jkd
february 12, 2005
i know i've been talking about trying to accomplish alot of goals ever since 2005 began but in actuality, there are about 5-6 goals i want to get to this year. in january, i started on 4 of them:
1. getting back to the gym regularly
2. start ballroom dancing
3. figuring what to do re: [snip snip snip]
4. begin [snip] for my own sake
perhaps it's because i'm officially embarking into my mid-30's this year that setting some goals to accomplish is a necessity. they aren't necessarily resolutions per se but they are things that i've always wanted to do but never got around to - whether it's because of laziness, procrastination, lack of knowledge on where to begin, confusion etc.
today, i started on goal #5 - taking martial arts.
like nearly everything else i do, i take a lot of time to research the background on things before i actually make the move to do it. you can say i'm cautious but i like to say that i don't like to waste my time on something i will end up not liking or end up leaving a bitter taste in my mouth and hence will discourage me from doing that something. so far, my decisions for this year have been progressing...safely.
but yeah, martial arts.
i'm a tomboy at heart i think. i know i am not the most fragile or pretty of creatures but there's a part of me that people see as quite girly and it always surprises them when i act in a less than girly manner. and then there's the other side of me that has remained throughout my entire life. i think it's this tomboy-ish side that allows me to be so independent and fearless in many of things i set out to do. and martial arts is something i've always wanted to do. i just know i have a certain niche for it.
because there's so many different types of styles of martial arts out there, it's hard to even begin to know which one you would enjoy doing. but i found a place that i felt comfortable with and i spent a couple hours talking to the sifu of one place before i finally signed up. i had looked into a few other places as well but the hard sell sales pitch that some people were doing just turned me off as they weren't really serious about teaching the art.
today was my first class - it was 3 hours long. i can barely feel my legs anymore but i know that i got a great workout when my whole body is sore. aside from the warmup exercises, running and stretching - we focused on foot work, punching combos, kicking combos, speed bags, punching bags, some attack moves and some blocking moves. being the newbie and the only woman in class, everyone was pretty nice to me. perhaps they felt sorry for a middle aged woman taking martial arts so late in life. i'm also the only chinese person in class too who speaks cantonese, so the sifu kept on running the verbiage of the terminology by me.
at the end of the 3 hours, i impressed myself by hanging in there for the duration of the class like i did. i wasn't sure how i would make it through one session in its entirety. but i suppose all those recent visits to the gym has helped tremendously. aside from the interest in learning martial arts and the whole capacity to control one's situtaions around them - i believe this will be a very good disciplinary way of life to control one's temper and emotions. in addition, the whole exercise aspect of it intrigues me. let's hope i remain dedicated to the cause.
it's going to be a very interesting year ahead tackling another hobby. once i learn more and can explain more, i'll write about it more.
and if you know what jkd stands for, you will know which form of martial arts i'm learning.
and on the girly side of life, some webcam shots of me my neck before
salsa dance class tonight. i've been going to take these special latin dance
classes on top of my private lessons recently and they are a great workout.
the amount of sweat that pours out from dancing is incredible and you don't
even feel like you're exercising. i've been learning club style salsa and
cha cha. not sure where i'll actually use them at but i'll find a chance to
utilize it once in my lifetime. can't have all these lessons go to waste now.
and yes, i do like to mix up my extracurricular activities. nothing like martial arts in the a/m and ballroom dancing in the p/m.
