Tourneys, trips, musings.

I've got a few things to report, such as the Houston International Martial Arts Tournament, my recent trip to Pharr, TX, and other stuff that I'm sure will come to me as I write. Let's get to it!

Last weekend, August 3-5, 3 members of JMMA competed in the Houston International Martial Arts Tourney in Stafford, TX. Amy J. competed in Women's Beg. Staff, and Women's Beg. Mantis, Mark D. competed in Men's Beg. Staff and Men's Beg. Mantis, and little Jillian B. competed in Girls Beg. Mantis (age 4-6). Gold medalists all! The main thing I wanted to see in their performances was authority in their movements, as well as decent technique, speed, and power, and I was not disappointed in the least. I was extremely proud of all of them.

We had one more fellow who competed the next day, Charlie B. He gave a great account of himself in the Continuous Sparring, and came away with a Silver medal. He's been working his tail off during the last couple of weeks to prepare, and now he's looking forward to our next tourney in Septemeber.

Sifu Flores rolled in with his crew on Friday morning at about 7am. That man is crazy! They left the Valley at around 1am Friday, and drove all night. I met them at my school, where they rested for a couple of hours before heading off to Chinatown to see the sights. I'm not sure how Israel survived without crashing, but I figure he was on his third or fourth wind by that time. When they returned, I showed them to my mother-in-law's house, where they were staying for the weekend. I reminded them that we had our meeting at 6pm, and we were going to go to Pho Mai afterwards for dinner.

6pm...no Israel. 6:30pm...no Israel. 7pm...we ended our meeting early and went to eat since our stomachs were all grumbling, and no Israel. They finally did show up at around 8pm, having passed out at Mom-in-law's. I think one of them had even fallen asleep on the floor. We had a rousing good time at Pho Mai's, so much so that I think we annoyed some of the other patrons (sorry about that!). Then we all said goodnight and planned to meet up again in the morning.

Saturday morning, a handful of us met up at IHOP for breakfast. Jokes were flying, as usual, and we had a grand old time. Afterwards, we met up at my school and practiced, joked, and waited for a few others to join us before heading to the tournament. We skipped the Master's Demo and waited to get there until they were checking everyone in at 1pm or so. Everything was running a bit late, so we found some seats and watched all the kung fu folks around us.

I had forgotten until recently how much I enjoyed these tournaments. This time was even more fun because we had such a huge crew from our school and Israel's school in attendance. It made the waiting bearable, even enjoyable.

Some of the highlights from the tournament:

Larry having Jonathan "demonstrate" a wristlock...that ended up by a pretty girl that Jonathan had his eye on.

Charlie not quite understanding where to stand for the sparring picture.

5 words that struck terror in all our hearts: Lime-Green Leopard-Print Thong.

Judo Dog conversation that kept turning up at odd times:
"You've got a gun."
"What? This?"
"Yeah. That!"
"Well, I'm not gonna use it."

That kid's drunken form...impressive!

The empty hand vs. spear form. Most impressive!

Jonathan B. fulfilling his Green Belt requirement by asking a pretty girl for her email address...and getting it.

There was much more fun and hilarity, but my memory banks are full.

It was a fabulous weekend, and I'm already looking forward to the next tourney in Austin.

More recently, I drove down to Pharr to do a little groundwork with Israel's students. His kung fu is quite strong, but they are still new to grappling and groundwork, so that's where I come in. I actually managed to leave on time for once, since I had packed the night before, and I enjoyed a leisurely drive down to South Texas. It was me, Kelly Clarkson, Cathy Dennis, and a few other gorgeous ladies who all want me to spank them. Again, it was a nice drive.

After watching Israel's Junior Class, we got right to work and I went over several fundamentals of grappling, including shrimping, reversals, getting up from the ground, and a couple of submissions. I rolled around with a couple of his tough guys afterwards, and it was fun. Then it was off to Taqueria del Tio for dinner. (He's everybody's uncle!)

The next day, Israel and I got up early and traded forms for a bit. I swear, he earned the nickname Flash Drive this weekend...he may be young, but his mind is like a hard drive...it stores friggin' everything! I was happy to be able to help him with a few things, and he did the same for me. Lunch quickly followed, and then I was on my way home. Honestly, it was the most relaxing trip I've taken down there, and I look forward to doing it again soon. And on the way back, it was me and the girls again!

Today, I'm back on track, eating right and working out. I've decided to start my days with a jog to the park and some tai chi at least three times a week. I feel a need to be more active and practice my kung fu more often so that I keep those routines in order, in addition to the other training I'm already doing.

While I was at the park, sitting on one of the picnic tables and enjoying a quiet moment, I watched a navy blue van slowly circle a far parking lot, then pull out into the main drive of the park, drive to one end, turn around, and go back to the parking lot. Suspicious. I watched it for awhile, wondering what mischeif was afoot, and then I noticed that a young teenager was behind the wheel and a larger person was in the passenger seat. I also noticed that turn signals were used at every change of direction in the totally empty parking lot. This was nothing suspicious...it was a driving lesson! A huge grin split my face when I realized what was going on, and I remembered my Mom taking me to the Brazoria County Fairgrounds in her blue Mustang. A girl that I had a crush on happened to live across the street, and I recall how thrilled I was to be driving, and how I hoped that she might peek out a window and see me. Wow, I hadn't thought of that in a very, very long while.

I looked down at my hands then, and I saw the rough callouses that my recent training had provided me. Over the years, they had become calloused, then smoothed out as my training had changed...calloused again...then smooth again. I wondered how many times that process had occurred. I thought about my nearly 40 years on earth and how much I had experienced, and how much I have not. It seemed like an awfully long time.

As I watched that 15 or 16 year old kid carefully driving that van around, I realized that I can still feel those same emotions of excitement, anticipation, hope, and optimism as I did back then. I train almost every day. I watch what I eat, I'm healthy as a horse, I love my job, and I have a fabulous, wonderful family. Life is good...but it's not even close to being over! There are things to do, places to go, books to read, movies to see, skills to learn....wow!

The clear blue sky spread out above me, beautiful, and I felt ridiculously happy to be me. I'm loving my life today.