(no subject)

[msss]

Flamenco was very interesting. Lots of stamping and little wrist-twisting arm movements. It's kinda funny, since the other dance class I'm taking at the moment has hardly any arm or feet movement. I'm sore from wearing heels for an hour though. Karate was one of Steve's hard sessions last night. The ones where we stand around and do very traditional karate - strength, balance, technique (!). The ones that would be fine if we did the work more consistently. I think one of the problems at the club is that lack of consistent work. We'll do strangles, or pressure point holds, or kick boxing for the entire session if Alex feels like it, rather than allocating regular time for kata or sparring. It makes technique fairly patchy if you don't do extra work outside of class. It's not that I think we should do the same thing every class, it's just that there's no regularity in some of the basics. I appreciate that Alex's view of karate is very different to mine, but it's frustrating that there's no follow-up with things we need to know for grading. (Like this whole spinning back roundhouse kick. I don't know if I'm doing it right. And how can I tell unless I have someone watching?) Then we get a session with Steve. And now I have a bruise right where my watch sits on my wrist. *sigh*

Comments

Odd question from someone you don't know....

[persephone-kore.livejournal.com]

I can kind of imagine how it might work, but... what IS the other dance class you're taking, which involves minimal arm and foot motion?

Re: Odd question from someone you don't know....

[msss.livejournal.com]

Hi Persephone,

It's belly dancing, kind of. It's actually called raqs sharif - an Egyptian form of belly dancing. Lots and lots of hip movements (obviously) but the arms are fairly stiff, held in unmoving positions. The feet are pretty much limited to small stamping steps.

Flamenco, on the other hand, has not that much hip movement, but the arms are twisting expressively and the feet have lots and lots of different stamps (full foot, heel, toe then heel, toe), interesting turns, etc.

Mouse