Too funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4s6zFVm9qI

And now for the real kids-don't-try-this-at-home treatment:
[edit: Warning, there is some language some people might find objectionable at the end of this clip. --klibby]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RA6TmDtvCQ

Finally, I Can Haz Skillz:

http://www.motivatedphotos.com/?id=241

My life is filled to the brim with activities and responsibilities. Often enough I feel that I'm being pulled in several directions at once. Everyone needs something of me and I get caught up in helping them instead of taking care of me. Trying to find the balance of work, play, friends and family, I often sacrifice my "me" time for other responsibilities. Over the last month I have infrequently made it to the Center and my sense of well being paid for it. When I take the time to focus on my training, I'm a better mom, wife and friend.

Wushu is the gymnastic, flashy, demonstration style of Chinese martial arts. The word "wushu" (武术) literally means "martial art," whereas kung fu (功夫, Pinyin: gōngfu) ) just signifies "effort and time." Even so, a common criticism is that wushu as commonly seen it's more a martial-inspired dance form than an actual martial art.

Instructor Josh Gable, Marvin Duong, and I all passed our second degree tests on Saturday, April 12. Woo hoo!

So now what?

Getting better.

When I passed my first degree test, just over two years ago, I did not do so with any particular "flying colors." One or two things I did well. The applications, for example--I love the applications. But on most parts of the test, I did no better than adequately--and some things I could only have passed on the basis of effort rather than accomplishment. Gifts, really.

After reading the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, the next natural step was to give the students the tools they would need to defend themselves, if ever the occasion called for it.

I coach middle school boys the fundamentals of track and field. I wanted to share with them a different kind of excersize and organized a team night at the Nashua Martial Arts Center.

Master Adams taught fundamentals of Snake on 4/3. Both I and one of the CIT students felt it was the best we had felt about our Snake movements, ever.

We've long practiced stomach circles as part of Snake, but the details of how to apply those circles has been somewhat vague, especially as it applies to compound movements like Snake Pierces the Sky and Snake Pierces the Eyes.

My takeaway from the 3/13/08 Master's lesson is: if you want to hit harder or block better, do it faster. Those who enjoyed physics will remember that the kinetic energy of a body is one half of its mass times its velocity squared. Kinetic energy, the thing that does the damage when one object strikes another, is much more dependent on how fast it's traveling than how heavy it is. That's why bullets are so lethal, and why "speed kills" on the roadway.

I want to take the time to show my appreciation for all the hard work each of the Instructors puts into our classes. The cost of training in kung fu is balanced by the enthusiasm and expertise shown

My takeaway from last Thursday's Masters lesson was simple: rootedness is key.

Be as strongly rooted as possible, move through the whole body--turn and strike moving from the feet, through the hips and spine, and not just with the hands. You can start by exaggerating that "whole body" movement, then toning it down, making smaller moves and making the movement more "internal."