The Wedding and Fighting Harder

My first experience as a bridesmaid was an absolute success. Most of the day was spent getting ready in a hotel room with all the other bridesmaids and the mother of the bride (after a little family breakfast), then we headed to the chapel for the ceremony. I didn’t wear waterproof mascara and was pretty sure I would be fine, but there were some moments, especially when the poem at the bottom of this post was read, where it was a very near miss. It was definitely an incredibly emotional day.

After some pictures, we walked across town for the reception, which was a really great party with new friends, old friends and family. I didn’t really leave the dance floor much, and I had a wonderful time.

On Sunday, I accidentally caught up on some much needed sleep, then spent some time with my grandparents, and then catching up with Christine in the spa. I think she now understands why I have to come back to Montreal so often.

On Monday I drove back to Toronto just in time for the kids class at 4 points. These kids are the absolute cutest and it is awesome watching them learn the techniques together and helping each other.

I stayed for both adult classes, as I do, and everyone told me that I had improved and was trying harder. Most of it is because I am shutting off my brain, that usually assesses the situation and resigns itself. Like if I knew I couldn’t prevent a sweep, I would let it happen and brace myself for the fall rather than fight it. If I knew I wasn’t strong enough to sweep someone or submit them or whatever, I wouldn’t even try. This time I didn’t give up, I kept trying, even if I knew it wasn’t going to work. At one point we did the guard pass game we usually have the kids play, where the person on the bottom has the person on the top in their guard, and the person on top tries to break free. The person on the bottom just had to keep their guard closed and either sweep the person on top, or use a submission. This activity gave me two things. One, I saw how hard the guys fight when they aren’t trying to be careful with me, and how unbreakable they are when a competition is involved. Two, I kept fighting. Technically, as soon as he swept me it was over and there was nothing I could do because I had already lost. In a roll though, you would keep going, so I kept resisting and fighting. Probably not useful for the guy who had defeated me and still had to keep going (for like a second or two), but at least I wasn’t giving up and resigning myself without trying (when my brain and the reality of the situation told me I had already lost).

On Tuesday morning I worked on my kicks and the hip toss throw, before breaking down another wushu choreography. It was a lot easier than a few weeks ago, which can be because this choreography is easier, or because we’re getting better. I obviously choose to believe the second option.

I did the lunchtime jiu-jitsu class, then worked until the NOGI class that evening, where I continued to roll harder and fight instead of giving up.

On Wednesday I spent the day with Ayisha, then helped out with the kids class, which is really helping me out as well. I am way better at drills and techniques and all kinds of things. Which is really good, because Ayisha has been training more lately, and having her as a partner is great in the sense that she knows all the things, but it also means that she knows when I am doing something wrong, or half-assing a technique, and she does not let this happen. When my guard kept opening during one move, she decided to have me work on my guard, by hanging on to her while she was standing, with my legs around her waist, and doing sit ups. She also had me get into her guard in mid-air rather than on the ground. Which I eventually used in a roll. She also had me practicing back rolls a bunch of times so I wouldn’t be so apprehensive about doing them when it was a part of the technique. So she is making me work, but I am learning a lot and getting so much better.

During the rolls that night I successfully used half-guard escapes, a really cool takedown sweep and an omoplata (on people who weren’t just letting me do them), which was super exciting for me. Steak night was the perfect ending to a great day.

On Thursday I went to Midtown Med Spa for a lash lift and tint, which was awesome. It’s a quarter of the time it takes for lash extensions, but it’s still super pretty. My lashes basically look like I’m wearing mascara, but also like I have a million more of them, because they aren’t all clumped together.

The rest of the day was spent working on the new Summer Camp 4 Points is launching 🙂

On Friday morning I worked on the Wushu choreography again, trying to perfect it rather than just get the general moves right, and then got to practice punches and esquives with some expert advisement.

I had lunch to catch up with a friend who was in town from Montreal, then drove to Montreal and had supper with JF. I’m in Montreal a little longer this time, so I am trying to do all the things and see all the people 🙂

“I do not want to have you fill the empty parts of me. I want to be full on my own. I want to be so complete I could light a whole city, and then I want to have you. Cause the two of us combined could set it on fire.” – Rupi Kaur