I didn't make it to any judo or aikido lessons this past weekend...and despite my best efforts, I was not able to do a Judo/BJJ "study group" with either of my nephews. My wife went out of town, so my 14-month-old daughter and I chilled out all weekend.
Before my wife left for her trip, I asked her to let me try a triangle choke on her (I had just watched the Gracie Combatives lesson for it). I always bother her like that , haha! "Let me try this armbar..." or "Try this choke on me..." Sometimes she indulges me, sometimes not. She was packing her luggage and didn't have time, but she said "I'd like to learn that one when I get back". That was different! Normally, she will participate to help me out, or simply to humor me, but never expresses a desire to learn. Back when we trained in aikido together (at my previous dojo), she was really into it - she loved it! It was like pulling teeth to get her to try it out at first, but the more she did it, the more she liked it. Since we stopped (due to her high risk pregnancy), and especially after our daughter was born, she's had better things to do with her time, so her interest in aikido waned.
I think she's interested in learning a few things in the event she needs to defend herself, and the triangle choke has obvious applications for a woman defending herself from a rape attempt.
So do I DARE hope that this may be the beginning of a renewed interest in martial arts? I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's difficult not to. I'll definitely be nurturing her interest though.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Dare I Hope?
I didn't make it to any judo or aikido lessons this past weekend...and despite my best efforts, I was not able to do a Judo/BJJ "study group" with either of my nephews. My wife went out of town, so my 14-month-old daughter and I chilled out all weekend.
Before my wife left for her trip, I asked her to let me try a triangle choke on her (I had just watched the Gracie Combatives lesson for it). I always bother her like that , haha! "Let me try this armbar..." or "Try this choke on me..." Sometimes she indulges me, sometimes not. She was packing her luggage and didn't have time, but she said "I'd like to learn that one when I get back". That was different! Normally, she will participate to help me out, or simply to humor me, but never expresses a desire to learn. Back when we trained in aikido together (at my previous dojo), she was really into it - she loved it! It was like pulling teeth to get her to try it out at first, but the more she did it, the more she liked it. Since we stopped (due to her high risk pregnancy), and especially after our daughter was born, she's had better things to do with her time, so her interest in aikido waned.
I think she's interested in learning a few things in the event she needs to defend herself, and the triangle choke has obvious applications for a woman defending herself from a rape attempt.
So do I DARE hope that this may be the beginning of a renewed interest in martial arts? I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's difficult not to. I'll definitely be nurturing her interest though.
Before my wife left for her trip, I asked her to let me try a triangle choke on her (I had just watched the Gracie Combatives lesson for it). I always bother her like that , haha! "Let me try this armbar..." or "Try this choke on me..." Sometimes she indulges me, sometimes not. She was packing her luggage and didn't have time, but she said "I'd like to learn that one when I get back". That was different! Normally, she will participate to help me out, or simply to humor me, but never expresses a desire to learn. Back when we trained in aikido together (at my previous dojo), she was really into it - she loved it! It was like pulling teeth to get her to try it out at first, but the more she did it, the more she liked it. Since we stopped (due to her high risk pregnancy), and especially after our daughter was born, she's had better things to do with her time, so her interest in aikido waned.
I think she's interested in learning a few things in the event she needs to defend herself, and the triangle choke has obvious applications for a woman defending herself from a rape attempt.
So do I DARE hope that this may be the beginning of a renewed interest in martial arts? I don't want to get my hopes up, but it's difficult not to. I'll definitely be nurturing her interest though.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
More Fitness
Tonight I made the decision to buy an exercise ball on the way home. I also decided to try the 30 minute workout on the included DVD. I made it through 20 minutes of it actually got my heart rate up more than I expected it would. It seemed like the balance involved really will help my core strength.
Oh, and I didn't stop at 20 minutes due to fatigue, or lack of will, or anything like that. My 13-month-old daughter brought me a book she wanted me to read with her. I decided to go with the far more worthwhile option.
Every decision matters.
Oh, and I didn't stop at 20 minutes due to fatigue, or lack of will, or anything like that. My 13-month-old daughter brought me a book she wanted me to read with her. I decided to go with the far more worthwhile option.
Every decision matters.
More Fitness
Tonight I made the decision to buy an exercise ball on the way home. I also decided to try the 30 minute workout on the included DVD. I made it through 20 minutes of it actually got my heart rate up more than I expected it would. It seemed like the balance involved really will help my core strength.
Oh, and I didn't stop at 20 minutes due to fatigue, or lack of will, or anything like that. My 13-month-old daughter brought me a book she wanted me to read with her. I decided to go with the far more worthwhile option.
Every decision matters.
Oh, and I didn't stop at 20 minutes due to fatigue, or lack of will, or anything like that. My 13-month-old daughter brought me a book she wanted me to read with her. I decided to go with the far more worthwhile option.
Every decision matters.
Fitness
I've had several false starts this year with my fitness goals. I'm hoping my current motivation doesn't wane so easily.
I've set an arbitrary target date of August 3rd for myself. I don't have a measurable result I'm looking for by then. Rather, my idea is to see just how much I can accomplish in that short amount of time. Basically, I'm committing to makinggood great decisions with regard to my diet and exercise every day for the next 5-and-a-half weeks or so. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and live by the mantra:
So last night, I didn't eat the skin of the chicken I BBQ'd the night before (the skin is my favorite part!). I stayed clear of the "Ooey Gooey" dessert bars my wife made, and opted for a banana instead. I drank only water. I put in my Hip Hop Abs DVD, intending to do the 30-minute workout, but decided I've had enough of that one for a while. I put on my gi pants, and made up my own routine:
I've set an arbitrary target date of August 3rd for myself. I don't have a measurable result I'm looking for by then. Rather, my idea is to see just how much I can accomplish in that short amount of time. Basically, I'm committing to making
"Every decision counts".
So last night, I didn't eat the skin of the chicken I BBQ'd the night before (the skin is my favorite part!). I stayed clear of the "Ooey Gooey" dessert bars my wife made, and opted for a banana instead. I drank only water. I put in my Hip Hop Abs DVD, intending to do the 30-minute workout, but decided I've had enough of that one for a while. I put on my gi pants, and made up my own routine:
- 2 rounds of the ground mobility cycle (on a heavy bag grappling dummy)
- a set of crunches
- a set of push ups
- another set of crunches
- a set of bench pressing the grappling bag
- repeat from the top
I started out at a moderate pace, focusing on correct form (particularly with my holds and transitions during the ground mobility cycle). I increased speed and intensity with each round of the routine. Pressing the heavy bag was pretty cool, because it's oddly shaped and balanced, with no places to grip, which added to the difficulty of lifting it. It weighs around 50 pounds. After 35 to 40 minutes of this cycle, I was dripping sweat. Way more so than I usually am after 30 minutes of Hip Hop Abs. I like this routine better anyway - it provides a chance to drill judo holds.
We'll see how this goes!
Fitness
I've had several false starts this year with my fitness goals. I'm hoping my current motivation doesn't wane so easily.
I've set an arbitrary target date of August 3rd for myself. I don't have a measurable result I'm looking for by then. Rather, my idea is to see just how much I can accomplish in that short amount of time. Basically, I'm committing to makinggood great decisions with regard to my diet and exercise every day for the next 5-and-a-half weeks or so. I'm just going to take it one day at a time and live by the mantra:
So last night, I didn't eat the skin of the chicken I BBQ'd the night before (the skin is my favorite part!). I stayed clear of the "Ooey Gooey" dessert bars my wife made, and opted for a banana instead. I drank only water. I put in my Hip Hop Abs DVD, intending to do the 30-minute workout, but decided I've had enough of that one for a while. I put on my gi pants, and made up my own routine:
I've set an arbitrary target date of August 3rd for myself. I don't have a measurable result I'm looking for by then. Rather, my idea is to see just how much I can accomplish in that short amount of time. Basically, I'm committing to making
"Every decision counts".
So last night, I didn't eat the skin of the chicken I BBQ'd the night before (the skin is my favorite part!). I stayed clear of the "Ooey Gooey" dessert bars my wife made, and opted for a banana instead. I drank only water. I put in my Hip Hop Abs DVD, intending to do the 30-minute workout, but decided I've had enough of that one for a while. I put on my gi pants, and made up my own routine:
- 2 rounds of the ground mobility cycle (on a heavy bag grappling dummy)
- a set of crunches
- a set of push ups
- another set of crunches
- a set of bench pressing the grappling bag
- repeat from the top
I started out at a moderate pace, focusing on correct form (particularly with my holds and transitions during the ground mobility cycle). I increased speed and intensity with each round of the routine. Pressing the heavy bag was pretty cool, because it's oddly shaped and balanced, with no places to grip, which added to the difficulty of lifting it. It weighs around 50 pounds. After 35 to 40 minutes of this cycle, I was dripping sweat. Way more so than I usually am after 30 minutes of Hip Hop Abs. I like this routine better anyway - it provides a chance to drill judo holds.
We'll see how this goes!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Rant, Part 2
Another thing that struck me as ridiculous in The Gift of Fear was the following quote from page 307:
"I recently met a middle-aged couple from Florida who had just obtained licenses to carry concealed handguns. the man explained why: "Because if some guy walks into a restaurant and opens fire, like happened at Luby's in Texas, I want to be in a position to save lives."
Of course there are plenty of things he could carry on his belt that would be far more likely to save lives in a restaurant. An injection of adrenaline would treat anaphylactic shock (the potentially lethal allergic reaction to certain foods). Or he could carry a small sharp tube to give emergency tracheotomies to people who are choking to death. When I asked him if he carried one of those, he said "I could never stick something into a person's throat!" but he could send a piece of lead into a person's flesh like a rocket.
Statistically speaking, the the man and his wife are far more likely to shoot each other than to shoot some criminal..."
Where do I begin? Since the Luby's massacre was brought up, I'd like to say something about that: Here's a snip from the wiki article:
"During the shooting, [the shooter] approached Suzanna Gratia Hupp and her parents. Hupp had actually brought a handgun to the Luby's Cafeteria that day, but had left it in her vehicle due to the laws in force at the time, forbidding citizens from carrying firearms. According to her later testimony in favor of Missouri's HB-1720 bill and in general, after she realized that her firearm was not in her purse, but "a hundred feet away in [her] car", her father charged at [the shooter] in an attempt to subdue him, only to be gunned down; a short time later, her mother was also shot and killed. Hupp later expressed regret for abiding by the law in question by leaving her firearm in her car, rather than keeping it on her person."
My observation is that a shot of adrenaline or a sharp tube would not have stopped Ms. Hupp's parents from being murdered before her eyes. If she would have had her handgun (assuming she had been trained in its use), not only her parents, but around 20 other people might still be alive today. But that logic should be obvious to any thinking person - I won't dwell too long on it.
Mr. de Becker seems astonished that the gun owner would be willing to "send a piece of lead into a person's flesh like a rocket", but is uncomfortable at the thought of performing a field tracheotomy. There could be many reasons this would be the case, but among them COULD be that the man was not trained in that procedure and feared screwing it up and causing a bigger problem. Conversely, he may have been well trained in defensive tactics and handgun use. Maybe the hands-on, bloody aspect of the procedure would be more traumatic than firing at a murderer from a distance. But I'm speculating wildly - we have no way of knowing. We're not given more information. Certainly one could argue that a greater number of lives could be saved by the handgun than the sharp tube. Here's an idea that would surely satisfy Mr. de Becker: Just carry all 3 items. The handgun, the adrenaline, and the sharp tube. But why stop there? Maybe the guy should keep a portable AED machine in his car.
As icing on the cake, the author throws out this line: "Statistically speaking, the the man and his wife are far more likely to shoot each other than to shoot some criminal..." Excuse me, "far more likely"? I'm sorry, did I read that right? I wish he would have cited the alleged "statistics" and given the source. We all know how studies can be skewed. Maybe they're "far more likely" because they're around each other far more than they're around criminals. I would lay odds that's the case. Maybe the study dealt only with brand new gun owners before they'd received any training. But if we're talking about responsible gun owners who carry to protect themselves and their families, and get proper training, I have a very hard time believing they'd be more likely to shoot each other than a criminal, all else being equal. It's absurd. Talk about "unwarranted fear" (which the author claims is a curse)!!!
I'm glad that's off my chest. You may have noticed I harped on training a good bit. As a relatively new "gun guy", I take the responsibility of proper training very seriously. I look at it as a way of protecting my family not only from the bad guys out there, but from tragic accidents as well.
"I recently met a middle-aged couple from Florida who had just obtained licenses to carry concealed handguns. the man explained why: "Because if some guy walks into a restaurant and opens fire, like happened at Luby's in Texas, I want to be in a position to save lives."
Of course there are plenty of things he could carry on his belt that would be far more likely to save lives in a restaurant. An injection of adrenaline would treat anaphylactic shock (the potentially lethal allergic reaction to certain foods). Or he could carry a small sharp tube to give emergency tracheotomies to people who are choking to death. When I asked him if he carried one of those, he said "I could never stick something into a person's throat!" but he could send a piece of lead into a person's flesh like a rocket.
Statistically speaking, the the man and his wife are far more likely to shoot each other than to shoot some criminal..."
Where do I begin? Since the Luby's massacre was brought up, I'd like to say something about that: Here's a snip from the wiki article:
"During the shooting, [the shooter] approached Suzanna Gratia Hupp and her parents. Hupp had actually brought a handgun to the Luby's Cafeteria that day, but had left it in her vehicle due to the laws in force at the time, forbidding citizens from carrying firearms. According to her later testimony in favor of Missouri's HB-1720 bill and in general, after she realized that her firearm was not in her purse, but "a hundred feet away in [her] car", her father charged at [the shooter] in an attempt to subdue him, only to be gunned down; a short time later, her mother was also shot and killed. Hupp later expressed regret for abiding by the law in question by leaving her firearm in her car, rather than keeping it on her person."
My observation is that a shot of adrenaline or a sharp tube would not have stopped Ms. Hupp's parents from being murdered before her eyes. If she would have had her handgun (assuming she had been trained in its use), not only her parents, but around 20 other people might still be alive today. But that logic should be obvious to any thinking person - I won't dwell too long on it.
Mr. de Becker seems astonished that the gun owner would be willing to "send a piece of lead into a person's flesh like a rocket", but is uncomfortable at the thought of performing a field tracheotomy. There could be many reasons this would be the case, but among them COULD be that the man was not trained in that procedure and feared screwing it up and causing a bigger problem. Conversely, he may have been well trained in defensive tactics and handgun use. Maybe the hands-on, bloody aspect of the procedure would be more traumatic than firing at a murderer from a distance. But I'm speculating wildly - we have no way of knowing. We're not given more information. Certainly one could argue that a greater number of lives could be saved by the handgun than the sharp tube. Here's an idea that would surely satisfy Mr. de Becker: Just carry all 3 items. The handgun, the adrenaline, and the sharp tube. But why stop there? Maybe the guy should keep a portable AED machine in his car.
As icing on the cake, the author throws out this line: "Statistically speaking, the the man and his wife are far more likely to shoot each other than to shoot some criminal..." Excuse me, "far more likely"? I'm sorry, did I read that right? I wish he would have cited the alleged "statistics" and given the source. We all know how studies can be skewed. Maybe they're "far more likely" because they're around each other far more than they're around criminals. I would lay odds that's the case. Maybe the study dealt only with brand new gun owners before they'd received any training. But if we're talking about responsible gun owners who carry to protect themselves and their families, and get proper training, I have a very hard time believing they'd be more likely to shoot each other than a criminal, all else being equal. It's absurd. Talk about "unwarranted fear" (which the author claims is a curse)!!!
I'm glad that's off my chest. You may have noticed I harped on training a good bit. As a relatively new "gun guy", I take the responsibility of proper training very seriously. I look at it as a way of protecting my family not only from the bad guys out there, but from tragic accidents as well.
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