toes. When tired, the muscles in the foot and the leg don’t want to support standing up on the toes to spin so the other leg can come around and kick. In any case, I did break the board. It just took some more effort than normal to get a good kick out.

Finally, we were done our test for the day. We could go home and relax. Most of us had been up since 5 a.m. and the test finished around 2:30 p.m. I actually woke up at 3:30 a.m. that day. I was very tired. I ate a little bit after the test, then went home and washed up a bit. I put ice on my right hand, then crashed on the bed. I woke up later in time to watch The Last Samurai, which happened to be on TV. Excellent sword fighting in that movie. The movie was over by 2:00 a.m. and I ended up back in bed fast asleep. I had to get some rest for the next day, which was the BBQ party and demo.

I woke up a little later than I should have on Sunday at 8:00 a.m. I had to be at the do jang at 9:00 a.m. Unfortunately, I forgot about the subway being closed and for some reason couldn’t catch the night bus on my route heading west. I waited then finally decided that since it was 9:00 a.m. to just walk to the next subway and see if it was open. Apparently, it opens at 9:00 a.m. now. Sheesh… I could have stayed home until almost 9 instead of leaving earlier and waiting a half hour for transit to open. I got to the do jang at 9:15 a.m. We had time to change and practice a little bit, then head out to Christie Pits to help set up for the BBQ.

It was a long morning. The colour belts started showing up around 10:30 for their colour belt test that day. Meanwhile, the black belts testing had nothing much to do, but to practice our demo (Master’s order). The colour belts tested at 11:15 a.m. After their test, we did our black belt demo. Our demo consisted of many board breaking techniques. Everyone got to do something they wanted to do instead of the standard breaks during the test. I was one of the last ones to perform.

I decided earlier to do three spinning hook kicks for the demo – low, middle, high. I was tempted to change the demo to three tornado kicks, as they were actually easier for me that day. I was still tired and my legs still didn’t want to cooperate. Plus, kicking on grass is a little different. The ground is not consistently flat and smooth like the do jang floor, which has special firm padded mats. A small incline can throw your spinning hook kick off. The tornado kick isn’t affected by the ground so much because you’re off the ground during the kick. I did manage to break all the boards with the spinning hook kicks, but not one right after the other as I wanted to. Ah well… we were all tired from the 10k run the other day, so it’s kind of hard to expect us to perform at our best.

After the demo, we each had to give a two to five minute speech. I was a little nervous about my speech, but I guess it was fine. I dislike giving speeches, though in university I was graded well on presentations and speaking. For those who are interested, you can read the text of my speech, Black Belt Means.

After everyone was done their speeches, it was the belt ceremony. We all lined up to receive our new black belts from the Master and to shake hands with the other black belts who were grading us. 😀 Yay! I finally got my second dan belt. Next, we shook hands with the other black belts who graded us and they got to slap/punch us in the shoulder. Well, the guys got punched and the girls got slapped. It’s part of the tradition. The tradition is that a higher belt will pass on some of their power to the new black belts by punching them. After we got our belts, we could finally eat! Yay! Korean BBQ is yummy!

The BBQ party finished at 3:00 p.m. and everyone started to head home. Nathan showed up in time for the black belt demo in order to accompany me home after. When we got home, I washed up and crashed on the bed just like the other day. It had been a long and tiring weekend.

I woke up later that night for a bit, and did some stuff for a few hours. My hand was still sore from the punching the day before. I went back to sleep again, and must have slept like a log because I don’t remember Nathan waking up Monday morning for work. I woke up around noon Monday in time to take my mom to her doctor’s appointment. Afterwards, I spent most of the day relaxing on the couch (and typing up this blog entry).

Overall, I have to say I am happy with this black belt test. When I tested for my first dan, I was still recovering from knee surgery and was not at my peak. I could barely do a spinning hook kick when prior to the injury I could do a half-decent 360 spinning hook kick. One year after surgery, my knee still couldn’t handle the weight bearing. I have since increased my core body strength so that my knee doesn’t feel the weight so much. Having good muscles is essential to martial arts in order to prevent injury. Over the past two years, I have managed to increase my strength past the level I was at before injury. I find this an amazing accomplishment.

I’m pleased that I was able to go through with the test after running a 10k. I’m happy about my performance on the run. When I read my first post about the 10k run, I recall how I wasn’t so sure if I would even like running. I tried it when I was younger and just couldn’t remain disciplined enough to keep training. Maybe it was because this time I had a goal and a purpose for running. I suppose I couldn’t run if it was just for running – the running had a purpose. Running has improved my abilities as a martial artist by increasing my cardio, strength, and endurance. I finished the 10k run in about 1 hour 11 minutes – this is pretty good for someone who doesn’t run for sport or competitively. I can also run 5.7 km in 35 minutes which is a definite improvement when before it took me 45 minutes to cover 5.5 km both walking and running (see my previous post on the trail run.) And I daresay, I showed my cynical side something – I actually like running now! There are days when I will want the run because it feels good to be outside with fresh air and sunshine. I always feel better after a run.

I also feel particularly happy because it has been a long road from first dan to second dan in the past two years. I’ve learned some things, not just about taekwondo, but how to be a better teacher. I still have more to learn, and that is what the being a black belt is about. As a black belt, we focus more on helping others and learn how to be an effective teacher. This means not only being good at what we do, but also requires us to be good role models. It also requires us to be able to read people and try to understand what they are going through at a given time. It means being available for the student when needed, but not interfering when it’s not necessary. It means not letting our ego or desire for admiration dictate our actions, but rather letting others’ need for help guide our actions. In many ways, being a black belt requires compassion and understanding just as much as it requires strict discipline and firmness. I find these are qualities that are very difficult to balance out, and it will take years to find that delicate balance.

As I have been writing this, I’m still pretty tired, and I’m still absorbing everything that’s happened this weekend. It always takes a while before I realize I have achieved a new belt level. It usually doesn’t sink in until I’ve been in class for a few days. For now, I’m just happy to sit back, relax a bit, recharge my personal store of batteries, and just enjoy the achievement. Few people realize or understand how much of an accomplishment it is to advance in a martial art. It really is much to take in, especially at the black belt level.

Funny enough, the gods have deemed it appropriate that this blog entry be the 100th entry under my training diary category! I suppose the gods have blessed my martial arts path. 😀

I still can’t believe I have a second dan. I’m sitting here still waiting for it all to sink in.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and black belt
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

Today’s the day – yay! I can’t wait to get through the test. The biggest challenge will be the 10k, after that the rest of the test is a breeze.

My rune for today is “wunjo”. The divination meanings include glory, joy, success, and recognition of achievements. Looks like today will be a success.

Okay, got to get ready. About 90 minutes left.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt (2nd dan candidate)
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I decided to stay home on Tuesday instead of going to the do jang. I kind of jolted awake from a strange dream, the kind where you get a message of some sort. So, I ended up staying home figuring out what my dream was about. Weird, just weird.

I did go over the stuff I needed to do for the test on Saturday and Sunday though. I’m not worried about my techniques as I know my techniques are good, but I just needed to refresh my mind. I went over the patterns and the one-step sparring we need to do. Basically, I went over the curriculum.

Last night, I studied the history of taekwondo. I think I studied enough, but I will need to refresh my mind. I still need to go over the terminology.

Tomorrow, I’ll either go for a run or the do jang. I plan on going to the gym for some conditioning. My knee needs the weight training.

I’m getting antsy about the test on Saturday now. I just want to get it over with. I have so much to do after the test and demo is over. I’ll need a nice little break too, even though I have other work to get done. I’m still planning on getting my reiki classes started for autumn, but still so much writing to do for that.

Pre-test jitters… I feel like I can’t do anything else but think about taekwondo.

Official countdown: 75 hours remaining.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local black belt
Brigid’s Flame

Could they miss the point of the original movie any more than turning the idea of the the wicker man into some sort of boogey man?

Nicholas Cage has decided to star in the remake of The Wicker Man (originally done in 1973) being directed by Neil La Bute. The movie is expected to be released in September 2006.

Like the original script, the cop (Sergeant Howie in the original and Edward Malus in the remake) is lead to SummerIsle (spelt differently than the original, and located in the U.S. instead of the British Isles as in the original) where he finds it bizarre that no one seems to remember the girl he was sent to find. That is probably as close to the original script the remake will get. (I’ll find out if this is true after the movie is released on DVD. As I don’t intend to watch this in the theatres, I will probably just watch the DVD version, and then make a comparison to the original.)

According to one review, a major difference in the remake is that Malus is not a virgin. This was apparently changed because the director did not think people would believe any grown man is a virgin in this day and age. This is a big clue that the director obviously did not understand the original movie to begin with. The original movie, although labeled as a horror flick, was an intellectual treat. Apparently, the original movie was too intellectual for director Neil La Bute. The original character was a virgin because the sacrifice had to be a virgin in accordance with ancient pagan rites as depicted in the movie. When sacrificing to the gods, the sacrifice had to be as pure and as innocent as possible. (Of course, in modern times, the idea of sacrifice is slightly different. A sacrifice would be something of high value to the person making a sacrifice. For example, someone might paint a beautiful picture and then burn it, or someone might shave their head, or someone might give up their favourite food for a time.) This whole idea of the virgin sacrifice was a key point in the original movie. In fact, if the virgin cop had decided to sleep with the local temptress (portrayed by Britt Ekland), he would have been an impure sacrifice; and therefore, his life would have been spared. The people of Summerisle would have had to find another sacrifice. This, of course, plays out very well in the original movie as the audience watches a humourous depiction of a man struggling hard to hold onto his virtue as a pious Christian. Changing the cop to a non-virgin in the remake leaves the audience with a pretty uninteresting character to watch. This also leaves the remake to rely mostly on the typical Hollywood spook effects in order to keep the audience captivated. (Though, of course, if you’re like me and get bored of the typical Hollywood spook effects, this will not captivate you.)

Another difference in the remake is the removal of the religious conflict – that is, the pagan versus the Christian. The original movie was obviously a commentary on these two religious practices, which when taken to both their extremes are completely polar opposites to each other. The original movie portrays both extremes very well. You have the pious Christian who’s still a virgin. Then you have the nature-loving pagans who accept sex for what it is and who also accept that their god demands a hefty sacrifice every so often. According to director Neil La Bute, the pagans have been slightly changed in the remake. The pagans are a little more “Dionysian” in nature, that is, they are a little more rowdy and probably amoral (whereas the ones in the original movie thought they were doing the “right” thing to satisfy their deities). As for the cop, he’s an upstanding police officer who just wants to do the “right thing”. (I have no idea if he’s supposed to be Christian or not in the movie.) As with the removal of the sexual tension, these changes leave the movie to rely once again on Hollywood spook effects to captivate the audience. This now brings me back to my first comment and probaby most important comment.

The wicker man is not a boogey man figure. The wicker man was originally burned as an effigy in pagan practices and was usually done for Beltane, a festival for spring, celebrating the return of earth’s fertility and abundance. The wicker man is a tall wooden structure made in the shape of a man using flexible wood such as willow. It was rumoured that live animals and sometimes humans were locked inside the wicker man to be burned along with the effigy (just as was depicted in the original version of The Wicker Man). This idea has little evidence aside from the one account from Julius Caesar regarding Druidic practices. Although not true in reality, the live sacrifice did make the ending in the original movie quite interesting. The remake of the movie differs completely in regard to what the wicker man is. From the trailer for the remake we hear someone say, “The Wicker Man returns”, and then Nicholas Cage’s character asking, “Who is the Wicker Man?” – as if the wicker man really is a manifested boogey man. To bring this point home, Neil La Bute has stated that he is considering re-naming his remake Wicker Man with no “the”, implying a title like Candyman. (I remember not being able to look into my bathroom mirror for about a month after watching that movie, but that was when I was much younger and less desensitized about horror films.)

Unfortunately for Neil La Bute, many thought the original was “completed so well” that it did not need a remake, especially not this one. Considering all things so far, it seems this remake has nothing new to offer except your typical Hollywood spook effects. I suppose even the wonderfully sensual “Willow’s Song” will be gone from the remake, since there’s no virgin for the local temptress to… well, tempt.

Review by Cassandrah, your local pagan

Additional links:

Wikipedia article on The Wicker Man (1973 film)
www.cagebypage.com movie news
IMDB entry on the remake
Remake trailer

MM,

Another busy week…

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

I went for a run. First, I ran 1 km for a warm-up and then 1 mile. I ran 1 km in 4 minutes 56 seconds and 1 mile in 7 minutes 57 seconds (both of which are my fastest times so far:)).

I decided not to go to the do jang. It was pretty hot for a run, so I was feeling a bit tired from the run. I had some things to do around home and decided to go to the gym instead. Then it turns out htat the gym was closed because they painted the pool room. Nathan and I decided to walk along the 5 k route I planned out. It was a good walk and helped loosen up the my knee – I think the fluid was building up again since I didn’t get much exercise last week.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Summer solstice! At the last moment, I decided that I wanted to do an impromptu ritual for summer solstice on my balcony and watch the sunset. (Well, not really watching so much as I live in an apartment, the point was just to be outside until the sun was clearly under the horizon.) Instead of training, I studied my terminology – some of it I obviously know already, but there is much that isn’t used in class. I typed up five pages of Korean-English taekwondo terminology. That helped me study the terminology for a bit. Next, I have to study the history again. *sigh* Lots to do and so little time.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

I went to the do jang for gumdo and taekwondo class. Afterwards, I worked on my demo pattern. Amazingly, I remembered my patterns for gumdo. With the black belt test going on and everything else to think about, I haven’t been paying much attention to gumdo. I like sword art, but I really still want to do tai chi sword, so I’m hoping I can take classes in that once in a while. I think the tai chi places let you pay per class.

Friday, June 23, 2006

No training today as I had to take my mom to visit the hospital. She has been having a lot of doctor visits lately. Still not sure what’s up. Mostly, the doctors are just taking precautions. I have to take her back on Tuesday for her bronchoscopy.

Saturday, June 24, 2006

I went to the do jang. I took the 10:30 class and then the test preparation class at 1:00 class. I got home by 4:00 and then left to go watch the black belt show for my former do jang. It was a pretty good show this year. They have this one girl there – I think I remember her when she was a little younger – who did some amazing demos. Aside from the demo team guys (Team Ryouko), she was probably the most talented black belt at the show. Overall though, the show was entertaining – some funny fight scenes.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

I went to the test preparation class. We got more time to work on our demo stuff.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local martial artist
Brigid’s Flame

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.