Kata, Part 2: The Art of Slaying Dragons
Those of us who train in martial arts and have kata as part of our style know that a fight is never going to look exactly like the set of choreographed moves we're taught. It is just impossible.
Yes, we work though different combinations in order to build muscle memory and proficiency.
We practice until we no longer need to think about what is next and our body just does it.
It has become smart.
When do I see the brilliance of my martial arts body? Usually, as something goes rolling off of a table and I catch it.
Or when my foot appears under a falling glass so that it breaks the fall, and not the glass. My hand shoots out right in time to get between the baby’s head and the corner of the coffee table.
When do I see the brilliance of my martial arts body? Usually, as something goes rolling off of a table and I catch it. My foot appears under a falling glass so that it breaks the fall, and not the glass. My hand shoots out right in time to get between the baby’s head and the corner of the coffee table.
All super useful skills. Skills at times when there is absolutely no time to think, “Hey! I need to stop that from happening! What should I do? Oh yeah, put my hand out!”
So, the different Katas prepare us for different scenarios fighting different numbers of attackers. The more the merrier. The more practice, the more combinations, the better chance I will have the skills will be accessible to me at the moment I need them.
My battle with sugar, as many of you also understand, is much more complicated than just “stop eating sugar.” If you were to tell me that I never could eat artichokes again, while I might be sad, because I really love them, there just isn’t that much that needs to be done other than not buying them and not eating them.
Sugar is different. 1) It is in just about every processed food whether you want to believe it or not. 2) It comes in different shapes and forms, which while they may work really hard to convince you that some forms are better, they really aren’t. 3) It makes things taste better and finally, at least for me 4) It is in all of the foods that make me happy; ice cream, marshmallows, gummy worms, and zillions of things that I miss.
So, the dragon slaying played out like this:
A little over a week ago, it was my birthday. Of course, for my BIRTHDAY I can have a bit of sugar. I mean, my dietician is all about having things in moderation and not making anything evil….. blah blah blah.
I asked the chef who was cooking the birthday dinner for me and my kids to be aware of my sensitivities, and he was wonderful. I even got a whole wobbly dessert, my favorite, which was malabi made with Stevia.
He also made a kickass chocolate mousse for the rest of the crowd.
Yes, I tasted it.
The next day, as all of my kids were packing up to go, I asked them to go through the fridge and take everything they would use or eat, because I really did not need anything to stay behind.
And I did not notice that the bucket of chocolate mousse was left in the fridge.
Popped top off. Ooohhhh…..how did this get left here??? Dips finger in mousse for a taste…or two. Closes container.
Popped top off. Ooohhhh…..how did this get left here??? Dips finger in mousse for a taste…or two. Closes container.
Yes. Yummy. Nope. Not going to eat it. Can’t throw it away. What? Why not? Whatever, can’t deal right now. Closes fridge door.
And then the battle of the chocolate mousse began.
Pretty sure many of you can imagine.
Bottomline, the next day, I flushed the contents of the bucket down the toilet (can’t give it to the local animals because chocolate is not good for them) and washed out the container without a single lick.
IPPON.
