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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
“Love and romance are heightened today by a rush of communication, C. J.. Feelings and memories are shared willingly. Either you or your partner could reveal something about yourselves that the other was previously unaware of, which might strengthen the bond between you. Some of what’s exchanged today might be a little surprising, but nonetheless, your relationship should be much the better for all this open, honest, and loving communication. Make the most of it!”
