High Number One.
My ride on Tuesday, I felt the urge to do stuff a little differently. The last show had been all on grass and pony spends the majority of his working ridden time in the sand arena. So, I felt it was important to work a little more on some turf. I set up my one-stride "grid" on the grass outside of the arena and spent some time warming up at the walk, trot and canter looping around the ring, the round pen and the grass field. Oh, I also took off Archie's nose band (first time, ever) because one of the fly masks had left rubs and the nose band sat right on them. I felt very western.
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| oh god. |
After warming up, I took him over the jumps, set as crossrails. Then raised the back to 2' and left the front a cross rail. Then raised the front to 2' and the back to 2'3''. I measured those holes when I drilled them, so that makes it completely fucking legit this time.
And bottom line? I was bored, Archie was lazy. I'm hoping to build/convert some more jumps and give us some new things to try. I itched to raise the front jump to 2'6" and take the grid in reverse. Just, with everything else that has happened lately, I didn't want to push too much.
High Number Two.
I gots a new trainer.
But not for riding.
You ever see something on TV or in a movie and think, "I could do that. Not only could I do that, but I think I could be good at that!"
I had that thought about four years ago and sat on it. And sat on it. And finally said, fuck it. Let's pursue this avenue. Because I need balance in my life and I stopped playing soccer because, as much as I enjoyed it initially, my desire to play a game was at odds with others' desires to WIN WIN WINWINWINWINWIN. Also, I sucked. And sucking sucks.
So last night, I attended my first Krav Maga lesson.
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| fake guns come later. |
Last night, I learned about the basic rules: do three maneuvers, but not the same three every time; get in the other person's space; and incapacitate your attacker. Dirty, right?
And the specifics of the stuff I learned: roundhouse kicking (different from regular roundhouse, in that we account for shoes), cleaned up my punching a little bit, and then several hold releases. The hold releases: if someone grabs my wrist with one hand, I can get them to let go while also pinning them; if they grab both wrists, I can get free and attack; if they grab one wrist with both hands, I can break free and attack; if someone chokes me from the front or the back, I can break free and attack.
During the warm up and cool down, I got to punch and kick people holding pads. While in mid-sentence to the group of women I'd been working with, my trainer came up behind me and did a choke. I finished my sentence while breaking his hold and attacking.
There are levels and certifications and tests. I've already started talking to my trainer about getting Level 1 certified, to which he responded that I probably ought to attend a few more classes. :)
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9 comments
He looks so good in that in and out!
ReplyDeleteI swear your balls have grown ten sizes so far this year.
ReplyDeleteVery cool on the Krav Maga!! You should totally get into cage fighting.
ReplyDeleteGo girl! You are a jumping fool :)
ReplyDeleteLooks fun on the grass. You guys are so ready for more height!
ReplyDeleteYou're turning into one hell of a badass! Love it! All of it! You and Archie just keep getting better and better, and I'm looking forward to hearing more stories about how you kick everyone's butts in Krav Maga!
ReplyDeleteAs usual, you are awesome. I've always wanted to try marital arts of some kind, but I just don't feel like I have the time. That and strength. Or skill.
ReplyDeleteKrav is cool, go you in all departments!
ReplyDeleteEveryones all Krav... me im all ...Overwerk!
ReplyDeleteThanks!