Krav Maga
Wednesday night I had to get out of the house after being cooped up for two days with a "cool" and no construction workers to amuse me. Plus I was supposed to be copyediting a book on witchcraft, and I just wasn't in the mood. So I headed out first to Krav Maga.Krav Maga is a self-defense program based on the Israeli army's self-defense program. It teaches you how to fight for your life. I've been taking classes since October, in which I've learned how to get out of headlocks and chokes and how to fend off a punch or a knife. I'm also learning how to punch properly, though I still get embarrassed watching myself shadowbox in the mirror.
James, the owner and main instructor, is a really cool guy. He teaches kids and adults and knows exactly how to motivate people to improve. He uses members of the class to demostrate what drill he wants us to do, and the one time he did an elbow strike on my chest, I thought my nipple might fall off (and that was when he hit the pad I was holding against my chest!). I doubt I'll ever hit anyone that hard, but I can dream, can't I?
I've wanted to learn how to fight for years, ever since I started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I was never all that interested in traditional martial arts, although it's great to watch Jackie Chan or Michelle Yeoh in the movies. I wanted to fight like a street fighter.
Teenagers have their gansta rap lyrics, and I have Krav Maga, I guess. We're all looking for a way to be powerful. I used to get that urge out by reading adventure stories or watching James Bond movies--but I wanted to be Bond. The only Bond girl I ever really liked was the one in For Your Eyes Only. She was tough and sad all at once.
Most of the time, the women in Krav Maga train with other women. I'd prefer to train with men, since I'm most likely to be attacked by a man, but that's not going to be as useful to the men in most cases. I go to this class to learn to fight, but I also want to be a good trainer for my partner. One time I trained with an instructor named Bar-el (I have no idea how it's spelled). I have to confess he scared me a little. Maybe it was the look in his eyes or the way he held himself, but I figured that having him put me in a headlock would be painful. And I was right. It's important for the trainer to make you feel that you're actually being choked--the adrenaline rush helps produce feelings you would have during an attack. So he cut off my air supply with his forearm around my neck, and he didn't let go when I tried to get out of the headlock--he made me work for it. That was a really good class, but my neck and shoulders were sore for days afterward. During the training, he said to me once, "You're strong," which is, of course, the one thing every woman in a self-defense class wants to hear. I think he knew that, and I appreciated his saying that. I wasn't so afraid of him afterward.
***
After class, I went home and showered. Then I headed out to the mall for some Rubio's fish tacos and shopping. I eat Rubio's once in a while. I like the breaded fish and the sauce, but I don't like all the cabbage. Sometimes it upsets my stomach. Then I went to Galyan's and bought wrap gloves for boxing, so I won't keep splitting my knuckles and popping a blood vessel by the last knuckle when we do punching drills in Krav Maga. I talked to a saleswoman at Ann Taylor Loft for a while about my construction woes, and then I felt guilty about not asking her about the problems she had with remodeling. So I finally headed to Borders and bought 3 Lindor balls (milk, dark, and mint chocolate) to make myself feel better. There's not much chocolate can't cure.
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Thursday night Todd and I went out for Indian food. It's my favorite food because it tastes warm and spicy--the way love should be. Then we went to Sweet Buddy's Roo's for ice cream. One of Todd's former coworkers started that store and named it after his kids. It's an old-fashioned ice cream parlor--they make the ice cream there, and it's goooooood.
posted by Price of Silence @ 9:44 AM
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