Iaido seminar! (japanese swordsmanship)

So I went to an Iaido seminar this last weekend in NY. This first picture was just a cool photo that was a little messed up but I loved it. THe seminar was a blast and just what I needed to rekindle my interests. I've been a little flat in the martial arts category lately I think because it's always the same 3 of us and I needed to see more people. WELL this was it! I went to this seminar and for this whole weekend I did nothing but Iaido! What a RUSH!!! NOW I remember why I love this stuff.



The energy in the room was unbelieveable and the guys from our dojo are a blast to hang out with. Also being the only girl in this area to train it's nice to see some other women practicing what is mainly a man's sport in this area. It's powerful to know that some of the high ranking sensei are women.



I didn't test but the judges were looking a little overwhelming.



Kato sensei was the main sensei running the seminar. He holds the rank of Hachidan (8th degree black belt). WOW!



This guy was unbelieveable and a real inspiration. The picture isn't that great but I bet you can figure out that he has no use of his left arm and he has a fake right leg yet he can still wield a sword like nobody's business. Kudos to him!!!



Until next time... HAVE FUN!!! Peace!

where's the BAL.... OUCH!!!

OK so I was playing soccer last night and was too lazy to put my contacts in before the game (I hate my contacts) and well got hit in the face twice by the same player with the same ball in the same eye! I got a little bit of a shiner this morning but thankfully with some ice and ibuprofen my eye is now human again though a little beat up. check out these pics I took this morning! I'm re-thinking this soccer thing now!

What does my name mean?

What Ana Means

You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

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Willow's Nursery

So I'm painting a mural on my friend April's nursery wall for her coming soon...Baby Willow. I spent a large part of the afternoon/evening over there yesterday getting it all underway. It was LOADS of fun and is mostly done but I'm going to be putting lots of little things to discover into it like bugs and caterpillars and the such. Maybe a parrot or other birds. I am not sure why they are jungle animals with a palm tree but this happens to be the decor of most nursery jungle themed things and this was the picture she downloaded. I hope Willow has fun with it. Now Michael (big brother) has to choose what he wants on his wall for us to do. Drop me a note and let me know what you think and give me suggestions on things I should add for Willow to discover.

HOW LONG???

So on with my training for the triathlon. not long to go now! My Iaido class was cancelled today because my sensei went to maryland for a seminar so I figured I'd torture myself with a spinning class and then do some lifting since I'm still working with my personal trainer too. Well I bought a gel seat to help me with the bicycle butt which by the way is helping immensely so I go to class at 8:05 (it started at 8:15 but you have to set up your bike and warm up first) and put my gel seat cover on and set my bike up. got my feet into the cages on the pedals and started to warm up. I was surprised there weren't that many people there but this was a new teacher so I was excited. I planned on trying to make it through the full hour now with the gel seat as I've been leaving class early due to misery with bicycle butt. The bikes start to fill... everyone has those clip shoes and fancy bike gear but I'm not intimidated till the instructor starts chatting along saying "ok everyone are we ready? This is a 2 hour class today so I hope you have your water" TWO HOURS!!! I thought she was joking... I was the only one giggling so I asked her..... "did you just say 2 hours?" My shock was obvious because she asked me if I'd ever been to sunday spinning class which of course I hadn't because I was always in Iaido class. This being only my 3rd spinning class ever I was instantly HORRIFIED! She asked me if I was new to this and I said I was VERY new and everyone stared at me many with a creepy grin. I was determined now. I was going to do as much of this class as I could. She suggested that I leave and cool down after an hour. I planned on it. After all that was really my plan to begin with. I was then thinking THANK GOD I ate a banana and had a protein shake before class because I needed the energy. Usually I don't eat before a morning workout because I like to kick start my metabolism with fat burning aerobic and anerobbic exercises. Well Long story short... I MADE IT THE FULL 2 HOURS!! my butt was sore but not horrible but I chose to hold off on the weight lifting today. I can do it tomorrow and by the time class was over I WAS STARVED as I definately spent every ounce of energy I had. I felt great and there were 2 other girls along with the instructor that when class was over asked me how I was feeling and I amazingly said GREAT! they inquired why I was there and why I didn't leave at 1 hour and I explained that I was training for a triathlon to which 2 of the girls said they wanted to do the timberman too! HOW COOL! I took myself out for an omlet at the red arrow and allowed myself the hashbrowns (needed a little carb to get that protein into my muscles). I'll be sore tomorrow but wow was that cool. OH also I was informed that the workout today was likely longer than the 16 miles that I will have to bike for the triathlon. I'm well on my way!!!