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Wednesday, February 12, 2014
No looking back!!
Notes from Sweatville 1
Monday, February 10, 2014
Who enjoys the stickiness of perspiration on the surface of your skin? I used to cycle to and from Muay Thai classes, about fifteen minutes each way along the road. Needless to say, with my impermeable $2 rainjacket atop the windchill factor layering of raiment, overheating came with a mere couple of minutes of rigorous pedalling.
With the onset of sweat, you can just feel the salts accumulating within your pores, concretising the paranoia of the dreaded blackheads. The chosen few malicious beads might even slide past the barricade of your eyebrows and sting your eyeballs, resulting in a spate of blinking while the brain also tries to cope with the fact that the front light of your bike seems to be mounted on Curiosity while it's navigating Martian terra firma.
On the other hand, there are pros to exuding moisture as a result of physical exertion. Fitness Magazine has a little article telling you about the benefits of sweat (perhaps these result from the physiological stimulation of the body rather than perspiration per se).
On a sorta same vein: If you come from a tropical country like me and move to another with cold seasons, chances are you experience water retention. Physical activity resulting in perspiration might be a way of alleviating that. When I returned to hot, humid Singapore in January till now, I've mysteriously lost 3kg. And I haven't been exercising as much as I have with Martial Arts either.
The point I have been winding up to is, after every self defense or Muay Thai class, I stew a while in my excretions while I record what I've learnt. Today I would like to share with you a few pages from my little notebook. I try to make them as coherent as possible and draw little muses for reference. To date I've filled up almost three small journals.
Click on the pictures to view:
Have a spiffing day, bubs ≧◠◡◠≦✌
P.S. The reason it's been a while since the last blog entry is that I have been hella busy trying to find out about the next stage of my life (read: big U). Results are unstable and uncertain, but I'm probably entering the Arts fac.
Labels: own, sweatville, writing
Sketch 2: Traditional Muay Thai attire
Sunday, January 5, 2014
The mongkon headband functioned similarly to the traditional arm bands. It might contain bones of ancestors and special characters written on the cloth to bestow favours upon the Thai fighter.
Nak muay used to wear long loose cotton trousers and bind their hands with hemp rope. Fights known as Muay Kaad Chuek where participants had their fists and forearms bound, occassionally dipping the ropes in water beforehand so they would tighten as they dried, rose sometime during the Ayutthaya Period (1350 - 1767).
Previously, matches were largely crude and unrefined with no rules, much less weight classes. In real combat, warriors could not afford to pick and choose their opponents and the early fights somehow reflected the need for a fighter to be well-rounded and courageous.
A swift reply from Sarah Skilton, and beautiful strangers
Thursday, January 2, 2014
Sarah Skilton replied to me!!
I wrote to her on her blog to bring to her attention about the review on here, and her reply was swift! I thought about keeping this private, but I wanted to show you how nice people in the world can be. All it takes is the courage to make the first move, to create opportunities for yourself. Give strangers a chance to surprise you.
Even if their response is negative or hurtful, stay polite and keep in mind that you'll probably won't need to contact the person again. Also: "how you treat others is a reflection of how see yourself"... this might be a theory on why meanies are often insecure and strike out maliciously.
Oops, I digress.
More relevant to the topic, I feel that it's super awesome that us kids these days get the opportunity for instantaneous contact with people we would never have been able to meet, face-to-face at least. I think it's astonishing how easily we overlook the power of the Internet, just because almost everyone we know has access to this wonderful resource as well. That's not to say that we should overlook the newspaper, the Yellow Pages, noticeboards, brochures etc. Information is so omnipresent that it seems like, someday, it's going to ooze out of the very air.
This makes me feel as if I don't have any excuse not to be as great as I can be, to achieve what I want to achieve. I don't think I would be doing myself justice if I shirk from hard work or effort. After all, I have it so much easier.
Therefore, no excuses! If you want to learn how to defend yourself, just spend a couple minutes finding out if there are any combat schools near you. Find out their schedule, their fees. Request an introductory session to get a feel for its environment. Don't feel obliged to be obliged to any of them! Ask a friend to tag along if you feel scared about going to a new school (entirely common). Even if the friend doesn't stay, you've already gotten over the first hurdle of showing up. That's often the scariest part.
P.S. Something crazy happened today. The other party asked me to keep it on the down low, but I can't. What did I say about being stunned by strangers?
I'm about to check in for my plane ride back home. I approach the counter, the guy greets me and I say hi back. I put my piece of luggage on the scales. BAM! 36.6kg! Damn, it didn't feel that heavy. I remember a year ago, before I took Muay Thai, where I struggled so much to lift even a 29kg bag by myself. Not that I didn't flail a bit with the present case in front of an audience of airport-goers, but, I mean, I could lift it! Amazing how martial arts has helped me.
So, the guy gives me a few options: take out some weight and leave it for someone to pick up at the airport (out, I'm too afraid of troubling anyone), throw the extra weight away (out, can I throw away anything else?! I only have approximately two large boxfuls left of worldly possessions gleaned from the same number of years living in Christchurch after days of intensive cleaning) or just pack 7 kilos into another bag and pay $128 for excess baggage (god, I could get a good set of underwear with that!) I decide to sacrifice my future underwear for the sake of lugging back valuable books-slash-notes from the yesteryears of the GCSEs. I pack the school stuff in another bag, and go back to the counter. Bags on the conveyor belt, and the guy asks me what the heck is in that extra bag. From his smile, it's probable that he doesn't see solo girls hauling 30 odd kilos in their baggage every day. "It's books, I'm a student." The guy nods and types on his gizmo. "How should I pay for the excess baggage?" I say. He doesn't answer. I figure he's pretty occupied, so I wait a few more seconds before repeating my question. A few more awkward moments while he ignores me. Then he starts moving, printing my pass and beginning to tell me about the boarding information. I sputter. "But what about..." The guy waves a dismissing hand and shakes his head. "Don't say anything." I look at him as he's telling me about my departure time and gate and I wonder what to say. What do you say? He's acting like nothing happened! Like I just spontaneously ingested the 7 kilos of extra weight! I must've seemed like a complete dolt because I had zero idea how to react.
It's the first time for me that a complete stranger has shoved me right into his capability for magnanimity. He saw the chance, and he took it. It's having a decision made for you, but in the best way possible and without any hint of wanting a scrap of thanks. This guy represents to me the potential in all mankind to be good, to be forgiving, to be hopeful. It's a good feeling, maybe even the best feeling. They say that when you help someone out, you feel even better than they do. But, man, coasting on this wave is hard to beat.
I do remember his face, but I don't think I can ever repay this airport man, specifically.
"Thank you," I get out. It's inadequate.
Review: Bruised, Sarah Skilton
Wednesday, January 1, 2014
Bruised reads like a flowing poomse – a weaving, dancing combination of compelling prose and a troupe of characters each as distinct as the last. Author Sarah Skilton wields her words in a way that effortlessly conveys the turbulent journey of sixteen year-old Imogen Malley after she is involved in a holdup at a diner. Grappling with issues that have exploded into her consciousness, black belt Imogen faces a future with no self-forgiveness in sight and where Tae Kwon Do seems to be only a charade.
The obvious thing that drew me to this book, considering the underpinning of this blog, was the Martial Arts element in the storyline. I was gratified to uncover a perfect amount of TKD/self-defense information within the novel – perfect because it wasn’t overwhelming, instead enticing me to want to conduct more research into the subject.
From the moment I read the blurb, I was endeared (read: biased) towards the protagonist. Her TKD experience was enviable, and I could connect with her motivations (“I want to teach girls to spar without gear. I want to teach them to react quickly, think on their feet, and take a punch, so if someone ever hits them or gets in their face, they won’t go into shock.”) and her doubts (“I wish I could say… I couldn’t imagine my life without martial arts.”).
That’s not to say that Imogen is the typified-YA-genre reborn-from-the-ashes teenager, though. Skilton veers the plot from moments of ululating victory where you want to become Imogen’s best friend (her demo leading to school fame), to those of mortifying disaster where she simmers with poisonous frustration and confusion at herself and those around her (for instance, being an absolute bitch to Shelly). Not only does the riverbend-curved plot slap you in the face with the volatility of human existence from time to time, I feel that Skilton has also rather successfully conveyed the endless depths of the human psyche. I could identify with the emptiness-that-was-Imogen post-trauma as well as her almost suicidal impetus to prove herself in a real street fight.
One element that testifies to Bruised’s irresistibility is the sparseness of the narrative. It is my opinion that Skilton wanted Imogen to be infused in her actions and turbulent introspection, rather than describing every nuance of her character. I felt this quite strongly, though there are definitely nuggets of literary worth which lend the novel poetic overtones. On my part, I occasionally got sentimental.
As a final tidbit, I would like to share with you one of my favourite lessons from this exemplary novel: the most important thing is the essence of the white belt. Knowing nothing, there is no ego, no conceit.
I’ve probably haven't conveyed the triumph that is Bruised because, much of the time, a (quasi-)review cannot do that. If you are interested, get your hands on that book! Let Sarah Skilton sweep you to a world where people hurt, people die, but where people also gradually learn accept their bloody ruptures and choose to continue fighting.
Author's website (where you get to read more professionally-worded appraisals, and more): http://www.sarahskilton.com/
Former Pro Muay Thai Fighter Roxy Balboa has some tips for you
Monday, December 9, 2013
Labels: others
Video: The Basics of the Palm Strike
Saturday, December 7, 2013
On the streets, you want to use to heel of your palm to strike the opponent. Without proper training, your fist has a high chance of rolling backwards at the wrist upon high velocity impact.
Even though I know a little bit about punching pads and bags, it's another thing altogether to strike hard bone such as the head or chin of an opponent in the streets. I feel that striking with the heel of the palm minimises injury and is also a lot quicker because you don't have to ball your hand and clench it to make a tight fist.
Watch Shane Fazen teach you some basics of the palm strike.