Pneumatised!

Yes, I was asked to test for the next belt in gumdo. The test is this Friday and between now and then, I will have to review some of the stuff and practice a bit. I’ll be trying to blow out a candle with the sword with only 20 tries. Wishing myself luck on that and hoping my sword technique improves for that.

I’m a little nervous about the test, but think I’ll do fine. I pick up things quick enough, so I’ll just need to remain focused and concentrate on technique.

Next week, I’ll get to learn two more duelling techniques and two more sword patterns. Fun!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

MM,

I’m not a running fan. I’ve always found it a little boring to just run, but as a new challenge for me and because I’ll have to do this next year to test for my 2nd dan black belt, I have to start training for a 10km run.

Now, this isn’t easy work. Professional athletes make it look easy. At the gym, I do the threadmill as a way to keep up my cardio on my days off taekwondo or when I feel I haven’t gotten a good cardio workout. So far, I’ve only been able to establish a 9.67 minute mile pace (i.e., running at 6.2 mph I finish a mile in just under 10 minutes) For a 10km run, that means I’ll finish in 1 hour (10 km = 6.2 miles). What this means is that I’ll have to increase my pace or I’ll be exhausted after an hour. Running at a faster pace is more efficient and better cardio-wise. (More on running, see Wikipedia article on “running”.)

To properly train for a 10k run, most sources say somewhere between 10 to 12 weeks consistent training is adequate to ensure completion of the run. This depends on who often you train – 3 or 4 times a week. Generally, less or more than that is not effective. Once or twice a week won’t get your cardio up as you have to constantly put the bar higher and more than 4 times a week doesn’t allow your body to properly rest after the strain you put on your body (most notably knees and ankles) from training. So not only do I have to put in my hours at the do jang (where I already put lots of strain on my knees and ankles from the kicking and bouncing) but I have to somehow fit running training in 3 times a week. (And let’s not talk about the work I actually should be doing… but hey, this all fits together… I can’t be an expert promoter of health and fitness if I’m not healthy and fit. Talk the talk. Walk the walk. Integrity – one of the taekwondo principles. See? That all relates.)

Aside from the above stated reasons for doing a 10k run, I also feel that the challenge is also a test of my spirituality. Being able to accomplish the run is all in the mind – ask the professional runners. The mind can make the body do what it wants it to. So, having set my mind to do this, I should have no problems completing the 10k. 🙂 However, my goal isn’t just completing the 10k run – it’s completing it and feeling great after. I don’t want to just complete it and then collapse right after. The goal is to complete it feeling exuberant and with a smile. (Perhaps I’ll be a running fan afterall… oh, little cynical other me voice in the head saying “Don’t push your luck.”)

But before all that happens, there’s the training. In the end though, I think it will be worth it. My spirit and soul will probably thank me (my body will thank me later I think after a good rest and lots of water!).

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

P.S. Anyone have a good training plan (3 times a week), please post. Thanks.

MM,

I recently started taking Haidong Gumdo classes – a Korean sword martial art. So far, I’m enjoying it.

When I was studying taekwondo, I was introduced to a variety of weapons arts – short sticks (Tahn Bong in Korean), nunchakus, and long staff (Jang Bong in Korean, or commonly known as bo staff in Japanese). While I enjoyed these weapons arts, at the time I was primarily focused on learning taekwondo and getting a base in that one martial art first (i.e., finally getting my black belt). I also particularly wanted to learn Sais (if you don’t know what a Sai is, it’s the weapon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Raphael uses) and sword. For Sais, I’m pretty much learning it on my own right now as I have not found anyone to teach it. But I’ve been lucky to find that a taekwondo do jang teaches sword – Haidong Gumdo. After my first three classes this week, I already feel that the sword is my weapon (see “What Kind of Weapon Am I?” quiz below). It has a grace and feel that is natural and seems to complement what I’ve already learned from taekwondo. It also emphasizes learning patterns, something I learned I love from taekwondo, and teaches Dahn Jun, a breathing exercise very similar to many other moving meditation styles utilizing the tantien (an energy center located a few inches below the naval; Reiki students, Tai Chi students, and other martial artists should be familiar with this concept).

This week too (yesterday night), I also got a taste of what to expect from a sword test. Patterns, of course, but also blowing out a candle with a sword. In order to blow out a candle with a sword, one must develop excellent technique and create wind with the weapon. This is a concept that is very important to any kind of strike in martial art. This recalls to my mind my taekwondo instructor (one of the best!) saying that we should hear the wind every time we punch or strike. After seeing the candle blowing yesterday, I decided to have a go at it. Even if I don’t blow the candle out with the sword, at the very least it will let me know how good my technique is and be good practice for me!

In doing this sword practice (today!), I decided to try blowing out the candle with an empty hand technique from taekwondo. This I thought much more than breaking concrete would be a very good test of my martial arts abilities. So sitting on both knees and leaning over slightly, I started doing knife hand techniques passing over the candle flame. Now, this is tricky because you have to make sure you do not exhale sharply and blow out the candle with your breath! As a taekwondo student, I got used to doing my kiap (Korean for “yell”) while doing techniques, but could not while trying to blow the candle out with my hand. All I could do was control my breathing through my nose. To my amazement, eventually I blew out the candle with my knife hand strike! Yay! I was a little stunned and happy. “Wouldn’t my instructor be proud?!” I tried this again with a standing candle (the first one was a tea light), and did it again. A third try today did the same thing.

So, now I know I can blow a candle out with a knife hand strike. Next, I’ll have to do that in less tries (I lost count but I think it was around 10 tries) and of course, I will have to do this with a sword! Thinking I will need roughly one month of sword practice…

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and “kickmeister”
Brigid’s Flame

P.S. On a theoretical note, all martial arts deal with developing and controlling internal energy through practice. It is good control of energy that allows a martial artist to accomplish some amazing feats.

MM,

This week I have updated my website again, Brigid’s Flame.

There is now a new design for the site and the site is better organized. One should be able to find one’s way around easily.

Hopefully, in the near future I will be adding more content to the site itself. So far, I have been primarily Reiki focused, but that is not the focus of the site overall.

So, please don’t forget to check out my website every so often.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
Brigid’s Flame

P.S. Many, many thanks to my sweetheart, Nathan Simpson, for helping me out this week!

http://images.quizilla.com/U/uselessmelody/1055891791_entslostem.gif

Lost Emily
“You are Lost Emily!! You prefer to stay “lost”, you are a loner and do your own thing.”

Which Emily Strange are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That is definitely me!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress and Emily Strange’s doppelganger
http://www.brigidsflame.com/

MM,

Summer is now upon us – more for some than others apparently.

I woke up today around noon to the fire alarm blaring and someone yelling from outside, “If anyone has a cell phone, call 911. Your building’s on fire.” I quickly got dressed, went out on the balcony and looked up to see smoke rising from the top. A huge cloud of dark grey smoke. Wondering what to do I came back inside and looked around for my three cats. In the distance, the sound of the sirens from fire trucks came closer. I went back outside again to see a fire marshal checking the building and heard her yell, “You got flame.” Lucky for me, she saw me watching her and waved at me to get out of the building. So I darted back inside and grabbed one cat (Dove), put him in the carrier, grabbed another one (the littlest female, Pixie), put her in the carrier with her dad, and tried to get the last one, Poupon. Of course she was non-cooperative. I chased her out from under the bed, but she jumped on the window sill and then onto my desk shelves. By this time, I could already smell the smoke from the fire 6 floors above. Not sure how long it would take to get her to cooperate and not quite sure how fast the fire might spread, I had to leave her and after closing the balcony door, quickly left the apartment with the other two cats in the carrier.

I took the stairway down of course. Only two flights, lucky me being on the third floor. I was about to head out the back door, but noticed charred pieces of whatever lying on the ground outside and no firepeople there. I quickly turned and went the other way out the front door. Walked over to the sidewalk to rest a bit and get my bearings. Then one of the firemen came over and asked that I move to the other side. I quickly mentioned I had one more cat in my apartment.

Once across the street to a safe spot, I put the carrier down and checked on the two cats inside. They weren’t happy but they were safe. Feeling bad about leaving my other cat inside still, I looked at the building carefully. It looked like the fire hadn’t spread very far (it was on the top floor and as everyone knows fire tends to rise), so chances are with the firepeople here so fast it wouldn’t get to the third floor where my poor Poupon was likely cowering under the bed telling herself to find a “happy place”. Still, I felt bad about leaving her behind.

(Incidentally, one girl was standing on her 7th floor balcony still. She didn’t look panicked, but apparently she needed help getting out as she appeared a few minutes later escorted by two firemen who quickly got her on a stretcher and into a standing ambulance. Aside from coughing and probably being in a mental shock, she appeared to be fine.)

Next, I called Nathan at his work. I figured he probably would want to know what was going on. By this time, it looked as if the fire was being contained. The dark grey smoke dissipated and it looked as if a few firepeople came back down already. I told Nathan what was happening and that it looked like everything was fine, but I was feeling a bit nervous. Being the sweetheart that he is, he decided to come back and comfort me.

I told him that I left Poupon upstairs and was feeling bad about it. Of course he being rational said she’s probably okay. The fire didn’t spread down. Granted I knew this, but still it felt better to hear it from someone else. Eventually, some of the fire trucks started to head out. So, about an hour after leaving my apartment people started heading back into the building. Nathan and I followed suit. On the way in, just in front of the main doors was charred remains of what was once a stove and oven. Speculating has it that someone left the stove on with something on the burner. That someone is not going to have a nice time coming home later. What a mess! One would hope most of the damage was smoke damage and none of their personal stuff got barbecued.

Once Nathan and I got upstairs, I sent him to check on Poupon who was of course still under the bed and I let the other two cats out of the carrier. Dove decided he wanted to check out the place to make sure things were okay. I don’t think he quite realizes that there was a fire 6 floors up. Pixie however is a bit traumatized. She decided jumping up on the kitchen cabinets into the top corner would be safe for her. As I type, I believe she is still there. Not only was there this awful noise earlier, but I had to pick her up and shuffle her into the carrier and take her outside. Still feeling bad about not being able to get Poupon out, but at least I know now she’s okay.

There are some remarkable “coincidences” (btw, I don’t really believe in coincidences) surrounding this event today. One, summer solstice was on Tuesday and I lit some candles that night since I could not make it out to Sabbat in the park. Two, we are celebrating the Sabbat tonight with my study group. Three, Nathan was just writing on his blog about Chinese mythology of foxes and fire maybe an hour before the fire started . Seems that maybe there’s just too much energy going on about Sun and fire today.

Maybe it’s time for some water energy, at least enough to balance the fire energy.

Brigid, goddess of healing springs and well, I petition you today for some cooling healing water energy!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
http://www.brigidsflame.com/

P.S. Life lesson for today: pet owners, especially cat owners, should definitely have a plan to save your precious four-footed friends!

MM,

Yes, I know this blog has been quiet as of late. It’s partly because, like everyone else, I need time to myself. It’s also partly because I haven’t had time to write. So there… that’s my excuse.

Lately, I’ve been busy keeping up with my workout schedule and doing taekwondo. So much for me still to learn. Technically, I could have received 2nd dan this year, but decided last year after receiving my first dan that I needed to let my knee do some more healing and that it wasn’t worth sacrificing my knee to rush to get 2nd dan (besides, how good will I be with a bad knee?). However, it is only recently that my knee has felt pretty good so I’ve been training hard like before (but paying attention to when my knee tells me I’ve had enough). Either way, I guess I’m getting ready for next year really early! I’m just NOT going to blow out my knee again in the process.

I’ve also been doing more meditation than usual (part of my training towards Wiccan Priesthood). So far the meditation has been interesting. It has always helped me in some way such as clearing out my thoughts or focussing more on one thing. I’ve also used meditation to help me with my taekwondo patterns (“poomse” in Korean). It’s almost as if I have a little video camera in my head, I can see myself three dimensionally moving, doing my techniques. I discovered early on that this helps me train my muscles to do what I want them to do. For me, it seems to be a process of if I can see it in my mind, I can do it physically (and sometimes much better than before).

Today’s meditation has motivated me again. Hence, me writing on this blog today! Hehe. I feel quite energized and awake today and focussed on the things I need to do. Though I’m sure at some point, my head will get all cluttered again. Ah, it’s just the way of things. I’ll just do more meditation.

I guess there are two messages I’m trying to convey in this blog entry today. One, meditation is really good for motivation and is energizing. Two, meditation can enhance martial arts.

So, okay, can’t wait for the concrete next year. Bring it on!

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
http://www.brigidsflame.com/

Dog is god spelt backwards? Evil is live spelt backwards? Expanding on the that, devil is lived spelt backwards?

Hm… something to think about.

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
http://www.brigidsflame.com/

Take the quiz: “what celebrity bootay do you have? (girls only)”

Beyonce
Youre sexy and know how to shake what your momma gave you!

* Beyonce (You scored 4)
* J-Lo (You scored 0)
* Paris Hilton (You scored 0)
* Britney Spears (You scored 0)
* Lindsay Lohan (You scored 1)

BB,
Cassandrah
Your local webmistress
http://www.brigidsflame.com/