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Our teacher held a special review for the Korean final today. I went because I was sure she'd go over the sections on the test in some detail, and I was correct so it was worth trekking through the 19 degree weather to get there. Afterwards, me and a bunch of others from the class caught the bus to My Way, a Korean restaurant in town and shared a delicious meal consisting of several tasty dishes. After another cold wait (the bus schedules during finals are horrendous), I made it home around 3:30pm, and finished off the hard parts of my second to last phd app. in other Korean news, I started watching Coffee Prince and really like the main plot, but would happily see the lovers in the B-plot die a painful death.
I actually made it to Bujinkan tonight. On Sat. I managed to make it to the Buyu Christmas party (though not the training before it since I couldn't afford it). It was lovely to see everyone (and pretty funny to see some of them drunk). I promised Jack that if I finished most of my phd apps before Weds, I'd come to training. Lo and behold, I finished all but one of my applications, so I decided to go train. I thought that some time away might mean Jack had found other people to be more interested in, but sure enough, twenty minutes into class and it was, "Ariana, teach!" *sigh* And he almost made me do it again later too, cause he muttered under his breath before demonstrating something, "Maybe I should have Ariana teach this too." I'd really missed training. The rolling at the beginning felt like reuniting with an old friend. We started out with some simple bo drills (it twists when it strikes head on), then moved on to what to do if someone attacked you with that attack. We did bare handed vs the bo for the first hour of the class which sounds crazy but it was all about luring the person in to striking using a simple ichimonji block and timing, then walking yourself and your guard up the bo to attack them. Another involved hicho (bear stance) and you moved your left foot along with your body back, took the space beside the bo, along the line, with your right hand, then walked forward, going back into hicho so the bo was now resting lightly on your left shoulder. You head in and the person goes off balance and can easily be attacked. My favourite was one where you did the ichimonji block, then had the bo rest lightly in the notch of your left thumb and pointer finger, you walk forward, sliding your hand higher as you go, then switch hands when you reach a point where the person holding the bo needs to go sideways rather than back to be more off balance. Your other hand goes to the opponents end of the stick then you sort of spiral it out in three dimensions and they just collapse. I had fun doing it softer and softer each time.
Last half hour was bo vs sword, which was much easier to adapt to than usual for me. I'm guessing because the sword's actions mimicked exactly what we'd been doing barehanded, and the sword gave you more distance. My partner, To., and I discussed that it was so easy because the sword person has the advantage since they operating at sword distance and forcing their opponent too as well - and a bo just can't do much damage at sword length because it's too long. Food for thought, ne?
My finals are on the 21st and the 22nd next week and I still have to finish that final phd app, but I'm in the final stretch here and can see the finish line, thank god.
I really would like some Christmas/holiday cards this season. If you don't have my address already (if you have an American address for me, then it's the correct one), could you link me to any posts you have asking for such addresses for cards? I can't afford to buy anyone presents this year, but I did manage to buy some pretty cards from the Met (thank god for employee discounts and sales). I even sent out most of them this week. I have one extra though, so the first person to send me their address (either through a message here or by email) will get it:) I have five extra cards from last year which I wouldn't mind sending out, though if I sent you one last year, it will be a repeat (sorry, I have no money to spend on more), so the next five people after that first person to send me their address will get one of those.
I actually made it to Bujinkan tonight. On Sat. I managed to make it to the Buyu Christmas party (though not the training before it since I couldn't afford it). It was lovely to see everyone (and pretty funny to see some of them drunk). I promised Jack that if I finished most of my phd apps before Weds, I'd come to training. Lo and behold, I finished all but one of my applications, so I decided to go train. I thought that some time away might mean Jack had found other people to be more interested in, but sure enough, twenty minutes into class and it was, "Ariana, teach!" *sigh* And he almost made me do it again later too, cause he muttered under his breath before demonstrating something, "Maybe I should have Ariana teach this too." I'd really missed training. The rolling at the beginning felt like reuniting with an old friend. We started out with some simple bo drills (it twists when it strikes head on), then moved on to what to do if someone attacked you with that attack. We did bare handed vs the bo for the first hour of the class which sounds crazy but it was all about luring the person in to striking using a simple ichimonji block and timing, then walking yourself and your guard up the bo to attack them. Another involved hicho (bear stance) and you moved your left foot along with your body back, took the space beside the bo, along the line, with your right hand, then walked forward, going back into hicho so the bo was now resting lightly on your left shoulder. You head in and the person goes off balance and can easily be attacked. My favourite was one where you did the ichimonji block, then had the bo rest lightly in the notch of your left thumb and pointer finger, you walk forward, sliding your hand higher as you go, then switch hands when you reach a point where the person holding the bo needs to go sideways rather than back to be more off balance. Your other hand goes to the opponents end of the stick then you sort of spiral it out in three dimensions and they just collapse. I had fun doing it softer and softer each time.
Last half hour was bo vs sword, which was much easier to adapt to than usual for me. I'm guessing because the sword's actions mimicked exactly what we'd been doing barehanded, and the sword gave you more distance. My partner, To., and I discussed that it was so easy because the sword person has the advantage since they operating at sword distance and forcing their opponent too as well - and a bo just can't do much damage at sword length because it's too long. Food for thought, ne?
My finals are on the 21st and the 22nd next week and I still have to finish that final phd app, but I'm in the final stretch here and can see the finish line, thank god.
I really would like some Christmas/holiday cards this season. If you don't have my address already (if you have an American address for me, then it's the correct one), could you link me to any posts you have asking for such addresses for cards? I can't afford to buy anyone presents this year, but I did manage to buy some pretty cards from the Met (thank god for employee discounts and sales). I even sent out most of them this week. I have one extra though, so the first person to send me their address (either through a message here or by email) will get it:) I have five extra cards from last year which I wouldn't mind sending out, though if I sent you one last year, it will be a repeat (sorry, I have no money to spend on more), so the next five people after that first person to send me their address will get one of those.
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