Sparring on Saturday really did not go at all the way I was intending, I got rocked. This was my first attempt at sparring and prior to this I had only done touch hands with a few people. I was not sure what to expect and I was a little worried that I would not be aggressive enough. I watched one match and then Sifu put me up against a guy named Ryan who is a red sash, about my height and probably 50 pounds heavier. We start the match and being inside my headgear is much different than what I expected. It kind of gives my tunnel vision and it is pretty hard to see. We exchange a few blows and then he comes outside with this blow that put the back of his fist against the side of my head, right in the ear hole in my headgear. This was not a light blow, I kept my feet and we reset up and he does it again but this time he turns his hand so its an open handed palm and it fucked my whole world up. I was dizzy and I was having a hard time keeping my feet, I knew I was done.
I have a seat and Sifu has the same guy fight Jorim who is also a red sash. This guy is hitting pretty hard and then he catches Jorim with a palm to the face and you see Jorim's head snap back. Sifu stops the fight and tells Ryan that he is done for the day. Sparring isn't about hitting as hard as you can, it is about working technique at a faster pace that will communicate some force but not be staggering. You have to be able to maintain control when sparring to keep people from getting hurt.
After the class was over Sifu spoke with me and let me know that he put me with Ryan because he is known for not "amping out" in his first match. He thought it would be a good match for my first ever sparring match. Other people in the school have all told me that he has had problems with control for quite a while. It kind of left a bad taste in my mouth as far as sparring goes. It really made me look at myself and I don't know if I am ready for sparring. I enjoy Kung-Fu for the technique and it seems the majority of that goes out the window when you spar, then again it might just be me. I am not sure if I am going to attend the other sparring classes yet. I didn't go to class last night either because since Saturday my ear has been closed up. I don't think its because of those hits I could just be getting sick but its throwing me off a little bit. Hopefully it opens up pretty soon, I HATE when my ears are closed.
I joined a poker training site called Deuces Cracked. It is a site that makes videos and offers coaching a lot like Cardrunners and Lego Poker and all the other poker video sites that are popping up everywhere. The thing that I like about DC is that it will have multiple videos dedicated to a certain topic, so more like a mini-series. Cardrunners for the most part was always the same information, be in position, be aggressive. There were gems of wisdom here and there but you couldn't count on it really. I am watching a couple of different series on DC one of them being on pot limit Omaha, a game that I am familiar with but by no means any kind of good player. The site is also very good because they offer the option to download the videos so you can watch them on your Ipod. You can't do that on Cardrunners the last time I checked which is a huge deal to me since the firewall at work won't let me access the site. I will be watching a PLO video on my Ipod here in a little bit.
NLH(no limit hold'em) has been good to me the past few days. I had a 3 buy in day on Sunday and a 5 buy in day yesterday. I think that watching a video before I play is putting me into a more solid state of mind and is helping my play. I am even for the month in Omaha we will see how it goes and I will keep you updated. I paid for the poker tracker Omaha edition so I can keep better tabs on it. Obviously, my earlier goal of being at 25NL probably isn't going to happy by April first. I am OK with that and know that I will make it there eventually.
I watched this movie the other night and I was blown away. I like the majority of the Coen brothers' movies and this was no exception. I don't want to give anything away, but I really like how they didn't feel the need to ruin the ending like a lot of film makers in the U.S. do. I highly recommend it to everyone, I don't care what your usual tastes in movies are.
I was going to go to a Mavericks game tonight with Melissa, Kevin and his girl Emily. I was in the process of trying to get the O.K. to leave early and take a short lunch. I was getting a lot of resistance in this and its kind of irritating because after 6 we are dead anyway. Melissa then called me and let me know that Bella was having another seizure thing. She has had one before where her whole body goes completely rigid and she passes out and pukes a lot. It wouldn't be a good idea to leave her in the crate all night so we are not going. I was excited about the game because I have not ever been before, but there is always next time.
Tomorrow Melissa and I are going to drop Bella off for her check up and then we are going to go visit her Grandparents up in Gainsville. I don't have a problem going up there I just wish it was a little closer. All that driving makes for a long day and then I will go to Kung-Fu after that, doesn't really seem like a day off. They are very cool people though so it is really not a big deal.
Well I think that is all for now. I am about to head to lunch.
Until later.
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