|
| Or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the quake...
So the quake happened, and I didn't care. Well, I cared enough to update my facebook status, and be the first among my friends to do so "ahem....FIRST!"
Then, about 10 minutes later, the blackout hit. It was at this time that my family joined together in the living room and chatted to wait out the power outage.
So, what else to talk about but earthquakes? I told them what I found out: Inglewood being the epicenter and the magnitude approximately 5.0. From there my family began to reminisce.
My dad loves to tell stories, and I think I got that from him as well. Here is what he told me:
A quake hit when he was a kid at my grandma's house. He was asleep with his dog beside his bed. Then his dog jumped up on him and woke him up. The dog began whining and chasing her tail on his bed. Bewildered, he stared at this strange act for a couple seconds before the whole house began to sway. Now that house is very old and sits atop a foothill. I can only imagine what that must have felt like.
My next favorite story of his was when he was in college. A quake had hit in the evening, but, like tonight, it was no biggie. It was winter here in California which meant 57 degree weather and everyone bundled up. He had a friend who was from Canada. She laughed at all the spoiled California kids who believed anything below 60 was cold. In response my dad simply asked how she enjoyed the quake the previous night. Her response was one of shock, fear, and disbelief at how no one else seemed to care.
On this note I can relate, as I've met people who are more afraid of tornadoes and other natural disasters than earthquakes. I will touch on this later.
My dad's stories then turned to the quakes that happened during my lifetime. The first was the Whittier Narrows Quake. While he did not mention too much about this particular quake, he did mention the aftershock, which happened 3 days later. This aftershock apparently had its epicenter right in San Gabriel. This was the one the caused the damage to the mission.
Now, all this time I believed this memory to be that of a nightmare. I remember very little, but what my dad told me confirmed that I was not dreaming. Back then my parents and I slept on a futon in our front room. Because the epicenter was so close to our house, my dad describes the quake not so much as shaking but more so as an impact. He said it felt like a giant sledgehammer rammed against the side of the house. I was able to immediately recall the images of that quake, and my dad confirmed what I remembered.
I had nightmares of that quake after that. Images of people running in the streets. A black and white camcorder film image of the quake and the panic of the people. The sounds of bells ringing and ringing constantly. The bells of Mission San Gabriel Arcangel can be heard as far as downtown LA. They fell in this aftershock, and I heard them ringing long after the fact.
The next story was the earthquake that made me fear and respect the quakes of California. It was 1994 and the epicenter was Northridge. I was asleep when, at 4:31 AM, I was awoken by a small rumbling sound. I had no idea what it was, but I was worried. I looked over to Sarah, but it was dark and I couldn't see if she was awake too. Then the real shaking hit. I remember a strong jolt to my left. My dad came in to protect us. While he stood over me, he looked out our window. I saw a green glow splash across his face and I knew something beyond my knowledge had happened outside. I was scared, but I felt protected with my parents in the room.
My dad later told me he witnessed a transformer exploding across the street.
It was after this that I began truly fearing earthquakes. Any slight shaking would send panic down my spine. However, like any true Californian, I grew up and accepted my surroundings.
My stories follow:
The quake that best exemplifies my fear of the quakes occured at my friend Ramone's house. We were both downstairs. I was playing Sonic 3 on his Sega Genesis and he was moving a big box. Why he was moving a box I can't remember, but he was moving it nonetheless. The rumbling sounded and I paused the game. I looked at Ramone as if to say "What are you doing?" Ramone stared up wondering if the sound was because his dad was moving stuff upstairs.
It was then the first shaking occured. Now behind me was a table. Everyone knows you should get under a table in a quake, if a table is accessible. However, this table was very small. Normally, I had to crawl really low and on my belly to get under it. However, once the quake hit, my adrenaline shot through me and I DOVE under that table. What should have taken me a few seconds took me only an instant. Ramone got into a doorway so he was good. I just stayed under that table for a good while amazed at how quick I was, but still shaking from the quake.
The first quake that I actually felt comfortable being in occured in high school. I was writing a large paper on the computer upstairs when it hit, one Saturday afternoon. I felt my chair shake just a bit at first. I stopped typing and stared down, wondering what I had just felt. Then the rocking hit and I put my arms in the air and shouted "WOOOOHOOOO" as if I were Major Kong, from the movie Dr. Strangelove, riding that warhead to his glorious demise. That was the first time I actually ENJOYED a quake.
Last summer gave me the first time I thought rationally during a quake. It was the first time I sat there calm and alert while not getting riled up just because the ground I stood on decided to move. I was in Downtown LA, and that is one place you do NOT want to be in a quake. It was lunchtime and I was with my coworkers in a small bistro for lunch. I felt the Earth rise and slide. It was a unique feeling. I saw the live newscrew on CNN panic and run off camera. Outside, signs were swaying and confusion was in the pedestrians eyes. My instinct screamed to get out. Its rationale being that I was sitting under a 25 storie building and that sucker just might crush me. My mind said to stay calm. There might be falling glass out there and if this building decides to collapse, there's no way I am outrunning it. If it falls, then it falls and I die, simple as that.
THANK GOD of course that it didn't fall and that the quake happened out by Chino.
Well, these are my stories. I had a good time reading it and I hope you enjoyed and/or learned something.
| | |
| sorry...this song from the same damn movie reminds me of emily again lol
What a fool I was, what dominated fool,
to think that you were the earth and the sky,
What a fool I was, What an elevated fool,
What a mutton-headed dote was I!
No, my reverberated friend,
you are not the beginning and the end.
There'll be spring every year without you. England still will be here without you.
There'll be fruit on the tree.
And a shore by the sea.
There'll be crumpets and tea without you.
Art and music will thrive without you. Somehow Keats will survive without you.
And there still will be rain on that plain down in Spain,
even that will remain without you.
I can do without you.
You, dear friend, who taught so well,
You can go to Hartford, Hereford and Hampshire.
They can still rule with land without you.
Windsor Castle will stand without you.
And without much ado we can all muddle through without you.
| | |
| Watching "My Fair Lady" right now. Yah I love musicals....get over it. (I just hate performing in the pit for them)
Anyways....the following song reminded me of what an amazing crush feels like. When you're going to go pick her up for the first time......what I felt like when I first went to Emily's house. *sigh*
lol
ON THE STREET WHERE YOU LIVE
When she mentioned how her aunt bit off the spoon,
She completely done me in.
And my heart went on a journey to the moon,
When she told about her father and the gin.
And I never saw a more enchanting farce
Than that moment when she shouted
"move your bloomin' "....
I have often walked down this street before;
But the pavement always stayed beneath my feet before.
All at once am I Several stories high.
Knowing I'm on the street where you live.
Are there lilac trees in the heart of town?
Can you hear a lark in any other part of town?
Does enchantment pour Out of ev'ry door?
No, it's just on the street where you live!
And oh! The towering feeling
Just to know somehow you are near.
The overpowering feeling
That any second you may suddenly appear!
People stop and stare. They don't bother me.
For there's no where else on earth that I would rather be.
Let the time go by, I won't care if I
Can be here on the street where you live.
| | |
| Sorry I didn't post last week. The majority of attendees for last week
were kids, so I got to play the role of sensei for a while. I got to
critique Ukemi as well as various throws. Yay 
One
thing I love about teaching, despite not being at a dan grade, is that
I can learn at the same time. When I have to recall every little detail
that is needed in throws and ukemi it acts as a refresher course for
me. Little things that I may have forgotten are recalled and I make
note to include them in my own techniques. It's no good to teach it to
kids if I'm not going to learn it myself. The kids are great too,
always having a good time along with the hard work.
Tonight, however, there were quite a few other guys my age and weight. So I got quite the good workout tonight.
We worked on Sumi Gaeshi tonight. It was the first time I ever practiced it so I was excited to learn a new technique. 
My
partner and I were working on executing the throw after getting the
grip and correct footing position. We kinda found out that you could go
one of two ways. His way has him sitting back and rolling me over that
way. My way is sort of rolling over my shoulder (a la ukemi) and
throwing him that way. Both ways work and both lead to different pins.
It was cool because my way lead to a pin that I was never taught, but
it kept him down quite effectively. His way landed him on a mount on
top of me. All he had to do was make sure his legs didn't land in
between me so I couldn't get a half guard on him. We were both pretty
excited. My dad (a sensei as well) taught us a good time to set it up.
If someone is going to grab a high grip you can block, switch arms, and
arm drag him/her into position for the sumi gaeshi. It's effective
because it shocks your opponent for a fraction of a second PLUS they
already gave you forward momentum as they were going for their grip.
Although, like any sacrifice throw, it comes with a high risk. If your
opponent is quick enough it is easily countered. I forget the name of
the throw (tani otoshi????) but it is a quick counter.
During
randori I was pleased with myself at actually giving Sumi Gaeshi a try.
I got countered, but I'm pleased that I was able to set it up. My
randori partner was actually the guy who taught us the sumi gaeshi so
I'm not ashamed that it didn't work. What I AM pleased with is that I
pulled off that triangle choke I talked about two weeks ago on the same
guy  He congratulated me on that and proceeded to choke me out in round two .
OH!!
My stamina is notably improving. I took MUCH less breaks this week and
my breathing is improving. I'm VERY satisfied with that. As soon as I'm
satisfied with my stamina overall I will begin competing. Until then I
gotta start running more and improving my stamina.
Another great workout 
Things to remember from tonight:
-Sumi Gaeshi!! Be quick about it, maybe practice it in a "flying" fashion. Make it all one fluid motion
-Continue to improve stamina. | | |
|
Ahhhhh another great workout!
So
today I feel I learned a lot. The most important thing was the basics
of moving your opponent around and setting up. Like my previous post
reads, my set-up is terrible. Tonight, however, I was taught some
really useful things that showed immediate improvements. Apparently in
the past I was using too much muscle to move my opponents around and
this lead to my weak stamina. Judo really IS the gentle way. This holds
also in moving your opponent around. Keeping the elbows in and simply
using my own weight to move my opponent help to illustrate this point.
I don't have to force anything, like what I used to do. It felt great
realizing this.
We worked on sankaku chokes and pins for newaza.
I also learned some great tips for this move as well. My favorite was
the "switch." Basically if my hold isn't tight enough or I want to
improve my control in sankaku, I just sit up and move my foot closer to
my knee like flipping a switch. Instantly the pressure is turned on. ah I love it.
Downside is I got a major crick in my neck while my partner was practicing on me. Nothing a lil Salon Pas can't fix though.
Mental notes made tonight:
-Make sure I'm not reaching for my sweeps.
-Stay calm and don't let my opponent control me.
-Make sure to get opponent off balance for attacks
-Keep elbows in and grips strong.
 | | |
|
