rifa:
Malcolm X: Our History Was Destroyed By Slaverysee how little we get taught about history - I never had any idea why Malcolm X used the ‘X’.
How come I didn’t know this
Also that crusty old white man called the named ‘gifted’. Jesus.
I really did just have a woman pull this with me and my twin the other day. To her credit, she just assumed my sister and I were of Irish lineage, but as an older white woman she definitely grew up in this tumultuous time and if she’d had ears and the wherewithal to be listening with them she would have not exclaimed so merrily nor so loudly about something that’s not even MINE. My sis and I didn’t really wanna break it to her that our last name is a slaver’s name who decided our island was a pretty one and set up shop there as he ran away from or set up fields for the power of the British as they took it. How could I condense that? You can’t, not in the twenty seconds it takes for a cashier interaction with other people in line.
It was just disheartening. Like, what a tone deaf thing to compliment us on.
Sensei had something interesting to share last class. To paraphrase what he said it was: “The quickest way to defeat yourself is to think of all you have to do. If you try to do a hundred push-ups you may become intimidated and you will fail. Instead do only one push-up and do it 100 times. Overcome one struggle at a time.”
I’m sure it isn’t a new or unique concept but it’s always good to hear it again and again. I think we all kinda know this, but we forget sometimes and become overwhelmed, I certainly do. It was especially helpful for me to hear and I’m really glad he said it.
I’ll be conducting a short self defense workshop at this on Saturday. One of my amazing students hooked me up with this opportunity to share some out-of-the-box street smarts, and I’m looking forward to it!
I can hit a wall bag all day. I can hit a wooden dummy with a thin layer of padding on it hundreds of times. It will get uncomfortable sometimes, but it never bangs up my hands to the point where you would notice the next day.
But when I run a “boxing tape” and hit a heavy bag in the same way, with the same fist, my knuckles get skinned up and feel like they were dragged across the business end of velcro.
All this means is I need to improve at hitting a heavy bag like it’s a wall bag.
VTE is taking a strategic retreat. Classes will now be conducted on
SATURDAYS ONLY, until we have enough students to support a more full
schedule. The classes will be from 5-7pm, and will be $15 per class or
$50 for the full month. RSVP at http://www.meetup.com/Wing-Chun-Evolution-Bellingham/