MM,
This quiz is for all my Wiccan friends. 🙂
| 3rd Degree! You scored 95 % Wiccan! |
| Wow! Let me guess, you are Wiccan, right? Either you are, you are close to someone who is, or you cheated 😛 Congratulations. Blessed Be and May the God and Goddess bless your path. 🙂 |
 |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The How Wiccan Are You Test written by Denraeah on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
| Great Celtic Scholar You scored 87 knowledge and 78 Celtic! |
| You have Reached the top of the chart. Oghma would be Proud. |
 |
My test tracked 2 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Celtic God/Goddess Test Test written by Spiritualwolf on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
| INTJ -The Mastermind You scored 9% I to E, 21% N to S, 71% F to T, and 31% J to P! |
| You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more thinking based than feeling based, and you prefer to have a plan rather than leaving things to chance. Your type is best described by the word “mastermind”, which belongs to the larger group called rationals. Only 1% of the population shares your type. You are very strong willed and self-confident. You can hardly rest until you have things settled. You will only adopt ideas and rules if they make sense. You are a great brainstormer and often come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. You are open to new concepts, and often actively seek them out. As a romantic partner, you can be both fascinating yet demanding. You are not apt to express your emotions, leaving your partner wondering where they are with you. You strongly dislike repeating yourself or listening to the disorganized process of sorting through emotional conflicts. You see your own commitments as self-evident and don’t see why you need to repeat something already expressed. You have the most difficulty in admitting your vulnerabilities. You feel the most appreciated when your partner admires the quality of your innovations and when they listen respectfully to your ideas and advice. You need plenty of quiet to explore your interests to the depth that gives you satisfaction. Your group summary: rationals (NT) Your type summary: INTJ |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The LONG Scientific Personality Test written by unpretentious2 on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
| Loves Kitties!! Congratulations! You scored100! |
| You loves, loves, loves your cats or cats enough to learn about who they are and what they are. You should be proud! Go give your cat or cats a huge hug and kiss! : D Yayness!! |
 |
My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Are You Cat Smart \ T oR F Test written by unhinged_beauty on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
MM,
Quiz time again. I did the below “Which Norse deity are you?” test, and I got Freya. Interesting, though not surprising.
Lately, Freya has made herself known in my life through my dreams. For awhile, I was dreaming about cats – lots of them – and not just because I’m a cat lover. One of my dreams was actually about feral cats invading my home, to the displeasure of my three domestic kitties. First, I thought maybe it was Hekate trying to get my attention because at first I dreamed of black cats. Later, it was just any type of cats. After some research, I found out Freya has a chariot drawn by two cats (often depicted as tabbies, but some claim it was black cats). Too cool!
Freya is also the leader of the Valkyries, “choosers of the slain”. The Valkyries fly over a battle field similar to how Morrigan would in her crow shape. Freya is also known to be a little sexual promiscuous (like Morrigan, who slept with Dagda just because), having slept with four dwarves in order to obtain the Brisingamen necklace. Freya is thought by some to be the same as Frigga, though just a different aspect of Frigga. Freya and Frigga together are thought to have been derived from an earlier earth-mother goddess figure just like Morrigan, in her triple aspect (Badb, Maeve, Morrigan or possibly Anu, Badb, Morrigan), is thought to have been derived from an earth-mother goddess figure. Both Freya and Morrigan are depicted as young, beautiful, strong, female warriors not to be toyed with.
The similarities between Freya and Morrigan are many; thus, it is not surprising that I have an affinity with Freya as well.
For some more information on Freya (though not extensive):
http://www.goddessgift.com/goddess-myths/Norse-goddess-freya.htm
http://www.astronomy.pomona.edu/archeo/scandanavia/vikings/norse05.htm
http://www.missgien.net/faith/freya.html
“Which Norse deity are you?” quiz results below.
BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
| Freya You scored 64 Wisdom, 60 Sexuality, 36 Strength, and 63 Goodliness! |
| The goddess of magic, love, and sex, you are very wise and know how to get what you want. Half of all of the battle dead belong to you, as does the exquisite necklace the “Brisingamen.” You are still a favorite with many today, especially strong women. |
 |
My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
|
| Link: The Which Norse Deity Are You Test written by researcher on Ok Cupid, home of the 32-Type Dating Test |
Hm… well, I am more of a Celtic/Norse mythology person. 😉
BB,
Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame
| You scored 29% correct! |
| Did you get it right, or would you like to learn more? See the correct answers here! |
This test tracked 1 variable. How the score compared to the other people’s:
|
| Link: The Do you know Hekate? Test written by eihdos on Ok Cupid |
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
This blog is part of
Brigid's Flame
