Pressure Points

Today in Martial Arts we practiced curriculum....Master Joe taught me the beginning of my sword pattern. I have so much more of it to learn and not much time to perfect it! We also did pressure points. We partnered up and striked each other continuosly at certain pressure points: base of the neck, forearm, shoulder socket, thigh...
If you strike the base of the neck in the right spot...it will make your knees buckle and your whole body just goes limp! Great fun!

Shadow Boxers

A new movie called Tom Yum Goong with Tony Jaa is being released in Thailand this summer. Tony Jaa is the Muay Thai Kick Boxer from Ong Bak. Can't wait to see this! There are some unbelievable jaw dropping fight scenes in that trailer!

Ordered a DVD from Amazon.ca today. It's a documentary called Shadow Boxers. It's a behind-the-scenes look into the world of female boxing and features Lucia Rijker (the scary looking fighter aka "Billie the Blue Bear" from Million Dollar Baby) Lucia was also the one who trained Hilary Swank for the movie. She has been referred to as the "Most Dangerous Woman in the World". In my opinion that is the sweetest title to have!

Guillotine

Today in Martial Arts we practiced some submissions and armbars. Then we sparred strickly on the ground starting out on our knees. This is something I really enjoy doing and I really want to get better at. I sparred with 3 different guys and unfortunately I wasn't able to submit any of them but atleast I didn't let any of them submit me either. One of the guys I sparred told me after class that he put another guy in guillotine choke and the guy never tapped out so he cranked his neck to the side slightly and now apparently the guy can't feel half his face! I'm hoping he just has a pinched nerve or something and its nothing serious or permanent.

I bought new shoes today especially made for dancing and took them for a spin on the dance floor at Atlantis. As luck would have it, they had just waxed the dance floor that day and I was slipping around all over the place. Dancing shoes have suede on the bottom of them so that you can move easily but in this case it was much too slippery. I danced so much tonight...we were there from around 11:30pm to 1:30am and maybe only sat out for like 3 songs. My feet felt fine during the dancing but when I got home I realized that they were covered in blisters :(

Indulgences

Alex and I went to Whistler to look at properties today. It was nice up there...I forgot to bring a camera...so many missed opportunities. It's quite expensive for an apartment in the village so it might not work out. BUT what's more exciting is that we passed by Whole Foods in West Van. on the way home and I bought 2 eclairs. Just ate one now mmmmm...........I also bought Blueberry Juice, Pear Juice and Blueberry/Pomegranate juice. I've never tried Blueberry Juice before so I thought it would be cool. Okay I just decided I would record my favourite indulgences here:

Chips:

• Miss Vicky's Sea Salt & Malt Vinegar
• Old Dutch Ketchup Chips
• Ketchup Pringles
• Miss Vicky's Lime & Black Pepper
• Plain Lay's chips with Bacon dip (artificially flavoured)
• Crispers All Dressed
• Nachos baked with cheese. (Salsa & sourcream)
• McDonald's Fries with BBQ and Mayonnaise (I know this is terrible yet I crave this sometimes)

Desserts:

• Eclairs
• Creme Caramel
• Creme Brulee
• Cheesecake from Cheesecake factory only
• Custard
• Auntie Karen's apple pie ala mode

Salsa Band

Watched Bewitched today...usually I like Nicole Kidman but she used a higher pitched voice in this movie that I just couldn't get past and Will Ferrell became very annoying.

Went to a Cuban performance at the Hellenic Community Centre. They taught some basic Salsa steps and it was fun watching some people learn Salsa for the first time. My brother especially was very serious and technical about it! We danced the rest of the night away to the band and dj...

Pastries

The bike mirror I bought doesn't fit my bike so I asked Jackie if I could try the mirror that she bought on my bike. I decided to bike over to her parents house near Steveston to try hers out. She took a break from painting the fence and we went to Pajo's so that I could have some fish n' chips and lemonade. Soooooo good! Then we rode around Garry Point a bit and she went home. Before heading back home, I stopped at the Steveston Bakery to pick up some: fruit custard tarts, apple tarts, and a chocolate eclair! My mom brought some of these tarts home the other day and I just had to have some more....the chocolate eclair was pretty good too...not as good as the one I had at Whole Foods though but unfortunately I can't get to West Van. that often :( Biked home with the pastries on my new bike rack...I knew it would be handy! Total distance biked 18.55 km!

New Bike Gear

Today, Jackie and I went to MEC to get some new gear for our bikes. This is what I bought today:

Bell (black), mirror, U-lock:

Bike Rack & straps:

and got free tire caps from the Bike Doctor across the street. MEC doesn't sell them but Bike Doctor just gives them away for free!

All this stuff is going to make my bike heavier though :(

Little Kid

Today I found out from a Chiropractor that I have Plantar Faciitis. Apparently it is quite common. Basically the muscle at the arch of my foot is inflamed which makes it sore and tight. The pain travels to my calves. This has been bothering me for awhile now. He suggested I try Dr. Scholls Dynastep Orthotic inserts and if I find that this helps me then I should get orthotics custom made. He also said I should roll my feet on a golf ball to stretch out the muscle because it is too contracted and that I should also stretch out my calf muscles more.

Decided to ride my bike to the library to drop off a book that was due yesterday! As luck would have it, it started to rain on my way there. I wore my sunglasses and the rain still fell into my eyes otherwise it wasn't too bad because it wasn't too cold out. It actually felt somewhat refreshing. When I got home my brother said "You're like a little kid...riding your bike to the library." That thought didn't cross my mind once...it's for my training jeez! We did Tong Moo 4 pattern in class today. It was a pattern from red or blue belt I think so I didn't really remember it but we re-learnt it all. I really missed doing patterns. It was one of the things I liked about in the lower belts....working on the stances and precise movements. I still haven't learnt my sword pattern...I have only 3 months left damn I better start! Oh ya, it turns out poor Sachi's nose is broken from the kick!

Toronto Trip

Me and my mom went to Toronto this wkend to pick up my grandma coming in from Peru. I managed to get some training in...I swam in the hotel pool....but I was dissapointed when I saw how small it was. The picture on their website made it look much bigger! I did multiple laps of this pool that looked like maybe only 10-15 meters in length. I can't say how many laps I did because it was impossible to try and keep track. Was annoyed that I couldn't pick up any signals for the laptop and at nights I was way too tired to touch it so it was pretty much useless bringing it on the trip...this laptop is not light either!

Did some shopping on Queen Street West on the first day and walked passed Rick Campanelli doing interviews on the street outside the CHUM building. Also, they were setting up the outdoor stage and doing a sound check. I didn't know what this was all for until I found out the next day that it was for the Much Music Video Awards.

Shopped at Eaton Centre Mall Sunday and Monday.

Monday was chaotic. There was a labour dispute at the airport when we got back from the mall and so the bus wouldn't take us all the way to the airport. My poor grandma had to walk so far to get to the airport and she's eighty something years old and was out of breath. Also, there is no friggin' walkway or sidewalk and it was really hot that day. I had to walk with her so slowly. Pissed me off that my grandma had to go through that.

When we got to Terminal 1 people had been waiting hours and hours for shuttle buses and taxis. But no one was getting through the pickets. I told my grandma to stay inside Terminal 1 and decided to run all the way to Terminal 3 which is where we where staying at the Sheraton like 10 mins. away. By the time I got to Sheraton I was covered in sweat. Then my mom and I had to pack up our stuff and push the luggages back to Terminal 1 which is where our flight was supposed to depart at. I guess I'll consider the running and lugging the luggages up the hill as part of my tri training.

Some more pics I took on the trip:
Can someone tell me what buildings these are?

Inside subway & CN Tower

Dundas Station

Sunset from the airplane

Point Sparring & Salsa Round 2

Today was point sparring in Martial Arts. My ankle started bothering me when running during warm-up so I had to stop. Still hurts from the last time I went to class. I missed a wk. and a half because of the stupid injuries. Hip seemed okay though. Still not back to normal but it's getting there. Jammed my fingers a bit today during touch sparring which needed icing. Oh and someone threw a spinning kick and brushed my nose. I asked him if he could see my face when he was throwing the kick and he said "yes" but I knew he couldn't because his back was turned when he threw it. It's always the same people who cause the injuries due to lack of control...this is the same guy who kicked me in the crotch!...Worst injury today was when Sachi got a spinning hook kick in the nose. Bleeding nose and could've turned into a broken nose if it was a little harder. She was injured by one of the guys who does not have much control-no surprise! There's maybe 3 or 4 guys like this in our class. Oh and the guy that kicked me in the crotch, he almost caused one of our classmates lose his eyesight. They were practicing with the Arnis sticks and whacked him in the eye. He couldn't see for a short period of time and it nearly detached his cornea. Ever since then, we always have to wear eye protective googles whenever we use the Arnis sticks now. Accidents are bound to happen when you're practicing this sport...it's the nature of it; but when training with guys who have limited control, it increases the chances of injuries unfortunately.

A less harmful activity was Salsa Dancing tonite at Atlantis again! I learnt how to Bachata a bit, Cha-Cha a bit, and I think it was the Merengue that I started doing with some guy. It's funny really...I pretend I know how to dance....

Richmond Bike Tour

Today was the Island City by Bike Tour (24km)...perfect weather for it...not too hot and not too cold. This was the first time in a couple of years that I biked and today, I rediscovered my love for biking. Fresh air and excercise....I think maybe why I like it so much is that it's like the laziest form of excercise....Although you're moving your legs, if you can get past that, basically you're just sitting there! It's great! I think it's the cardio part of workouts that I dread...the burning throat and lungs. My ride was pretty enjoyable and relaxed. Jackie and I rode alongside each other in the bike lane and chatted it up. Even after the tour, I decided to ride home from Steveson, I couldn't get enough. Also, a couple of years ago I bought a little computer for my bike at MEC. It tells you how many kilometers you're biking, total trip distance, avg. speed, and time. It's sweet! They have better ones now but they all do the same thing. Great purchase! This is what it looks like:


Cat Eye Enduro2

Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Watched Mr. & Mrs. Smith tonight....it was meant to be. Isabelle, Gizelle and I got to the theatre slightly later than my friends. By the time we got there, the tickets were all sold out and my friends had already gotten seats. The 3 of us decided to watch Longest Yard even though we really just wanted to watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith. BUT while getting food, we bumped into 3 of Gizelle's friends who happend to have tickets to Mr. & Mrs. Smith but got there too late and had no seats! Meanwhile my friends are saving us seats. What luck! So in the end we traded our tickets for theirs and it was a night filled with guns, knives, fighting, witty and hilarious banter between 2 of the hottest people in Hollywood with sooo much chemistry!

Massage

I went for a massage today and I told the lady she could massage my back hard and she said "Oh, I remember you!!!"....Last time I kept telling her to go harder and she kept saying, "I'm going really hard already. I've been doing this for many years and this is a lot of pressure. This pressure is enough for all the guys that I massage." Maybe I have a low threshold of pain...I'm not sure...Anyways, the lady also said my back is like a man's. This is not the first time she's told me this. Apparently I have a lot of stiff muscles in my neck and back. Maybe I tense up too much. She's really great at massaging but I think I'm going to stop going to her. She has a funny smell. I don't like it. I found myself holding my breath whenever she was near my face. I think she was sick today too because I heard her sniffle and blow her nose. When I was lying on my back and she was massaging my temples and my head, I felt her breath on my face and I quickly held my breath and exhaled to get rid of any of her germs from around my face. I found myself holding my breath for a very long time and then inhaling as little as possible. That's the last time I'm going to her.

Word of the Day......

I thought it might be easier to put my training schedule on a separate blog and put it all in one long post. This will make it much easier for me to look at and I can better assess my progress. As the weeks go by I'll just keep adding to that one post and I'll just keep my elucidation of each day on this blog.

Training schedule link on side bar ========================>

Dawn just recently told me that after we went Kayaking in Deep Cove, she had read in the newspaper that they closed it down due to a high percentage of something (I forgot what she said) but it's a substance that suggests a high percentage of contamination from animal fecal matter!!! DISGUSTING!!! I put my hands in the water and played around with it not to mention the water splashing us in the face etc. Now I just feel gross even though that was a couple of wks. ago and I've showered everyday since then but still....Just the thought of it!

Salsa

Tonite I inflicted more pain on myself from a night out of Salsa dancing at Atlantis. It was a lot of fun getting back into it though! I was rusty since it must've been a year since my Salsa classes and I never did get to practice it outside of class. Everyone there seemed to be experts but were nice enough to teach me along the way when I needed it. At one point though, I started getting really dizzy to the point of nausea when one guy kept spinning me. I also managed to step on my own toe which was very painful when you're wearing open toed sandals. At the end of the night my feet felt like they were on fire because I had a couple of blisters forming on the bottom of my feet and many sore areas on the top of my feet from the straps rubbing. (By the way, crotch is still sore from getting kicked there...oh ya and I burnt my hand in the oven today)....What's with all the pain lately? I think I asked for it when I made my msn name "Pain is my Friend". I think maybe God is playing a joke on me.

Week 4:
Tuesday - didn't go to TMD because of my hip but went Salsa dancing...hip seemed to be okay.
Salsa Dancing for about 2 hours. Does this count as training?

Kimura

Today I wanted to check out Kimora Lee Simmons' website to see her Baby Phat clothing line. Just wanted to see if it was any good and to see if I could find out how she got that name "Kimora" because it sounds like a submission move we do in Martial Arts "Kimura" (a.k.a. chicken wing or Ude Garami). You put the opponents arm in a similar position to the way a chicken's wing is until they feel like it is going to snap their arm. The Baby Phat site wasn't anything great and so I soon lost interest which led me on a search to something I've been wanting to find out for awhile...which was how the submission move became named the "Kimura". I came upon the site which was a biography of Masahiko Kimura who was probably the best Judoka there ever was and ever will be. He is famous for defeating Helio Gracie with the "Ude Garami" and now it is still fondly regarded as the "Kimura" in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu today....(Helio Gracie did not tap out and Kimura kept applying pressure which eventually broke his elbow! Helio still would not give up and his corner had to throw in the towel!)....YAY! now I know the story behind the "Kimura" technique and there was such an interesting story behind it!
But now I'm glad I was so curious because this guy was legendary for the sport of Judo.....apparently he had only 4 loses and became a 5th dan at age 18!!! The secret to Kimura's succes was called San Bai Ro Rioku. Under this belief he did 300 pushups daily in highschool. In University it increased to 500 and after his first victory he decided to do 1000 non-stop pushups a day to ensure future victories. Now if only I could do that many pushups!

Pure Passion

I just remembered on the weekend I was watching this news special they were doing on Marathon Runners. They showed people wobbling badly to the finish line with first aid attendants ready to catch them. They showed people who stopped running from the pain but swatted the first aid people away because they intended to keep on running. They also showed an old man completely collapsed and wheeled away quickly in a wheel chair once he reached the finish line. Also, this girl was shown being taken away on a stretcher. This kinda stuff brings tears to my eyes...I think it's because I'm witnessing pure passion. It's like when I watch the Olympics. I'm guaranteed to cry watching the Olympics! This stuff gets me so emotional...does this happen to other people? Almost every Contender episode made me cry too... probably all except for like 3??

This special on tv also showed athletes on a totally different level.....they talked about what they call ULTRA RUNNERS. Meaning marathons are not long enough distances for them. This one lady liked running 100 km! A marathon is about 42 km. This one guy says he can run for 20 hours straight with very little stopping to fill up on water and snacks. This is insane! They say it's like an addiction for them. This one guy showed his running shoes that looked like they were falling apart and they were only used once for running in the dessert in the Middle East somewhere.

Interesting Facts

Today was my mom's surprise retirement party. Her good friends from work came and one friend even flew in from Montreal just for the party. All her friends from the YMCA where she is a run leader were there too! It was really nice to see my mom so happy surrounded by all these people who she has touched in some way or another. She introduced me to another run leader at the YMCA and he looked like he was around his 60's. He had started running 25 years ago and has ran 82 Marathons during this time! That is truly AMAZING!!! He gave me some tips and suggested I try the Delta 1/2 marathon since it is in Richmond and a good one to start with since it is on flat land.

My uncle has a scale in his gym downstairs so I weighed myself and to my surprise I only weighed 133 lbs. I thought I was closer to 140 but anyways, it also calculates your body fat percentage. Mine was at 23%! That means 23% of my body is made up of FAT! Yikes! The scale said that was average but whatever....my brother's fat percentage was only at 13%!

My hip is feeling better today. It's not fully functional but atleast I'm able to walk without any pain. Getting in and out of the car causes some discomfort as well as if I move it in certain positions but atleast I'm better than yesterday. That is great news I think! I'm going to have to cancel my bike ride with Jackie tomorrow but I'm really hoping that I will be back to normal by the end of the wk. so that I can go on a 23 km bike ride that's taking place in Richmond next wkend. I'll continue to take glutamine and rest it for now....

***UFC 53 was on tonight but I was not able to tape it :(

Frustration building up...

It was difficult to sleep last night with the pain in my hip. Kept waking up and having to adjust. Woke up at 6am to ice. Mostly just lay in bed all day in pain. Finally decided to take Motrin around 4pm and fell asleep. All day long I just thought about rewinding time before the injury happened. I got mad and then I tried to tell myself that it's really not that bad. Then everytime I got out of bed to eat or get an ice pack, I had to move ever so slowly. Then I would get depressed when I thought about how long this could take to heal...then frustrated when I thought about all the runs and bike training I planned for this month. Not to mention the swim training I have to start on. Not only that but for Martial Arts I have to learn a really long sword pattern and I'm worried that I won't learn it on time. I'll have to miss some classes. My mom said today "If you don't like it that much, you should just quit." She was referring to Martial Arts. Who said I didn't like it? Ugh......

Visit from my friend Pain

I got a beating today....first during kickboxing class I got kicked or kneed in the crotch. It still hurts A LOT if your a girl by the way! Then after that during regular class, we were doing fakes and throws. So, one drill we were doing was that we were supposed to fake throwing your opponent so that they would be off balance and take them down sweeping their leg. This is hard to explain but anyway, instead of faking the throw, my partner actually threw me and in a way in which I landed on my back instead of my side and I then somehow pulled my tendon/muscle surrounding my hip socket. I'm icing it right now but it feels like something that won't go away anytime soon. Another injury i got today was in my left ankle and I think that was also from the throw. Maybe it would be easier if I just sat in an ice bath!

Week 3:

Thursday - Kickboxing 1 hour
TMD Martial Arts 1 hour (Take downs/Throws)