Frustration, martial arts, and school

[draconis]

I wish people could make up their minds, and actually *stick to* a commitment...

I've been asked to come up to upstate New York and teach a martial arts seminar. I talked to the head of the hosting school, and he said, "Let's set the seminar for October 1st.... I am not sure what my schedule will be like then, but it will now have to be planned around October 1st."

To me, that sounds pretty definite.

Unfortunately, it seems that his wife committed them to something for that weekend, and hadn't told him, so now he's wanting to re-schedule, probably to early November. Considering that my school here in Nashville is hosting Grandmaster Dillman the second weekend of November, that leaves only the first weekend. Well, we shall see what he comes back with.


I've also been told that my instructor wants me and the other Nidan (2nd degree black belt) to be ready for our 3rd degree by next spring/summer. I believe he also wants us to select and perform a pressure-point knockout for Grandmaster Dillman at the November seminar.

And speaking of knockouts, I'm pleased to report that my "anti-knockout armor" is still quite secure ::knocks on wood:: I happened to mention to my instructor that *no one* had *ever* been able to do a pressure-point knockout on me, and that in fact there had only been two occasions when I'd even gotten the anticipated responses from pressure point manipulations. He seemed to take this as a challenge ::G:: He asked me what had happened on those two occasions, and decided that he could use that info to do a knockout on me.

Nope. ;-)

Assuming you're doing things correctly (selecting the right points, using the right angle/direction/method to activate them, actually being on the point instead of next to it, etc), the more points you use the farther "out" someone will go, up to and including death. For most people, using 3 points will make them wobbly on their feet. Some folks will go completely out from 3 points, and most folks will go out if you use 4 points. 5 points or more, and you could be visiting with SOMEONE WHO TALKS LIKE THIS....

3 points -- nothing
4th point -- nothing
5th point -- literally microscopic reaction, lasting a fraction of a second. Made me blink - once.

We stopped there. ::G::

I have a few ideas about why I'm not susceptible, but not much way to test most of them, so I guess we'll never know.

Oh, well... so long as it keep working, I'm happy!


On another note, thank heavens this semester is almost over! One more week, then I get a break. Of course, that means that this week is "Finals Week," with all the fun and games normally associated with that... like having ~17 - 25 pages of papers, due at various times between tonight and midnight next Friday, plus 2 quizzes, plus the reading material that goes with all of that -- and that's for one class. The other class is actually fairly easy, especially by comparison -- one more test and one more "mini-essay", and if those go well enough, I can skip the (comprehensive) final exam if I choose. Gee, I wonder what I'd choose... ::G::

Comments

*blink*

[seferin.livejournal.com]

Ok, no reaction aside... how is that different than that trick Houdini had, about getting punched in the stomach? The one that got him killed?

Re: *blink*

[jcbdragon.livejournal.com]

As I understand it, Houdini would tense the muscles to "set" them against the incoming blow -- just like anyone else tightening up their stomach makes it hurt less if they get hit there. I seem to remember that the incident that resulted in his death was from someone hitting him when he wasn't ready. However, I will freely admit that it has been a long time since I looked into that particular story, so I could be mistaken on the details.

What I described isn't a result of any physical action. For some reason that we don't understand, somewhere between 5-10% of the people simply do not respond to pressure point manipulations, energy/chi/aura/etc manipulations, etc. It's not a matter of actively resisting the effects, the effects simply aren't observable.

And at the other end of the spectrum, somewhere between 5-10% of the people respond so strongly that you can practically breathe on them and they drop -- and that's without even eating onions! LOL

Er...

[seferin.livejournal.com]

I meant, why risk it?

Re: *blink*

[alysswolf.livejournal.com]

Houdini died from appendicitis. It's thought that the blow he took to the stomach might have ruptured the appendix, but wasn't the direct cause of death.

Here's an interesting site for Houdini information http://www.foxvalleyhistory.org/houdini/facts.html

We'll just have to wait until he shows up at one of the annual seances aimed at contacting him. ::grin::

[themouseketeer.livejournal.com]

Hugs and sympathies on the committment thing, I am being increasingly frustrated by the guy I am supposed to be working with/for. Zero delegational/people/team leadership skills. So, tell me again what it is you want me to do. No, wait, tell me *for the first time!!!* happily I will be moving on from this assignment soon. ish. Dates yet to be confirmed but there is an end vaguely in sight.

And cool on the pressure points. I am fascinated by everything I hear about it from you. And that is a neat ability to have. Mind, it must be quite a pain for any guy who is trying to *learn* on you. LOL

And big hugs re the fun and games of school. Just another of the reasons why I am happy with the academic qualifications I currently have! Always learning, just don't want to have to *prove* it any more, thank you very much.