Tag: karate

Wednesday May 13th, 2020

We had karate class over Zoom last night. Sensei had P lead class, and he gave us a good workout. At the end, Sensei left us with these words of wisdom: it’s not the big victories in life that matter, but the small ones. When you get the big ones: a promotion, a degree, a belt, etc., of course you are happy. But all of the little victories, the small accomplishments, lead to the big ones. They are the foundation.

During class, I snuck in most of my push-ups while the class planked. After class, I did sit-ups and squats. I also did exercises this morning. I found I could get the Japanese count right if I recognized the next “ten” count to come during the previous one. For sit-ups, I “visualize” each set of exercises, regular sit-ups, diagonal abs, toe-touches, or bicycles, before starting and “link” these to their number. Sit-ups are more difficult lately, anyway.

I sent out a call to our Temple’s religious school families during my lunch break yesterday for their contact information, so I can collate it for the Rabbi. I’d been trying to avoid a bunch of data entry. Hopefully, I can structure the email responses into a document that I can then import into a spreadsheet. I’ll send the spreadsheet to the Rabbi and other teachers. He sent me email last night, eager for the information.

I also need to check in with Sensei again regarding this website and joining his Facebook group. Of course, the site of an adorable baby video greeted me immediately upon logging into D’s second Facebook account. Watching that baby video, I can understand how easy it could be to get addicted to Facebook.

Tuesday, May 12th, 2020

I’m doing this write in five minute increments while cooking eggs and Madras lentils for B. It is our last packet of Madras lentils from Trader Joe’s, since we started sheltering in place, and also B’s favorite. Unfortunately we stopped going to Trader Joe’s, which we love, because they do not deliver. I just found out, however, after Googling to make sure my spelling was correct, that Amazon may deliver Trader Joe products. That’s new. We have not tried it.

I did my exercises last night and this morning. Yesterday, I also ran for twenty minutes. I’m finding that evening exercises are more smooth for me when I do them outdoors. We have a balcony off of our bedroom, and I do them there now.

Normally I do my evening exercises right after work; I avoid walking through the house before exercises, so folks will just assume I’m still working. Which I am: I’m working towards a fitness goal. In addition, exercising helps alleviate stress and may possibly keep me tethered to this world a bit longer. Avoiding walking through the house is my strategy to stay focused until I finish what I need to do. That’s not to say my family is my only distraction: it might be unfolded laundry or dishes or mail that catches my eye.

It’s much easier to just tackle the exercises as soon as I log off from work. Exercising also helps get me out of my “work” head so I can actually be present with my family when I’m off work. Nothing takes your mind off office politics, buggy code or annoying artistic notes like striving towards a push-up goal. Even when I cannot complete all the exercises or I’m sloppy, I’m still happy to know I pushed myself. Pushing your muscles to failure on occasion does, in fact, help to build more muscle, so you can achieve more repetitions and/or better form later. It is one of those few areas in which your failures will eventually carry you to success. You have to trust the process.

I really should put my back log of entries up on this site. Back in November, the idea of sixty push-ups was intimidating. I remember being proud when I was able to do twenty, and now I’m at sixty! But that’s what it takes to reach sixty: trying to do twenty, and failing, until you succeed, then trying for thirty….

Saturday May 9th, 2020

I did karate class over Zoom Friday evening and Saturday morning, but the kids skipped both classes. P lead kihon Friday night and had us do five rapid-fire moves for each exercise. It was a good work-out!

I’m proud to report that, after Friday night’s class, I was able to do sixty push-ups on my toes in the clover, without pausing. After class, I felt so energized that I wanted to see if I could do it, and I could! I did! I also did my eighty squats and sit-ups on the concrete patio.

Sensei had ended the class with a Tai Chi exercise. Reach up to the Heavens and bring down heavenly energy, he instructed. Then, reach down to the Earth and bring up “grounding” energy to your heart, he continued, then pull it down to your chi area and mix the two. Then, reach behind for any unfinished business, affirming to yourself that what needs to be done will be done.

When we reached up to the Heavens, I wanted to see the the sky. Our outdoor patio is shaded by the second story, so I stepped clear of the ceiling in order to see the night sky. While we pulled up the grounding energy, I stood with bare feet on the ground. All this literalness is a bit silly, I know, but it felt holy. Sometimes there is no mental substitute for the real stars above you and dirt between your toes. Why settle for an idea when reality is right there?

Thursday May 7th, 2020

F told me that her close friend R, who is also an ichi-kyu and junior shodan, will be moving with her family to Connecticut. R and her brother do not want to move, from what she told F. This was the reason behind F’s sudden fatigue and illness yesterday: she felt sad.

My son B was right: they have their own stresses. I’m sad for the kids. It’s hard to move to a new place, and leave your friends, and all you know, behind. For older kids, it’s particularly difficult. How can you not be sad when your friend moves to the opposite coast?

Long-term, I know they’ll be fine. Both R and her brother are great kids; they’ll adjust and make new friends. They both excel when they apply themselves. R, in particular, is driven. She’s one of the most accomplished kids in my daughter’s circle of friends. The friend who was hospitalized earlier this year is her childhood buddy, too.

R has been put through the wringer: first year of high school, best friend hospitalized, COVID-19 shutting down their color guard competitions after all their hard practice–not to mention shutting down their school–and now her family is moving to the East Coast.

I exercised this morning, but it was difficult and I was distracted. The Japanese count eluded me more than once.

We had a department meeting at work yesterday. No real news, other than furloughs are coming. The company has a special project or two that will carry a small number of people. However, our group is no longer part of that “inner circle;” the parent company will consolidate business units; they are also staffing offices in locations where they can better take advantage of subsidies and cheaper labour. Our entire business unit may be outside the “inner circle” at this point.

Within our own business unit, the head of digital has started his own hand-picked “creature” department: younger artists more receptive to his ideas, perhaps, and less likely to raise thorny questions. In theory, this is an R&D department; however, why would the people who do the actual creature work on a daily basis, all of whom have anywhere from ten to twenty years production experience, not be conducting their own R&D? Fishy.

Finally, if there’s no work, there’s no money. If there’s no money, no one will be kept working for long. So any “inner circles” are moot. Perhaps it is natural for us to look around and imagine that others have it better. Often, those left behind are not happier or more fortunate. In addition to being talented, they are often cheaper and more gullible.

I really need to apply for jobs elsewhere. The writing has been all over the wall here even before the pandemic shut down live action production. Though I complain about this job, I have good friends there and sometimes enjoy the work. It is the only company where I’ve been able to work for a female CG supervisor. I even like being on four day weeks.

Overall, the people in our unit are good, talented, well-intentioned people. I’ve worked with some real duds during my career, and we have very few, if any, of those. Even my least favorite person there is competent, and, during a crisis, is capable of kindness. He just thinks he knows more than he actually does, and knows less about the people he works with than he should. We can remedy that.

Speaking of work, I have to log in in ten minutes.

May 6th, 2020

Yesterday evening we had a good karate class, though F didn’t feel well and sat out. We did two sets of twenty push-ups, sit-ups and squats during class, so I only had to do twenty push-ups and forty of the others after class. I didn’t go in the grass this time but stayed on the patio. Sit-ups on concrete, even relatively smooth concrete, are not ideal.

Sensei focused the class on Sanchin. Primarily, he taught us the IFK counts for breathing: four count when you draw your fist back and breath in, then two as you punch out. B had a question about breathing during transitions, but Sensei didn’t see he was trying to ask.

Also, the computer logged us out twice, apparently after five minutes of “inactivity.” Our internet connection from the back patio was not great, either. Twice we lost connection with the Zoom class.

There are two squirrels, one in the loquat tree and another in the adjacent Tree of Heaven, just barking and squawking at each other. Sometimes one will chirrup. They sound angry. One makes noises like that when our cat sits in the window, so I assume it is asserting its territorial rights.

Last night, the kids angered me by leaving the kitchen in a mess. F, in particular, had left a cooking project half complete, and dirty dishes scattered. She had started a dessert, then decided she was too tired to finish, clean up or attend karate. Later, after resting, she came downstairs to finish her dessert but still did not clean up.

At ten pm, I played task master over both kids, ordering them to clean. I helped too. B washed everything. I thanked him later. I told him I found it stressful to get up early to clean and disinfect the kitchen, work all day, then, after class, I spent time looking at job boards. When I’m ready to relax with them and watch a show, we can’t because the kitchen is a mess. B said they, too, were feeling stressed by being stuck inside. They can’t see their friends, participate in activities like jazz band, or go out for very long.

I visited the websites of three large studios where I’d previously worked. Their job boards simply erred, as if someone removed those pages in a hurry. It was odd.

Tuesday May 5th, 2020

Yesterday I got in my second set of exercises but I found it much harder to do extra push-ups beyond the sixty. I did maybe five to seven before stopping, and this was after resting after the sixty. Also, regarding sit-ups: I focused on lower abs. The “diagonals” challenge me the most now. Last month, I found toe-touches hard. They are still difficult but I am more accustomed to them now.

In addition, I ran for twenty minutes while listening to the Podcast, “Scattered.” The narrator, Chris Garcia, talks about losing his father, and his father’s dying wish to have his ashes scattered off the coast of his homeland of Cuba. I teared up listening to more than one episode of this on the treadmill, and I heard the final one. When they actually scatter the ashes, his religious sister leads them in singing “Blessed Assurance,” in Spanish. I recognized the music from many childhood trips to my Evangelical aunt’s Baptist church, and I have loved that song since I was young.

At work yesterday, we had a Zoom call with our top visual effects supervisor and studio head. Our department was there with the Rigging; they spent most of the time talking about issues related to rigging. They bickered, too, over why a blendshape solution that was purchased a couple years back did not get used, among other things. Most of this was not relevant to our department so we just listened politely. At one point, my husband wandered in and stood behind me for a moment. The VFX supervisor, seeing him, suddenly quipped, “S (that’s me) you have a stalker!” We laughed. I wrote in the Zoom chat: “I married that stalker.” That received a few LOLs.

The VFX supervisor did notice that my team was on-line, though we didn’t talk. My take-away from that meeting was basically this: he really trusts what the artists and supervisors close to him tell him. He wants to keep as many of us as he can, in LA. Having no paid work coming in soon limits what he can do.

This morning, I did push-ups, sit-ups and squats. I managed twenty more “chest” push-ups on my knees. I also got the Japanese count right during squats.

Karate class tonight! And exercises, second set–however many we do not do during class.

Monday May 4th, 2020

Today, I did forty push-ups, “tricep-style,” on the floor on my knuckles, then twenty “chest-style” push-ups on the matte. Because the Monday after a week of rest is a good time to be macho, I added twenty more “chest” push-ups on my knees. However, I must admit that the last two barely counted.

I did eighty squats, alternating each set of “normal” squats with “punching” squats. For “punching” squats, when we come up from the squat, we punch rapidly once with each fist–the punches should fit within the time of a “normal” squat. I sailed through those fine, although I botched the Japanese count. I mixed up shichi (seven) and shi (four.)

For sit-ups, I tried to mix it up a bit but still focus on upper abs. So, twenty toe-touches and forty traditional sit-ups with floor slaps to start. Following this, I did one set of “diagonal” abs: a combination of a bicycle and a leg-lift. To do these, you keep one leg up at about a thirty to forty-five degree angle and just hold that while you touch your knee to your elbow on the other side. One set is ten exercises on each side. I find those challenging. After those, I rounded out my eighty with one more set of traditional sit-ups. Sit-ups winded me, so I know now that these will help me be more fit.

Plan for today: twenty minute run on the treadmill and my second set of exercises (40 floor chest pushups, 20+ on the matte, 80 squats and 80 sit-ups.) Wish me luck! It is my first day back to it after having a week off!

I also have ten minutes to get dressed and clock into work.

Saturday May 2nd, 2020

I woke up in time for karate class at 10am. While half-asleep, I remember arguing with my alarm: “I don’t want to get up! I’m so tired!” But I crawled out of bed, sprayed down the kitchen with disinfectant, setup the older laptop outside, and followed the link to the karate Zoom session. Both kids slept in.

Sensei R lead the class, but our Shodan and Nidan Senpais were also on-line. He had us do the same one-leg challenge we had done in class last night” you balance on one leg, while Sensei keeps time, and see how many kicks you can do before you lose your balance or the time elapses. Usually he times us for one or two minutes. Last night, I was able to do fifty-five on my strong side. This morning it was closer to fifty.

Senpai Nidan understood, from Sensei’s instructions, that we should only be doing Mae geris, and to be fair, Sensei did say “front kicks.” During yesterday evening’s class, any kind of kick counted, and many of us followed that rule. Sensei had us do our second, weaker leg in the manner of our Nidan: only Mae geris. That was a lot harder.

For the “kyoku-kids,”or children six years and under, Sensei called the kicks. We then performed ten in a row, while balancing on one leg. I should mention that there were three and four year olds able to do this!

Both during last night’s class and this morning’s class, we went over Fifth Kyu Syllabus. Again.

Oh, oh, I forgot to mention: during last night’s kihon, Sensei asked me to call kihon. Both kids were with me, on either side. If I was too slow in remembering the Japanese name for a move, one kid would whisper it to me. I know the moves and the terminology, but am rusty. However, it came back and I needed little help at the end.

Also, Sensei complimented me on one technique. Unfortunately I do not recall which it was, since I was focused on remembering the terminology. Nevertheless, I will brag anyway: he said that particular technique was “perfect.” When, if ever, do you hear you did something perfectly? I was so proud!

After this morning’s karate class, I moved the kumquat bush closer to the back patio. It was in too much shade in its old location closer to the loquat tree. One day, perhaps, it will grow as large as the kumquat tree belonging to my friend’s mother!

I also ran on the treadmill: twenty minutes, with an additional ten minutes of walking.

All in all, today was a productive day!

Thursday April 30th, 2020

I meditated for ten minutes under the loquat tree. I had a view of a dilapidated trampoline, a bougainvillea bursting with color, a stunted kumquat bush, two loquat saplings and foxtails.

A memory of my college mentor and art professor, Don Evans (d. 2013). Both my freshman and sophomore years, I’d taken art classes with him. During my junior year abroad in Germany, he lost his son in an accident.

His son Jonathan was so talented, like his father. He’d built a giant Rube Goldberg machine, mostly of wood, in Don’s studio and both he and Don liked to show it off.

I didn’t know how to talk to Don about his son’s death when I returned. I took another class with him my senior year, and felt I should talk to him about his loss, but didn’t. When I received word of Don’s passing, I sent a letter to his kind wife. She wrote a lovely response back to me. They also have a daughter, who is also an artist and organized events in his honor.

Don’s art collective was called “the Little Marrowbone Repair Corporation.” I’m glad to see his website is still up. He was such a wonderful, quirky personality. He created a clown car, which also served as his art collective’s logo. But it existed, as an actual car and it had a face on it, just like the drawing:

http://www.thelittlemarrowbonerepaircorp.com/

There are photos up on FaceBook. Guess I really have to join. If you go to the FaceBook page for the Little Marrowbone Repair Corporation, you can see videos of his collective’s performance art.

I’d been looking out at my yard and thinking about what Don said: everything could be art. He didn’t separate art and life. How you kept your home, how you live your life, how you cook–all art.

I stayed with his family one summer for about a week in Tennessee. They lived in an old farm house outside the Nashville city limits. Their home felt like art: a funky clock with pictures of family members where the numbers would be showed them reacting to the different times of day. Their kitchen table was a picnic table setup indoors, next to a large glass door looking out at the back yard, which was a gentle stretch of land bleeding into the woods. His “clown” mobile, which I’m sure he drove at Burning Man, was parked in the front.

In my eyes, theirs was such a happy home: full of laughter, art, wonderful cooking, free spirited friends. He had all sorts of friends who showed up at all times. And there, also, was his wife, a warm-hearted school teacher, talented herself, and his gifted children, already young adults my age.

At this moment, I am so heart-broken thinking about the loss of their son, right when he entered college. He was just starting to live out all that promise–their home full of the art that all of them had created: childish art, colorful youthful art, serious young adult art, middle-aged and wise old folk art–all there in that home, around them, and him gone.

Wednesday, April 29th, 2020

Maybe I should make these entries shorter, more meditative.

Today I sat in front of the clover, which is starting to fade from its previous glory. The finch came back. I saw it on the thistle from the kitchen window as I cleaned. While sitting, the big carpenter bee came back, too. No wasps, but sweat bees.

I wonder if I can try and work meditation back into my schedule once I resume doing my exercises.

Yesterday I missed a lot of the Kihon class: it was short and I was late. I caught the end of fifth kyu syllabus. Senpai B taught us to cross with one leg in front. When I learned it a while ago, we’d done the cross with the same leg to the back. Senpai B is a black belt, and my senpai, so I don’t question. I try to learn the correction, but also not worry too much. The shape of that syllabus is there for me. It’s one of the more awkward ones, since we travel. We’d once learned the final back kick as a side kick. That had been a major correction! Senpai B’s correction for the class was more minor: cross, then do the back kick.

I want to put pictures up of the thistle, mallow and clover. Then folks will know what these things are called, and that my yard is overgrown. I love that it attracts so many birds.

My cousin’s son played a looter in a short dystopian film created by his friend, based on the pandemic. It was well done. I should pay her son a compliment!

A squirrel in the loquat tree is making a racket.